Ritchie's latest film project, The 49th Gate, is a drama about people trapped between heaven and hell, inspired by the writings of the Kabbalah. The key principle involved in his screenplay is that there are 50 levels of holiness for a person to attempt to reach, but the 50th is close to impossible. Even Moses failed to attain it.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Madonna Kabbalah - What are some classes?
At its former head office, the Kabbalah Centre's lectures - some of which Madonna has attended - have included courses on What Women Want (For Men Only), Making Love Last, Overcoming Our Hidden Addictions, and How to Read People in Five Minutes or Less. The centre's philosophy argues that we are all potentially rejuvenated every seven years and we only go on to age if we fail to recognise this fact.
Madonna Kabbalah - what is kabbalah?
The original writings of the Kabbalah, which means 'receiving' in Hebrew, were based on a series of secret, sacred visions. These were eventually described in the Zohar - Book of Splendour, an arcane text that offered a complete philosophy for life and learning, including versions of yoga, astrology and numerology. Its complexity led some rabbis to advise that no one should attempt to understand the Kabbalah before they had reached the age of 40.
Nowadays it appeals in particular to devotees of New Age spirituality, and its teachings have been applied to all aspects of modern life, from office politics, to sex, to attitudes to death.
Madonna Kabbalah - where to go if your in london?
Now, according to yesterday's edition of the Estates Gazette, the Queen of Pop and her consort are behind the Kabbalah Centre's acquisition of 12 Stratford Place, just behind Oxford Street, for around £3.65 million.
The building was owned by the Friends Provident. Peter Trinder of Nelson Bakewell, the company advising the former owners, told the Gazette he was unable to 'confirm or deny speculation about the building', but Nelson Bakewell's website was updated last week to say the building had been sold.
The charity already has more than 50 centres around the world but has been looking for a new, larger location in the middle of London, having outgrown its offices above the Vidal Sassoon hairdressing school in Grosvenor Street. It is expected to use its new 10,000 sq ft head office to run lecture courses.
Madonna Kabbalah - more celebrities are influenced by good health
A 'divine system of wisdom', it derives from the ancient writings of Jewish rabbis but has come to Britain via Los Angeles. Its doctrines now encompass meditation, the purchase of patented health and beauty products, and the promotion of positive thought processes that are said to slow the ageing progress.
Celebrated followers include Mick Jagger, Barbra Streisand, Roseanne Barr, Jeff Goldblum, and Elizabeth Taylor. Models Jerry Hall and Naomi Campbell both wear the red bracelets the Kabbalah recommends to ward off negativity.
A celebrity needs an impressive place to study and learn:
Now, according to yesterday's edition of the Estates Gazette, the Queen of Pop and her consort are behind the Kabbalah Centre's acquisition of 12 Stratford Place, just behind Oxford Street, for around £3.65 million.
Madonna Kabbalah - Haters can say what they want
The pop world's most unusual partnership may be over. Madonna and Kabbalah, the once obscure sect she championed - and upon which she has lavished millions of dollars - appear to be on the verge of separation. Close friends say the singer has talked of loosening her red Kabbalah wristband and is wearying of the mystical Jewish belief system. She has decided to give it up, they say, having tired of the financial burden and the effect her strong beliefs have had on her relationship with husband Guy Ritchie.
Madonna is also said to be concerned that following Kabbalah separates her children from more conventional customs such as Christmas, which they do not currently celebrate.
Madonna Kabbalah - why does madonna visit graves?
Madonna, you may recall, visited Issac Luria's grave when she was in Israel last year. The Detroit-born Catholic, like many others, wanted to pay homage to the developer of this mystical element of Judaism.
Madonna Kabbalah - what is the difference between catholicism and kabbbalah?
"Guy Ritchie always says, 'The difference between Kabbalah and Catholicism is the amount of people,' " says Berg, sitting in an office at the center's New York branch. A Madonna biography stands in the bookshelf behind him. "You don't call Catholicism a cult."
And if Madonna's outreach efforts find continued success, Berg says, the critics will be quieted.
"Eventually, when there's enough people doing Kabbalah" — when there are as many people wearing Red Strings as crosses — "it won't even be an issue."
Madonna Kabbalah - what do they promise?
"I see tens of thousands of people whose lives have improved," says Berg, 32. "I'm not talking about the guy who couldn't walk who starts walking. I'm talking about the person who couldn't talk to his father for 25 years."
Madonna Kabbalah - moore celebrities that madonna influenced
Last year, Moore told Vogue that Kabbalah helps one reveal "the value of your worth." (She wasn't talking about $12.5 million movie deals.) And Roseanne Barr says Kabbalah is the force behind her own reinvention.
Nearly a decade ago, Barr was "addicted to showbiz and all that drama," she says. "I was working on a sitcom. I was a big control freak." When she got pregnant with her fifth child, she was told, "You have to give up the fight, all that stress."
Sandra Bernhard introduced her to the L.A. center, and soon Barr says she transformed chaos into serenity as a result of Kabbalah. Bernhard "got just about everyone" in Hollywood into it, says Barr, including, supposedly, Madonna.
"(Kabbalah) helped me to totally reconfigure my entire being, the way I thought, the way I did everything," says Barr, 51, who was raised Jewish in a family of rabbis.
Today she recites Kabbalistic meditations three to five times a day for five to 10 minutes at a time, often when she's sitting in traffic. "To think about something bigger than yourself is so cool, to get out of your own ego and stuff."
Barr is happy to see Kabbalah catch on in her community, where egos loom large. "I'm glad that people in Hollywood are looking for something besides showbiz to make the world a good and better place. It's good when it's a visible person who says it's changed their lives. People can see examples."
As for whether Kabbalah's trendiness diminishes its integrity, "I do worry about it a little bit. Is it going to be something that people are going to say next year is over?" Barr says. "In one way, I'd kind of be relieved when I see that, because people that are really into changing their lives and the way they think and making peace in the world will always continue. The people who are there for other reasons won't."
Madonna Kabbalah - How much does madonna donate?
She has made "generous donations" to Kabbalah charities, confirms her longtime publicist, Liz Rosenberg, as well as giving the money earned from her children's books to the center's Spirituality for Kids organization, a Kabbalah-based program for children. She's setting up stands in each concert venue to sell copies of The 72 Names of God: Technology for the Soul ($19.95), the seminal Kabbalah book written by the center's co-director, Rabbi Yehuda Berg. Proceeds go to Spirituality for Kids.
Madonna Kabbalah - Is madonna catholic?
Madonna, who was raised Catholic, has credited Kabbalah with helping to quash her Material Girl persona and achieve spiritual clarity.
Madonna Kabbalah - madonna will not perform on sabbath
Learn about this brand of modern Kabbalah with the start this week of Madonna's Reinvention tour, which won't feature Friday night performances, reportedly so the star can observe the Sabbath.
Madonna Kabbalah - Is madonna in a cult?
Madonna archly acknowledged the critics on May 16, when she was photographed leaving the center wearing a T-shirt emblazoned "Cult Member."
Madonna Kabbalah - how do you show you belong?
Purchase from the Kabbalah Center merchandise like — "empowered" stones, soul-cleansing water, those $26 red strings, and zohar books. Bring your wallet. Be like Madonna.
Madonna Kabbalah - why do men wear all white?
The men wear all white uniform because it is meant to attract the positive energy, or light, that men, more than women, need to combat outsized egos. In fact, the word "kabbalah" comes from the Hebrew "to receive."
Madonna Kabbalah - What celebrities did Madonna influence?
Madonna introduced Britney Spears and she wrapped Red Strings around the wrists of David and Victoria Beckham, her husband Guy Ritchie, Demi Moore,Ashton Kutcher
Madonna Kabbalah - ray of light was all about kabbalah
Madonna first started singing Kabbalah's praises six years ago — literally, on her 1998 album Ray of Light— she has arguably become the practice's most prominent advocate.
Madonna Kabbalah - the red string
The thread that ties Madonna to her celebrity friends is a scrap of yarn, scratchy to the touch, frayed at either end and knotted seven times.
The $26 Red String bracelet — said to deflect "envious stares and looks of ill will" — is perhaps the most visible symbol of Kabbalah, the spiritual movement rooted in Jewish mysticism that's weaving through Hollywood in a way not seen since Scientology attracted converts and controversy a decade ago.
Madonna Kabbalah - how madonna got started in Kabbalah
Madonna, who has adopted the name Esther, first got involved in Kaballah nine years ago. In the Sunday Times interview she explains:
"I was what you would call at the top of my world. I’d won a Golden Globe for Evita, I was pregnant, I had fame, I had fortune, everything that you would perceive a person would want in life. But I’m sure everyone’s had that out-of-body experience where you say to yourself — and it might happen at 28 or 38 or 68 — why am I here? Why am I inside of this body? What am I doing? And I was hearing that question a lot."
Madonna then describes going to a class in Kabbalah:
“I felt so inspired when I left the room. One thing Kabbalah teaches you is that your true potential in the world has nothing to do with selling records or making money or being popular, it has to do with what you are doing to help. What are you doing to make the world a better place?”
Madonna Kabbalah - Britney spears is influenced to join
In contrast, two days previously, Britney Spears posted her view on the Britney Spears Official Website:
"Madonna first introduced Kabbalah to me at a time in my life when it was much needed. It has helped me get rid of a lot of negative influences that were guiding me down the wrong path. There came a point where not even my family or my advisors had the answers I needed. The answers I was looking for were all in my heart. Through Kabbalah, I was able to look within myself, clear all the negative energy and turn my life around.
"Now that the chaos has subsided, I finally feel as though I have the control I've wanted over my own destiny. I'm in a place where I can take Kabbalah seriously and truly learn from it.
"Whatever your religion may be, it's amazing what the power of prayer can do, it can even perform miracles!"
Madonna Kabbalah - How much do Zohar books cost?
£860 in total for the Kabbalah water and the Zohar books. Its not a cheap religion to study or learn, but if Madonna is with it, then it can't be bad.
Madonna Kabbalah - Chernobyl and cancer cures.
"But then things turned crazy. A weird religious service started with prayer readings and chanting that culminated in everyone turning to the east, pushing the air with their hands, and crying out "Cher-er-er-er-nobyl" at the top of their voices. They thought they were curing Chernobyl of radiation, using the power of Kabbalah to drive away the evil - and one of the biggest rock stars on the planet was joining in the chanting.
Madonna Kabbalah - Live close to Kabbalah centre
Madonna spent £1.6 million on a Georgian mansion in London's Regent's Park to be close to the centre for Kabbalah.
In the Jewish faith, on the sabbath, most of the day is spent near to the synagogue or close to it.
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