Richard Cosway’s self portrait depicts him holding open a Kabbalistic manuscript and standing above Hebrew letters that spell out “His name is Esau.” Joscelyn Godwin’s book “The Theosophical Enlightenment” suggests that this is a direct reference to Frankism, a Sabbatian offshoot whose doctrine centers around the figure of “Esau and his land of Edom” which “are symbolic of the Gentile world.” Traditional Kabbalah speaks of Esau in a hostile manner, while Frankism inverts tradition and depicts Esau as the source of salvation. Frankists “entered Esau” by converting to Christianity, and more notably for our case, entering the highest ranks of the secret societies of Europe, where they rubbed shoulders and shared secrets with figures like Cosway. Being that such figures stand at the crossroads of Frankism, Mesmerism, and Illuminism, I find Godwin’s hypothesis on the Frankist influence of Cosway’s self portrait to be likely true.
The portrait also contains a Magen David, or ‘Star of David,’ which at this time had a much more distinct association than it does today. In Gershom Scholem’s article about the Magen David, he traces its use throughout Jewish history, in which it was associated with ceremonial magic, or Practical Kabbalah, until the early modern period, when it was adopted by the Sabbatians. Generations before the Magen David became a symbol of Judaism, it was a symbol of the Messiah for Sabbatian believers such as Jonathan Eyebeshutz, who used the symbol in his controversial amulets.
“Indeed, we find a similar interpretation again in a very striking context, in which the magical career of the Shield of David reached its zenith. Here the symbol casts off its swaddling clothes of magic to rise to the vision of approaching redemption as proclaimed by the “false Messiah” of the 17th century, Sabbatai Zevi. This critical turning point is concealed in the celebrated amulets of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschuetz. All his amulets include the Shield of David, in which are inscribed formulas like “Seal” alone, or “Seal of Messiah Ben David,” or even “Seal of the God of Israel.” In his defense of these amulets, Rabbi Jonathan took refuge behind the magical meaning of the image, and he denied any symbolic value to this sign from a Jewish point of view. It was not so with those who sought to decipher his amulets. They explained his predilection for this image by its Sabbatian significance: their interpretation was that for R. Jonathan the Shield of David had become a messianic symbol. They compared the inscriptions within the images in many of his amulets, and they discovered in them a Sabbatian reference”
“It is greatly to be doubted whether the fathers of Zionism, when they accepted the Shield of David as the symbol of the movement for the revival of Israel, knew that perhaps in this respect also they were in tune with the secret thought of the greatest among the Sabbatian believers.”
“In this area (the occult) a strong reciprocal influence was at work between the Jews and Gentiles, for nothing is more international than magic.” – Gershom Scholem
This symbol is also found on the tomb of Chaim Samuel Jacob Falk, also known as the Baal Shem of London, a Sabbatian occultist with profound influence on the Secret societies of Europe. Falk was closely associated with Philippe Egalite, the Duke if Orleans, who would stay in Cosway’s home when he visited London. Cosway’s home, by the way, contained a private room with a magic circle bearing Hebrew names of God, of the style later popularized by the Golden Dawn.
“After Swedenborg and Cagliostro, the most eminent person named as a pupil of Samuel Falk was the Duke of Orleans, later Philippe Egalite.” – Joscelyn Godwin
Philippe Egalite was initiated by Falk, who summoned a spirit and gave him a talismanic ring that “was supposed to obtain the crown for its possessor.” Before his execution, Philippe had “a Jewish friend” deliver the ring to his son, who did indeed “mount the throne as ‘citizen king’” after the second French Revolution deposed the regime of Charles X. Is this mysterious tale explained by the power of a magical ring, or rather by “king making” of a Sabbatian hidden hand?
Richard Cosway was also an adept of Mesmerism, or Animal Magnetism, who claimed to have “attained a state of somnambulistic lucidity.” He collected manuscripts by Jacob Boehme, the Christian Kabbalist who influenced Hegel in his application of Kabbalistic interpolation to politics, known as the Hegelian Dialectic.
“Portraits In Anglo Jewish History” by Cecil Roth contains an essay called “The King & The Cabalist,” one of few source documents that elucidate the history of Falk, Phillipe Egalite. and the talismanic ring worn by the hidden hand.
All excerpts are from the following sources:
- Joscelyn Godwin, The Theosophical Enlightenment
- Cecil Roth, The King & The Cabalist
- Getshom Scholem, Magen David
Leave a Reply