The Secret Garden: An Anthology in the Kabbalah

The Secret Garden is a re-issue of a long out of print collection of Jewish Kabbalistic writings from Hellenistic times through the seventeenth century. Since its publication in the '70s much scholarly and popular writing has whetted the appetite for authentic Kabbalistic texts, but few have been forthcoming. In addition to well-known works such as The Sephir Yetzirah, the anthology includes texts by Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and Chaim Vital, Luria's well-known disciple. David Meltzer's anthology was gathered for and by important poets of the San Francisco Renaissance: Meltzer himself, Robert Duncan, Diane DiPrima, Jack Hirschman et al-for whom the Kabbalistic tradition has been an abiding inspiration. It is an important document of the period.