Anna Sierka earned her PhD at the University of Munich with a doctoral dissertation focusing on the adaptation of divine chariot (merkavah) imagery known from the medieval Ashkenazi esoteric sources in Lurianic Kabbalah, chiefly in Naphtali Bacharach’s major oeuvre Emeq ha-Melekh. She has been a Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellow and subsequently, a Minerva Fellow in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard. She also is a recipient of the Ephraim E. Urbach Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Jewish Studies awarded by The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Her articles have appeared in leading journals including Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts, The Journal of Religion, and Harvard Theological Review. Her research explorers significant shifts in esoteric and kabbalistic doctrines, their philosophical inspirations, and bifurcated anchoring detectable both in other domains of knowledge, for instance medicine and astronomy, as well as in folk culture. Lion’s share of her inquiries is conducted against the backdrop of the manuscript sources. Recently, she is examining previously unstudied intersections of sensory perceptions, medical lore, and imagination in esoteric and kabbalistic texts. Supervisors: Prof. Moshe Idel and Prof. Eva Haverkamp-Rott
This short essay offers a very brief summary of my investigation of the esoteric and kabbalistic ... more This short essay offers a very brief summary of my investigation of the esoteric and kabbalistic imagery of (male) donkey (ḥamor) and its female counterpart (called aton), with particular focus on Balaam’s she-ass conducted for the Conference “Materiality at the Intersection of Ecology and Religious Studies” (Venice, 21-23 May 2024). It displays my previous research interest in magic, here chiefly the asinine magic. Departing from philosophical ruminations on animal muteness (Stummheit; Benjamin, Heidegger, Derrida), I wish to rethink animal-human relationships deploying the optics of animal and environmental studies. In the framework of my contemplation on eco-sophy, viewed as a vital component of theosophy, the question of lost sensualities and the missing link between the animal and the human must be addressed. An in-depth study on this subject is in statu nascendi.
I am truly thankful to the editors of the journal “Avvenire” for publishing this concise reflection.
In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilio... more In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilioth, preyed upon mortal men who crossed their paths or who laid down to sleep in their territory. These lilioth could smell the scent of a man, whose body carried with it the additional value of sexual allure, and would hunt them down with their finely attuned olfactory sense. Another odor discussed in these texts, the smell of flying ointment, guaranteed invisibility and offered invulnerability to night-time travelers of both sexes which mirrors the phenomenon known in contemporary Latin sources under the term cursus. In these texts, Jewish mystics, before the dawn of the Kabbalah, rewrote the widely known folklore traditions and fairy tales common to both Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages. The study presented here is therefore aimed to provide insight into a previously underestimated chapter in Jewish esoteric and kabbalistic sensorium, namely, the olfactory experience.
In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilio... more In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilioth, preyed upon mortal men who crossed their paths or who laid down to sleep in their territory. These lilioth could smell the scent of a man, whose body carried with it the additional value of sexual allure, and would hunt them down with their finely attuned olfactory sense. Another odor discussed in these texts, the smell of flying ointment, guaranteed invisibility and offered invulnerability to night-time travelers of both sexes which mirrors the phenomenon known in contemporary Latin sources under the term cursus. In these texts, Jewish mystics, before the dawn of the Kabbalah, rewrote the widely known folklore traditions and fairy tales common to both Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages. The study presented here is therefore aimed to provide insight into a previously underestimated chapter in Jewish esoteric and kabbalistic sensorium, namely, the olfactory experience.
This study argues for the cross-boundary role of the demoness Lilith in the writings of the medie... more This study argues for the cross-boundary role of the demoness Lilith in the writings of the medieval Jewish esotericists, known as the German Pietists. Lilith is one of many demonic forces who took on roles in both the celestial and terrestrial spheres. As demonstrated in central works such as The Book of the Divine Glory, mystical and magical speculations placed her in discussions on divine punishment, demonology, and complex questions regarding legal prescriptions. Her integration into the theosophical doctrine of the pietists is evidenced by the thorough amalgamation of various genres and topics where she is discussed. The hierarchic subservience of demons toward the angels and the Holy One is thus an important aspect of how such evil forces found their place within a cohesive system.
“Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred” conference, hosted by th... more “Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred” conference, hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) and the Harvard Psychedelics Project at Harvard Divinity School - Feb. 17th, 2024 - in person and livestreaming
This short essay offers a very brief summary of my investigation of the esoteric and kabbalistic ... more This short essay offers a very brief summary of my investigation of the esoteric and kabbalistic imagery of (male) donkey (ḥamor) and its female counterpart (called aton), with particular focus on Balaam’s she-ass conducted for the Conference “Materiality at the Intersection of Ecology and Religious Studies” (Venice, 21-23 May 2024). It displays my previous research interest in magic, here chiefly the asinine magic. Departing from philosophical ruminations on animal muteness (Stummheit; Benjamin, Heidegger, Derrida), I wish to rethink animal-human relationships deploying the optics of animal and environmental studies. In the framework of my contemplation on eco-sophy, viewed as a vital component of theosophy, the question of lost sensualities and the missing link between the animal and the human must be addressed. An in-depth study on this subject is in statu nascendi.
I am truly thankful to the editors of the journal “Avvenire” for publishing this concise reflection.
In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilio... more In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilioth, preyed upon mortal men who crossed their paths or who laid down to sleep in their territory. These lilioth could smell the scent of a man, whose body carried with it the additional value of sexual allure, and would hunt them down with their finely attuned olfactory sense. Another odor discussed in these texts, the smell of flying ointment, guaranteed invisibility and offered invulnerability to night-time travelers of both sexes which mirrors the phenomenon known in contemporary Latin sources under the term cursus. In these texts, Jewish mystics, before the dawn of the Kabbalah, rewrote the widely known folklore traditions and fairy tales common to both Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages. The study presented here is therefore aimed to provide insight into a previously underestimated chapter in Jewish esoteric and kabbalistic sensorium, namely, the olfactory experience.
In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilio... more In the esoteric writings of the Medieval German Pietists, nocturnal female demons, known as lilioth, preyed upon mortal men who crossed their paths or who laid down to sleep in their territory. These lilioth could smell the scent of a man, whose body carried with it the additional value of sexual allure, and would hunt them down with their finely attuned olfactory sense. Another odor discussed in these texts, the smell of flying ointment, guaranteed invisibility and offered invulnerability to night-time travelers of both sexes which mirrors the phenomenon known in contemporary Latin sources under the term cursus. In these texts, Jewish mystics, before the dawn of the Kabbalah, rewrote the widely known folklore traditions and fairy tales common to both Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages. The study presented here is therefore aimed to provide insight into a previously underestimated chapter in Jewish esoteric and kabbalistic sensorium, namely, the olfactory experience.
This study argues for the cross-boundary role of the demoness Lilith in the writings of the medie... more This study argues for the cross-boundary role of the demoness Lilith in the writings of the medieval Jewish esotericists, known as the German Pietists. Lilith is one of many demonic forces who took on roles in both the celestial and terrestrial spheres. As demonstrated in central works such as The Book of the Divine Glory, mystical and magical speculations placed her in discussions on divine punishment, demonology, and complex questions regarding legal prescriptions. Her integration into the theosophical doctrine of the pietists is evidenced by the thorough amalgamation of various genres and topics where she is discussed. The hierarchic subservience of demons toward the angels and the Holy One is thus an important aspect of how such evil forces found their place within a cohesive system.
“Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred” conference, hosted by th... more “Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred” conference, hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) and the Harvard Psychedelics Project at Harvard Divinity School - Feb. 17th, 2024 - in person and livestreaming
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Papers by Anna Sierka
I am truly thankful to the editors of the journal “Avvenire” for publishing this concise reflection.
Conference Presentations by Anna Sierka
Workshop
The Senses: Present Issues, Past Perspectives
Sunday 23 April 2023 – Wednesday 26 April 2023
Esoteric Sensorium: Olfactory Sense and Jewish Demonology
Anna Sierka (Religious Studies)
Harvard University
Drafts by Anna Sierka
I am truly thankful to the editors of the journal “Avvenire” for publishing this concise reflection.
Workshop
The Senses: Present Issues, Past Perspectives
Sunday 23 April 2023 – Wednesday 26 April 2023
Esoteric Sensorium: Olfactory Sense and Jewish Demonology
Anna Sierka (Religious Studies)
Harvard University