The Zohar and its medieval Castilian emergence

Record summary

The Zohar is the central work of medieval Kabbalah, written largely in an archaizing form of Aramaic and traditionally attributed to the second-century sage Shimon bar Yoḥai. Modern scholarship generally associates its main emergence with Moses de León and other Castilian circles in the late thirteenth century, while recognizing layers and later additions. It matters for comparison because it demonstrates how pseudepigraphic voice, visionary exegesis, divine emanation, and ritualized interpretation create authority. Its theological symbolism should not be flattened into a generic magic manual or modern occult system.