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Descenders to the Chariot
The People Behind the Hekhalot Literature
In this academic study James R. Davila asks who produced and practiced the Hekhalot literature. Comparing the texts with cross-cultural evidence for shamans and other ritual specialists, he argues that the descenders to the chariot can be understood as practitioners using ascetic and ritual techniques to induce visionary experience and to gain power over angelic beings. The book is significant for its comparative method and its contribution to debates over early Jewish mystical practice.
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