From Theurgy to Magic: The Evolution of the Magical-Talismanic Justification of Sacrifice in the Circle of Nahmanides and his Interpreters

This paper advances the thesis that Nahmanides' conception of sacrifices (qorbanot) is a combination of two models, the theurgic (unifying the sefirot) and the astral-magic (bringing down the spirituality of the stars). Nahmanides identified the astral emanation (šefaʿ) with the sefirotic emanation, or at least saw them as two levels of the same thing.

Nahmanides' disciples developed this view in four different directions: (1) creating a synthesis of theurgy and astral magic in Nahmanides' formulation (R. David Cohen, R. Shem Tov ibn Gaon, R. Menaḥem Recanati, R. Judah Canpanton); (2) ignoring the magical-astral dimension or combining the theosophical and astral aspects in the definition of the descending influence, but with no emphasis on magic (R. Bahya b. Asher, R. Jacob Sikili, R. Isaac of Acre); (3) suppressing the magical-astral element (the author of Sefer ha-Ḥinnukh, the author of sermons from the school of R. Jonah of Gerona); or (4) suppressing the entire discussion, probably because it was considered to be esoteric lore (Rashba, Ritba).

Nahmanides' combination of theurgy and astral magic differentiates him from the Geronese school. Neither R. Ezra nor R. Azriel make any allusions to astral magic in their theosophy.