Kabbalah

The name of the Deity

"I am that I am," AHIH AShR AHIH, Eheieh Asher Eheieh. A better translation is, "Existence is existence," or "I am He who is."

28. But his head is broken by the waters of the great sea. (The great sea is wisdom, the fountain of mercy and loving-kindness; which, if it sendeth down its influence, judgments are pacified, and the hurtful power of the shells is restricted) "Thou hast broken the heads of the dragons by the waters."

"The waters of the great sea," are the influence of the supernal mother, Binah, of whom Malkuth is the reflection. But Binah receives the influence of Chokmah. See Introduction.

Kabbalah QBLH

"To receive".which is derived from the root QBL, Qibel, meaning "to receive." This appellation refers to the custom of handing down the esoteric knowledge by oral transmission, and is nearly allied to "tradition."

11. His skin is of other, clear and congealed.

(no detail)

The ZHR, Zohar, or "Splendour.

(α) The SPRA DTzNIOVThA, Siphra Dtzenioutha, or "Book of Concealed Mystery," which is the root and foundation of the Zohar. (β) The ADRA RBA QDIShA, Idra Rabba Qadisha or "Greater Holy Assembly:" this is a development of the "Book of Concealed Mystery." (γ) The ADRA ZVTA QDIShA, Idra Zuta Qadisha, or "Lesser Holy Assembly;" which is in the nature of a supplement to the "Idra Rabba." These three books treat of the gradual development of the creative Deity, and with Him the creation. (δ) The pneumatical treatise called BITh ALHIM, Beth Elohim, or the "House of the Elohim," edited by Rabbi Abraham Cohen Irira, from the doctrines of Rabbi Yitzchaq Loria. It treats of angels, demons, elemental spirits, and souls. (ε) The "Book of the Revolutions of Souls" is a peculiar and discursive treatise, and is an expansion of Rabbi Loria's ideas.

Dogma QBLH

(α) The Sepher Yetzirah and its dependencies. (β) The Zohar with its developments and commentaries. (γ) The Sepher Sephiroth and its expansions. (δ) The Asch Metzareph and its symbolism.

Four Heads of QBLH

(α) The practical Qabalah (ceremony and magic not covered here) (β) The literal Qabalah.It is divided into three parts: GMTRIA, Gematria; NVTRIQVN, Notariqon; and ThMVRH, Temura (γ) The unwritten Qabalah. Orally communicated only (δ) The dogmatic Qabalah. Doctrines.

Now in the world the Sephiroth are represented by:

1) RAShITh HGLGLIM, Rashith Ha-Galgalim, the commencement of whirling motions, the primum mobile (2) MSLVTh, Masloth, the sphere of the Zodiac. (3) ShBThAI, Shabbathai, rest, Saturn. (4) TzDQ, Tzedeq, righteousness, Jupiter. (5) MADIM, Madim, vehement strength, Mars. (6) ShMSh, Shemesh, the solar light, the Sun. (7) NVGH, Nogah, glittering splendour, Venus. (8) KVKB, Kokab, the stellar light, Mercury. (9) LBNH, Levanah, the lunar flame, the Moon. (10) ChLM ISVDVTh, Cholom Yesodoth, the breaker of the foundations, the elements.

The third Sephira, Triad, BINH

A feminine passive potency, called BINH, Binah, the Understanding, who is co-equal with Chokmah. For Chokmah, the number 2, is like two straight lines which can never enclose a space, and therefore it is powerless till the number 3 forms the triangle. Thus this Sephira completes and makes evident the supernal Trinity. It is also called AMA, Ama, Mother, and AIMA, Aima, the great productive Mother, who is eternally conjoined with AB, the Father, for the maintenance of the universe in order. Therefore is she the most evident form in whom we can know the Father, and therefore is she worthy of all honour. The great feminine form of God, the Elohim, in whose image man and woman are created This third Sephira is also sometimes called the great sea. To her are attributed the Divine names, ALHIM, Elohim, and IHVH ALHIM; and the angelic order, ARALIM, Aralim, the Thrones. She is the supernal Mother, as distinguished from Malkuth, the inferior Mother, Bride, and Queen.

Elohim

A plural formed from the feminine singular ALH, Eloh, by adding IM to the word. IM is usually the termination of the masculine plural, and is here added to a feminine noun, it gives to the word Elohim the sense of a female potency united to a masculine idea, and thereby capable of producing an offspring. In the Qabalah we find that the Ancient of Days conforms Himself simultaneously into the Father and the Mother, and thus begets the Son. Now, this Mother is Elohim. We are usually told the Holy Spirit is masculine. But the word RVCh, Ruach, Spirit, is feminine.

Sepher Yetzirah

Book of Formation," the cosmogony as symbolized by the ten numbers and the twenty-two. letters of the alphabet, which it calls the "thirty-two paths." On these latter Rabbi Abraham Ben Dior has written a mystical commentary. The term "path" is used throughout the Qabalah to signify a hieroglyphical idea, or rather the sphere of ideas, which may be attached to any glyph or symbol.

IHVH the tetragrammaton

But IHVH, the Tetragrammaton contains all the Sephiroth except Kether, and specially signifies the Lesser Countenance, Microprosopus, the King of the qabalistical Sephirotic greatest Trinity, and the Son in His human incarnation, in the Christian acceptation of the Trinity. Therefore, as the Son reveals the Father, so does IHVH, Jehovah, reveal AHIH, Eheieh. And ADNI is the Queen "by whom alone Tetragrammaton can be grasped"

7. In His form (in the form of the Ancient One) existeth the equilibrium: it is incomprehensible, it is unseen.

But the first idea of equilibrium is the Ancient One (the first Sephira, or Crown Kether), because it is the first potential limitation of the boundless light which proceeds from the Limitless One. That is, the central point of Kether is the equilibrium, because the balance does not yet exist, the two opposite poles which form the balance not being yet developed. We must not confuse these two terms, equilibrium and balance. The balance consists of two scales (opposing forces), the equilibrium is the central point of the beam.

21. Six thousand years depend from the six first. This is what the wise have said, that the world shall last six thousand years, and it is understood from the six numbers of Microprosopus. But also the six following words give occasion to this idea: VIAMR ALHIM IHI AVR VIHI AVR, Veyomar Elohim Yehi Aur Vayehi Aur: "And the Elohim said, Let there be light, and there was light."

By an exegetical rule of numbers, not so often employed as the others. simple numbers or units signify divine things; numbers of ten, celestial things; numbers of a hundred, terrestrial things; and thousands signify the future, what shall be in an after-age. Hence are the "six thousand years" deduced from the six first words, which also are said to refer to the six Sephiroth of whom Microprosopus is formed; the idea of six being extended into as many thousands, to symbolise that number on the plane of a future age.

5. This equilibrium hangeth in that region which is negatively existent in the Ancient One.

By the expression "This equilibrium hangeth in that region which is negatively existent in the Ancient One," is meant that the other nine Sephiroth (which are equilibrated by their formation in trinities) are as yet not developed in the first Sephira. but exist within it as the tree exists in the seed from which it springs. By "the Ancient One", is intended the first Sephira, the Crown Kether, one of whose appellations is Autheqa, the Ancient One. From this Sephira, as I have before remarked. the idea of negative existence depends back towards the AIN.

22:. The seventh (the millennium, and the seventh space. namely, the Kingdom), above that One which alone is powerful--(i.e., when the six degrees of the members denote mercies and judgments, the seventh degree tendeth alone to judgment and rigour). And the whole is desolate (that is, the Kingdom, MLKVTh, Malkuth, in the higher powers, is the antitype of the sanctuary, and like as this is destroyed, so also the Schechinah, or Kingdom, is itself exiled) for twelve hours (for the Hebrews include all this time of their exile in the space of one day). Like as it is written: "It was formless and void, &c." (for from the word "it was formless," down to "upon the faces of," are twelve words in the Hebrew text of Genesis.)

By the same rule, the millennium is deduced from the seventh word. The seventh space here means Malkuth, the kingdom, or the queen, which together with the six of Microprosopus, makes up the seven lower Sephiroth.

Positive Existence

Capable of definition; having a beginning and end.

Eheieh

Eheieh, AHIH, is the Vast Countenance, the Ancient One, Macroprosopus, Kether, the first Sephira, the Crown of the Qabalistical Sephirotic greatest Trinity (which consists of the Crown, King, and Queen; or Macroprosopus, Microprosopus and the Bride), and the Father in the Christian acceptation of the Trinity.

"equilibrium of balance"

Equilibrium is that harmony which results from the analogy of contraries, it is the dead centre where, the opposition of opposing forces being equal in strength, rest succeeds motion. It is the central point. It is the "point within the circle" of ancient symbolism. It is the living synthesis of counterbalanced power. Thus form may be described as the equilibrium of light and shade; take away either factor, and form is viewless. The term balance is applied to the two opposite natures in each triad of the Sephiroth, their equilibrium forming the third Sephira in each ternary. I shall recur again to this subject in explaining the Sephiroth. This doctrine of equilibrium and balance is a fundamental qabalistical idea.

1. Tradition.--"The Book of Concealed Mystery" is the book of the equilibrium of balance

Equilibrium is the point within the circle. Balance is the two opposites. Discussed previously in introduction.

Supernal

Heavenly, ethereal, coming from "on high"

26. His tail is in his head. He transferreth his head to behind the shoulders and he is despised. He watcheth and he is concealed. He is manifested in one of the thousand shorter days.

Here is the origin of the well-known symbol of a serpent holding his tail in his mouth, like a circle--the serpent of Saturn. The reason that he raiseth his head behind the shoulders of the bride (Malkuth) is because he is, so to speak, the executor of judgment and also the destroyer; destruction as opposed to creation, death as opposed to life. For the whole Sephiroth are represented as being the balance of mercy and justice, and the tenth Sephira is especially of the nature of justice, as also is Geburah. the fifth. He is concealed, because he is not called into action till justice requires him. The presence of the serpent when revealed, is an accusation, because it shows that the balance is destroyed. Now, life, when it consists of birth into another form, necessarily implies death in the previous form. The throne of glory is the Briatic world.

20. It was formless and void, and darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Elohim vibrating upon the face of the waters. Thirteen (these words, from "it was formless" down to "of the waters," are thirteen in the Hebrew text of Genesis) depend from the thirteen (forms) of the dignity of dignity (that is, the beard of the Macroprosopus, or first formed head).

I have before remarked that the number thirteen expresses unity. The author of "The Book of Concealed Mystery" here argues that the very number and order of the words in the Hebrew text refer to certain forms of the Deity. The terms "face of the deep" and "face of the waters" bear a striking analogy to Macroprosopus and Microprosopus, the Vast and the Lesser Countenances. In this sense the "face of (from) the deep (abyss)" is the countenance formed from Ain Soph, the Limitless One; namely. the first Sephira the Crown Kether.

The name of the Diety, Jehova

In Hebrew a name of four letters, IHVH; and the true pronunciation of it is known to very few. The true pronunciation is a most secret arcanum, and is a secret of secrets. "He who can rightly pronounce it, causeth heaven and earth to tremble, for it is the name which rusheth through the universe." Therefore when a devout Jew comes upon it in reading the Scripture, he either does not attempt to pronounce it, but instead makes a short pause, or else he substitutes for it the name Adonai, ADNI, Lord. The radical meaning of the word is "to be," and it is thus, like AHIH, Eheieh, a glyph of existence. It is capable of twelve transpositions, which all convey the meaning of "to be"; it is the only word that will bear so many transpositions without its meaning being altered. The 12 banners.

MThQLA, Metheqela, balance.

In each of the three trinities or triads of the Sephiroth is a duad of opposite sexes, and a uniting intelligence which is the result. In this, the masculine and feminine potencies are regarded as the two scales of the balance, and the uniting Sephira as the beam which joins them. Thus, then, the term balance may be said to symbolize the Triune, Trinity in Unity, and the Unity represented by the central point of the beam. But, again, in the Sephiroth there is a triple Trinity, the upper, lower, and middle. Now, these three are represented thus: the supernal, or highest, by the Crown, Kether; the middle by the King, and the inferior by the Queen; which will be the greatest trinity. And the earthly correlatives of these will be the primum mobile, the sun and the moon. Here we at once find alchemical symbolism.

30. (But it is said) heads "And a likeness as a firmament above the heads of the living creature.""Thou hast broken the heads of the dragons (Thenanim) by the waters."

In the plural number, for the purpose of denoting a vast multitude, as well of species as of individuals in that genus; (Where also the word living creature, ChIH, Chiah, is put in the singular as a genus of angels; and heads in the plural for the purpose of denoting species and innumerable individuals. It must be remembered that this dragon is said by the author of the "Royal Valley" to be the king of all the "shells" or demons. Now, the demons are divided into ten classes. corresponding to the ten Sephiroth, but in an averse form, and are called in the book, "Beth Elohim," the "impure Sephiroth." The heads of the leviathan (cf. the Lernæan Hydra which Hercules slew) are probably these. Compare the description of the beast in Revelation.

The archetypal man

In their totality and unity the ten Sephiroth represent the archetypal man, ADM QDMVN, Adam Qadmon, the Protogonos. In looking at the Sephiroth constituting the first triad, it is evident that they represent the intellect; and hence this triad is called the intellectual world, OVLM MVShKL, Olahm Mevshekal. The second triad corresponds to the moral world, OVLM MVRGSh, Olahm Morgash. The third represents power and stability, and is therefore called the material world, OVLM HMVTBO, Olahm Ha-Mevetbau. These three aspects are called the faces, ANPIN, Anpin. Thus is the tree of life, OTz ChIIM, Otz Chaiim, formed; the first triad being placed above, the second and third below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the centre. There is considerable analogy between this and the tree Yggdrasil of the Scandinavians.

The first Sephira, or the Number One, the Monad of Pythagoras

In this number are the other nine hidden. It is indivisible, it is also incapable of multiplication; divide 1 by itself and it still remains 1, multiply 1 by itself and it is still 1 and unchanged. Thus it is a fitting representative of the great unchangeable Father of all. Now this number of unity has a twofold nature, and thus forms, as it were, the link between the negative and the positive. In its unchangeable one-ness it is scarcely a number; but in its property of capability of addition it may be called the first number of a numerical series. Now, the zero, 0, is incapable even of addition, just as also is negative existence. How, then, if 1 can neither be multiplied nor divided, is another 1 to be obtained to add to it; in other words, how is the number 2 to be found? By reflection of itself. For though 0 be incapable of definition, 1 is definable. And the effect of a definition is to form an Eidolon, duplicate, or image, of the thing defined. Thus, then, we obtain a duad composed of 1 and its reflection. Now also we have the commencement of a vibration established, for the number 1 vibrates alternately from changelessness to definition, and back to changelessness again. Thus, then, is it the father of all numbers, and a fitting type of the Father of all things.

32. Then are the letters inverted, and become one.

It must be remembered that the natural course of writing Hebrew and Chaldee is from right to left, and that when it is written from left to right, it is said to be written "backwards," "in retrograde order," or "averse." By the "path of understanding" is meant Binah. the third Sephira. Schechinah is of course the Divine Presence manifested in the path of Malkuth. See the tetragramon table.

Temura through the "Table of the Combinations of TzIRVP," Tzirupa

K V T Ch Z V H D G B A M N S Aa P Tz Q R Sh Th L swapping letters with their counterpart for different meanings. There are a number of these systems which is study within itself.

23. The thirteenth (that is, "of the waters," HMIM, Hamim, which is the thirteenth word) raiseth up these (that is, as well the sanctuary which is above as that which is below) through mercy (since the water symbolizeth that measure of mercy through which judgment and punishments are mitigated), and they are renewed as before (for the six words follow afresh, as in the beginning the six members are enumerated). For all those six continue and stand fast (they are the members of the Microprosopus, and are not as his bride, and from them is the restitution), since it is written BRA, Bera, "created" (which hath a sense of permanence), and then it is written HIThH, Hayitha, "it was" (which also is a phrase of permanence and not of interpolation), for it is very truth (plainly, therefore, the kingdom perished not, although it might be formless and void, but it retaineth hitherto the essence).

Mercy and judgment are opposites, and from the side of judgment comes the execution of judgment, which is destruction.

world of emanations

Now the Sephiroth are also called the World of Emanations, or the Atziluthic World, or archetypal world, OVLM ATzILVTh, Olahm Atziloth; and this world gave birth to three other worlds, each containing a repetition of the Sephiroth, but in a descending scale of brightness.

4 secret worlds

Now, there are four secret names referred to the four worlds of Atziloth, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiah; and again, the Tetragrammaton is said to go forth written in a certain manner in each of these four worlds. The secret name of Atziloth is Aub, OB; that of Briah is Seg, SG; that of Yetzirah is Mah, MH; and that of Asiah is Ben, BN. The subjoined Table will show the mode of writing the name in each of the four worlds. These names operate together with the Sephiroth through the "231 gates," as the various combinations of the alphabet are called; but it would take too much space to go fully into the subject here.

In Him all is right side

Of Him it is said that He is partly concealed (in the sense of His connection with the negative existence) and partly manifest (as a positive Sephira). Hence the symbolism of the Vast Countenance is that of a profile wherein one side only of the countenance is seen; or, as it is said in the Qabalah, "in Him all is right side."

The twelve banners of the mighty name

Rule the twelve signs of the Zodiac. These are the twelve banners:--IHVH, IHHV, IVHH, HVHI, HVIH, HHIV, VHHI, VIHH, VHIH, HIHV, HIVH, HHVI. There are three other tetragrammatic names, which are AHIH, Eheieh, existence; ADNI, Adonai, Lord; and Agla, AGLA. This last is not, properly speaking, a word, but is a notariqon of the sentence, AThH GBVR LOVLM ADNI, Ateh Gebor Le-Olahm Adonai: "Thou are mighty for ever, O Lord!" A brief explanation of Agla is this: A, the one first; A, the one last; G, the Trinity in Unity; L, the completion of the great work.

29. They were two (male and female, whence the text of the Psalm speaketh of the dragons in the plural number; but when the plural number is given in its least form, two only are understood). They are reduced into one (for the female leviathan hath been slain, lest they should seek to multiply judgments). Whence the word ThNINM, Thenanim (in the before-mentioned passage of the Psalm), is written in a defective form (purposely to denote that restriction).

See the Talmud for further information regarding Jewish ideas of the Leviathan. Thenanim is written in a defective form, because the letter I of the plural is omitted. Written fully, it should be ThNINIM, instead of ThNINM.

Qabalah of the Nine Chambers," or AIQ BKR, Aiq Bekar

Shows the affinity between the letters in each chamber. Sometimes this is used as a cipher, by taking the portions of the figure to show the letters they contain, putting one point for the first letter, two for the second,

SPHA dtZMIOVThA

Siphra Dtzenioutha "Book of Concealed Mysteries"

3. And the kings of ancient time were dead, and their crowns were found no more; and the earth was desolate.

The "kings of ancient time" mean the same thing as the "Edomite Kings;" that is, they symbolize worlds of "unbalanced force," which, according to the Zohar. preceded the formation of this universe. I have explained this also in the Introduction, §§ 41 and 56. This and the immediately following sections are supposed to trace the gradual development of the Deity from negative into positive existence; the text is here describing the time when the Deity was just commencing His manifestation from His primal negative form. Therefore, according to the qabalistical ideas, the universe is the garment as it were of the Deity; He not only contains all, but is Himself all. and exists in all.

11. And the dignity of dignity hangeth from the seven conformations of the cranium. (This is the beard of the venerable and Ancient One, which is divided into thirteen portions).

The Ancient One is the first Sephira, Macroprosopus. as I have before remarked. The beard, in continuation of the symbolic representation of the head. is divided Into thirteen portions, which answer by Gematria to the idea of unity. For AChD, Achad, unity, yields the number 13 by numerical value.

Demons

The Demons are the grossest and most deficient of all forms. Their ten degrees answer to the decad of the Sephiroth, but in inverse ratio, as darkness and impurity increase with the descent of each degree. The two first are absence of visible form and organization. The third is the abode of darkness. Next follow seven Hells occupied by those demons which represent incarnate human vices, and torture those who have given themselves up to such vices in earth-life. Their prince is Samael, SMAL, the angel of poison and of death. His wife is the harlot, or woman of whoredom, AShTh ZNVNIM, Isheth Zenunim; and united they are called the beast, CHIVA, Chioa. Thus the infernal trinity is completed, which is, so to speak, the averse and caricature of the supernal Creative One. Samael is considered to be identical with Satan.

The three pillars

The Sephiroth are further divided into three pillars--the right-hand Pillar of Mercy, consisting of the second, fourth, and seventh emanations; the left-hand Pillar of judgment, consisting of the third, fifth, and eighth; and the middle Pillar of Mildness, consisting of the first, sixth, ninth, and tenth emanations.

24. And at the end of the Formless and the Void and the Darkness (that is, at the end of the exile this saying shall have place: Isa. ii. 11). And the Tetragrammaton alone shall be exalted in that day (that is, in the time of Messiah).

The Tetragrammaton comprehends the whole ten Sephiroth, and consequently expresses their three trinities of balanced force also; consequently, when the Tetragrammaton appears, the formless and the void and the darkness disappear, and form, fulness, and light replace them.

15. Therein are His two nostrils like mighty galleries, whence His spirit rushes forth over all. (The Mantuan Codex adds that this is the seventh conformation, which refers to MLKVTh, Malkuth, or "the kingdom," the tenth emanation or Sephira of the Deity.)

The creative spirit, or the "breath of life."

10. But it hath been formed and prepared in the likeness of a cranium, and is filled with the crystalline dew.

The crystalline dew is the creative lux or Aur, AVR, proceeding from the Limitless One. The Mantuan Codex calls the skull or cranium the first, and the crystalline dew the second conformation of Macroprosopus.

12. (His hair is as) most fine wool, floating through the balanced equilibrium.

The ether is the clear and insupportable brilliance of his glory. The hair is white--i.e.; spotless as wool--to denote the utter absence of matter and of shell. The Mantuan Codex calls the ether the third conformation, and the hair the fourth, which latter it refers to the Sephira Netzach, victory.

25. But there are excavations of excavations. Under the form of a vast serpent extending this way and that.

The excavation or receptacle of a Sephira is that quality whereby it receives the supernal influence from that which immediately precedes it; hence each Sephira has a double quality of receiving and of transmitting, which passes through the four worlds in each which the Sephiroth exist, though in gradually decreasing light. The "shells," Qlipoth, are the demons, in whom again is a form of the Sephiroth, distorted and averse. This great dragon which is here described is evidently identical with the leviathan of Job. He is the executor of judgment, the centripetal force, the old serpent ever seeking to penetrate into Paradise; finally, in a more exoteric sense he is Satan and the devil, the accusing one. In the Sepher Yetzirah, a most important qabalistical book, he is called Theli, ThLI, the dragon.

Sephira and Sephiroth

The first is singular, the second is plural means "numerical emanation." There are ten Sephiroth, which are the most abstract forms of the ten numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. In the Qabalah we reason of the Deity by the abstract forms of the numbers; in other words, by the SPIRVTh, Sephiroth. It was from this ancient Oriental theory that Pythagoras derived his numerical symbolic ideas.

The fourth world

The fourth is the Asiatic world, OVLM HOShIH, Olahm Ha-Asia, the world of action, called also the world of shells, OVLM HQLIPVTh, Olahm Ha-Qliphoth, which is this world of matter, made up of the grosser elements of the other three. In it is also the abode of the evil spirits which are called "the shells" by the Qabalah, QLIPVTh, Qliphoth, material shells. The devils are also divided into ten classes, and have suitable habitations. (See Table.)

18. And the second earth came not into the computation. (That is, the kingdom of the restored world, which elsewhere is called the Bride of Microprosopus, came not into the computation when the six members were said to be created. Or otherwise, when in Genesis iv. 2 it is said in another way, "And the earth," that earth is not to be understood of which mention hath been first made; since by the first is to be understood the kingdom of the restored world, and by the second the kingdom of the destroyed world), and this is elsewhere said.

The kingdom (of the destroyed world is that of unbalanced force, (See Introduction. §§ 41 and 56, and also note Section 3. foregoing.) This refers to a period prior to the development of the Sephiroth. and must therefore be referable to the Edomite kings.

Microposcopus

The lesser countenance composed of 6 of the Sephiroth that reflect the splendor of the macroposopus. Also referred to as Supernal Adam.

Negative light and the center

The limitless ocean of negative light does not proceed from a center, for it is centeeless, but it concentrates a center, which is the number one of the manifested Sephiroth, Kether, the Crown, the First Sephira; which therefore may be said to be the Malkuth or number ten of the hidden Sephiroth. (See Plate II.). Thus, "Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether." "That the heaven is in the earth, but after an earthly manner; and that the earth is in the heaven, but after a heavenly manner." Such epithets are "The Concealed of the Concealed," "The Ancient of the Ancient Ones," the "Most Holy Ancient One," &c.

KThR

The name of the first Sephira is KThR, Kether, the Crown. The Divine Name attributed to it is the Name of the Father: AHIH, Eheieh, I am. It signifies Existence.Among the Epithets applied to it, as containing in itself the idea of negative existence depending back from it, are: the Concealed of the Concealed. the Ancient of the Ancient Ones, the Most Holy Ancient One, the Ancient of Days. It is also called the Primordial Point, the Smooth Point, the White Head, or the Inscrutable Height. The Vast Countenance, or Macroprosopus.

The number 10

The number 10. From the ninth Sephira came the tenth and last, thus completing the decad of the numbers. It is called MLKVTh, Malkuth, the Kingdom, and also the Queen, Matrona, the inferior Mother, the Bride of Microprosopus; and ShKINH, Shekinah, represented by the Divine Name Adonai, ADNI, and among the angelic hosts by the kerubim, KRVBIM. Now, each of these Sephiroth will be in a certain degree androgynous, for it will be feminine or receptive with regard to the Sephira which immediately precedes it in the sephirotic scale, and masculine or transmissive with regard to the Sephira which immediately follows it. But there is no Sephira anterior to Kether, nor is there a Sephira which succeeds Malkuth. By these remarks it will be understood how Chokmah is a feminine noun, though marking a masculine Sephira. The connecting-link of the Sephiroth is the Ruach, spirit, from Mezla, the hidden influence.

The second Sephira or the duad; ChKMH

The number 2, or the Duad. The name of the second Sephira is ChKMH, Chokmah, Wisdom, a masculine active potency reflected from Kether, as I have before explained. This Sephira is the active and evident Father, to whom the Mother is united, who is the number 3. This second Sephira is represented by the Divine Names, IH, Yah, and IHVH; and among the angelic hosts by AVPNIM, Auphanim, the Wheels (Ezek. i.). It is also called AB, Ab, the Father.

The number 4

The number 4. This union of the second and third Sephiroth produced ChSD, Chesed, Mercy or Love also called GDVLH, Gedulah, Greatness or Magnificence; a masculine potency represented by the Divine Name AL, El, the Mighty One, and the angelic name, ChShMLIM, Chashmalim, Scintillating Flames (Ezek. iv, 4).

The number 5

The number 5. From this emanated the feminine passive potency GBVRH, Geburah, strength or fortitude; or DIN, Deen, justice; represented by the Divine Names, ALHIM GBVR, and ALH, Eloh, and the angelic name ShRPIM, Seraphim (Isa. vi. 6). This Sephira is also called PChD, Pachad, Fear.

The number 6

The number 6. And from these two issued the uniting Sephira, ThPARTh, Tiphereth, Beauty or Mildness, represented by the Divine Name ALVH VDOTh, Eloah Va-Daath, and the angelic names, Shinanim, ShNANIM (Ps. lxviii. 18), or MLKIM, Melakim, kings. Thus by the union of justice and mercy we obtain beauty or clemency, and the second trinity of the Sephiroth is complete. This Sephira, or "Path," or "Numeration" together with the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth Sephiroth, is spoken of as ZOIR ANPIN, Zauir Anpin, the Lesser Countenance, or Microprosopus, by way of antithesis to Macroprosopus, or the Vast Countenance, which is one of the names of Kether, the first Sephira. The sixth Sephiroth of which Zauir Anpin is composed, are then called His six members. He is also called MLK, Melekh, the King.

The number 7

The number 7. The seventh Sephira is NTzCh, Netzach, or Firmness and Victory, corresponding to the Divine Name Jehovah Tzabaoth, IHVH TzBAVTh, the Lord of Armies, and the angelic names ALHIM, Elohim, gods, and ThRShIShIM, Tharshisim, the brilliant ones (Dan. x. 6).

The number 8

The number 8. Thence proceeded the feminine passive potency HVD, Hod, Splendour, answering to the Divine Name ALHIM TzBAVTh, Elohim Tzabaoth, the Gods of Armies, and among the angels to BNI ALHIM, Beni Elohim, the sons of the Gods (Gen. vi. 4).

The number 9

The number 9. These two produced ISVD, Yesod, the Foundation or Basis, represented by AL ChI, El Chai, the Mighty Living One, and ShDI, Shaddaï; and among the angels by AShIM, Aishim, the Flames (Ps. civ. 4), yielding the third Trinity of the Sephiroth.

The second world

The second world is the Briatic world, OVLM HBRIAH, Olahm Ha-Briah, the world of creation, also called KVRSIA, Khorsia, the throne. It is an immediate emanation from the world of Atziloth, whose ten Sephiroth are reflected herein, and are consequently more limited, though they are still of the purest nature, and without any admixture of matter.

13. (His forehead is) the benevolence of those benevolences which are manifested through the prayers of the inferior powers.

The supernal benignity which transmits their qualities, powers and offices, to the lower Sephiroth (the inferior powers). It must be remembered that each Sephira receives from that which immediately precedes it, and transmits to that which next follows it. Thus, each Sephira is said to be feminine or passive as regards its predecessor, and masculine or active in respect to its successor. (See Introduction, §§ 43 and 51.) The Mantuan Codex calls this the fifth conformation, and refers it to the idea of the ninth Sephira, Yesod, foundation.

The third world

The third is the Jetziratic world, OVLM HITzIRH, Olahm Ha-Yetzirah, or world of formation and of angels, which proceeds from Briah, and though less refined in substance, is still without matter. It is in this angelic world where those intelligent and incorporeal beings reside who are wrapped in a luminous garment, and who assume a form when they appear unto man.

22. Tradition.--For before there was equilibrium, countenance beheld not countenance.

The two countenances are Macroprosopus and Microprosopus

16. (When, therefore, the Divine law beginneth) BRAShITh BRA ALHIM ATh HShMIM VATh HARTz, Berashith Bera Elohim Ath Hashamaim Vaath Haaretz: "In the beginning the Elohim created the substance of the heavens and the substance of the earth." (The sense is: Six members were created, which are the six numerations of Microprosopus--viz., benignity as His right arm; severity as His left arm; beauty as His body; victory as His right leg; glory as His left leg; and the foundation as reproductive.) For instead of BRAShITh, Berashith, "in the beginning," it may be read, BRAShITh, Bera Shith, "He created the six." Upon these depend all things which are below (principally the Queen, who is the lowest path, or the bride of Microprosopus, and all the three inferior worlds.)

The view which the Siphra Dtzenioutha here follows out is that the beginning of Genesis describes not only the creation of the world, but the development of God, for it considers the universe as the outward and material expression of the power of the thought Divine. Microprosopus is as it were the reflection of Macroprosopus, for as Macroprosopus has six principal titles. so is Microprosopus composed of six of the Sephiroth. (See Introduction, §§ 42. 47 and 77.) ShITh, Shith, is the Chaldee form of the Hebrew ShSh, Shash, six. The queen is Malkuth, the tenth Sephira. The three inferior worlds are Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiah.

Sephiroth succession

The whole ten Sephiroth represent the Heavenly Man, or Primordial Being, ADM OILAH, Adam Auilah. Under this Sephira are classed the angelic order of ChIVTh HQDSh, Chioth Ha-Qadesh, holy living-creatures, the kerubim or sphinxes of Ezekiel's vision and of the Apocalypse of John. These are represented in the Zodiac by the four signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius--the Bull, Lion, Eagle, and Man: Scorpio, as a good emblem, being symbolized by the eagle, as an evil emblem by the scorpion, and as of a mixed nature by the snake. This first Sephira contained the other nine, and produced them in succession

Numbers in Hebrew

There are no separate numeral characters in Hebrew and Chaldee; therefore, as is also the case in Greek, each letter has its own peculiar numerical value, and from this circumstance results the important fact that every word is a number, and every number is a word.

27. There are swellings in his scales (that is, like as in a crocodile; because great in him is the heaping together of judgments). His crest keepeth its own place (that is, there is in him no further power of hastening to things beyond in the Outer).

There is in the destroyer no "hastening to the outer," because he is centripetal and not centrifugal.

Edom

There is one trinity which comprises all the Sephiroth, and that it consists of the crown, the king, and the queen. It is the Trinity which created the world; the universe was born from the union of the crowned king and queen. Before the complete form of the heavenly man (the ten Sephiroth) was produced, there were certain primordial worlds created, but these could not subsist, as the equilibrium of balance was not yet perfect, and they were convulsed by the unbalanced force and destroyed. These primordial worlds are called the "kings of ancient time," and the "kings of Edom who reigned before the monarchs of Israel." In this sense, Edom is the world of unbalanced force, and Israel is the balanced Sephiroth. This important fact, that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation, is again and again reiterated in the Zohar.

8. Therein have they ascended, and therein do they ascend--they who are not, who are, and who shall be.

Therein (in the equilibrium of Kether) have they ascended (developed when they became positively existent), and therein (in the equilibrium) do they ascend (have their first existence), they (the Sephiroth) who are not (exist negatively). who are (then become positive), and who shall. be (exist permanently. because they we counterbalanced powers). This triple expression "are not, are, and shall be." also refers to the triple trinity of the Sephiroth.

6. Thus were those powers equiponderated which were not yet in perceptible existence.

These powers are the other nine Sephiroth, which are, as it were powers of the first Sephira; as soon as they are equated they become positively existent through correlation of force. The next two sections explain the manner of their equilibration while yet negative entities, or rather ideas

19. And it hath proceeded out of that which hath undergone the curse, as it is written in Genesis v., 29, "From the earth which the Lord hath cursed." (The meaning is: That the kingdom of the restored world was formed from the kingdom of the destroyed world, wherein seven kings had died and their possessions had been broken up. Or, the explanation of the world, of which mention is made elsewhere, proceedeth from the kingdom of the destroyed world.)

These seven kings are the Edomite kings before mentioned in Section 3.

three qabalistical veils of the negative existence

They formulate the hidden ideas of the Sephiroth not yet called into being, and they are concentrated in Kether, which in this sense is the Malkuth of the hidden ideas of the Sephiroth. The first veil of the negative existence is the AIN, Ain = Negativity. This word consists of three letters, which thus shadow forth the first three Sephiroth or numbers. The second veil is the AIN SVP, Ain Soph = the Limitless, This title consists of six letters, and shadows forth the idea of the first six Sephiroth or numbers. The third veil is the AIN SVP AVR, Ain Soph Aur = the Limitless Light. Consists of nine letters, and symbolizes the first nine Sephiroth, but of course in their hidden idea only, But when we reach the number nine we cannot progress farther without returning to the unity, or the Dumber one, for the number ten is but a repetition of unity freshly derived from the negative

4. Until that head (which is incomprehensible) desired by all desires (proceeding from AIN SVP, Ain Soph, the infinite and limitless one), appeared and communicated the vestments of honor.

This Head, which is here described as proceeding from the infinite and limitless One, the Ain Soph, is the first Sephira, the Crown Kether, otherwise called Arikh Anpin, or Macroprosopus, the Vast Countenance. From this first Sephira the other nine emanations are produced.

9. The head which is incomprehensible is secret in secret.

This head Is Macroprosopus, the Vast Countenance, and is the same as the Ancient One, or Crown Kether. It is were, for therein axe hidden the other potentialities.

31. "And the Elohim said, let there be light, and there was light." Psalm xxxiii.where it a written, "Since He Himself spake, and it was done." First, therefore, is commemorated the Path HVA, Hoa, (that is, the mother of understanding, who is called ALHIM, Elohim, near the beginning of the verse.

This statement, that the supernal mother symbolized by the word Hoa, He, seems at first sight at variance with the statement in another place, that Hoa represents Macroprosopus. But the letter H in the Tetragrammaton symbolizes the supernal mother, and this is also the initial letter of Hoa. And again by Gematria (see Introduction) Hoa, HVA = 5 + 6 + 1 = 12, and the digits of 12 1 + 2 = 3. And 3 symbolizes Binah because she is the third Sephira. "Seeing that V, Vau, occupies the first place in the word VIHI," because V stands for the number 6. See Table of the Alphabet, &c., in Introduction.]

Negative Existence

To define negative existence clearly is impossible, for when it is distinctly defined it ceases to be negative existence; it is then negative existence passing into static condition. Therefore wisely have the Qabalists shut out from mortal comprehension the primal AIN, Ain, the negatively existent One, and the AIN SVP, Ain Soph, the limitless Expansion; while of even the AIN SVP AVR, Ain Soph Aur, the illimitable Light, only a dim conception can be formed. GOD is the Absolute. How to define the Absolute? It is beyond comprehension.

14. His eye is ever open and sleepeth not, for it continually keepeth watch. And the appearance of the lower is according to the aspect of the higher light.

Were the eye to close (the directing thought Divine to be abstracted from the Sephiroth), the whole universe would give way, for its mainspring would be withdrawn. Because the appearance (development) of the lower (nine Sephiroth) is according to (dependent on) the aspect (ruling thought) of the higher light (Kether, the first Sephira). The Mantuan Codex terms this the sixth conformation of Macroprosopus, and refers it, as in the case of the fourth conformation, to the primal idea of the Sephira Netzach, victory.

33. But in one balance are they equiponderated (counterbalanced). ( male/female= they)

Yod and He--of which the former is masculine and referreth to the path of the foundation; and the latter is feminine, pertaining to the queen--are interchangeable; since whilst the equilibrium existeth there is an intercommunication between them, and they are joined together as one.

Macroprosopus

c

The SPR SPIRVTh, Sepher Sephiroth, or "Book of the Emanations,"

describes, so to speak, the gradual evolution of the Deity from negative into positive existence

The ASh MTzRP, Asch Metzareph, or "Purifying Fire,

is hermatic and alchemical, and is known to few, and when known is understood by still fewer