ALH, Eloh, and the angelic name ShRPIM, Seraphim (Isa. vi. 6).
This Sephira is also called PChD, Pachad, Fear.
The number 6. And from these two issued the uniting Sephira,
ThPARTh, Tiphareth, Beauty or Mildness, represented by the
Divine Name ALVH VDOTh, Eloah Va-Daath, and the angelic
names, ShNANIM Shinanim,(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"-
-for by these latter appellations the emanations are sometimes
called--together with the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and
ninth Sephiroth, is spoken of as ZOIR ANPIN, Zauir Anpin, the
Lesser Countenance, or Microprosopus. 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 seventh Sephira is NTzCh, Netzach, or
Firmness and Victory, corresponding to the Divine Name
IHVH TzBAVTh, Jehovah Tzabaoth, the Lord of Armies, and
the angelic names ALHIM, Elohim, gods, and ThRShIShIM,
Tharshisim, the brilliant ones (Dan. x. 6).
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. These two produced ISVD, Yesod, the
Foundation or Basis, represented by AL ChI, El Chai, the
Mighty Living One, and ShDI, Shaddai, and among the angels
by AShIM, Aishim, the Flames (Ps. civ. 4), yielding the third
Trinity of the Sephiroth.
The number 10. From this 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 ADNI,
Adonai, and among the angelic hosts by the KRVBIM Kerubim.
Now, each of these Sephiroth will be to 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.
I will now add a few more remarks on the qabalistical meaning
of the term MThQLA, Metheqela, balance. In each of the three
trinities or triads of the Sephiroth is a duad of opposite sexes,
and 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.
Now in the world the Sephiroth are represented by:
(1) RAShITh HGLGLIM, Rashith Ha-Galgalim, the
commencement of the whirling motions, the Primum Mobile.
(2) MSLVTh, Masloth, the sphere of the Zodiac. (3) ShBThAI,
Shabbathai, rest, Saturn.(4) TzDQ, Tzadeq, 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 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 or Judgment,
consisting of the third, fifth, and eighth; and the middle Pillar
of Mildness, consisting of the first, sixth, ninth, and tenth
emanations.
In their totality and unity the ten Sephiroth represent the
archetypal man, ADM QDMVN, Adam Qadmon, the
Protogonos. In looking to 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 Chiim, 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 center. This is the
qabalistical Tree of Life, on which all things depend. There is
considerable analogy between this and the tree Yggdrasil of the
Scandinavians.
I have already remarked that there is one trinity which
comprises all the Sephiroth, and that it consists of the Crown,
the King, and the Queen. (In some senses this is similar to the
Christian Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which in their
highest divine nature are symbolized by the first three
Sephiroth, Kether, Chokmah, and Binah.) It is the Trinity which
created the world, or, in qabalistic language, the universe was
born from the union of the crowned King and Queen. But
according to the Qabalah, 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 forces and destroyed. These
primordial worlds are called the "kings of ancient time," and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]