Qabalah
The Four Worlds and the Si Xiang
The Pillars of Fire, Water and Balance (Wood) connect the Sephirot vertically. Horizontally, the Sephirot are also connected via 3 paths. These correspond to the vesica or intersections of the Four Worlds. As Binah, understanding, is associated with Saturn. The 3 by 3 pattern can be understood Magic Square of Saturn, the Lo Shu. The three intersections correspond to the 3 ages of the Gua, or Trigrams, and by simply taking the mirror image of their position of the Ba Gua, the Images of the Gua correspond easily with the Sephirot. Ba Gua means 8 Signs or 8 Trigrams. In the Lo Shu, there is no Sign attached positionally to the most important number, the center 5, however is closely associated with the Earth element. We can call on the Ages once again, this time of the parents in the Si Xiang, Old and Young, Yin and Yang which gives us 12 Lu, harmonic resonaces.
Atziluth (אֲצִילוּת), or "World of Emanations", on this level the light of
the Ain Sof radiates and counterparts are still united with their source. Spanning
the 3 Pillars are 4 Steps, Jacob's Ladder. Atziluth is reached by the highest rung.
Beri'ah (בְּרִיאָה) or "World of Creation", on this rung creation from nothing, ex nihilo, is unbounded by shape or form. This is where the Highest Ranking Angels are found. It comprises 5 Sephiroth: Chokhmah, Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiphereth and completes the first of two interlocking vesica pisces.
Yetzirah (יְצִירָה) or "World of Formation", on this level the creation assumes shape and form. Here all possibility is accounted for, 6 Sephiroth: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod.
Asiyah' (עֲשִׂיָּה) or "World of Actions", on this level the creation is complete and in effect however several cycles of refinement are required before the physical is realized. In the motion of 4 Phenomena of the Si Xiang it is the central pillar climbing to reach each tier above it. This is why the Ba Gua are always plucked like a melody, one reaches after the other. It comprises 5 Sephiroth: Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malkuth.
The chakras mediate the flow of qi and so acupuncture offers the most direct method of change. From the diagram it is clear that many synergies exist with the Tree of Life. Yantras aid in our visualization of the hidden geometries at work as acupuncture meridians conjoin the paths of the Tree and the chakras overlay the Spheres. As Jacob's Ladder bridges the Earth and Sky so too the chakras bridge, each in turn, the spiritual potential of the physical body through which the Kundalini serpent may rise to the sublime crown of heaven.
The Tree of Life
Ein Sof
"Without End" אין סוף
or
Ayn Sof
denoting "boundlessness"
and/or
"nothingness".
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Beyond Kether there is the Horizon of Eternity, a "negative existence" understood as the Ain (the vacuum of pure spirit), the Ain Soph (The Limitless and Boundless) and the Aur Ain Soph אור אין סוף "Limitless Light". All other existence flows, or emanates from the Ein Sof. It is the source of the Sefirot. It is the Ancestral Yin.
Keter
"Crown" כתר
also known as
Kether
and
The Pillar of Mildness
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Keter, the most hidden of all hidden things. Keter, although being the highest Sefirah of its world, receives from the sefirah of Malchut of the "world" above it. Here symbolized by the Ancestral Yin. Keter is the Old Yang of the Si Xiang which like the Old Yin Malchut below is a super position of the opposing Fire and Water, Yin and Yang pillars. Their balance pole is the "Pillar of Mildness" associated with Hebrew letter Aleph א, "the breath." Keter, Old Yang heads the central column of the tree, then Tiphereth, Young Yang, Yesod, Young Yin and Malchut, Old Yin. As Heavenly Father, Old Yang is Qian, The Creative.
Chokhmah
"Wisdom" חכמה
or
Chochmah or Hokhmah
and
The Pillar of Mercy.
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The right column of the tree, metaphorically speaking the "Pillar of Mercy", associated with the Hebrew letter Shin ש, the Fire Element, and the male aspect, although in the Ba Gua, Fire is the Middle Daughter Li and Water is the Middle Son Kan. Thunder, Zhen, the Eldest Son is at the base of the pillar as it was thought to rise from the earth to meet the lightning from the sky. The Early Heaven arrangement shown here on the Tree of Life is the mirror image of the familiar Ba Gua, with the characteristic zig zag of the sigil of the Square of Saturn or Lo Shu demonstrating the Yin Yang wave nature. In the Early Heaven arrangement this sephirot represents Gen, The Mountain, the Youngest Son. In the Later Heaven arrangement it is Qian the Celestial Father.
Binah
"Understanding" בינה
and
The Pillar of Severity
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Binah is often defined as the ability to understand one thing from within another. Binah is also associated with the left handed, so called "Pillar of Severity" associated with Hebrew letter Mem מ, (literally meaning "water"), the water element and the female aspect. The Middle Son Kan, The Abyss, Water follows on the pillar with Dui, The Joyous, Lake at the base. In the Early Heaven arrangement, this is Xun, the Gentle Penetrating Wind and Wood. In Later Heaven, it is Kun, The Receptive, the Great Mother.
Chesed
"Mercy" חסד
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Chesed is given the association of kindness and love, and is the first of the emotive attributes of the Sephirot. Kindness to temper Gevurah. This is Li, Fire, the Middle Daughter in Early Heaven and Dui, The Youngest Daughter, The Joyous in Later Heaven.
Gevurah
"Severity" גבורה
Gebrah
or
Geburah and Din ("Judgment")
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Gevurah is known as "strength, "judgment", "power", and "concealment". Restraint to balance Chesed. This is Kan, Water, the Middle Son and Zhen, Thunder in Later Heaven.
Tiphereth
"Glory" תפארת
or
Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiferet
or
rahamin
"mercy" and Young Yang
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Tiphereth is Beauty and Compassion, divine love that brings healing, balance and harmony. The center of the Tree of Life. It is the Solar Plexus. The Yellow Bell. The balance of love and judgment is achieved by the very wise. This is the center of the Ba Gua and is here associated with Young Yang of the Si Xiang. In Later Heaven, it is associated with Li, Fire, the Middle Daughter.
Netzach
"Victory" נצח
Lasting Endurance
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Netzach is the first of the sephirah to be emanated from Tiphereth, beauty, and it is seen to represent overcoming obstacles, flourishing despite difficulties, it is the motivating libido. It is opposed by the force of Hod, which is the sephirah responsible for breaking things down into different, distinctive forms. Both Netzach and Hod achieve balance in Yesod, the sephirah which compiles together all the different energies and information that have come down the tree of life, and stores them in an unconscious way until they achieve expression in Malkuth, the Kingdom. This is Zhen, Thunder, the Eldest Son in the Early Heaven arrangement and in the Latter it is the Youngest Son, Gen, The Still Mountain.
Hod
"Majesty" הוד
Hod
"Splendor"
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Hod denotes "praise" as well as "submission" and in the Early Heaven, this is Dui, The Lake, the Youngest Daughter. It is associated with Mercury and Intellect, classification, language, platonic form. In the Latter Heaven it is Xun, The Gentle Penetrating, Eldest Daughter, Wind and Wood.
Yesod
"Foundation" יסוד
Young Yin
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Young Yin is often associated with the moon, because it is the sphere which reflects the light of all the other sephirot into Malkuth, and it is associated with the sexual organs, because it is here that the higher spheres connect to the earth. It is likened to the "Matrix" of creation. In Christian Qabalah it is compared to the "Holy Spirit", that aspect of God that descends upon the earth and sanctifies it, and it occupies a point on the central pillar, along with Kether (God the Father), and Tiphereth (God the Son). Western occultists compare it with the idea of "Ether", that traditionally was used by Aristotle to explain the motions of the heaven by an element that moves in perfect circular motion around the circumfrence of the world and later as the intangible medium of space itself and in esoteric philosophy as the cross-over from consciousness to matter. Holistic practitioners compare it with the quantum wave field which exactly determines the wave patterns for everything from humans to electrons. To the ever so tiniest yet ever so well understood degree you are the result of a scintillating wave of probability as is everything that you touch, hear, see or think. Different theories in quantum mechanics suggest human consciousness plays a vital role in physical processes. Yesod is most commonly associated with the Sacral Chakra, which is associated with the moon, with sexuality, and with the unconscious. In Later Heaven, it is Kan, Water.
Malkuth
"Kingdom" מלכות
or
Shekinah
and
Old Yang
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Old Yin is the Earth Mother, Receiving sphere of all the other sephirah above it.
In some systems, it is balanced with Daath or Da'at ("Knowledge," "Order," or "Law";
דעת) the missing sephirot. There are two trees, one which shows Daath but not Malkuth,
and the other which shows Malkuth but not Daath. This is likened to the "Fall",
in which the Apple of Knowledge is taken from the tree, and humanity falls from
Paradise to the Kingdom of Earth. Without debating the merits of that decision,
I believe the moral of the story is that the fruit itself represents Choice and
Daath is missing because it is an empty vessel as yet unfilled by Freedom of Will.
In esoteric practice, when one is centered in Tipheret, to "pierce the viel of the
abyss" is to understand and choose wisely so that one's Will is truly in accord
with the Divine Order, Social Law and with the enduring nature of one's own Noble
Character. One may then receive, with Grace, the cup Fortune bestows, without concern
for the outcome.
The Keter of the next octave is Ancestral Yang receiving it's Ancestral Yin from
Malkuth. Malkuth is often depicted with the 4 Terrestrial Elements of ancient western
science while the Etheric wave medium was associated with Yesod. According to Aristotle,
the motions of the non-celestial elements are up and way-up, down and way-down as
opposed to circular like the planets, or Sepherah, which were thought to be made
entirely of Ether. The compound effect of these up/down motions and their jostling
of each other from side to side produced all the motions and therefore all the substances
on Earth. Similarly, the Wu Xing depicts the terrestrial world as composed of organic,
inorganic, metallic, energetic and liquid components. However, like the occasional
falling star, the heavens are mostly metal and the 3 motions of Wu Xing provide
the metaphysical basis for the substance of both Heaven and Earth. Electromagnetism
now accounts for the motions of heavy and light particles which cause all the chemical
properties in the world around us and like a snake eating it's tail, the vary apparatus
of our organs and senses are themselves electro-chemical in nature, illuminated
by this very phenomena attempting to understand itself. It has been said the complexity
of the entire universe from a modern cosmological and quantum-mechanical perspective
pales in comparison to the complexity of the operation of a single biological cell.
This is why they can make predictions with such astronomical accuracy while medical
science leaves so much to be discovered.
