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Qabalah
The Tree of Life, 10 Sefirah and 3 pillars.
Ein Sof
"Without End" אין סוף or Ayn
Sof denoting "boundlessness" and/or "nothingness". » more
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.
The Four Worlds and the Si Xiang
The Flower of Life pattern of interlocking circles whose vesica mark the Sephirot and the Paths.
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", Old Yin,
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.
In the Early Heaven the rung is Xun-Gen below Qian and Kun-Qian below "Old Yang" in the Later Ba Gua.
It comprises the supernal triangle of
Keter, Chokhmah and Binah.
Beri'ah (בְּרִיאָה) or "World of Creation", Old Yang,
on this rung creation from nothing, ex nihilo, is unbounded by shape or form.
This is where the Highest Ranking Angels are found.
It is starts with Li/Kan in the sequence Li/Kan, Zhen/Dui, Xun/Gen and Qian/Kun. The third and fourth
are the negative complements implied by the preceding motion, that of the Early to Late Ba Gua.
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", Young Yin,
on this level the creation assumes shape and form. Here all possibility is accounted for.
It is Zhen/Dui then Xun/Gen with 6 Sephiroth: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod.
Asiyah' (עֲשִׂיָּה) or "World of Actions", Young Yang, on this level the creation is complete
and in effect however several cycles of refinement are required before the physical is realized.
It begins Quin/Kun in the motion of 4 Phenomena of the Si Xiang and has
the distinction of being the vertical central pillar one climbs to reach each tier above it.
As a cyclic motion, it's like Moebius climbing Jacob's Ladder in a Klein Bottle. This is why the Ba Gua
are always plucked like a melody, one 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.