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the secret teachings of all ages
Fundamentals Of Qabbalistic Cosmogony
CHAPTER xxiI
manly p. hall
THE Qabbalists conceive of the
Supreme Deity as an Incomprehensible Principle to be discovered only
through the process of eliminating, in order, all its cognizable
attributes. That which remains--when every knowable thing has been
removed--is AIN SOPH, the eternal state of Being. Although
indefinable, the Absolute permeates all space. Abstract to the degree of
inconceivability, AIN SOPH is the unconditioned state of all
things. Substances, essences, and intelligences are manifested out
of the inscrutability of AIN SOPH, but the Absolute itself is without
substance, essence, or intelligence. AIN SOPH may be likened to a great
field of rich earth out of which rises a myriad of plants, each
different in color, formation, and fragrance, yet each with its roots in
the same dark loam--which, however, is unlike any of the forms nurtured
by it. The "plants" are universes, gods, and man, all nourished by AIN
SOPH and all with their source in one definitionless essence; all with
their spirits, souls, and bodies fashioned from this essence, and
doomed, like the plant, to return to the black ground--AIN SOPH, the
only Immortal--whence they came.
AIN SOPH was referred to by the
Qabbalists as The Most Ancient of all the Ancients. It was always
considered as sexless. Its symbol was a closed eye. While it may be
truly said of AIN SOPH that to define It is to defile It, the Rabbis
postulated certain theories regarding the manner in which AIN SOPH
projected creations out of Itself, and they also assigned to this
Absolute Not-Being certain symbols as being descriptive, in part at
least, of Its powers. The nature of AIN SOPH they symbolize by a circle,
itself emblematic of eternity. This hypothetical circle encloses a
dimensionless area of incomprehensible life, and the circular boundary
of this life is abstract and measureless infinity.
According to this concept, God
is not only a Center but also Area. Centralization is the first step
towards limitation. Therefore, centers which form in the substances of
AIN SOPH are finite because they are predestined to dissolution back
into the Cause of themselves, while AIN SOPH Itself is infinite because
It is the ultimate condition of all things. The circular shape given to
AIN SOPH signifies that space is hypothetically enclosed within a great
crystal-like globe, outside of which there is nothing, not even a
vacuum. Within this globe--symbolic of AIN SOPH--creation and
dissolution take place. Every element and principle that will ever be
used in the eternities of Kosmic birth, growth, and decay is within the
transparent substances of this intangible sphere. It is the Kosmic Egg
which is not broken till the great day "Be With Us," which is the end of
the Cycle of Necessity, when all things return to their ultimate
cause.
In the process of creation the
diffused life of AIN SOPH retires from the circumference to the center
of the circle and establishes a point, which is the first manifesting
One--the primitive limitation of the all-pervading O. When the Divine
Essence thus retires from the circular boundary to the center, It leaves
behind the Abyss, or, as the Qabbalists term it, the Great Privation.
Thus, in AIN SOPH is established a twofold condition where previously
had existed but one. The first condition is the central point--the
primitive objectified radiance of the eternal, subjectified life. About
this radiance is darkness caused by the deprivation of the life which is
drawn to the center to create the first point, or universal germ. The
universal AIN SOPH, therefore, no longer shines through space, but
rather upon space from an established first point. Isaac Myer describes
this process as follows: "The Ain Soph at first was filling All and then
made an absolute concentration into Itself which produced the Abyss,
Deep, or Space, the Aveer Qadmon or Primitive Air, the Azoth; but this
is not considered in the Qabbalah as a perfect void or vacuum, a
perfectly empty Space, but is thought of as the Waters or Crystalline
Chaotic Sea, in which was a certain degree of Light inferior to that by
which all the created [worlds and hierarchies] were made." (See The
Qabbalah.)
In the secret teachings of the
Qabbalah it is taught that man's body is enveloped in an ovoid of
bubble-like iridescence, which is called the Auric Egg. This is the
causal sphere of man. It bears the same relationship to man's physical
body that the globe of AIN SOPH bears to Its created universes. In fact,
this Auric Egg is the AIN SOPH sphere of the entity called man. In
reality, therefore, the supreme consciousness of man is in this aura,
which extends in all directions and completely encircles his lower
bodies. As the consciousness in the Kosmic Egg is withdrawn into a
central point, which is then called God--the Supreme One--so the
consciousness in the Auric Egg of man is concentrated, thereby causing
the establishment of a point of consciousness called the Ego. As the
universes in Nature are formed from powers latent in the Kosmic Egg, so
everything used by man in all his incarnations throughout the kingdoms
of Nature is drawn from the latent powers within his Auric Egg. Man
never passes from this egg; it remains even after death. His births,
deaths, and rebirths all take place within it, and it cannot be broken
until the lesser day "Be With Us," when mankind--like the universe--is
liberated from the Wheel of Necessity.
THE QABBALISTIC SYSTEM
OF WORLDS
On the accompanying circular
chart, the concentric rings represent diagrammatically the forty rates
of vibration (called by the Qabbalists Spheres) which emanate from AIN
SOPH. The circle X 1 is the outer boundary of space. It circumscribes
the area of AIN SOPH. The nature of AIN SOPH Itself is divided into
three parts, represented by the spaces respectively between X 1 and X 2,
X 2 and X 3, X 3 and A 1; thus:
|
X 1 to X
2, |
אין, |
AIN, the
vacuum of pure spirit. |
|
X 2 to X
3, |
אין
סוף, |
AIN SOPH,
the Limitless and Boundless. |
|
X 3 to A
1, |
אין סוף
אור, |
AIN SOPH
AUR, the Limitless Light. |
It should be borne in mind that
in the beginning the Supreme Substance, AIN, alone permeated the area of
the circle; the inner rings had not yet come into manifestation. As the
Divine Essence concentrated Itself, the rings X 2 and X 3 became
apprehensible, for AIN SOPH is a limitation of AIN, and AIN SOPH AUR, or
Light, is a still greater limitation. Thus the nature of the Supreme One
is considered to be threefold, and from this threefold nature the powers
and elements of creation were reflected into the Abyss left by the
motion of AIN SOPH towards the center of Itself. The continual motion of
AIN SOPH towards the center of Itself resulted in the establishment of
the dot in the circle. The dot was called God, as being the supreme
individualization of the Universal Essence. Concerning this the Zohar
says:
"When the concealed of the
Concealed wished to reveal Himself He first made a single point: the
Infinite was entirely unknown, and diffused no light before this
luminous point violently broke through into vision."
The name of this point is I AM,
called by the Hebrews Eheieh. The Qabbalists gave many names to
this dot. On this subject Christian D. Ginsberg writes, in substance:
The dot is called the first crown, because it occupies the highest
position. It is called the aged, because it is the first emanation. It
is called the primordial or smooth point. It is called the white head,
the Long Face--Macroprosophus--and the inscrutable height,
because it controls and governs all the other emanations.
THE HEBREW
TRIAD.
The Qabbalists used the letter
ש, Shin, to signify the trinity of the first three Sephiroth. The
central circle slightly above the other two is the first
Sephira--Kether, the White Head, the Crown. The other two circles
represent Chochmah, the Father, and Binah, the Mother.
From the union of the Divine Father and the Divine Mother are produced
the worlds and the generations of living things. The three flame-like
points of the letter ש have long been used to conceal this Creative
Triad of the Qabbalists.
When the white shining point
had appeared, it was called Kether, which means the Crown,
and out of it radiated nine great globes, which arranged themselves in
the form of a tree. These nine together with the first crown constituted
the first system of Sephiroth. These ten were the first
limitation of ten abstract points within the nature of AIN SOPH Itself.
The power of AIN SOPH did not descend into these globes but rather was
reflected upon them as the light of the sun is reflected upon the earth
and planets. These ten globes were called the shining sapphires,
and it is believed by many Rabbins that the word sapphire is the
basis of the word Sephira (the singular of Sephiroth). The great
area which had been privated by the withdrawal of AIN SOPH into the
central point, Kether, was now filled by four concentric globes
called worlds, or spheres, and the light of the ten Sephiroth was
reflected down through each of these in turn. This resulted in the
establishment of four symbolical trees, each hearing the
reflections of the ten Sephirothic globes. The 40 spheres of creation
out of AIN SOPH are divided into four great world chains, as
follows:
A 1 to A 10, Atziluth,
the Boundless World of Divine Names.
B 1 to B 10, Briah, the
Archangelic World of Creations.
C 1 to C 10, Yetzirah,
the Hierarchal World of Formations.
D 1 to D 10, Assiah, the
Elemental World of Substances.
Each of these worlds has ten
powers, or spheres--a parent globe and nine others which conic out of it
as emanations, each globe born out of the one preceding. On the plane of
Atziluth (A 1 to A 10), the highest and most divine of all the
created worlds, the unmanifested AIN SOPH established His first point or
dot in the Divine Sea--the three spheres of X. This dot--A 1--contains
all creation within it, but in this first divine and uncontaminated
state the dot, or first manifested. God, was not considered as a
personality by the Qabbalists but rather as a divine establishment or
foundation. It was called the First Crown and from it issued the
other circles of the Atziluthic World: A 2, A 3, A 4, A 5, A 6, A
7, A 8, A 9, and A 10. In the three lower worlds these circles are
intelligences, planers, and elements, but in this first divine world
they are called the Rings of the Sacred Names.
The first ten great circles (or
globes) of light which were manifested out of AIN SOPH and the ten names
of God assigned to them by the Qabbalists are as follows:
From AIN SOPH came A 1, the
First Crown, and the name of the first power of God was Eheieh,
which means I Am [That I Am].
From A 1 came A 2, the first
Wisdom, and the name of the second power of God was Jehovah,
which means Essence of Being.
From A 2 came A 3, the first
Understanding, and the name of the third power of God was Jehovah
Elohim, which means God of Gods.
From A 3 came A 4, the first
Mercy, and the name of the fourth power of God was El, which
means God the Creator.
From A 4 came A 5, the first
Severity, and the name of the fifth power of God was Elohim
Gibor, which means God the Potent.
From A 5 came A 6, the first
Beauty, and the name of the sixth power of God was Eloah Vadaath,
which means God the Strong.
From A 6 came A 7, the first
Victory, and the name of the seventh power of God was Jehovah
Tzaboath, which means God of Hosts.
From A 7 came A 8, the first
Glory, and the name of the eighth power of God was Elohim
Tzaboath, which means Lord God of Hosts.
From A 8 came A 9, the first
Foundation, and the name of the ninth power of God was Shaddai,
El Chai, which means Omnipotent.
From A 9 came A 10, the first
Kingdom, and the name of the tenth power of God was Adonai
Melekh, which means God.
From A 10 came B 1, the Second
Crown, and the World of Briah was established.
The ten emanations from A 1 to
A 10 inclusive are called the foundations of all creations. The
Qabbalists designate them the ten roots of the Tree of Life. They are
arranged in the form of a great human figure called Adam Qadmon--the man
made from the fire mist (red dirt), the prototypic Universal Man. In the
Atziluthic World, the powers of God are most purely manifested.
These ten pure and perfect radiations do not descend into the lower
worlds and take upon themselves forms, but are reflected upon the
substances of the inferior spheres. From the first, or
Atziluthic, World they are reflected into the second, or
Briatic, World. As the reflection always lacks some of the
brilliancy of the original image, so in the Briatic World the ten
radiations lose part of their infinite power. A reflection is always
like the thing reflected, but smaller and fainter.
In the second world, B 1 to B
10, the order of the spheres is the Name as in the Atziluthic
World, but the ten circles of light are less brilliant and more
tangible, and are here referred to as ten great Spirits--divine
creatures who assist in the establishment of order and intelligence in
the universe. As already noted, B 1 is born out of A 10 and is included
within all the spheres superior to itself. Out of B 1 are taken nine
globes--B 2, B 3, B 4, B 5, B 6, B 7, B 8, B 9, and B 10--which
constitute the World of Briah. These ten subdivisions, however,
are really the ten Atziluthic powers reflected into the substance of the
Briatic World. B 1 is the ruler of this world, for it contains
all the other rings of its own world and also the rings of the third and
fourth worlds, C and D. In the World of Briah the ten spheres of
light are called the Archangels of Briah. Their order and powers
are as follows:
From A 10 came B 1, the Second
Crown; it is called Metatron, the Angel of the
Presence.
From B 1 came B 2, the second
Wisdom; it is called Raziel, the Herald of Deity who revealed the
mysteries of Qabbalah to Adam.
From B 2 carne B 3, the second
Understanding; it is called Tsaphkiel, the Contemplation of
God.
From B 3 came B 4 ' the second
Mercy; it is called Tsadkiel, the justice of God.
From B 4 came B 5, the second
Severity; it is called Samael, the Severity of God.
From B 5 came B 6, the second
Beauty; it is called Michael, Like Unto God.
From B 6 came B 7, the second
Victory; it is called Haniel, the Grace of God.
From B 7 came B 8, the second
Glory; it is called Raphael, the Divine Physician.
From B 8 came B 9, the second
Foundation; it is called Gabriel, the Man-God.
From B 9 came B 10, the second
Kingdom; it is called Sandalphon, the Messias.
From B 10 came C 1, the Third
Crown, and the World of Yetzirah was established.
The ten Archangels of
Briah are conceived to be ten great spiritual beings, whose duty
is to manifest the ten powers of the Great Name of God existent in the
Atziluthic World, which surrounds and interpenetrates the entire
world of creation. All things manifesting in the lower worlds exist
first in the intangible rings of the upper spheres, so that creation is,
in truth, the process of making tangible the intangible by extending the
intangible into various vibratory rates. The ten globes of
Briatic power, while themselves reflections, are mirrored
downward into the third or Yetziratic World, where still more
limited in their expression they become the spiritual and invisible
zodiac which is behind the visible band of constellations. In this third
world the ten globes of the original Atziluthic World are greatly
limited and dimmed, but they are still infinitely powerful in comparison
with the state of substance in which man dwells. In the third world, C 1
to C 10, the globes become hierarchies of celestial creatures, called
the Choirs of Yetzirah. Here again, all are included within the
ring C 1, the power which controls the Yetziratic World and which
includes within itself and controls the entire world D. The order of the
globes and the names of the hierarchies composing them are as
follows:
From B 10 came C 1, the Third
Crown; the Hierarchy is the Cherubim, Chaioth Ha Kadosh, the Holy
Animals.
From C 1 came C 2, the third
Wisdom; the Hierarchy is the Cherubim, Orphanim, the
Wheels.
From C 2 came C 3, the third
Understanding; the Hierarchy is the Thrones, Aralim, the Mighty
Ones.
From C 3 came C 4, the third
Mercy; the Hierarchy is the Dominations, Chashmalim, the
Brilliant Ones.
From C 4 came C 5, the third
Severity; the Hierarchy is the Powers, Seraphim, the Flaming
Serpents.
From C 5 came C 6, the third
Beauty; the Hierarchy is the Virtues, Melachim, the
Kings.
From C 6 came C 7, the third
Victory; the Hierarchy is the Principalities, Elohim, the
Gods.
From C 7 came C 8, the third
Glory; the Hierarchy is the Archangels, Ben Elohim, the Sons of
God.
From C 8 came C 9, the third
Foundation; the Hierarchy is the Angels, Cherubim, the Scat of
the Sons.
From C 9 came C 10, the third
Kingdom; the Hierarchy is Humanity, the Ishim, the Souls of Just
Men.
From C 10 came D 1, the Fourth
Crown, and the World of Assiah was established.
From the Yetziratic
World the light of the ten spheres is reflected into the World of
Assiah, the lowest of the four. The ten globes of the original
Atziluthic World here take upon themselves forms of physical
matter and the sidereal system is the result. The World of
Assiah, or the elemental world of substance, is the one into
which humanity descended at the time of Adam's fall. The Garden of Eden
is the three upper worlds, and for his sins man was forced into the
sphere of substance and assumed coats of skin (bodies). All of the
spiritual forces of the upper worlds, A, B, C, when they strike against
the elements of the lower world, D, are distorted and perverted,
resulting in the creation of hierarchies of demons to correspond with
the good spirits in each of the higher worlds. In all the ancient
Mysteries, matter was regarded as the source of all evil and spirit the
source of all good, for matter inhibits and limits, often so clogging
the inner perceptions that man is unable to recognize his own divine
potentialities. Since matter thus prevents humanity from claiming its
birthright, it is called the Adversary, the power of evil. The fourth
world, D, is the world of solar systems, comprising not only the one of
which the earth is a part but all the solar systems in the
universe.
THE PLAN OF DIVINE
ACTIVITY.
According to the Qabbalists,
the life of the Supreme Creator permeates all substance, all space, and
all time, but for diagrammatic purposes the Supreme, All-Inclusive Life
is limited by Circle 3, which may be called "the boundary line of Divine
existence." The Divine Life permeating the area bounded by Circle 3 is
focused at Point 1, which thus becomes the personification of the
impersonal life and is termed "the First Crown." The creative forces
pouring through Point 1 come into manifestation as the objective
universe in the intermediate space, Circle 2.
Opinions differ as to the
arrangement of the globes of this last world, D 1 to D 10 inclusive. The
ruler of the fourth world is D 1, called by some the Fiery
Heaven; by others the Primum Mobile, or the First
Motion. From this whirling fire emanates the material starry zodiac,
D 2, in contradistinction to the invisible spiritual zodiac of the
Yetziratic World. From the zodiac, D 2, are differentiated the
spheres of the planets in concatenate order. The ten spheres of the
World of Assiah are as follows:
From C 10 came D 1, the Fourth
Crown; Rashith Ha-Galagalum, the Primum Mobile, the fiery
mist which is the beginning of the material universe.
From D 1 came D 2, the fourth
Wisdom; Masloth, the Zodiac, the Firmament of the Fixed
Stars.
From D 2 came D 3, the fourth
Understanding; Shabbathai, the sphere of Saturn.
From D 3 came D 4, the fourth
Mercy; Tzedeg, the sphere of Jupiter.
From D 4 came D 5, the fourth
Severity; Madim, the sphere of Mars.
From D 5 came D 6, the fourth
Beauty; Shemesh, the sphere of the Sun.
From D 6 came D 7, the fourth
Victory; Nogah, the sphere of Venus.
From D 7 came D 8, the fourth
Glory; Kokab, the sphere of Mercury.
From D 8 came D 9, the fourth
Foundation; Levanah, the sphere of the Moon.
From D 9 came D 10, the Fourth
Kingdom; Cholom Yosodoth, the sphere of the Four
Elements.
By inserting a sphere (which he
calls the Empyrean) before the Primum Mobile, Kircher moves each of the
other spheres down one, resulting in the elimination of the sphere of
the elements and making D 10 the sphere of the Moon.
In the World of Assiah
are to be found the demons and tempters. These are likewise reflections
of the ten great globes of Atziluth, but because of the
distortion of the images resulting from the base substances of the World
of Assiah upon which they are reflected, they become evil
creatures, called shells by the Qabbalists. There are ten
hierarchies of these demons to correlate with the ten hierarchies of
good spirits composing the Yetziratic World.
THE QABBALISTIC SCHEME OF
THE FOUR WORLDS.
In the above chart the dark
line between X 3 and A 1 constitutes the boundary of the original dot,
while the concentric circles within this heavier line symbolize the
emanations and the worlds which came forth from the dot. As this dot is
contained within the outer rings X 1, X 2, and X 3, and represents the
first establishment of an individualized existence, so the lower
universe symbolized by the forty concentric circles within the dot
represents the lower creation evolved out of and yet contained within
the nature of the first Crown, which may be called God, within whom the
divine powers, the celestial beings the sidereal worlds, and man, live
and move and have their being. It is highly important that all the rings
within A 1 be considered as being enclosed by the primitive dot, which
is itself encircled by the great ring X 1, or the Auric Egg of AIN
SOPH.
Each ring includes with in its
own nature all the rings within itself and is included within the
natures of all the rings outside of itself. Thus, A 1--the primitive
dot--controls and contains the thirty-nine rings which it encloses, all
of these partaking of its nature in varying degrees according to their
respective dignities. Consequently, the entire area from A 1 to D 10
inclusive is the original dot, and the rings symbolize the divisions
which took place with in it and the emanations which poured out from it
after its establishment in the midst of the abstract nature of AIN SOPH.
The powers of the rings decrease towards the center of the diagram, for
Power is measured by the number of things controlled, and each ring
controls the rings within it and is controlled by the rings outside of
it. Thus, while A 1 controls thirty-nine rings besides itself, B 1
controls only twenty-nine rings besides its own. Therefore, A 1 is more
powerful than B 1. As the greatest spiritual solidity, or permanence, is
at the circumference and the greatest material density, or impermanence,
is at the center of the diagram, the rings as they decrease in Power
become more material and substantial until the center sphere, D 10,
symbolizes the actual chemical elements of the earth. The rates of
vibration are also lower as the rings approach the center. Thus, the
vibration of A 2 is lower than A 1 but higher than A 3, and so on in
decreasing scale towards the center, A 1 being the highest and D 10 the
lowest sphere of creation. While A 1, the ruler of creation, controls
the circles marked A, B, C, and D, it is less than the three rings of
AIN SOPH--X 1, X2, and X3--and therefore bows before the throne of the
ineffable Creator from whose substances it was
individualized.
There are also ten Archdemons,
corresponding to the ten Archangels of Briah. The black magicians
use these inverted spirits in their efforts to attain their nefarious
ends, but in time the demon destroys those who bind themselves to it.
The ten orders of demons and the ten Archdemons of the World of
Assiah are as follows:
D 1, the evil Crown; the
hierarchy is called Thaumiel, the doubles of God, the Two-headed;
the Archdemons are Satan and Moloch.
From D 1 came D 2, the evil
Wisdom; the hierarchy is called Chaigidiel, those who obstruct;
the Archdemon is Adam Belial.
From D 2 came D 3, the evil
Understanding; the hierarchy is called Satharial, the concealment
of God, the Archdemon is Lucifuge.
From D 3 came D 4, the evil
Mercy; the hierarchy is called Gamchicoth, the disturber of
things; the Archdemon is Astaroth.
From D 4 came D 5, the evil
Severity; the hierarchy is called Golab, incendiarism and
burning; the Archdemon is Asmodeus.
From D 5 came D 6, the evil
Beauty; the hierarchy is called Togarini, the wranglers; the
Archdemon is Belphegor.
From D 6 came D 7, the evil
Victory; the hierarchy is called Harab Serap, the dispensing
Raven; the Archdemon is Baal Chanan.
From D 7 came D 8, the evil
Glory; the hierarchy is called Samael, the embroiler; the
Archdemon is Adramelek.
From D 8 came D 9, the evil
Foundation; the hierarchy is called Gamaliel, the obscene; the
Archdemon is Lilith.
From D 9 came D 10, the evil
Kingdom; the hierarchy is called Nahemoth, the impure; the
Archdemon is Nahema.
The Qabbalists declare that the
worlds, intelligences, and hierarchies were established according to the
vision of Ezekiel. By the man of Ezekiel's vision is symbolized the
World of Atziluth; by the throne, the World of Briah; by
the firmament, the World of Yetzirah; and by the living creatures
the World of Assiah. These spheres are the wheels within wheels
of the prophet. The Qabbalists next established a human figure in each
of the four worlds: A 1 was the head and A 10 the feet of the man of
Atziluth; B 1 was the head and B 10 the feet of the man of
Briah; C 1 was the head and C 10 the feet of the man of
Yetzirah; D 1 was the head and D 10 the feet of the man of
Assiah. These four are called the World Men. They are
considered androgynous and are the prototypes of humanity.
The human body, like that of
the universe, is considered to be a material expression of ten globes or
spheres of light. Therefore man is called the Microcosm--the little
world, built in the image of the great world of which he is a part. The
Qabbalists also established a mysterious universal man with his head at
A 1 and his feet at D 10. This is probably the secret significance of
the great figure of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, with its head in the World
of Atziluth, its arms and hands in the World of Briah, its
generative system in the World of Yetzirah, and its legs and feet
in the World of Assiah. This is the Grand Man of the
Zohar, of whom Eliphas Levi writes:
"It is not less astonishing to
observe at the beginning of the Zohar the profundity of its notions and
the sublime simplicity of its images. It is said as follows: 'The
science of equilibrium is the key of occult science. Unbalanced forces
perish in the void. So passed the kings of the elder world, the princes
of the giants. They have fallen like trees without roots, and their
place is found no more. Through the conflict of unbalanced forces, the
devastated earth was void and formless, until the Spirit of God made for
itself a place in heaven and reduced the mass of waters. All the
aspirations of Nature were directed then towards unity of form, towards
the living synthesis (if equilibrated forces; the face of God, crowned
with light, rose over the vast sea and was reflected in the waters
thereof. His two eyes were manifested, radiating with splendour, darting
two beams of light which crossed with those of the reflection. The brow
of God and His eyes formed a triangle in heaven, and its reflection
formed a second triangle in the waters. So was revealed the number six,
being that of universal creation.' The text, which would be
unintelligible in a literal version, is translated here by way of
interpretation. The author makes it plain that the human form which he
ascribes to Deity is only an image of his meaning and that God is beyond
expression by human thought or representation by any figure. Pascal said
that God is a circle, of which the center is everywhere and the
circumference nowhere. But how is one to imagine a circle apart from its
circumference? The Zohar adopts the antithesis of this paradoxical image
and in respect of the circle of Pascal would say rather that the
circumference is everywhere, while that which is nowhere is the center.
It is however to a balance and not to a circle that it compares the
universal equilibrium of things. It affirms that equilibrium is
everywhere and so also is the central point where the balance hangs in
suspension. We find that the Zohar is thus more forcible and more
profound than Pascal. * * * The Zohar is a genesis of light; the Sepher
Yetzirah is a ladder of truth. Therein are expounded the two-and-thirty
absolute symbols of speech--being numbers and letters. Each letter
produces a number, an idea and a form, so that mathematics are
applicable to forms and ideas, even as to numbers, in virtue of an exact
proportion, and a perfect correspondence. By the science of the Sepher
Yetzirah, the human mind is rooted in truth and in reason; it accounts
for all progress possible to intelligence by means of the evolution of
numbers. Thus does the Zohar represent absolute truth, while the Sepher
Yetzirah furnishes the method of its acquisition, its discernment and
application." (History of Magic.)
By placing man himself at the
point D 10, his true constitution is revealed. He exists upon four
worlds, only one of which is visible. It is then made evident that his
parts and members upon the material plane are, by analogy, hierarchies
and intelligences in the higher worlds. Here, again, the law of
interpenetration is evidenced. Although within man is the entire
universe (the 43 spheres interpenetrating D 10), he is ignorant of its
existence because he cannot exercise control over that which is superior
to or greater than himself. Nevertheless, all these higher spheres
exercise control over him, as his functions and activities demonstrate.
If they did not, he would be an inert mass of substance. Death is merely
the result of deflecting the life impulses of the higher rings away from
the lower body.
The control of the
transubstantial rings over their own material reflection is called
life, and the spirit of man is, in reality, a name given to this
great host of intelligences, which are focused upon substance through a
point called the ego, established in the midst of themselves. X 1
is the outside boundary of the human Auric Egg, and the entire diagram
becomes a cross section of the constitution of man, or a cross section
of the Kosmic constitution, if correlated with the universe. By the
secret culture of the Qabbalistic School, man is taught how to climb the
rings (unfold his consciousness) until at last he returns to AIN SOPH.
The process by which this is accomplished is called the Fifty Gates
of Light. Kircher, the Jesuit Qabbalist, declares that Moses passed
through forty-nine of the gates, but that Christ alone passed the
fiftieth gate.
To the third edition of the
Sepher Yetzirah translated from the Hebrew by Wm. Wynn Westcott
are appended the Fifty Gates of Intelligence emanating from
Binah, the second Sephira. The source of this information is
Kircher's dipus Ægyptiacus. The gates are divided into six
orders, of which the first four have each ten subdivisions, the fifth
nine, and the sixth only one.
The first order of gates is
termed Elementary and its divisions areas follows: (1) Chaos,
Hyle, the First Matter; (2) Formless, void, lifeless; (3) The Abyss; (4)
Origin of the Elements; (5) Earth (no seed germs); (6) Water;(7) Air;(8)
Fire;(9) Differentiation of qualities; (10) Mixture and
combination.
The second order of gates is
termed Decad of Evolution and its divisions areas follows: (11)
Minerals differentiate; (12) Vegetable principles appear; (13) Seeds
germinate in moisture; (14) Herbs and Trees; (15) Fructification in
vegetable life; (16) Origin of low forms of animal life; (17) Insects
and Reptiles appear; (18) Fishes, vertebrate life in the waters; (19)
Birds, vertebrate life in the air; (20) Quadrupeds, vertebrate earth
animals.
The third order of gates is
termed Decad of Humanity and its divisions are as follows: (21)
Appearance of Man; (22) Material human body; (23) Human Soul conferred;
(24) Mystery of Adam and Eve; (25) Complete Man as the Microcosm; (26)
Gift of five human faces acting exteriorly; (27) Gift of five powers to
the soul; (28) Adam Kadmon, the Heavenly Man; (29) Angelic beings, (30)
Man in the image of God.
The fourth order of gates is
termed World of Spheres and its divisions are as follows: (31)
The Heaven of the Moon; (32) The Heaven of Mercury, (33) The Heaven of
Venus; (34) The Heaven of the Sun; (35) The Heaven of Mars; (36) The
Heaven of Jupiter; (37) The Heaven of Saturn; (38) The Firmament; (39)
The Primum Mobile; (40) The Empyrean Heaven.
The fifth order of gates is
termed The Angelic World and its divisions are as follows: (41)
Ishim--Sons of Fire; (42) Orphanim--Cherubim; (43) Aralim--Thrones; (44)
Chashmalim--Dominions; (45) Seraphim--Virtues; (46) Melachim--Powers;
(47) Elohim--Principalities; (48) Ben Elohim--Angels; (49)
Cherubim--Archangels. [The order of the Angels is a matter of
controversy, the arrangement above differing from that accepted in other
sections of this volume. The Rabbins disagree fundamentally as to the
proper sequence of the Angelic names.]
The sixth order is termed
The Archetype and consists of but one gate: (50) God, AIN SOPH,
He whom no mortal eye hath seen. The fiftieth gate leads from creation
into the Creative Principle and he who passes through it returns into
the unlimited and undifferentiated condition of ALL. The fifty gates
reveal a certain evolutionary process and it was declared by the Rabbins
that he who would attain to the highest degree of understanding must
pass sequentially through all of these orders of life, each of which
constituted a gate in that the spirit, passing from the lower to the
higher, found in each more responsive organism new avenues of
self-expression.
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