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Notes on Kabbalah |
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| Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Chapter 2.: Sephirothic Correspondences
The correspondences are a set of symbols, associations and qualities which provide a handle on the elusive something a sephira represents. Some of the correspondences are hundreds of years old, many were concocted this century, and some are my own; some fit very well, and some are obscure - oddly enough it is often the most obscure and ill-fitting correspondence which is most productive; like a Zen riddle it perplexes and annoys the mind until it arrives at the right place more in spite of the correspondence than because of it. There are few canonical correspondences; some of the sephiroth have alternative names, some of the names have alternative translations, the mapping from Hebrew spellings to the English alphabet varies from one author to the next, and inaccuracies and accretions are handed down like the family silver. I keep my Hebrew dictionary to hand but guarantee none of the English spellings.
The correspondences I have given are as follows:
1. The Meaning is a translation of the Hebrew name of the sephira.2. The Planet in most cases is the planet associated with the sephira. In some cases it is not a planet at all (e.g. the fixed stars). The planets are ordered by decreasing apparent motion - this is one correspondence which appears to pre-date Copernicus!
3. The Element is the physical element (earth, water, air, fire, aethyr) which has most in common with the nature of the Sephira. The Golden Dawn applied an excess of logic to these attributions and made a mess of them, to the confusion of many. Only the five Lower Face sephiroth have been attributed an element.
4. Briatic colour. This is the colour of the sephira as seen in the world of Creation, Briah. There are colour scales for the other three worlds but I haven't found them to be useful in practical work.
5. Magical Image. Useful in meditiations; some are astute.
6. The Briatic Correspondence is an abstract quality which says something about the essence of the way the sephira expresses itself.
7. The Illusion characterises the way in which the energy of the sephira clouds one's judgement; it is something which is *obviously* true. Most people suffer from one or more of these according to their temperament.
8. The Obligation is a personal quality which is demanded of an initiate at this level.
9. The Virtue and Vice are the energy of the sephiroth as it manifests in a positive and negative sense in the personality.
10. Qlippoth is a word which means "shell". In medieval Kabbalah each sephira was "seen" to be adding form to the sephira which preceded it in the Lightning Flash (see Chapter 3.). Form was seen to an accretion, a shell around the pure divine energy of the Godhead, and each layer or shell hid the divine radiance a little bit more, until God was buried in form and exiled in matter, the end-point of the process. At the time attitudes to matter were tainted with the Manichean notion that matter was evil, a snare for the spirit, and consequently the Qlippoth or shells were "demonised" and actually turned into demons. The correspondence I have given here restores the original notion of a shell of form *without* the corresponding force to activate it; it is the lifeless, empty husk of a sephira devoid of force, and while it isn't a literal demon, it is hardly a bundle of laughs when you come across it.
11. The Command refers to the Four Powers of the Sphinx, with an extra one added for good measure.
12. The Spiritual Experience is just that.
13. The Titles are a collection of alternative names for the sephira; most are very old.
14. The God Name is a key to invoking the power of the sephira in the world of emanation, Atziluth.
13. The Archangel mediates the energy of the sephira in the world of creation, Briah.
14. The Angel Order administers the energy of the sephira in the world of formation, Yetzirah.
15. The Keywords are a collection of phrases which summarise key aspects of the sephira.
=================================================================
Sephira: Malkuth
Meaning: Kingdom
-------
-------
Planet: Cholem Yesodeth
Element: earth
--------(the Breaker of
-------
the Foundations, sphere of
the elements, the Earth)
Briatic Colour: brown
Number: 10
------------- (citrine, russet-red, ------
olive green, black)
Magical Image: a young woman crowned and throned
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: stability
----------------------
Illusion: materialism
Obligation: discipline
--------
----------
Virtue: discrimination
Vice: avarice & inertia
--------
----------
Qlippoth: stasis
Command: keep silent
--------
----------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel
--------
Titles: The Gate; Gate of Death; Gate of Tears; Gate of Justice;
------ The Inferior Mother; Malkah, the Queen; Kallah, the Bride; the
Virgin.
------
God Name: Adonai ha Aretz Archangel:
Sandalphon
-------- Adonai Malekh
---------
Angel Order: Ishim
-----------
Keywords: the real world, physical matter, the Earth, Mother Earth, the physical
elements, the natural world, sticks & stones, possessions, faeces,
practicality, solidity, stability, inertia, heaviness, bodily death, incarnation.
=================================================================
Sephira: Yesod
Meaning: Foundation
------- -------
Planet: Levanah (the Moon) Element:
Aethyr
-------------- -------
Briatic Colour: purple
Number: 9
------------- ------
Magical Image: a beautiful man, very strong (e.g. Atlas)
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: receptivity, perception
----------------------
Illusion: security
Obligation: trust
--------
----------
Virtue: independence
Vice: idleness
------
----------
Qlippoth: zombieism, robotism Command: go!
--------
----------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of the Machinery of the Universe
--------------------
Titles: The Treasure House of Images
------
God Name: Shaddai el Chai Archangel:
Gabriel
--------
-----------
Angel Order: Cherubim
----------
Keywords: perception, interface, imagination, image, appearance, glamour,
the Moon, the unconscious, instinct, tides, illusion, hidden infrastructure,
dreams, divination, anything as it seems to be and not as it is, mirrors
and crystals, the "Astral Plane", Aethyr, glue, tunnels, sex & reproduction,
the genitals, cosmetics, instinctive magic (psychism), secret doors, shamanic
tunnel.
=============================================================
Sephira: Hod
Meaning: Glory,
Splendour
-------
-------
Planet: Kokab (Mercury)
Element: air
------
-------
Briatic Colour: orange
Number: 8
-------------
------
Magical Image: an hermaphrodite
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: abstraction
----------------------
Illusion: order
Obligation: learn
--------
----------
Virtue: honesty, truthfulness Vice:
dishonesty
------
----------
Qlippoth: rigidity
Command: will
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Splendour
------
Titles: -
------
God Name: Elohim Tzabaoth Archangel:
Raphael
--------
---------
Angel Order: Beni Elohim
Keywords: reason, abstraction, communication, conceptualisation, logic, the sciences, language, speech, money (as a concept), mathematics, medicine & healing, trickery, writing, media (as communication), pedantry, philosophy, Kabbalah (as an abstract system), protocol, the Law, ownership, territory, theft, "Rights", ritual magic.
===============================================================
Sephira: Netzach
Meaning: Victory, Firmness
-------
-------
Planet: Nogah (Venus)
Element: water
--------------
-------
Briatic Colour: green
Number: 7
-------------
------
Magical Image: a beautiful naked woman
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: nurture
----------------------
Illusion: projection
Obligation: responsibility
--------
----------
Virtue: unselfishness
Vice: selfishness
------
----
Qlippoth: habit, routine
Command: know
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Beauty Triumphant
------
Titles: -
------
God Name: Jehovah Tzabaoth Archangel: Haniel
--------
---------
Angel Order: Elohim
----------
Keywords: passion, pleasure, luxury, sensual beauty, feelings, drives, emotions
- love, hate, anger, joy, depression, misery, excitement, desire, lust; nurture,
libido, empathy, sympathy, ecstatic magic.
================================================================
Sephira: Tipheret
Meaning: Beauty
-------
-------
Planet: Shemesh (the Sun)
Element: fire
--------------
-------
Briatic Colour: yellow
Number: 6
-------------
------
Magical Image: a king, a child, a sacrificed god
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: centrality, wholeness
----------------------
Illusion: identification
Obligation: integrity
--------
----------
Virtue: devotion to the Great Work Vice: pride,
self-importance
------
----
Qlippoth: hollowness
Command: dare
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Harmony
--------------------
Titles: Melekh, the King; Zoar Anpin, the lesser countenance, the Microprosopus;
the Son; Rachamin, charity.
God Name: Aloah va Daath Archangel:
Michael
--------
---------
Angel Order: Malachim
-----------
Keywords: harmony, integrity, balance, wholeness, the Self, self-importance,
self-sacrifice, the Son of God, centrality, the Philospher's Stone, identity,
the solar plexus, a King, the Great Work.
================================================================
Sephira: Gevurah
Meaning: Strength
-------
-------
Planet: Madim (Mars)
--------------
Briatic Colour: red
Number: 5
-------------
------
Magical Image: a mighty warrior
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: power
----------------------
Illusion: invincibility
Obligation: courage & loyalty
--------
----------
Virtue: courage & energy Vice:
cruelty
------
----
Qlippoth: bureaucracy
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Power
--------------------
Titles: Pachad, fear; Din, justice.
------
God Name: Elohim Gevor Archangel:
Kamael
--------
---------
Angel Order: Seraphim
-----------
Keywords: power, justice, retribution (eaten cold), the Law (in execution),
cruelty, oppression, domination & the Power Myth, severity, necessary
destruction, catabolism, martial arts.
===============================================================
Sephira: Chesed
Meaning: Mercy
-------
-------
Planet: Tzadekh (Jupiter)
--------------
Briatic Colour: blue
Number: 4
-------------
------
Magical Image: a mighty king
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: authority
----------------------
Illusion: being right
Obligation: humility
------- (self-righteousness) ----------
Virtue: humility & obedience Vice: tyranny,
hypocrisy,
------
----
bigotry, gluttony
Qlippoth: ideology
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Love
--------------------
Titles: Gedulah, magnificence, love, majesty
------
God Name: El
Archangel: Tzadkiel
--------
---------
Angel Order: Chasmalim
-----------
Keywords: authority, creativity, inspiration, vision, leadership, excess,
waste, secular and spiritual power, submission and the Annihilation Myth,
the atom bomb, obliteration, birth, service.
================================================================
Non-Sephira: Daath
Meaning: Knowledge
-----------
-------
Daath has no manifest qualities and cannot be invoked directly.Keywords:
hole, tunnel, gateway, doorway, black hole, vortex.
================================================================
Sephira: Binah
Meaning: Understanding,
-------
-------
Planet: Shabbathai (Saturn)
------
Briatic Colour: black
Number: 3
-------------
------
Magical Image: an old woman on a throne
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: comprehension
----------------------
Illusion: death
--------
Virtue: silence
Vice: inertia
------
----
Qlippoth: fatalism
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Sorrow
--------------------
Titles: Aima, the Mother; Ama, the Crone; Marah, the bitter sea; Khorsia,
the Throne; the Fifty Gates of Understanding; Intelligence; the Mother of
Form; the Superior Mother.
God Name: Elohim
Archangel: Cassiel
--------
---------
Angel Order: Aralim
-----------
Keywords: limitation, form, constraint, heaviness, slowness, old-age,
infertility, incarnation, karma, fate, time, space, natural law, the womb
and gestation, darkness, boundedness, enclosure, containment, fertility,
mother, weaving and spinning, death (annihilation).
==================================================================
Sephira: Chokhmah
Meaning: Wisdom
-------
-------
Planet: Mazlot (the Zodiac, the fixed stars)
--------------
Briatic Colour: silver/white Number: 2
------------- grey
------
Magical Image: a bearded man
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: revolution
----------------------
Illusion: independence
--------
Virtue: good
Vice: evil
------
----
Qlippoth: arbitrariness
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of God face-to-face
------
Titles: Abba, the Father. The Supernal Father.
------
God Name: Jah
Archangel: Ratziel
-------- ---------
Angel Order: Auphanim
-----------
Keywords: pure creative energy, lifeforce, the wellspring.
==================================================================
Sephira: Kether
Meaning: Crown
-------
-------
Planet: Rashith ha Gilgalim (first swirlings, the Big Bang)
--------------
Briatic Colour: pure white Number: 1
-------------
------
Magical Image: a bearded man seen in profile
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: unity
----------------------
Illusion: attainment
--------
Virtue: attainment
Vice: ---
------
----
Qlippoth: futility
--------
Spiritual Experience: Union with God
--------------------
Titles: Ancient of Days, the Greater Countenance (Macroprosopus), the White
Head, Concealed of the Concealed, Existence of Existences, the Smooth Point,
Rum Maalah, the Highest Point.
God Name: Eheieh
Archangel: Metatron
--------
---------
Angel Order: Chaioth ha Qadesh
-----------
Keywords: unity, union, all, pure consciousness, God, the Godhead, manifestation,
beginning, source, emanation.
****************
The author grants the right to copy and distribute these Notes provided they remain unmodified and original authorship and copyright is retained. The author retains both the right and intention to modify and extend these Notes.
Release 2.0
Copy date: 9th. January 1992
Copyright Colin Low 1992 (cal@hplb.hpl.hp.com)
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