A minor book on the Kabbalah

[Angaridatha]

Notes on Kabbalah (a continuing series of many parts)

Copyright Colin Low 1991


Chapter 1.: The Tree of Life

At the root of the Cabalistic view of the world are three
fundamental concepts and they provide a natural place to begin.
The three concepts are force, form and consciousness and these
words are used in an abstract way, as the following examples
illustrate:

- high pressure steam in the cylinder of a steam engine
provides a force. The engine is a form which constrains the
force.

- a river runs downhill under the force of gravity. The
river channel is a form which constrains the water to run in
a well defined path.

- someone wants to get to the center of a garden maze. The
hedges are a form which constrain that person's ability to
walk as they please.

- a diesel engine provides the force which drives a boat
forwards. A rudder constrains its course to a given
direction.

- a politician wants to change the law. The legislative
framework of the country is a form which he or she must
follow if the change is to be made legally.

- water sits in a bowl. The force of gravity pulls the water
down. The bowl is a form which gives its shape to the water.

- a stone falls to the ground under the force of gravity.
Its acceleration is constrained to be equal to the force
divided by the mass of the stone.

- I want to win at chess. The force of my desire to win is
constrained within the rules of chess.

- I see something in a shop window and have to have it. I am
constrained by the conditions of sale (do I have enough
money, is it in stock).

- cordite explodes in a gun barrel and provides an explosive
force on a bullet. The gas and the bullet are constrained by
the form of the gun barrel.

- I want to get a passport. The government won't give me one
unless I fill in lots of forms in precisely the right way.

- I want a university degree. The university won't give me
a degree unless I attend certain courses and pass various
assessments.
In all these examples there is something which is causing changeto take place ("a force") and there is something which causes
change to take place in a defined way ("a form"). Without being
too pedantic it is possible to identify two very different types
of example here:

1. examples of natural physical processes (e.g. a falling
stone) where the force is one of the natural forces known to
physics (e.g. gravity) and the form is some combination
of physical laws which constrain the force to act in a well
defined way.

2. examples of people wanting something, where the force is
some ill-defined concept of "desire", "will", or "drives",
and the form is one of the forms we impose upon ourselves
(the rules of chess, the Law, polite behavior etc.).

Despite the fact that the two different types of example are
"only metaphorically similar", Kabbalists see no fundamental
distinction between them. To the Kabbalist there are forces
which cause change in the natural world, and there are
corresponding psychological forces which drive us to change both
the world and ourselves, and whether these forces are natural or
psychological they are rooted in the same place: consciousness.
Similarly, there are forms which the component parts of the
physical world seem to obey (natural laws) and there are
completely arbitrary forms we create as part of the process of
living (the rules of a game, the shape of a mug, the design of an
engine, the syntax of a language) and these forms are also rooted
in the same place: consciousness. It is a Cabalistic axiom that
there is a prime cause which underpins all the manifestations of
force and form in both the natural and psychological world and
that prime cause I have called consciousness for lack of a better
word.
Consciousness is undefinable. We know that we are conscious
in different ways at different times - sometimes we feel free and
happy, at other times trapped and confused, sometimes angry and
passionate, sometimes cold and restrained - but these words
describe manifestations of consciousness. We can define the
manifestations of consciousness in terms of manifestations of
consciousness, which is about as useful as defining an ocean in
terms of waves and foam. Anyone who attempts to define
consciousness itself tends to come out of the same door as they
went in. We have lots of words for the phenomena of consciousness
- thoughts, feelings, beliefs, desires, emotions, motives and so
on - but few words for the states of consciousness which give
rise to these phenomena, just as we have many words to describe
the surface of a sea, but few words to describe its depths.
Kabbalah provides a vocabulary for states of consciousness
underlying the phenomena, and one of the purposes of these notes
is to explain this vocabulary, not by definition, but mostly by
metaphor and analogy. The only genuine method of understanding
what the vocabulary means is by attaining various states of
consciousness in a predictable and reasonably objective way, and
Kabbalah provides practical methods for doing this.
A fundamental premise of the Cabalistic model of reality is
that there is a pure, primal, and undefinable state of
consciousness which manifests as an interaction between force and
form. This is virtually the entire guts of the Cabalistic view
of things, and almost everything I have to say from now on is
based on this trinity of consciousness, force, and form.
Consciousness comes first, but hidden within it is an inherent
duality; there is an energy associated with consciousness which
causes change (force), and there is a capacity within
consciousness to constrain that energy and cause it to manifest
in a well-defined way (form).

First Principle
of
/ Consciousness \
/ \
/ \
Capacity Raw
to take ________________ Energy
Form
Figure 1.

What do we get out of raw energy and an inbuilt capacity for form
and structure? Is there yet another hidden potential within this
trinity waiting to manifest? There is. If modern physics is to be
believed we get matter and the physical world. The cosmological
Big Bang model of raw energy surging out from an infinitesimal
point and condensing into basic forms of matter as it cools, then
into stars and galaxies, then planets, and ultimately living
creatures, has many points of similarity with the Cabalistic
model. In the Big Bang model a soup of energy condenses according
to some yet-to-be-formulated Grand-Universal-Theory into our
physical world. What Kabbalah does suggest (and modern physics
most certainly does not!) is that matter and consciousness are
the same stuff, and differ only in the degree of structure
imposed - matter is consciousness so heavily structured and
constrained that its behavior becomes describable using the
regular and simple laws of physics. This is shown in Fig. 2. The
primal, first principle of consciousness is synonymous with the
idea of "God".
First Principle
of
/ Consciousness \
/ | \
/ | \
Capacity | Raw
to take _____________ Energy/Force
Form |
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Matter
The World

Figure 2

The glyph in Fig. 2 is the basis for the Tree of Life. The first
principle of consciousness is called Kether, which means Crown.
The raw energy of consciousness is called Chockhmah or Wisdom,
and the capacity to give form to the energy of consciousness is
called Binah, which is sometimes translated as Understanding, and
sometimes as Intelligence. The outcome of the interaction of
force and form, the physical world, called Malkuth or Kingdom.
This quaternery is a Cabalistic representation of God-the-
Knowable, in the sense that it the most primitive representation
of God we are capable of comprehending; paradoxically, Kabbalah
also contains a notion of God-the-Unknowable which transcends
this glyph, and is called En Soph. There is not much I can say
about En Soph, and what I can say I will postpone for later.
God-the-Knowable has four aspects, two male and two female:
Kether and Chokhmah are both represented as male, and Binah and
Malkuth are represented as female. One of the titles of Chokhmah
is Abba, which means Father, and one of the titles of Binah is
Aima, which means Mother, so you can think of Chokhmah as God-
the-Father, and Binah as God-the-Mother. Malkuth is the
daughter, the female spirit of God-as-Matter, and it would not be
wildly wrong to think of her as Mother Earth. One of the more
pleasant things about Kabbalah is that its symbolism gives equal
place to both male and female.
And what of God-the-Son? Is there also a God-the-Son in
Kabbalah? There is, and this is the point where Kabbalah tackles
the interesting problem of thee and me. The glyph in Fig. 2 is a
model of consciousness, but not of self-consciousness, and self-
consciousness throws an interesting spanner in the works.
The Fall

Self-consciousness is like a mirror in which consciousness
sees itself reflected. Self-consciousness is modelled in Kabbalah
by making a copy of figure 2.

Consciousness
of
/ Consciousness \
/ | \
/ | \
Consciousness | Consciousness
of ________________ of
Form | Energy/Force
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Consciousness
of the
World

Figure 3

Figure 3. is Figure 2. reflected through self-consciousness. The
overall effect of self-consciousness is to add an additional
layer to Figure 2. as follows:

First Principle
of
/ Consciousness \
/ | \
/ | \
Capacity | Raw
to take _____________ Energy/Force
Form |
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Consciousness
of
/ Consciousness \
/ | \
/ | \
Consciousness | Consciousness
of ________________ of
Form | Energy/Force
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Consciousness
of the
World
|
|
|
Matter
The World
Figure 4


Fig. 2 is sometimes called "the Garden of Eden" because it
represents a primal state of consciousness. The effect of self-
consciousness as shown in Fig. 4 is to drive a wedge between the
First Principle of Consciousness (Kether) and that Consciousness
realized as matter and the physical world (Malkuth). This is
called "the Fall", after the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden. From a Cabalistic point of view the story of Eden, with
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the serpent and the
temptation, and the casting out from the Garden has a great deal
of meaning in terms of understanding the evolution of
consciousness.
Self-consciousness introduces four new states of
consciousness: the Consciousness of Consciousness is called
Tipheret, which means Beauty; the Consciousness of Force/Energy
is called Netzach, which means Victory or Firmness; the
Consciousness of Form is called Hod, which means Splendor or
Glory, and the Consciousness of Matter is called Yesod, which
means Foundation. These four states have readily observable
manifestations, as shown below in Fig. 5:

The Self
Self-Importance
Self-Sacrifice
/ | \
/ | \
/ | \
Language | Emotions
Abstraction_______________Drives
Reason | Feelings
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
\ Perception /
Imagination
Instinct
Reproduction

Figure 5

Figure 4. is almost the complete Tree of Life, but not quite -
there are still two states missing. The inherent capacity of
consciousness to take on structure and objectify itself (Binah,
God-the-Mother) is reflected through self-consciousness as a
perception of the limitedness and boundedness of things. We are
conscious of space and time, yesterday and today, here and there,
you and me, in and out, life and death, whole and broken,
together and apart. We see things as limited and bounded and we
have a perception of form as something "created" and "destroyed".
My car was built a year ago, but it was smashed yesterday. I
wrote an essay, but I lost it when my computer crashed. My granny
is dead. The river changed its course. A law has been repealed. I
broke my coffee mug. The world changes, and what was here
yesterday is not here today. This perception acts like an
"interface" between the quaternary of consciousness which
represents "God", and the quaternary which represents a living
self-conscious being, and two new states are introduced to
represent this interface. The state which represents the creation
of new forms is called Chesed, which means Mercy, and the state
which represents the destruction of forms is called Gevurah,
which means Strength. This is shown in Fig. 6. The
objectification of forms which takes place in a self-conscious
being, and the consequent tendency to view the world in terms of
limitations and dualities (time and space, here and there, you
and me, in and out, God and Man, good and evil...) produces a
barrier to perception which most people rarely overcome, and for
this reason it has come to be called the Abyss. The Abyss is also
marked on Figure 6.

First Principle
of
/ Consciousness \
/ | \
/ | \
Capacity | Raw
to take _____________ Energy/Force
Form | |
|\ | /|
| \ | / |
--------------Abyss---------------
| \ | / |
Destruction | Creation
of_____\_____|_____ /____of
Form \ | / Form
| \ \ | / / |
| \ \ | / / |
| \ Consciousness / |
| of |
| / Consciousness \ |
| / | \ |
|/ | \|
Consciousness | Consciousness
of ________________ of
\ Form | Energy/Force
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ Consciousness /
\ of /
\ the World /
\ /
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Matter
The World

Figure 6


The diagram in Fig. 6 is called the Tree of Life. The
"constructionist" approach I have used to justify its structure
is a little unusual, but the essence of my presentation can be
found in the "Zohar" under the guise of the Macroprosopus and
Microprosopus, although in this form it is not readily accessible
to the average reader. My attempt to show how the Tree of Life
can be derived out of pure consciousness through the interaction
of an abstract notion of force and form was not intended to be a
convincing exercise from an intellectual point of view - the Tree
of Life is primarily a gnostic rather than a rational or
intellectual explanation of consciousness and its interaction
with the physical world.

[Angaridatha]

The Tree is composed of 10 states or sephiroth (sephiroth
plural, sephira singular) and 22 interconnecting paths. The age
of this diagram is unknown: there is enough information in the
13th. century "Sepher ha Zohar" to construct this diagram, and
the doctrine of the sephiroth has been attributed to Isaac the
Blind in the 12th. century, but we have no certain knowledge of
its origin. It probably originated sometime in the interval
between the 6th. and 13th. centuries AD. The origin of the word
"sephira" is unclear - it is almost certainly derived from the
Hebrew word for "number" (SPhR), but it has also been attributed
to the Greek word for "sphere" and even to the Hebrew word for a
sapphire (SPhIR). With a characteristic aptitude for discovering
hidden meanings everywhere, Kabbalists find all three derivations
useful, so take your pick.
In the language of earlier Cabalistic writers the sephiroth
represented ten primeval emanations of God, ten foci through
which the energy of a hidden, absolute and unknown Godhead (En
Soph) propagated throughout the creation, like white light
passing through a prism. The sephiroth can be interpreted as
aspects of God, as states of consciousness, or as nodes akin to
the Chakras in the occult anatomy of a human being .
I have left out one important detail from the structure of
the Tree. There is an eleventh "something" which is definitely
*not* a sephira, but is often shown on modern representations of
the Tree. The Cabalistic "explanation" runs as follows: when
Malkuth "fell" out of the Garden of Eden (Fig. 2) it left behind
a "hole" in the fabric of the Tree, and this "hole", located in
the center of the Abyss, is called Daath, or Knowledge. Daath is
*not* a sephira; it is a hole. This may sound like gobbledy-gook,
and in the sense that it is only a metaphor, it is.


The completed Tree of Life with the Hebrew titles of the
sephiroth is shown below in Fig. 7.


En Soph
/-------------------------\
/ \
( Kether )
/ (Crown) \
/ | \
/ | \
/ | \
Binah | Chokhmah
(Understanding)__________ (Wisdom)
(Intelligence) | |
|\ | /|
| \ Daath / |
| \ (Knowledge) / |
| \ | / |
Gevurah \ | / Chesed
(Strength)\_____|_____/__ (Mercy)
| \ | / (Love)
| \ \ | / / |
| \ \ | / / |
| \ Tipheret / |
| / (Beauty) \ |
| / | \ |
| / | \ |
|/ | \|
Hod | Netzach
(Glory) _______________(Victory)
(Splendor) | (Firmness)
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ Yesod / /
\ (Foundation) /
\ /
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Malkuth
(Kingdom)

Figure 7
From an historical point of view the doctrine of emanations and
the Tree of Life are only one small part of a huge body of
Cabalistic speculation about the nature of divinity and our part
in creation, but it is the part which has survived. The Tree
continues to be used in the Twentieth Century because it has
proved to be a useful and productive symbol for practices of a
magical, mystical and religious nature. Modern Kabbalah in the
Western Mystery Tradition is largely concerned with the
understanding and practical application of the Tree of Life, and
the following set of notes will list some of the characteristics
of each sephira in more detail so that you will have a "snapshot"
of what each sephira represents before going on to examine the
sephiroth and the "deep structure" of the Tree in more detail.

[Angaridatha]

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 color. This is the color of the sephira as
seen in the world of Creation, Briah. There are color
scales for the other three worlds but I haven't found
them to be useful in practical work.

5. Magical Image. Useful in meditations; 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 characterizes 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. Klippoth 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 Klippoth 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 summarize
key aspects of the sephira.

[Angaridatha]

=================================================================
Sephira: Malkuth Meaning: Kingdom
------- -------
Planet: Cholem Yesodeth Element: earth
--------(the Breaker of -------
the Foundations, sphere of the elements, the Earth)

Briatic Color: 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
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

=================================================================
Sephira: Yesod Meaning: Foundation
------- -------
Planet: Levanah (the Moon) Element: Aethyr
-------------- -------
Briatic Color: 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
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

=============================================================
Sephira: Hod Meaning: Glory, Splendor
------- -------
Planet: Kokab (Mercury) Element: air
------ -------
Briatic Color: orange Number: 8
------------- ------
Magical Image: an hermaphrodite
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: abstraction
----------------------
Illusion: order Obligation: learn
-------- ----------
Virtue: honesty, truthfulness Vice: dishonesty
------ ----
Klippoth: rigidity Command: will
--------
Spiritual Experience: Vision of Splendor
------
Titles: -
------
God Name: Elohim Tzabaoth Archangel: Raphael
-------- ---------
Angel Order: Beni Elohim

Keywords: reason, abstraction, communication, conceptualization,
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.

[Angaridatha]

===============================================================
Sephira: Netzach Meaning: Victory, Firmness
------- -------
Planet: Nogah (Venus) Element: water
-------------- -------
Briatic Color: green Number: 7
------------- ------
Magical Image: a beautiful naked woman
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: nurture
----------------------
Illusion: projection Obligation: responsibility
-------- ----------
Virtue: unselfishness Vice: selfishness
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

================================================================
Sephira: Tipheret Meaning: Beauty
------- -------
Planet: Shemesh (the Sun) Element: fire
-------------- -------
Briatic Color: 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
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

================================================================
Sephira: Gevurah Meaning: Strength
------- -------
Planet: Madim (Mars)
--------------
Briatic Color: red Number: 5
------------- ------
Magical Image: a mighty warrior
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: power
----------------------
Illusion: invincibility Obligation: courage & loyalty
-------- ----------
Virtue: courage & energy Vice: cruelty
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

===============================================================
Sephira: Chesed Meaning: Mercy
------- -------
Planet: Tzadekh (Jupiter)
--------------
Briatic Color: 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
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

================================================================
Non-Sephira: Daath Meaning: Knowledge
----------- -------
Daath has no manifest qualities and cannot be invoked directly.

Keywords: hole, tunnel, gateway, doorway, black hole, vortex.

[Angaridatha]

================================================================
Sephira: Binah Meaning: Understanding,
------- -------
Planet: Shabbathai (Saturn)
------
Briatic Color: black Number: 3
------------- ------
Magical Image: an old woman on a throne
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: comprehension
----------------------
Illusion: death
--------
Virtue: silence Vice: inertia
------ ----
Klippoth: 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).

[Angaridatha]

==================================================================
Sephira: Chokhmah Meaning: Wisdom
------- -------
Planet: Mazlot (the Zodiac, the fixed stars)
--------------
Briatic Color: silver/white Number: 2
------------- grey ------

Magical Image: a bearded man
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: revolution
----------------------
Illusion: independence
--------
Virtue: good Vice: evil
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

==================================================================
Sephira: Kether Meaning: Crown
------- -------
Planet: Rashith ha Gilgalim (first swirlings, the Big Bang)
--------------
Briatic Color: pure white Number: 1
------------- ------
Magical Image: a bearded man seen in profile
-------------
Briatic Correspondence: unity
----------------------
Illusion: attainment
--------
Virtue: attainment Vice: ---
------ ----
Klippoth: 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.

[Angaridatha]

Chapter 3: The Pillars & the Lightning Flash
============================================

In Chapter 1. the Tree of Life was derived from three
concepts, or rather one primary concept and two derivative
concepts which are "contained" within it. The primary concept was
called consciousness, and it was said to "contain" within it the
two complementary concepts of force and form. This chapter builds
on the idea by introducing the three Pillars of the Tree, and
uses the Pillars to clarify a process called the Lightning Flash.
The Three Pillars are shown in Figure 8. below.

Pillar Pillar Pillar
of of of
Form Consciousness Force
(Severity) (Mildness) (Mercy)

Kether
/ (Crown) \
/ | \
/ | \
/ | \
Binah | Chokhmah
(Understanding)__________ (Wisdom)
(Intelligence) | |
|\ | /|
| \ Daath / |
| \ (Knowledge) / |
| \ | / |
Gevurah \ | / Chesed
(Strength)\_____|_____/__ (Mercy)
| \ | / (Love)
| \ \ | / / |
| \ \ | / / |
| \ Tipheret / |
| / (Beauty) \ |
| / | \ |
| / | \ |
|/ | \|
Hod | Netzach
(Glory) _______________(Victory)
(Splendor) | (Firmness)
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ | / /
\ \ Yesod / /
\ (Foundation) /
\ /
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
Malkuth
(Kingdom)

Figure 8


Not surprisingly the three pillars are referred to as the pillars
of consciousness, force and form. The pillar of consciousness
contains the sephiroth Kether, Tiphereth, Yesod and Malkuth; the
pillar of force contains the sephiroth Chokhmah, Chesed and
Netzach; the pillar of form contains the sephiroth Binah, Gevurah
and Hod. In older Cabalistic texts the pillars are referred to
as the pillars of mildness, mercy and severity, and it is not
immediately obvious how the older jargon relates to the new. To
the medieval Kabbalist (and this is a recurring metaphor in the
Zohar) the creation as an emanation of God is a delicate
*balance* (metheqela) between two opposing tendencies: the mercy
of God, the outflowing, creative, life-giving and sustaining
tendency in God, and the severity or strict judgement of God, the
limiting, defining, life-taking and ultimately wrathful or
destructive tendency in God. The creation is "energized" by these
two tendencies as if stretched between the poles of a battery.

Modern Kabbalah makes a half-hearted attempt to remove the
more obvious anthropomorphisms in the descriptions of "God";
mercy and severity are misleading terms, apt to remind one of a
man with a white beard, and even in medieval times the terms had
distinctly technical meanings as the following quotation shows
[1]:

"It must be remembered that to the Kabbalist, judgement [Din
- judgement, another title of Gevurah] means the imposition
of limits and the correct determination of things. According
to Cordovero the quality of judgement is inherent in
everything insofar as everything wishes to remain what it
is, to stay within its boundaries."

I understand the word "form" inprecisely this sense - itis
that which defines *what* a thing is, the structure whereby a given
thing is distinct from every other thing.

As for "consciousness", I use the word "consciousness" in a
sense so abstract that it is virtually meaningless, and according
to whim I use the word God instead, where it is understood that
both words are placeholders for something which is potentially
knowable in the gnostic sense only - consciousness can be
*defined* according to the *forms* it takes, in which case we are
defining the forms, *not* the consciousness. The same
qualification applies to the word "force". My inability to define
two of the three concepts which underpin the structure of the
Tree is a nuisance which is tackled traditionally by the use of
extravagant metaphors, and by elimination ("not this, not
that").

The classification of sephiroth into three pillars is a way
of saying that each sephira in a pillar partakes of a common
quality which is "inherited" in a progressively more developed
and structured form from of the top of a pillar to the bottom.
Tipheret, Yesod and Malkuth all share with Kether the quality of
"consciousness in balance" or "synthesis of opposing qualities",
or but in each case it is expressed differently according to the
increased degree of structure imposed. Likewise, Chokhmah, Chesed
and Netzach share the quality of force or energy or
expansiveness, and Binah, Gevurah and Hod share the quality of
form, definition and limitation. From Kether down to Malkuth,
force and form are combined; the symbolism of the Tree has
something in common with a production line, with molten metal
coming in one end and finished cars coming out the other, and
with that metaphor we are now ready to describe the Lightning
Flash, the process whereby God takes on flesh, the process which
created and sustains the creation.

In the beginning...was Something. Or Nothing. It doesn't
really matter which term we use, as both are equally meaningless
in this context. Nothing is probably the better of the two terms,
because I can use Something in the next paragraph. Kabbalists
call this Nothing "En Soph" which literally means "no end" or
infinity, and understand by this a hidden, unmanifest God-in-
Itself.

Out of this incomprehensible and indescribable Nothing came
Something. Probably more words have been devoted to this moment
than any other in Kabbalah, and it is all too easy to make fun
the effort which has gone into elaborating the indescribable, so
I won't, but in return do not expect me to provide a
justification for why Something came out of Nothing. It just did.
A point crystallized in the En Soph. In some versions of the
story the En Soph "contracted" to "make room" for the creation
(Isaac Luria's theory of Tsimtsum), and this is probably an
important clarification for those who have rubbed noses with the
hidden face of God, but for the purposes of these notes it is
enough that a point crystallized. This point was the crown of
creation, the sephira Kether, and within Kether was contained all
the unrealized potential of the creation.

An aspect of Kether is the raw creative force of God which
blasts into the creation like the blast of hot gas which keeps a
hot air balloon in the air. Kabbalists are quite clear about this;
the creation didn't just happen a long time ago - it is happening
all the time, and without the force to sustain it the creation
would crumple like a balloon. The force-like aspect within Kether
is the sephira Chokhmah and it can be thought of as the will of
God, because without it the creation would cease to *be*. The
whole of creation is maintained by this ravening, primeval desire
to *be*, to become, to exist, to change, to evolve. The
experiential distinction between Kether, the point of emanation,
and Chokhmah, the creative outpouring, is elusive, but some of
the difference is captured in the phrases "I am" and "I
become".

Force by itself achieves nothing; it needs to be contained,
and the balloon analogy is appropriate again. Chokhmah contains
within it the necessity of Binah, the Mother of Form. The person
who taught me Kabbalah (a woman) told me Chokhmah (Abba, the
Father) was God's prick, and Binah (Aima, the mother) was God's
womb, and left me with the picture of one half of God
continuously ejaculating into the other half. The author of the
Zohar also makes frequent use of sexual polarity as a metaphor
to describe the relationship between force and form, or mercy and
severity (although the most vivid sexual metaphors are used for
the marriage of the Microprosopus and his bride, the Queen and
Inferior Mother, the sephira Malkuth).
The sephira Binah is the Mother of Form; form exists within
Binah as a potentiality, not as an actuality, just as a womb
contains the potential of a baby. Without the possibility of
form, no thing would be distinct from any other thing; it would
be impossible to distinguish between things, impossible to have
individuality or identity or change. The Mother of Form
contains the potential of form within her womb and gives birth to
form when a creative impulse crosses the Abyss to the Pillar of
Force and emanates through the sephira Chesed. Again we have the
idea of "becoming", of outflowing creative energy, but at a lower
level. The sephira Chesed is the point at which form becomes
perceptible to the mind as an inspiration, an idea, a vision,
that "Eureka!" moment immediately prior to rushing around
shouting "I've got it! I've got it!" Chesed is that quality of
genuine inspiration, a sense of being "plugged in" which
characterizes the visionary leaders who drive the human race
onwards into every new kind of endeavour. It can be for good or
evil; a leader who can tap the petty malice and vindictiveness in
any person and channel it into a vision of a new order and
genocide is just as much a visionary as any other, but the
positive side of Chesed is the humanitarian leader who brings
about genuine improvements to our common life.



No change comes easy; as Cordova points out "everything
wishes to remain what it is". The creation of form is balanced in
the sephira Gevurah by the preservation and destruction of form.
Any impulse of change is channelled through Gevurah, and if it is
not resisted then something will be destroyed. If you want to
make paper you cut down a tree. If you want to abolish slavery
you have to destroy the culture which perpetuates it. If you want
to change someone's mind you have to destroy that person's
beliefs about the matter in question. The sephira Gevurah is the
quality of strict judgement which opposes change, destroys the
unfamiliar, and corresponds in many ways to an immune system
within the body of God.

There has to be a balance between creation and destruction.
Too much change, too many ideas, too many things happening too
quickly can have the quality of chaos (and can literally become
that), whereas too little change, no new ideas, too much form and
structure and protocol can suffocate and stifle. There has to be
a balance which "makes sense" and this "idea of balance" or
"making sense" is expressed in the sephira Tiphereth. It is an
instinctive morality, and it isn't present by default in the
human species. It isn't based on cultural norms; it doesn't have
its roots in upbringing (although it is easily destroyed by it).
Some people have it in a large measure, and some people are (to
all intents and purposes) completely lacking in it. It doesn't
necessarily respect conventional morality: it may laugh in its
face. I can't say what it is in any detail, because it is
peculiar and individual, but those who have it have a natural
quality of integrity, soundness of judgement, an instinctive
sense of rightness, justice and compassion, and a willingness to
fight or suffer in defense of that sense of justice. Tiphereth is
a paradoxical sephira because in many people it is simply not
there. It can be developed, and that is one of the goals of
initiation, but for many people Tiphereth is a room with nothing
in it.

Having passed through Gevurah on the Pillar of Form, and
found its way through the moral filter of Tiphereth, a creative
impulse picks up energy once more on the Pillar of Force via the
Sephira Netzach, where the energy of "becoming" finds its final
expression in the form of "vital urges". Why do we carry on
living? Why bother? What is it that compels us to do things? An
artist may have a vision of a piece of art, but what actually
compels the artist to paint or sculpt or write? Why do we want to
compete and win? Why do we care what happens to others? The
sephira Netzach expresses the basic vital creative urges in a
form we can recognize as drives, feelings and emotions. Netzach
is pre-verbal; ask a child why he wants a toy and the answer will
be "I just do". "But why," you ask, wondering why he doesn't want
the much more "sensible" toy you had in mind. "Why don't you want
this one here."
"I just don't. I want this one."
"But what's so good about that one."
"I don't know what to say...I just like it."



This conversation is not fictitious and is quintessentially
Netzach. The structure of the Tree of Life posits that the basic
driving forces which characterize our behavior are pre-verbal
and non-rational; anyone who has tried to change another person's
basic nature or beliefs through force of rational argument will
know this.
After Netzach we go to the sephira Hod to pick up our last
cargo of Form. Ask a child why they want something and they say
"I just do". Press an adult and you will get an earful of
"reasons". We live in a culture where it is important (often
essential) to give reasons for the things we do, and Hod is the
sephira of form where it is possible to give shape to our wants
in terms of reasons and explanations. Hod is the sephira of
abstraction, reason, logic, language and communication, and a
reflection of the Mother of Form in the human mind. We have a
innate capacity to abstract, to go immediately from the
particular to the general, and we have an innate capacity to
communicate these abstractions using language, and it should be
clear why the alternative translation of Binah is
"intelligence"; Binah is the "intelligence of God", and Hod
underpins what we generally recognize as intelligence in people -
the ability to grasp complex abstractions, reason about them, and
articulate this understanding using some means of communication.

The synthesis of Hod and Netzach on the Pillar of
Consciousness is the sephira Yesod. Yesod is the sephira of
interface, and the comparison with computer peripheral interfaces
is an excellent one. Yesod is sometimes called "the Receptacle of
the Emanations", and it interfaces the emanations of all three
pillars to the sephira Malkuth, and it is through Yesod that the
final abstract form of something is realized in matter. Form in
Yesod is no longer abstract; it is explicit, but not yet
individual - that last quality is reserved for Malkuth alone.
Yesod is like the mold in a bottle factory - the mold is a
realization of the abstract idea "bottle" in so far as it
expresses the shape of a particular bottle design in every
detail, but it is not itself an individual bottle.
The final step in the process is the sephira Malkuth, where
God becomes flesh, and every abstract form is realized in
actuality, in the "real world". There is much to say about this,
but I will keep it for later.
The process I have described is called the Lightning Flash.
The Lightning Flash runs as follows: Kether, Chokhmah, Binah,
Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth, and if
you trace the Lightning Flash on a diagram of the Tree you will
see that it has the zig-zag shape of a lightning flash. The
sephiroth are numbered according to their order on the lightning
flash: Kether is 1, Chokhmah is 2, and so on. The "Sepher
Yetzirah" [2] has this to say about the sephiroth:

"When you think of the ten sephiroth cover your heart and
seal the desire of your lips to announce their divinity.
Yoke your mind. Should it escape your grasp, reach out and
bring it back under your control. As it was said, 'And the
living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a
flash of lightning,' in such a manner was the Covenant
created."

The quotation within the quotation comes from Ezekiel 1.14, a
text which inspired a large amount of early Cabalistic
speculation, and it is probable that the Lightning Flash as
described is one of the earliest components of the idea of
sephirothic emanation.
The Lightning Flash describes the creative process,
beginning with the unknown, unmanifest hidden God, and follows it
through ten distinct stages to a change in the material world. It
can be used to describe *any* change - lighting a match, picking
your nose, walking the dog - and novices are usually set the
exercise of analyzing any arbitrarily chosen event in terms of
the Lightning Flash. Because the Lightning Flash can be used to
understand the inner process whereby the material world of the
senses changes and evolves, it is a key to practical magical
work, and because it is intended to account for *all* change it
follows that all change is equally magical, and the word "magic"
is essentially meaningless (but nevertheless useful for
distinguishing between "normal" and "abnormal" states of
consciousness, and the modes of causality which pertain to each).

It also follows that the key to understanding our "spiritual
nature" does not belong in the spiritual empyrean, where it
remains inaccessible, but in *all* the routine and unexciting
little things in life. Everything is equally "spiritual",
equally "divine", and there is more to be learned from picking
one's nose than there is in a spiritual discipline which puts you
"here" and God "over there". The Lightning Flash ends in Malkuth,
and it can be followed like a thread through the hidden pathways
of creation until one arrives back at the source. The next
chapter will retrace the Lightning Flash by examining the
qualities of each sephira in more detail.

[1] Scholem, Gershom G. "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism",
Schoken Books 1974

[2] Westcott, W. Wynn, ed. "Sepher Yetzirah". Many reprintings.