Sunday, March 4, 2012

Kabbalah - Ways to group the Sephiroth

Just a word of warning to anyone planning to read Dione Fortune's Mystical Kabbalah, it's full of freaking typos, something went wrong with the scanning I think, it's not a major problem, I've been able to decipher 100% of the typos quite fast it's just a bit annoying. Anyway time to share some Kabbalah tidbits and here are the different ways to group the Sephiroth aka the Spheres of the Kabbalah. This will probably not make that much sense to the neophyte but there is some explaining and you can copy it in a textfile and keep it for future reference. Interesting thing happened yesterday, I was reading in the book about the different Tarot cards and their associations to the Sephiroth and the paths, and my third eye started throbbing for more than a few seconds, ok Universe, time to get myself a Tarot deck I suppose!

These different methods of classifying the Sephiroth are not competing systems, but are designed to enable the decimal system of the Qabalists to be equated with other systems, using a threefold notation, such as the Christian, or as we have already noted, a sevenfold system like Theosophy; they are also valuable as indicating functional affiliations among the Sephiroth themselves.


Three Pillars:
Pillar of Severity (Left-Hand) Negative, Feminine, Destruction
Pillar of Mercy (Right-Hand) Positive, Masculine, Creation
Middle Pillar of Mildness/Equilibrium, Harmony - Consciousness

Also see the 2 principles, Yin and Yang and the Tao (the Equilibrium between them).
And the 3 channels of Prana: Ida, Pingala, Shushumna (central)
The Kundalini rises through Shushumna central channel, and consciousness is extended. The western magical operaiton of rising on the planes takes place on the central pillar of the tree: Malkuth to Yesod, to Tiphareth, the path of the Arrow. Malkuth=brain consciousness, after any astral projection the ceremonial return is made to malkuth and normal consciousness re-establishes therein.

The Different Worlds
The Tree, considered from the initiatory standpoint, is the link between the microcosm, which is man, and the Macrocosm, which is God made manifest in Nature. A ritual initiation is the act of linking the microcosmic Sephirah, the chakra, with the Macrocosmic Sephirah; it is the introduction of a newcomer to the Sphere by those who are already there. They construct a symbolic representation of the Sphere on the physical plane in the furniture of the temple; they construct an astral replica of it by concentrated imagination; and by means of invocation they call down into this temple not made with hands the forces of the Sphere of the Sephirah they are working upon.
These forces stimulate the corresponding chakras of the initiate and wake them to activity in his aura. The process of self-initiation by the meditations I have described is slower than the processes of ritual initiation, but it is sure enough if persevered with by a suitable person, but one cannot teach a jelly-fish to sing by feeding it canary-seed.

Atziluth - Archetypal World
(World of Emanations) - Kether
(Gods directly act through it)
Four Colour Scales: King Scale
Suit of Wands and Fire

Briah - Creative World
Chokmah & Binah, Supernal Abba & Ama, Father and Mother
(Archangels)
Four Colour Scales: Queen Scale.
Suit of Cups and Water.

Yetzriah - Formative World
Six central Sephiroth (Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod)
(Angelic Orders, choirs of angels)
Four Colour Scales: Emperor Scale.
Suit of Swords and Air.

Assiah - Material World
Malkuth
(Mundane Chakras, planets, elements, signs of the zodiac - natural centres of force)
Four Colour Scales: Empress Scale.
Suit of Pentacles/Coins and Earth.

Four Colour Scales:
King, Queen, Emperor, Empress
Tetragrammaton - YHVH: Yod, He', Vau, He'
the Four Worlds of the Qabalists; the four elements of the alchemists; the fourfold classification of the signs of the Zodiac and the planets into triplicities, employed by the astrologers; and the four suits of the Tarot pack used in divination.

King, mounted, swift action of Yod
Prince, seated figure, Vau
Princess, knave Hé final of the sacred name.

Seven Palaces
Fist Palace: Three Supernals
Seventh Palace: Yesod and Malkuth

The rest of the Sephiroth have a palace to itself. This reveals the intimate relationship of Yesod and Malkuth and enables the tenfold scale of Qabalah to be equated with sevenfold scale of Theosophy.

Countenance
Arik Anpin - Vast Countenance - Kether
manifested as Abba, Supernal Father, Chokmah and Ama, the Supernal Mother, Binah.
When united (positive & negative) are Elohim, this union takes place in Daath.

Zaur Anpin, Lesser countenance or Microprosopos
Six Sephiroth are contained therein, the special one being Tiphareth. The remaining Sephirah, Malkuth is called the Bride of the Microprosopos.

Microprosopos is also sometimes called the King. Malkuth is then called the Queen. She is also called the Lesser Mother or Terestiral Eve as distinguished from Binah, the Supernal mother.

Final System of classification is under...
The presidency of the 3 mother letters of the Hebrew Alphabet:

Aleph, A - air
Mem, M - water
Shin, Sh - Fire

Under the presidency of Aleph is the Airy triad of Kether, in which is the Root of Air, reflecting downward through Tiphareth, the Solar Fire, into Yesod, the Lunar radiance. In Binali is the Root of Water (Marah, the Great Sea), reflected through Chesed into Hod, under the presidency of Mem, the Mother of Watei. In Chokmah is the Root of Fire, reflected downwards through Geburah into Netzach, under the presidency of Shin, the Mother of Fire.

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