Sefirah

The 32 Paths of Wisdom

Ten Sefirot of Nothingness
And Twenty-Two Foundation Letters
Three Mothers
Seven Doubles
And twelve Elementals
(Sefir Yetzirah, 1:2)

These first words of the Sefer Yetzirah lay the foundation for the entire treatise as contemplation on the mathematical and symbolic relations between the ten Sefirot of creation and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together these make up the thirty-two emanated “Paths of Wisdom” by which God creates and orders the universe. As such, they are also to be understood as the paths of re-absorption and mystical ascension towards the source of the Divine.

The three Mothers ( ש ,מ, א) are the first, middle, and penultimate letters of the alphabet , they correspond to the three elements of creation (Ruach/Logos, Philosophic Water, and Philosophic Fire). The seven Doubles ( ת ,ר ,פ , כ ,ד ,ג ,ב) are the seven Hebrew consonants that have a hard and soft pronunciation; they represent the seven planets. The remaining twelve letters are the Elementals ( ה ,ו, ז, ח, ט ,י, ל, נ, ס, ע, ץ, and ק ) attributed to the twelve constellations of the Traditional zodiac... Let us take a moment to point out the obvious; among other things, the seven planets also equate with the days of the week and the constellations with the months in a year.

Thus, when discussing these correspondences we must keep in mind their multi-dimensional nature as symbols of both space and time; and of course, we must not forget that even by taking into account their space-time correspondences we are still limiting our discussion to manifestations of the symbols and not the transcendent principles behind those symbols that exist regardless of space or time.

The twenty-two letters are mapped to the line segments, or paths of the Kabbalistic Tree according to the inherent geometric division of the Tree: three horizontal, seven vertical, and twelve diagonal paths.

The three Mothers govern the three horizontal paths as pictured above. They represent the primordial polarities of Philosophic Fire (ש), and Philosophic Water (מ) separated and joined by the divine 'breath' of Ruach (א). This is a clear metaphor to the act of creation and the Breath of God via the spoken word (Logos) separating the higher waters (ש /🜂) from the lower (מ /🜄).

The seven Doubles map to the seven vertical paths. The most logical order by which to attribute the Doubles to the planets is by order of emanation. Thus: ב= Saturn, ג = Jupiter, ד = Mars, כ = Sun, פ = Venus, ר = Mercury, and ת = Moon. Of course, this is the Traditional ordering of the planets based on their sidereal cycles and astronomical distance from earth (See Classical Planets & Chaldean Order). This is the order in the Short, Long, Saadia, Suares, Donash, and Shiur Komah versions of the Sefer Yetzirah. The Gra and Golden Dawn versions differ significantly and are quite likely influenced by the letter-planet correspondences found in the Zohar. However, this is beyond our present scope.

The various versions of the Sefer Yetzirah attribute each of the twelve Elementals to the twelve constellations in alphabetical and zodiacal order. Since they all begin with Aries, we can be assured that all the surviving versions of the text are not older than the Age of Aries (post 12th Century B.C.E).

Despite their differences all the sources indicate that the patriarch Abraham was the original author of text which is at odds with the system beginning with the constellation of Aries. Due to a slight wobble in the earth’s axis, the zodiacal constellation corresponding to the Vernal Equinox shifts every 2,160 years; an event known as the Precession of the Equinoxes. The historical Biblical period from the time of the patriarchs (Abraham) to the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem would have corresponded to the Age of Taurus, well before the Age of Aries. It is worth noting that during the Age of Taurus, the Cardinal constellations would have been Taurus, Aquarius, Scorpio , and Leo. The traditional imagery of Taurus as a Bull, Aquarius as a Man, Scorpio as an Eagle and Leo as a Lion correspond exactly to the description of the Tetramorphs in Ezekiel’s vision of the Chariot.

Returning to the Sefer Yetzirah, this means one of two things: 1) The astronomical correspondences were either forgotten or never specified in the original text and replaced with the classical Age of Aries zodiac at a later date, or 2) The Sefer Yetzirah is intended as a dynamic living text that must be seen through the lens of a current, past, or future Age. Indeed, it is a worthwhile pursuit to experiment with the different zodiacal correspondences during the various Ages to better grasp the full power of the Tree.

Furthermore, the correspondence systems all maintain that alphabetic order corresponds to spatial order (read clockwise); however, this brings forth questions of multi-dimensionality. If we instead focus on the constellations as symbols of time, the order must be reversed since the sun travels counter-clockwise through the zodiacal belt. This is the Kabbalistic principle of reflection in practice.

Here we will expand upon the Elemental correspondences during the prophetic Age of Taurus as a simple exercise to demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Tree. The letter-constellation pairs would thus be: ה = Taurus , ו = Aries, ז = Pisces, ח = Aquarius, ט = Capricorn , י = Sagittarius, ל = Scorpio , נ = Libra, ס = Virgo, ע= Leo, ץ = Cancer, and ק = Gemini.

The resulting Tree displays the polarities of the Universe balanced by the Central Pillar. The constellations to the left of the Center Pillar all correspond to the active classical elements (Fire and Air), while those to the right to the passive classical elements (Water and Earth). The constellations zigzag from Taurus to Gemini in zodiacal order. The descending order (Taurus to Gemini) follows the Precession of the Equinoxes, while the ascending order (Gemini to Taurus) is the annual progression of the Sun across the zodiac. Whichever way you look at it, the directionality of the zigzag corresponds to the active and passive polarities on the left and right- these polarities being the driving force of creation in the never-ending circuitry of the double helix.

There seems to be an apparent contradiction as the Sefirot of Binah (3) is on the right side corresponding to the active constellations, and Chokmah(2) is on the left with the passive constellations. Traditionaly, Chokmah is attributed to the masculine principle of Wisdom, while Binah is the feminine Understanding. This however is not a contradiction; far from it, in fact this outlines the very principle of Kabbalistic reflection. That which is male/+ reflects towards that which is female/-, this is how the incorporeal Supernal Triad interacts with the material universe. Furthermore, this same principle of reflection is hard-wired into our own neurological circuitry. Our Left Brain controls the muscles and sensations on the Right side of our body, while the Right Brain does the same for the Left side.

Meditate upon this and the biblical narrative of the Serpent coiled around the Tree in the Garden will take a whole new dimension.


Originally Published November 17, 2008 as “Concerning the Tree” in Reflections from the Black Stone

The Trees

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

(Genesis 2:9)

The symbol of the Tree in spiritual and religions traditions is that of the axis-mundi of creation and, for the initiates into the esoteric practices, a meditative guide to gnosis and union with the Divine. Cross-culturally the Tree stands as a symbol of central orientation and spiritual hierarchy. The Norse Yggdrasil , the Mesoamerican Yax Imix Che , the Vedic Asvattha are but a handful of examples of sacred “World Trees” akin to those mentioned in Genesis.

Kabbalah takes a geometric approach to the symbol in using tree diagrams to illustrate the Ten Sefirot of the Sefer Yetzirah. Through these Trees the Kabbalist encapsulated the mathematical correspondence between the 10Sefirot of creation and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

There are two primary geometric variations of the diagram: 1) the Ari (Isaac Luria) , and 2) the Gra (Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna).

Most students of Western esoterica are familiar with the Sefirot layout of the Ari Tree as it was popularized by Aleister Crowley and the various Golden Dawn/Freemasonic offshoots. The Ari Tree hinges on the non-Sefirot of Da’at (‘Knowledge’) that is the pivot of reflection between the supernal triad and the lower seven Sefirot. Whereas the Gra Tree is more compact and geometrically balanced resembling an isometric projection of a double-stacked cube.

The only difference between the geometric layouts of the Gra and Ari versions is the central column (Tiferet, Yesod, and Malkut ) of the lower Sefirot that is shifted downward in the Ari Tree. Aside from this, the organization of the Sefirot are identical.

Meditating upon the two Trees side-by-side we find a geometric allegory to the Biblical Fall from Grace represented by the “fall” of Tiferet (‘Splendor’), Yesod ('Foundation'), and Malkut (‘Kingdom’) away from the supernal triad of Keter, Binah, and Chakhmah.

Thus taken together, the geometric arrays of the Gra and Ari Trees may be interpreted as the two trees of the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. As consequence of mankind’s fall from grace, the Tree of Knowledge is void of the fruit of Da’at making the Tree of Life and eternal existence and union with the Divine unobtainable. This “Fallen Tree” corresponding to our state of waking consciousness in day to day life, whereas the “Perfect” geometry of the Tree of Life speaks to a resurrected and higher level of consciousness. 

And the LORD God said: 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.'

(Genesis 3:22)


Originally Published November 16, 2008 in Reflections from the Black Stone