S. L. Macgregor Mathers - The Kabbalah Unveiled

OThIQ IVMIN, Authiq Iomin , the Ancient of Days.

It is also called:

NQDH RAShVNH, Nequdah Rashunah , the Primordial Point.

NQDH PShVTh, Nequdah Peshutah , the Smooth Point.

RIShA HVVRH, Risha Havurah , the White Head.

RVM MOLH, Rom Meolah , the Inscrutable Height. Besides all these there is another very important name applied to this Sephira as representing the great Father of all things. It is ARIK ANPIN, Arikh Anpin , the Vast Countenance, or Macroprosopus. Of Him it is said that He is partly concealed (in the sense of His connection with the negative existence) and partly manifest (as a positive Sephira). Hence the symbolism of the Vast Countenance is that of a profile wherein one side only of the countenance is seen; or, as it is said in the Qabalah, "in Him all is right side." I shall refer to this title again.

The whole ten Sephiroth represent the Heavenly Man, or Primordial Being, ADM OILAH, Adam Auilah .

Under this Sephira are classed the angelic order of ChIVTh HQDSh, Chioth Ha-Qadesh , holy living-creatures, the kerubim or sphinxes of Ezekiel's vision and of the Apocalypse of John. These are represented in the Zodiac by the four signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius--the Bull, Lion, Eagle, and Man: Scorpio, as a good emblem, being symbolized by the eagle, as an evil emblem by the scorpion, and as of a mixed nature by the snake.

This first Sephira contained the other nine, and produced them in succession, thus:--

43. The number 2, or the Duad. The name of the second Sephira is ChKMH, Chokmah , Wisdom, a masculine active potency reflected from Kether, as I have before explained. This Sephira is the active and evident Father, to whom the Mother is united, who is the number 3. This second Sephira is represented by the Divine Names, IH, Yah , and IHVH; and among the angelic hosts by AVPNIM, Auphanim , the Wheels (Ezek. i.). It is also called AB, Ab , the Father.

44. The third Sephira, or Triad, is a feminine passive potency, called BINH, Binah , the Understanding, who is co-equal with Chokmah. For Chokmah, the number 2, is like two straight lines which can never enclose a space, and therefore it is powerless till the number 3 forms the triangle. Thus this Sephira completes and makes evident the supernal Trinity. It is also called AMA, Ama , Mother, and AIMA, Aima , the great productive Mother, who is eternally conjoined with AB, the Father, for the maintenance of the universe in order. Therefore is she the most evident form in whom we can know the Father, and therefore is she worthy of all honour. She is the supernal Mother, co-equal with Chokmah, and the great feminine form of God, the Elohim, in whose image man and woman are created, according to the teaching of the Qabalah, equal before God . Woman is equal with man, and certainly not inferior to him , as it has been the persistent endeavour of so-called Christians to make her. Aima is the woman described in the Apocalypse (ch. xii.). This third Sephira is also sometimes called the great sea. To her are attributed the Divine names, ALHIM, Elohim , and IHVH ALHIM; and the angelic order, ARALIM, Aralim , the Thrones. She is the supernal Mother, as distinguished from Malkuth, the inferior Mother, Bride, and Queen.

45. The number 4. This union of the second and third Sephiroth produced ChSD, Chesed , Mercy or Love also called GDVLH, Gedulah , Greatness or Magnificence; a masculine potency represented by the Divine Name AL, El , the Mighty One, and the angelic name, ChShMLIM, Chashmalim , Scintillating Flames (Ezek. iv, 4).

46. The number 5. From this emanated the feminine passive potency GBVRH, Geburah , strength or fortitude; or DIN, Deen , justice; represented by the Divine Names, ALHIM GBVR, and ALH, Eloh , and the angelic name ShRPIM, Seraphim (Isa. vi. 6). This Sephira is also called PChD, Pachad , Fear.

47. The number 6. And from these two issued the uniting Sephira, ThPARTh, Tiphereth , Beauty or Mildness, represented by the Divine Name ALVH VDOTh, Eloah Va-Daath , and the angelic names, Shinanim , ShNANIM (Ps. lxviii. 18), or MLKIM, Melakim , kings. Thus by the union of justice and mercy we obtain beauty or clemency, and the second trinity of the Sephiroth is complete. This Sephira, or "Path," or "Numeration"--for by these latter appellations the emanations are sometimes called--together with the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth Sephiroth, is spoken of as ZOIR ANPIN, Zauir Anpin , the Lesser Countenance, or Microprosopus, by way of antithesis to Macroprosopus, or the Vast Countenance, which is one of the names of Kether, the first Sephira. The sixth Sephiroth of which Zauir Anpin is composed, are then called His six members. He is also called MLK, Melekh , the King.

48. The number 7. The seventh Sephira is NTzCh, Netzach , or Firmness and Victory, corresponding to the Divine Name Jehovah Tzabaoth , IHVH TzBAVTh, the Lord of Armies, and the angelic names ALHIM, Elohim , gods, and ThRShIShIM, Tharshisim , the brilliant ones (Dan. x. 6).

49. The number 8. Thence proceeded the feminine passive potency HVD, Hod , Splendour, answering to the Divine Name ALHIM TzBAVTh, Elohim Tzabaoth , the Gods of Armies, and among the angels to BNI ALHIM, Beni Elohim , the sons of the Gods (Gen. vi. 4).

50. The number 9. These two produced ISVD, Yesod , the Foundation or Basis, represented by AL ChI, El Chai , the Mighty Living One, and ShDI, Shaddaï ; and among the angels by AShIM, Aishim , the Flames (Ps. civ. 4), yielding the third Trinity of the Sephiroth.

51. The number 10. From this ninth Sephira came the tenth and last, thus completing the decad of the numbers. It is called MLKVTh, Malkuth , the Kingdom, and also the Queen, Matrona, the inferior Mother, the Bride of Microprosopus; and ShKINH, Shekinah , represented by the Divine Name Adonai , ADNI, and among the angelic hosts by the kerubim, KRVBIM. Now, each of these Sephiroth will be in a certain degree androgynous, for it will be feminine or receptive with regard to the Sephira which immediately precedes it in the sephirotic scale, and masculine or transmissive with regard to the Sephira which immediately follows it. But there is no Sephira anterior to Kether, nor is there a Sephira which succeeds Malkuth. By these remarks it will be understood how Chokmah is a feminine noun, though marking a masculine Sephira. The connecting-link of the Sephiroth is the Ruach, spirit, from Mezla, the hidden influence.

52. I will now add a few more remarks on the qabalistical meaning of the term MThQLA, Metheqela , balance. In each of the three trinities or triads of the Sephiroth is a duad of opposite sexes, and a uniting intelligence which is the result. In this, the masculine and feminine potencies are regarded as the two scales of the balance, and the uniting Sephira as the beam which joins them. Thus, then, the term balance may be said to symbolize the Triune, Trinity in Unity, and the Unity represented by the central point of the beam. But, again, in the Sephiroth there is a triple Trinity, the upper, lower, and middle. Now, these three are represented thus: the supernal, or highest, by the Crown, Kether; the middle by the King, and the inferior by the Queen; which will be the greatest trinity. And the earthly correlatives of these will be the primum mobile , the sun and the moon. Here we at once find alchemical symbolism.

53. Now in the world the Sephiroth are represented by: