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cosmology

Sephirot

The ten attributes or emanations through which the Ein Sof (Infinite) reveals itself and creates the universe in Kabbalistic theology.

117 passages · 5 traditions
theosophy: 55 passagestheosophy55jewish_mysticism: 33 passagesjewish_mysticism33western_esoteric: 26 passageswestern_esoteric26christian_mysticism: 2 passageschristian_mysticism2renaissance_hermeticism: 1 passagerenaissance_hermeticism1
theosophy55
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 5)
because, firstly, he is that which the Greek philosophers called the Logos, the Verbum of the Thought Divine; and secondly, because in Esoteric philosophy this first manifestation, being the synthesis or the aggregate of Universal Wisdom, O…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 7)
( c ) The ancients represented it by a serpent, for "Fohat hisses as he glides hither and thither" (in zigzags). The Kabala figures it with the Hebrew letter Teth , whose symbol is the serpent which played such a prominent part in the Myst…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 8)
And the numbers of these three words, Hoa Atah Ani, are 12, 406, and 61, which are resumed in the key numbers of 3, 10, and 7, by the Qabalah of the Nine Chambers, which is a form of the exegetical rule of Temura." It is useless to attempt…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 2)
Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the "Primordial" proceed from "Father-Mother" (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus ); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone. It is the latter who is the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 3)
"Ten is the Mother of the Soul, for Life and Light are therein united," says Hermes. "For number one is born of the Spirit and the number ten from matter (chaos, feminine); the unity has made the ten, the ten the unity" ( Book of the Keys…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 6)
The larger lumps coalesce and receive new spawn -- in fiery dots, triangles and cubes, which ripen, and at the appointed time some of the lumps detach themselves and assume spheroidal form, a process which they effect only when not interfer…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 8 (part 7)
Adam Kadmon or Tetragrammaton is the Logos in the Kabala; therefore this triad answers in the latter to the highest triangle of Kether, Chochmah and Binah, the last a female potency and at the same time the male Jehovah, as partaking of the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 9 (part 10)
From Meru, the abode of gods, to Eden, the distance is very small, and from the Hindu Serpents to the Ophite Cherubim, the third out of the seven of which was the Dragon, the separation is still smaller, for both watched the entrance to the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 9 (part 11)
They circumscribe the manifested world of matter within the R ING "Pass-Not." This world is the symbol (objective) of the O NE divided into the many, on the planes of Illusion, of Adi (the "First") or of Eka (the "One"); and this One is the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 12 (part 3)
To return to "Esoteric Buddhism." It is there stated with regard to the enormous period intervening between the mineral epoch on Globe A, and the man-epoch,* that: "The full development of the [[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 13 (part 3)
It is already the outline of the two "Supremes" -- God and Satan. But in the Stanzas no such idea exists. Most of the Western Christian Kabalists -- pre-eminently Eliphas Levi -- in their desire to reconcile the Occult Sciences with Churc…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 213 THE CREATIVE POWERS. STANZA VII. 1. B EHOLD THE BEGINNING OF SENTIENT FORMLESS LIFE ( a ). F IRST, THE DIVINE ( vehicle ) ( b ), THE ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT (…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 2)
The later Kabalists however, especially the Christian mystics, have played sad havoc with this magnificent symbol.* For the " ten limbs" of the Heavenly Man are the ten Sephiroth; but the first Heavenly Man is the unmanifested Spirit of the…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 8)
These "Father and Son" were interchangeable in their functions and worked harmoniously together in their effects upon terrestrial nature and humanity; hence they were regarded as ONE, though TWO in personified Entities. They were both male…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 238 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. STANZA VII. -- Continued. (5) T HE SPARK HANGS FROM THE FLAME BY THE FINEST THREAD OF F OHAT. I T JOURNEYS THROUGH THE S EVEN W ORLDS OF M AY…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 2)
of "Ha Idra Zuta Kadisha." "Becomes one body" means that all is reabsorbed once more into the one element, the spirits of men becoming Nirvanees and the elements of everything else becoming again what they were before -- protyle or undiffer…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 15 (part 4)
i., p. 302, is, first of all, shot down by the law of Evolution into the lowest form of matter -- the mineral. After a sevenfold gyration encased in the stone (or that which will become mineral and stone in the Fourth Round), it creeps ou…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 19 (part 5)
Thus they translate verse 16: "He also, having made the subtile parts of those six (the Great Self and the five organs of sense) of unmeasured brightness, to enter into the elements of Self ( Atmamatrasu ) created all beings." When, accordi…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 19 (part 7)
) But now the Elements are degraded into and limited to atoms of which nothing is known, so far, and which are only "children of necessity" as Ether is too -- as we said in " I SIS." "The poor primordial elements have long been exiled, and…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 20 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 342 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. § IV. CHAOS -- THEOS -- KOSMOS. T HESE three are the containment of Space; or, as a learned Kabalist has defined it, "Space, the all containin…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 20 (part 2)
This "First-Born," however, was only the aggregate of the Host of the "Builders," the first constructive Forces, who are called in ancient Cosmogonies the Ancients (born of the Deep, or Chaos) and the "First Point." He is the Tetragrammaton…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 21 (part 2)
In his "Revelation," speaking of divine mysteries expressed by means of letters and numbers, Marcus narrates how the "Supreme Tetrad came down unto me (him) from the region which cannot be seen nor named, in a female form , because the worl…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 21 (part 3)
Even AEsculapius, called the "Saviour of all," is identical, according to ancient classics, with Phta , the Egyptian Creative Intellect (or Divine Wisdom), and with Apollo, Baal, Adonis and Hercules ( see Dunlap ' s " Mystery of Adonis ," p…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 21 (part 4)
Esoterically she contains but two,* Chochmah or Wisdom , "a masculine, active potency whose divine name is Jah ( )," and B INAH, a feminine passive potency, Intelligence, represented by the divine name Jehovah ( ); which two potencies form,…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 22 (part 2)
And Porphyry, who quotes from the Pythagorean Moderatus , **** says that the numerals of Pythagoras were "hieroglyphical symbols, by means whereof he explained ideas concerning the nature of things," or the origin of the universe. Now, if,…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 23 (part 4)
In the Zohar we read as follows: -- "As Moses was keeping a vigil on Mount Sinai, in company with the deity, who was concealed from his sight by a cloud, he felt a great fear overcome him, and suddenly asked: 'Lord, where art thou . . .…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 25 (part 3)
would be either the phallus or the phallus and yoni, . . . or male and female. Indeed, the words translated by the generalizing terms male and female, in the 27th verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis are . . . sacr and n ' cabrah , or…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 25 (part 4)
But the signification is, that it is androgyne or hermaphrodite, that is phallus and yoni combined, the number 10, the Hebrew letter Jod , the containment of Jehovah. She, or rather she-he, gives the minutes of the same circle of 360 degre…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 28 (part 5)
The whole Kosmos in its objective form is Vaikhari Vach; the light of the Logos is the madhyama form; and the Logos itself the pasyanti form; while Parabrahmam is the para (beyond the noumenon of all Noumena ) aspect of that Vach." ( Notes…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 28 (part 6)
Isis is also mystic Nature and also Earth; and her cow's horns identify her with Vach. The latter, after having been recognised in her highest form as para , becomes at the lower or material end of creation -- Vaikhari. Hence she is mysti…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 28 (part 7)
As the " Rig Vidhana " together with the " Brahmanda Purana " and all such works, whether describing the magic efficacy of the Rig-Vedic Mantras or the future Kalpas, are declared by Dr. Weber and others to be modern compilations "belongin…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 28 (part 8)
Moreover, the three metaphysical Sephiroth or " the periphrasis of Jehovah " are not Jehovah; it is the latter himself with the additional titles of Adonai, Elohim, Sabbaoth, and the numerous names lavished on him, who is the periphrasis of…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 38 (part 3)
** "Unchangeable" only during Manvantaric periods, after which it merges once more into Mulaprakriti; "invisible" for ever, in its own essence, but seen in its reflected coruscations, called the Astral light by the modern Kabalists. Yet, c…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 43 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 579 ANTIQUITY OUR GREAT MASTER. XII. ANCIENT THOUGHT IN MODERN DRESS. M ODERN S CIENCE IS ANCIENT THOUGHT DISTORTED, and no more. We have seen, however, WHAT INTUITIO…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 46 (part 4)
Thus the latter became the earliest of geometrical figures. The author of "New Aspects of Life" and of the Kabalistic Mysteries -- objects to the objectivization, so to speak, of the Pythagorean conception and use of the equilateral triang…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 50 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 2 [[Vol. 2, Page xv]] [[ Eh eme didache ouk estin eme, alla tou pemphantos me .]] "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." -- John vii. 16. [[Vol. 2, Page xvi]] M ODERN science i…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 50 (part 2)
This is very clear, but yet, see the interpretations of even our modern theologians, men supposed to be intellectual and learned! In the " Theological and philosophical works of Hermes Trismegistus, Christian ( ? ) Neoplatonist, " a work…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 52 (part 2)
When the triangle is complete it becomes the Tetraktis, or the Triangle in the Square, and is the dual symbol of the four-lettered Tetragrammaton in the manifested Kosmos, and of its radical triple RAY in the unmanifested, or its noumenon.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 52 (part 8)
"The universe," says every Philosophy and Cosmogony, "hath a Ruler (Rulers collectively) set over it, which is called the W ORD (Logos); the fabricating Spirit is its Queen: which two are the First Power after the O NE." These are the Spiri…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 52 (part 9)
113 to 355, have to be specialised.* But this last ratio is but a modified form of light or 20612 to 6561, as a '[[ pi ]]' value, being only a variation of the same (that is 20612 to 6561 is 31415 to one, or Alhim or God) -- and in such a m…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 52 (part 11)
In Assyrian Ak meant Creator, the letter K pronounced Kh (Ah) gutturally. According to Swedenborg's mysticism Adam was not a man but a church (?) of primitive light. In the Vedas Ad -iti is the primitive light, the Akasa of the phenomenal…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 54 (part 5)
The first is from the Book of the Concealed Mystery: -- (429.) From a Light-Bearer (one of the seven sacred planets) of insupportable brightness proceeded a radiating Flame, dashing off, like a vast and mighty hammer, those sparks which wer…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 55 (part 6)
"the causes had to produce effects on earth."** Again, in the ancient Quiche Manuscript, the Popol Vuh -- published by the late Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg -- the first men are described as a race "whose sight was unlimited, and who knew all…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 56 (part 2)
First comes En-Soph, the "Concealed of the Concealed," then the Point, Sephira and the later Sephiroth; then the Atzilatic World, a World of Emanations that gives birth to three other worlds -- called the Throne, the abode of pure Spirits;…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 56 (part 9)
) Seth represents the later Third Race. To screen the real mystery name of AIN-SOPH -- the Boundless and Endless No-Thing -- the Kabalists have brought forward the compound attribute- appellation of one of the personal creative Elohim, who…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 56 (part 10)
26, after Adam, the first androgyne, after Adam Kadmon, the sexless (the first) Logos, Adam and Eve once separated, come finally Jehovah-Eve and Cain-Jehovah. These represent distinct Root-Races, for millions of years elapsed between them.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 61 (part 7)
it was already an old one. That Arjuna, Krishna's companion and chela, is said to have descended into Patala, the "antipodes," and therein married Ulupi, * a Naga (or Nagini rather), the daughter of the king of the Nagas, Kauravya.** And n…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 63 (part 5)
" Compare the last sentence with what the Rabbi, who explains the Kabala to Prince Al-Chazari in the Book of that name, says; and it will be found that the Weight and Measure and Number are, in Sepher Jezirah, the attributes of the Sephirot…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 65 (part 4)
Then comes Zeus -- Jupiter, who dethrones his father in his turn.** Jupiter the Titan, is Prometheus, in one sense,*** and varies from Zeus, the Great [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued fr…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 78 (part 3)
2, Page]] 463 CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM Chaldean "Nuah, the Universal Mother" (female Noah, considered as one with the ark), and of the female triad, Ana, Belita and Davikina; called, when blended into one, "Sovereign goddess, lady of the Nether…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 82 (part 5)
As Aditi is called Surarani (the matrix or "mother" of the sura gods), so Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, is called in Mahabharata Pandavarani -- which term is already physiologized. But Devaki, the antetype of the Roman Catholic Madonn…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 84 (part 13)
The three nails with the three wounds are in number 6, which denotes the 6 faces of the cube unfolded (which make the cross or man-form, or 7, counting three horizontal and four vertical bars) on which the man is placed; and this in turn po…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 87 (part 3)
Now it is a mysterious fact that in the higher and now terrestrial Vertebrata . . . many normal and abnormal processes have one or more weeks (septenates) as their periods . . . such as gestation of mammals, the duration of fevers," e…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 11)
The seven Rishis and the fourteen Manus of the seven Manvantaras -- issue from Brahma's head; they are his "mind-born sons," and it is with them that begins the division of mankind and its races from the Heavenly man, "the Logos" (the manif…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 88 (part 12)
For, verse 1,152 of the "Greater Holy Assembly" (Kabala) says -- "We have learned that there were ten (companions) who entered into the Sod, ('mysterious assembly or mystery'), and that seven only came forth"*** ( i.e. , 10 for the unmanif…”
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jewish_mysticism33
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1a
CHAPTER V. 1. (It is written) Isa. i. 4: "Woe unto the sinful nation, unto the people heavy with iniquity, unto the seed of evildoers, &c." (Here the author of the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" reasoneth concerning the small word HVI, "woe," whi…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1b
If the reader turn to the introduction, to the Table showing the Sephiroth arranged in three pillars, he will see that Malkuth is, as it were, the antithesis of Kether; and hence it is said that "Malkuth is Kether after another manner." And…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1c
And to it also pertain the following names, namely, the name) IH, Yah (whensoever it is written in full with A in this manner:) IVD HA, Yod Ha (and containeth the number of the numeral powers of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely, 26…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1d
5; "And thou shalt place upon me thine hand:" KPKH, Khephakha . (Where this word KPKH, if it be written according to the usual p. 100 custom KPK, Khephakh , yieldeth the number 120. But now by adding the paragogic H of the female, there…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1e
31: "And He was wise above every man." Because these are not classed with man. 21. (But when it is said) "And the Tetragrammaton gave him wisdom," then is understood the supernal He . (Because he gave unto him the influx of the wisdom of…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1f
[The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided into three classes, the three mothers as they are called, AMSh; the seven duplex letters, BGDKPRTh, so called because they are sometimes tenues and sometimes aspirates, according to whether th…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1g
The four wheels are their correlatives under the second Sephira, on their four sides--namely, the four elements of the air, fire, water, and earth, which are the abodes of the spirits of the elements, the sylphs, salamanders, undines, and g…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1h
35: "Ye shall not do iniquity in judgment, in dimension, in weight, and in measure." (Where these four are mystically intimated.) 37. (There is one) rigorous judgment (of severity),another that is not rigorous (that is, of the kingdom). T…”
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western_esoteric26
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 5 (part 5)
The technicalities of the occult sciences may seem hard to the beginner, and they are actually hard like the wilderness, because they are barren wastes, but they are in words of one syllable if compared with the little catechisms of eternal…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 38 (part 1)
Click to view DEVIL FROM HEARNE'S PRINT OF THE "DESCENT INTO HELL." Engraved by Michael Burghers , c. 1676. CHAPTER I The Preparation of the Operator § 1. Concerning the Love of God THE rites of so-called Transcendental Magic are, ex hyp…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-b
We now come to the consideration of Positive Evil. This again has a “negative’s and “positive’s aspect. Its “negative’s aspect is pure chaos, unformed substance and unco-ordinated force. It has been aptly called the Cosmic Abortion. To…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 11. The Psychic Element In Mental Disturbance-d
The older faiths knew this, but popular Christianity, which has no roots in tradition, has forgotten it. Protestant Christianity threw away its occult aspect at the Reformation. All the pagan pantheons have gross aspects of divinities as…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 20. Methods Of Defence IV-b
From being in the midst of turmoil one is suddenly raised high above it and sees all the circumstances of one’s life spread out like a bird’s-eye view, as one might see the land from a high place, and one knows intuitively the out come of t…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israel-d
The third volume used as a reference was the Sepher Yetzirah , by the late Win. Wynn Westcott, Magus of the Rosicrucian Society of England. The fourth was the Sepher Yetzirah , or The Book of Creation, according to the translation in the…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogony-c
The dot was called God, as being the supreme individualization of the Universal Essence. Concerning this the Zohar says: "When the concealed of the Concealed wished to reveal Himself He first made a single point: the Infinite was entirely…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogony-i
By the man of Ezekiel's vision is symbolized the World of Atziluth ; by the throne, the World of Briah ; by the firmament, the World of Yetzirah ; and by the living creatures the World of Assiah . These spheres are the wheels within wheels…”
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christian_mysticism2
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1e
Hence the Good God is called the Fount, first, of the Very Primaries: then, of those creatures which share completely therein; then, of those which share partially therein. 484 484 Migne’s text here is corrupt, I have emended it. (1) The…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 2)
It ought to be kept in mind that "myths" are not "fables." Myths are representations of actualities clothed in a fabulous form. Their kernel is true, even if the shell in which it is clothed is an illusion. "There are seven principal qual…”
renaissance_hermeticism1
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-c
Whence he says, "Come not back to me till thou art mine," and not unworthily may I say with that other— Thou has left me, oh, my heart, And thou, light of my eyes, art no more with me. Here he describes the death of the soul, which by the…”