The Kabbalah Unveiled · 8 of 16 · tr. S.L. MacGregor Mathers
Introduction, Section 1h
"And the Elohim said, let there be light, and there was light." (The sense may be sought from that Psalm xxxiii.
9) where it a written, "Since He Himself spake, and it was done." (First, therefore, is commemorated) the Path HVA, Hoa , (that is, the mother of understanding, who is called ALHIM, Elohim , near the beginning of the verse.
"And the Elohim said." She also is called HVA, Hoa , in the words of Psalm xxxiii.
9, on account of her truly secret nature) is alone (as well with Moses as with David).
The word VIHI, Vayehi , "and it was done," is also alone.
(As if the six members were considered separately, seeing that V, Vau , occupieth the first place in the word VIHI, Vayehi .
[This statement, that the supernal mother symbolized by the word Hoa, He, seems at first sight at variance with the statement in another place, that Hoa represents Macroprosopus.
But the letter H in the Tetragrammaton symbolizes the supernal mother, and this is also the initial letter of Hoa.
And again by Gematria (see Introduction) Hoa, HVA = 5 + 6 + 1 = 12, and the digits of 12 1 + 2 = 3.
And 3 symbolizes Binah because she is the third Sephira.
"Seeing that V, Vau , occupies the first place in the word VIHI," because V stands for the number 6.
See Table of the Alphabet, &c., in Introduction.] 32.
Then are the letters inverted, and become one.
(If, namely, in the word VIHI, Vayehi , the letters I, Yod , and H, He , be placed in front so that it may read IHVI, Yahevi , it maketh one Tetragrammaton, which exhausteth the whole Divinity.
But since these belong to the mother, from whom arise the judgments, hence this tetragrammaton is here written in retrograde order, which mode of writing is referred by qabalists to the judgments, on account of the nature of averse things; whence this p.
55 ought to be written in this way: IHVI, Yahevi , IHV, Yeho , IH, Yah , I, Yod .
But since in the path of understanding those judgments themselves do not exist, but only their roots, while in itself this path is only pure mercy; hence the retrograde order is inverted, in order that it may be posited entire in this manner as at first): I, Yod , IH, Yah , IHV, Yeho , IHVI, Yahevi .
(But it is not written in the usual manner, IHVH, Yod , He , Vau , He ; because the word is derived from VIHI, Vayehi , whose metathesis is here discussed.
And nevertheless the letter) which is last (namely, I, Yod , which is put in the place of the last H, He , in the ordinary form of the Tetragrammaton, denoteth), the Schechinah (or the queenly presence) which is below (that is, a path of the kingdom, namely, MLKVTh, Malkuth , the tenth and last Sephira); like as (in the other instance) the letter H, He , is found to be the Schechinah.
[The reader will be utterly unable to follow the reasoning in this section.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
[auto] References to the 'supernal mother', Macroprosopus, and the ordering of Sephirot imply a structured hierarchy of divine emanations.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The study of letters and names implies a disciplined inward attention typical of Kabbalistic practice.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The instruction on how names 'ought to be written' implies ritual efficacy in manipulating divine forces.