The Lesser Holy Assembly (Idra Zuta Qadisha) · 1 of 2 · tr. S.L. MacGregor Mathers
Idra Zuta, Chapter 1 (part 1)
CHAPTER VIII.
CONCERNING THE FOREHEAD OF MACROPROSOPUS.
87.
THE forehead of His skull is the acceptation of acceptations, whereunto is opposed the acceptation of Microprosopus, like as it is written, Exod.
xxviii.
38: "And it shall be upon His forehead always for acceptation," &c.
90.
And that forehead is called RTzVN, Ratzon , Will-power, because it is the ruler of the whole head and of the skull, which is covered by four hundred and twenty worlds.
91.
And when it is uncovered, the prayers of the Israelites ascend.
92.
"When is it uncovered?" Rabbi Schimeon was silent.
He asked again a second time, "When?" Rabbi Schimeon said unto Rabbi Eleazar, his son, "When is it uncovered." 93.
He answered unto him: "In the time of the offering of the evening prayer on the Sabbath." 94.
He said unto him: "For what reason?" He answered unto him: "Because at that time the lower judgment threateneth through Microprosopus; but that forehead is uncovered which is called 'Acceptation,' and then wrath is assuaged, and the prayer ascendeth.
p.
123 95.
"This is that which is written, Ps.
lxix.
14: 'And I have prayed unto Thee, O Tetragrammaton!
in an acceptable time.' 96.
"And the time of acceptance by the Ancient of Days 1 is here to be understood, and of the unveiling of the forehead; and because it is thus disposed at the offering of the evening prayer on the Sabbath." 97.
Rabbi Schimeon spake unto Rabbi Eleazar, his son, and said: Blessed be thou, O my son!
by the Ancient of Days; for thou hast found in that time in which thou hast need--the acceptation of His forehead.
98.
Come and behold!
in these inferiors, when the forehead is uncovered, there is found fixed shamelessness.
99.
This is the same which is written, Jer.
iii.
3: "Yet thou hadst the forehead of a shameless woman, thou refusedst to be ashamed." 100.
But when this forehead 2 is uncovered, inclination and acceptation are found in perfect form, and all wrath is quieted and subdued before Him.
10I, From that forehead shine forth four hundred habitations of judgments, when it is uncovered during that period of acceptation, anti all things are at peace before it.
102.
This is the same which is written, Dan.
vii.
10: "The judgment was set"--that is, subsideth in its place, and the judgment is not exercised.
103.
And this is the tradition: There is no hair found on that part, because it is opened and not covered.
104.
It is covered, I say, and the executors of judgment behold this, and are pacified, and ( judgment ) is not exercised.
105.
This is the tradition: This forehead hath been extended into two hundred and seventy thousand lights of the luminaries of the superior Eden.
p.
124 106.
This is the tradition: There existeth an Eden which shineth in Eden.
The superior Eden, which is not uncovered, and is hidden in concealment, and is not distributed into the paths, like as it hath been said.
107.
The inferior Eden is distributed into its paths; ( namely ) into thirty-two directions of its paths.
108.
And although this Eden is distributed into its path, yet is it not known unto any, save unto Microprosopus, 109.
But no man hath known the superior Eden, nor its paths, except Macroprosopus Himself.
110.
Like as it is written, Job xxviii.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The state of the divine forehead directly influences the acceptance of human prayers below.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
Human ritual action (prayer) is described as capable of assuaging divine wrath and pacifying judgment executors.
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] The passage describes a hierarchy involving Macroprosopus, Microprosopus, and 'four hundred and twenty worlds' covered by the skull.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The passage discusses the setting of judgment and its cessation during specific times of prayer.
The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.
The text mentions four hundred and twenty worlds and vast numbers of lights suggesting boundless realms.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The naming of Macroprosopus and Microprosopus reflects the relationship between the great divine face and the smaller human-like aspect.
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.
Ritual prayer is presented as a mechanism that actively influences the state of the divine realms.