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 .
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sleepest thou, O Lord?
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.' And the Spirit answered him: 'I never sleep: were I to fall asleep for a moment BEFORE MY TIME, all the creation would crumble into dissolution in one instant.' " " Before my time " is very suggestive.
It shows the God of Moses to be only a temporary substitute, like Brahma the male, a substitute and an aspect of THAT which is immutable, and which therefore can take no part in the "days," or in the "nights," nor have any concern whatever with reaction or dissolution.
While the Eastern Occultists have seven modes of interpretation, the Jews have only four -- namely, the real-mystical; the allegorical; the moral; and the literal or Pashut.
The latter is the key of the exoteric Churches and not worth discussion.
Read in the first, or mystical key, here are several sentences which show the identity of the foundations of construction in every Scripture.
It is given in Mr.
T.
Myer's excellent book on the Kabalistic works he seems to have well studied.
I quote verbatim.
" B ' raisheeth barah elohim ath hash ama yem v ' ath haa ' retz -- i.e.
, 'In the beginning the God(s) created the heavens and the earth;" (the meaning of which is:) the six Sephiroth of Construction,* over which B'raisheeth stands, all belong Below.
It created six (and) on these stand all Things.
And those depend upon the seven forms of the Cranium up to the Dignity of all Dignities.
And the second 'Earth' does not come into calculation, therefore it has been said: 'And from it (that Earth) which underwent the curse, came it forth.' .
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'It (the Earth) was without form and void; and darkness was over the face of the Abyss, and the Spirit of elohim .
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was breathing ( me ' racha ' phath ) -- i.e.
, hovering, brooding over, moving.
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Thirteen depend on thirteen [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The "Builders" of the Stanzas.
[[Vol.
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(forms) of the most worthy Dignity.
Six thousand years hang (are referred to) in the first six words.
The seventh (thousand, the millennium) above it (the cursed Earth) is that which is strong by Itself.
And it was rendered entirely desolate during twelve hours (one .
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Day) as is written.
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In the thirteenth, It (the Deity) shall restore all .
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and everything shall be renewed as before; and all those six shall continue .
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etc .
" ( Qabbalah , p.
233, from Siphrah Dzeniuta , c.
i., § 16, s .
9.) The "Sephiroth of Construction" are the six Dhyan Chohans, or Manus, or Prajapati, synthesized by the seventh "B'raisheeth (the First Emanation or Logos ), and who are called, therefore, the Builders of the Lower or physical Universe" all belong Below.
These six whose essence is of the Seventh -- are the Upadhi , the base or fundamental stone on which the objective Universe is built, the noumenoi of all things.
Hence they are, at the same time, the Forces of nature, the Seven Angels of the Presence, the sixth and seventh principles in man; the spirito-psycho-physical spheres of the Septenary chain, the Root Races, etc., etc.
They all "depend upon the Seven forms of the Cranium" up to the highest.
The " second Earth" "does not come into calculation" because it is no Earth , but the Chaos or Abyss of Space in which rested the paradigmatic, or model universe in ideation of the OVER-SOUL brooding over it.
The term "Curse" is here very misleading, for it means simply doom or destiny , or that fatality which sent it forth into the objective state.
This is shown by that "Earth" under the "Curse" being described as "without form and void," in whose abysmal depths the "Breath" of the Elohim (collective Logoi) produced or photographed the first divine I DEATION of the things to be.
This process is repeated after every Pralaya before the beginnings of a new Manvantara, or period of sentient individual being.
"Thirteen depend on thirteen forms," refers to the thirteen periods personified by the thirteen Manus, with Swayambhuva the fourteenth (13, instead of 14, being an additional veil ): those fourteen Manus who reign within the term of a Mahayuga, a "Day" of Brahma.
These (thirteen-fourteen) of the objective Universe depend on the thirteen (fourteen) paradigmatic , ideal forms.
The meaning of the "Six thousand years " which "hang in the first six words," has again to be sought in the Indian Wisdom.
They refer to the primordial six (seven) "Kings of Edom" who typify the worlds (or spheres) of our chain during the first Round, as well as the primordial men of this Round.
They are the septenary pre - Adamic (or before the Third, Separated Race) first Root-race.
As they were shadows , and senseless (they had not eaten yet of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge), they could not see the [[Vol.
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Parguphim , or "Face could not see Face" (primeval men were unconscious), "therefore, the primordial (seven) Kings died," i.e.
, were destroyed ( vide Sepherah Djenioutha ) .
Now, who are they?
They are the Kings who are "the Seven Rishis, certain (secondary) divinities, Sakra (Indra), Manu, and the Kings his Sons, who are created and perish at one period ," as said in Vishnu Purana (Book I.
chap.
iii.).
For the seventh ("thousand") ( not the millennium of exoteric Christianity , but that of Anthropogenesis ) represents both the "seventh period of creation," that of physical man (Vishnu Purana), and the seventh Principle -- both macrocosmic and microcosmic, -- as also the pralaya after the Seventh period, the "Night" which has the same duration as the "Day" of Brahma.
Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.
The six Sephiroth of Construction, the seven forms of the Cranium, and the thirteen (fourteen) Manus are presented as archetypal divine beings populating the structured realm of emanation.
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
'In the thirteenth, It (the Deity) shall restore all... and everything shall be renewed as before' describes the periodic restoration of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The supreme principle is defined by what it is not—it 'can take no part in the days, or in the nights, nor have any concern whatever with reaction or dissolution'—describing the divine by negation of all temporal and relational categories.
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 passage's central argument is the 'identity of the foundations of construction in every Scripture,' explicitly mapping Kabbalistic Sephiroth to Indian Dhyan Chohans, Manus, and Prajapati, and identifying the same septenary structure in nature, man, and the Root Races.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage narrates the creation process: the Earth 'without form and void,' the 'Breath of the Elohim' producing 'the first divine IDEATION of the things to be,' and the subsequent manifestation into the objective state.
A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.
The God of Moses is explicitly called 'only a temporary substitute, like Brahma the male, a substitute and an aspect of THAT which is immutable,' positioning the personal creator as secondary to the supreme transcendent principle.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The deity is 'concealed from his sight by a cloud,' and the supreme principle is 'THAT which is immutable' beyond all temporal participation, while the 'Parguphim, or Face could not see Face' indicates the primordial men's inability to perceive the divine.
The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold.
'THAT which is immutable, and which therefore can take no part in the days, or in the nights, nor have any concern whatever with reaction or dissolution' describes the infinite, unknowable divine prior to and beyond all emanation.
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.
The passage explicitly maps a cascading hierarchy from 'THAT which is immutable' down through B'raisheeth (First Emanation/Logos), the six Sephiroth of Construction, the seven forms of the Cranium, and the thirteen Manus, each level derived from and dependent upon the one above.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage explicitly distinguishes four interpretive keys (real-mystical, allegorical, moral, literal) and states that the 'mystical key' reveals the true identity of foundations, while the literal is 'the key of the exoteric Churches and not worth discussion.'
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage traces the directional process from the 'paradigmatic, or model universe in ideation of the OVER-SOUL' through the 'Breath' producing 'the first divine IDEATION' to the 'objective state,' a staged descent complemented by the cyclical return after Pralaya.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
B'raisheeth is explicitly identified as 'the First Emanation or Logos' and the Elohim are called 'collective Logoi,' with the Logos mediating between the immutable source and the constructed universe.
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 six and seventh principles are identified as simultaneously 'the Forces of nature, the Seven Angels of the Presence, the sixth and seventh principles in man; the spirito-psycho-physical spheres of the Septenary chain, the Root Races,' making the human the privileged mirror of the cosmic structure.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
'THAT which is immutable, and which therefore can take no part in the days, or in the nights' functions as the absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity flows.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The passage is saturated with numerological correspondences: six Sephiroth, seven forms, thirteen depending on thirteen, fourteen Manus, six thousand years, twelve hours, and the seventh as the strong-by-Itself period.
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The passage describes the cyclical oscillation between 'Day' and 'Night' of Brahma, Pralaya and Manvantara, with the process 'repeated after every Pralaya before the beginnings of a new Manvantara.'
The ten attributes or emanations through which the Ein Sof (Infinite) reveals itself and creates the universe in Kabbalistic theology.
The 'six Sephiroth of Construction' are explicitly named and their function as the builders of the lower universe is detailed, with B'raisheeth standing above them.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage asserts 'the identity of the foundations of construction in every Scripture' and presents all the various divine beings (Sephiroth, Manus, Dhyan Chohans, Angels) as aspects or emanations of a single immutable source.