The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) · 292 of 530
Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogonye
Out of B 1 are taken nine globes--B 2, B 3, B 4, B 5, B 6, B 7, B 8, B 9, and B 10--which constitute the World of Briah .
These ten subdivisions, however, are really the ten Atziluthic powers reflected into the substance of the Briatic World.
B 1 is the ruler of this world, for it contains all the other rings of its own world and also the rings of the third and fourth worlds, C and D.
In the World of Briah the ten spheres of light are called the Archangels of Briah .
Their order and powers are as follows: From A 10 came B 1, the Second Crown; it is called Metatron , the Angel of the Presence.
From B 1 came B 2, the second Wisdom; it is called Raziel , the Herald of Deity who revealed the mysteries of Qabbalah to Adam.
From B 2 carne B 3, the second Understanding; it is called Tsaphkiel , the Contemplation of God.
From B 3 came B 4 ' the second Mercy; it is called Tsadkiel , the justice of God.
From B 4 came B 5, the second Severity; it is called Samael , the Severity of God.
From B 5 came B 6, the second Beauty; it is called Michael , Like Unto God.
From B 6 came B 7, the second Victory; it is called Haniel , the Grace of God.
From B 7 came B 8, the second Glory; it is called Raphael , the Divine Physician.
From B 8 came B 9, the second Foundation; it is called Gabriel , the Man-God.
From B 9 came B 10, the second Kingdom; it is called Sandalphon , the Messias.
From B 10 came C 1, the Third Crown, and the World of Yetzirah was established.
The ten Archangels of Briah are conceived to be ten great spiritual beings, whose duty is to manifest the ten powers of the Great Name of God existent in the Atziluthic World, which surrounds and interpenetrates the entire world of creation.
All things manifesting in the lower worlds exist first in the intangible rings of the upper spheres, so that creation is, in truth, the process of making tangible the intangible by extending the intangible into various vibratory rates.
The ten globes of Briatic power, while themselves reflections, are mirrored downward into the third or Yetziratic World, where still more limited in their expression they become the spiritual and invisible zodiac which is behind the visible band of constellations.
In this third world the ten globes of the original Atziluthic World are greatly limited and dimmed, but they are still infinitely powerful in comparison with the state of substance in which man dwells.
In the third world, C 1 to C 10, the globes become hierarchies of celestial creatures, called the Choirs of Yetzirah .
Here again, all are included within the ring C 1, the power which controls the Yetziratic World and which includes within itself and controls the entire world D.
The order of the globes and the names of the hierarchies composing them are as follows: From B 10 came C 1, the Third Crown; the Hierarchy is the Cherubim, Chaioth Ha Kadosh , the Holy Animals.
From C 1 came C 2, the third Wisdom; the Hierarchy is the Cherubim, Orphanim , the Wheels.
Themes
◆Correspondencecosmology
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 text explicitly states that all things manifest in lower worlds exist first in the intangible rings of upper spheres.
All passages →◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology
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 text details a descending chain of nine globes from B1 to B10 that constitute the World of Briah.
All passages →Related passages · 1 parallel
◆jewish_mysticism|Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)|Section 1a
“Wescott, tr.
(1887) CHAPTER 1 1.
In two and thirty most occult and wonderful paths of wisdom did JAH the Lord of Hosts engrave his name: God of the armies of Israel, ever-living God, merciful and gracious, sublime, dwelling on high, who i…”
Both passages describe a hierarchical structure of divine emanations or spiritual beings, with a focus on the ten Sephiroth in the Kabbalistic tradition. They share the concept of a divine hierarchy emanating from a single source, though the specific names and details differ.