The Light so _forth-shown_ from the Deity, cannot be said to be _severed_ or _diverse_ from Him. "It is flashed forth from Him, and yet all continues to be perfect unity..." The Sephiroth, sometimes called the _Persons_ of the Deity, _are His rays_, by which He is enabled most perfectly to manifest Himself.
The Introduction to the Book SOHAR says:
The first compression was effected, in order that the Primal Light might be upraised, and a s.p.a.ce become vacant. The second compression occurred when the vestiges of the removed Light remaining were compressed into points; and that compression was effected by means of the emotion of joy; the Deity rejoicing, it had already been said, on account of His Holy People, thereafter to come into being; and that joy being vehement, and a commotion and exhilaration in the Deity being caused by it, so that He flowed forth in His delight; and of this commotion an abstract power of judgment being generated, which is a collection of the letters generated by the points of the vestiges of Light left within the circle.
_For He writes the finite expressions, or limited manifestations of Himself upon the Book, in single letters_.
Like as when water or fire, it had been said, is blown upon by the wind, it is wont to be greatly moved, and with flashes like lightning to smite the eyes, and gleam and coruscate hither and thither, even so The Infinite was moved within Himself, and shone and coruscated in that circle, from the centre outward and again to the centre: and that commotion we term exhilaration; and from that exhilaration, variously divided within Himself, was generated the potency of determining the fashioning of the letters.
Of that exhilaration, it had also been said, was generated the determination of _forms_, by which determination the Infinite determined them within Himself, as if by saying: "Let this Sphere be the appointed place, wherein let all worlds be created!"
He, by radiating and coruscating, effected the points, so that their sparkling should smite the eyes like lightning. Then He combined diversely the single points, until _letters_ were fashioned thereof, in the similitude and image of those wherewith THE BLESSED had set forth the decrees of His Wisdom.
It is not possible to attain to an understanding of the creation of man, except by the mystery of letters; and in these worlds of The Infinite is nothing, except the letters of the Alphabet and their combinations. All the worlds are Letters and Names; but He Who is the Author of all, has no name.
This world of the covering [or _garment--vestimenti_], [that is, the circular vacant s.p.a.ce, with the vestiges of the removed Light of The Infinite still remaining after the first contraction and compression], is the _inmost_ covering, _nearest_ to His substance; and to this covering belongs the general name AUR PENIAL, _Light of the Countenance of G.o.d_: by which we are to understand the Light of The Substance.
And after this covering was effected, He contracted it, so as to lift up the lower moiety; ... and this is the _third_ contraction; and in this manner He made vacant a s.p.a.ce for the worlds, which had not the capacity to use the great Light of the covering, the end whereof was lucid and excellent as its beginning. And so [by drawing up the lower half and half the letters], are made the _Male_ and _Female_, that is, the anterior and posterior adhering mutually to one another.
The vacant s.p.a.ce effected by this retraction is called AUIR KADMON, the PRIMAL s.p.a.cE: for it was the first of all s.p.a.ces; nor was it allowable to call it _covering_, which is AUR PENI-BAL, the Light of the Countenance of G.o.d.
The vestiges of the Light of the Garment still remained there. And this world of the garment has a name _that includes all things_, which is the name IHUH. Before the world of the vacant s.p.a.ce was created, HE was, and His Name, and they alone; that is, AINSOPH and His garmenting.
The EMECH HAMMELECH says again:
The lower half of the garment [by the third retraction], was left empty of the light of the garment. But the vestiges of that light remained in the place so vacated ... and _this_ garment is called SHEKINAH, G.o.d in-dwelling; that is, the place where ?? Yod He, of the anterior [or male], and ?? Vav He, of the posterior [or female], combinations of letters dwelt.
This vacant s.p.a.ce was square, and is called the _Primal s.p.a.ce_; and in Kabalah it is called _Auira Kadmah_, or _Rasimu Ailah_, The Primal s.p.a.ce, or The Sublime Vestige. It is the vestige of the Light of the Garment, with which is intermingled somewhat of the vestige of the Very Substance. It is called _Primal Ether_, but not void s.p.a.ce ... The Light of the Vestige still remains in the place it occupied, and adheres there, like somewhat spiritual, of extreme tenuity.
In this Ether are two Lights; that is, the Light of the SUBSTANCE, which was taken away, and that of the Garment. There is a vast difference between the two; for that of the Vestige of the Garment is, relatively to that of the Vestige of the Substance, _like a point in the centre of a circle_. And as the only appropriate name for the Light of the Vestige of Ainsoph is AUR, _Light_, therefore the Light of the Vestige of the Garment could not be called by _that_ name; and so we term it a point, that is, Yod [" or ?], which is that point in the centre of Light ...
and _this_ Light, a point in the centre of the Great Light, is called _Auir_, Ether, or s.p.a.ce.
This Ether is somewhat more gross than The Light ... not so subtle, though not perceptible by the senses ... is termed the Primal Ether ...
extends everywhere; whence the Philosophers call it The Soul of the World ... Light is visible, though not perceptible. _This Ether is neither perceptible nor visible_.
The Introduction to the Book Sohar continues, in the Section of the Letter Yod, etc:
Worlds could not be framed in this Primal Ether, on account of its extreme tenuity and the excess of Light; and also, because in it remained the vital Spirit of the Vestige of the Light Ainsoph, and that of the Vestige of the Light of the Garment; whereby such manifestation was prevented.
Wherefore HE directed the letter Yod, since it was not so brilliant as the Primal Ether, to descend, and take to itself the light remaining in the Primal Ether, and return above, with that Vestige which so impeded the manifestation; which Yod did.
It descended below five times, to remove the vital Spirit of the Vestige of the Light Ainsoph; and the Vestige of the Light and vital Spirit of the Garment from the Sphere of Splendor, so as to make of it ADAM, called KADMON. And by its return, manifestation is effected in the s.p.a.ce below, and a Vestige of the Sublime Brilliance yet remains there, existing as a Spherical Shape, and termed in the Sohar simply _Tehiru_, that is, Splendor; and it is styled The First Matter ... it being, as it were, vapor, and, as it were, smoke. And as smoke is formless, not comprehended under any fixed definite form, so this Sphere is a formless somewhat, since it seems to be somewhat that is spherical, and yet is not limited.
The letter Yod, while adhering to the Shekinah, had adhering, to himself the Light of the Shekinah, though his light was not so great as that of the Shekinah. But when he descended, he left that light of his own below, and the Splendor consisted of it. After which there was left in Yod only a vestige of that light, inasmuch as he could not re-ascend to the Shekinah and adhere to it. Wherefore The Holy and Blessed directed the letter He [Hebrew: ?], the female letter, to communicate to Yod of her Light; and sent him forth, to descend and share with _that_ light in the Splendor aforesaid ... and when he re-descended into the Sphere of Splendor, he diffused abroad in it the Light communicated to him by the letter He.
And when he again ascended he left behind him the productive light of the letter He, and thereof was const.i.tuted another Sphere, _within_ the Sphere of Splendor; which _lesser_ Sphere is termed in the Sohar KETHER AILAH, CORONA SUMMA, _The Supreme Crown_, and also ATIKA DE ATIKIM, _Antiquus Antiquum, The Ancient of Ancients_, and even AIUT H" AIUT, _Causa Causarum, the Cause of Causes_. But the Crown is very far smaller than the Sphere of Splendor, so that within the latter an immense unoccupied place and s.p.a.ce is still left.
The BETH ALOHIM says:
Before the Infinite G.o.d, the Supreme and First Good, formed objectively within Himself a particular conception, definite, limited, and the object of intellection, and gave form and shape to an intellectual conception and image. HE was alone, companionless, without form or similitude, utterly without Ideal or Figure ... It is forbidden to make of Him any figure whatever, by any image in the world, neither by the letter He nor by the letter Yod, nor by any other letter or point in the world.
But after He had formed this Idea, the particular conception, limited and intelligible, which the Ten Numerations are, of the medium of transmission, Adam Kadmon, the Primal or Supreme Man, He by that medium descended, and may, through that Idea, be called by the name IHUH, and so created things have cognizance of Him, by means of His proper likeness.
Woe unto him who makes G.o.d to be like unto any mode or attribute whatever, even were it to one of His own; and still more if he make Him like unto the Sons of Men, whose elements are earthly, and so are consumed and perish!
There can be no conception had of Him, except in so far as He manifests Himself, in exercising dominion by and through some attribute ...
Abstracted from this, there can be no attribute, conception, or ideal of Him. He is comparable only to the Sea, filling some great reservoir, its bed in the earth, for example; wherein it fashions for itself a certain concavity, so that thereby we may begin to compute the dimensions of the Sea itself.
For example, the Spring and Source of the Ocean is a somewhat, which is _one_. If from this Source or Spring there issues forth a certain fountain, proportioned to the s.p.a.ce occupied by the Sea in that hemispherical reservoir, such as is the letter Yod, there the Source of Spring is the first somewhat, and the fountain that flows forth from it is the second. Then let there be made a great reservoir, as by excavation, and let this be called the Ocean, and we have the third thing, a vessel [_Vas_]. Now let this great reservoir be divided into seven beds of rivers, that is, into seven oblong reservoirs, so that from this ocean the waters may flow forth in seven rivers; and the Source, Fountain, and Ocean thus make _ten_ in all.
The Cause of Causes made ten Numerations, and called the Source of Spring KETHER, _Corona_, the Crown, in which the idea of circularity is involved, for there is no _end_ to the out-flow of Light; and therefore He called this, like Himself, _endless_; for this also, like Him, has no similitude or configuration, nor hath it any vessel or receptacle wherein it may be contained, or by means whereof any possible cognizance can be had of it.
After thus forming the Crown, He const.i.tuted a certain smaller receptacle, the letter Yod, and filled it from that source; and this is called "The Fountain gushing with Wisdom," and, manifested in this, He called Himself WISE, and the vessel He called HAKEMAH, _Wisdom, Sapientia_.
Then He also const.i.tuted a great reservoir, which He called the Ocean; and to it He gave the name of BINAH, Understanding, _Intelligentia_. In this He characterized Himself as Intelligent or _Conceiver_. HE is indeed the Absolutely Wise and Intelligent, but Hakemah is not Absolute Wisdom of itself, _but is wise by means of Binah_, who fills Himself from it, and if this supply were taken from it, would be dry and unintelligent.
And thereupon seven precious vessels become, to which are given the following names: GEDULAH, _Magnificence_ or _Benignity_ [or KHASED, _Mercy_]; GEBURAH, _Austerity, Rigor_ or _Severity_; TEPHARETH; _Beauty_; NETSAKH, _Victory_; HOD, _Glory_; YESOD, _Foundation_ or _Basis_; and MALAKOTH, _Rule, Reign, Royalty, Dominion_ or _Power_. And in GEDULAH He took the character of _Great_ and _Benignant_; in GEBURAH, of _Severe_; in TEPHARETH, of _Beautiful_; in NETSAKH, of _Overcoming_; in HOD, of OUR GLORIOUS AUTHOR; in YESOD, of _Just_, by Yesod all vessels and worlds being upheld; and in MALAKOTH He applied to Himself the t.i.tle of _King_.
These numerations or Sephiroths are held in the Kabala to have been originally contained in each other; that is, Kether contained the nine others, Hakemah contained Binah, and Binah contained the last seven.
For all things, says the commentary of Rabbi _Jizchak Lorja_, in a certain most abstruse manner, consist or reside and are contained in Binah, and it projects them, and sends them downward, species by species, into the several worlds of Emanation, Creation, Formation, and Fabrication; all whereof are derived from what are above them, and are termed their out-flowings; for, from the potency which was their state there, they descend into actuality.
The INTRODUCTION says:
It is said in many places in the Sohar, that all things that emanate or are created have their root above. Hence also the Ten Sephiroth have their root above, in the world of the garment, with the very Substance of HIM. And AINSOPH had full consciousness and appreciation, prior to their actual existence, of all the Grades and Impersonations contained unmanifested within Himself, with regard to the essence of each, and its domination then in potency ... When He came to the Sephirah of the Impersonation Malakoth, which He then contained hidden within Himself, He concluded within Himself that therein worlds should be framed; since the scale of the first nine Sephiroths was so const.i.tuted, that it was neither fit nor necessary for worlds to be framed from _them_; for all the attributes of these nine Superior Sephiroth could be a.s.signed to Himself, even if He should never operate outwardly; but Malakoth, which is Empire or Dominion, could not be attributed to Him, unless He ruled over other Existences; whence from the point Malakoth He produced all the worlds into actuality.
These circles are ten in number. Originated by points, they expanded in circular shape. Ten Circles, under the mystery of the ten Sephiroth, and between them ten s.p.a.ces; whence it appears that the sphere of Splendor is in the centre of the s.p.a.ce Malakoth of the First Occult Adam.
The First Adam, _in the ten circles above the Splendor_, is called the First _occult_ Adam; and in each of these s.p.a.ces are formed many thousand worlds. The first Adam is _involved_ in the Primal Ether, and is the a.n.a.logue of the world Binah.
Again the Introduction repeats the first and second descent of Yod into the vacated s.p.a.ce, to make the light there less great and subtile; the const.i.tution of the _Tehiru_, Splendor, from the light left behind there by him; the communication of Light to him by the female letter He; the emission by him of that Light, within the sphere of Splendor, and the formation thereof, within the sphere "of a certain sphere called the Supreme Crown," _Corona Summa_, KETHER, "wherein were contained, in potence, all the remaining Numerations, so that they were not distinguishable from it. Precisely as in man exist the four elements, in potence specifically undistinguishable, so in this Corona were in potence all the ten Numerations, specifically undistinguishable." This Crown, it is added, was called, after the restoration, The Cause of Causes, and the Ancient of the Ancients.
The point, Kether, adds the Introduction, was the aggregate of all the Ten ... when it first emanated, it consisted of all the Ten; and the Light which extended from the Emanative Principle simultaneously flowed into _it_; and beheld the two _Universals_ [that is, the Unities out of which manifoldness flows; as, for example, the _idea_, within the Deity, of Humanity as a Unit, out of which the individuals were to flow], the Vessel or Receptacle containing this immitted Light, and the Light Itself within it. And _this Light is the Substance of the point Kether; for the WILL, of G.o.d is the Soul of all things that are_.
The Ainsophic Light, it had said, was infinite in every direction, and without end or limit. To prevent it from flowing into and re-filling the quasi-vacant s.p.a.ce, occupied by an infinitely less Splendor, a part.i.tion between the greater and lesser Splendor was necessary; and this part.i.tion, the boundary of the sphere of Splendor, and a like one bounding the sphere Kether, were called _Vessels_ or _Receptacles, containing_, including, and enclosing within themselves the light of the sphere. Imagine a sea of pellucid water, and in the centre of it a spherical ma.s.s of denser and darker water. The outer surface of this sphere, or its limits every way, is the vessel containing it. The Kabalah regards the vessels "as by their nature somewhat opaque, and not so splendid as the light they enclose."
The contained Light is the Soul of the vessels, and is active in them, like the Human Soul in the human body. The Light of the Emanative Principle [Ainsoph] _inheres_ in the vessels, as their _Life_, internal _Light_, and _Soul_ ... Kether emanated, with its Very Substance, at the same time as Substance and Vessel, in like manner as the flame is annexed to the live coal, and as the Soul pervades, and is within, the body. All the Numerations were potentially contained in it.
And this potentiality is thus explained: When a woman conceives, a Soul is immediately sent into the embryo which is to become the infant, in which Soul are then, potentially, all the members and veins of the body, which afterward, from that potency of the Soul, _become_ in the human body of the child to be born.
Then the wisdom of G.o.d commanded that these Numerations potentially in Kether, should be produced from potentiality into actuality, in order that worlds might consist; and HE directed Yod again to descend, and to enter into and shine within Kether, and then to re-ascend: which was so done. From which illumination and re-ascension, all the other numerations, potentially in Kether, were manifested and disclosed; but they continued still compacted together, remaining within Kether in a circle.
When G.o.d willed to produce the other emanations or numerations from Kether, it is added, HE sent Yod down again, to the upper part of Kether, one-half of him to remain without and one-half to penetrate within the sphere of Kether. Then He sent the letter Vav into the Splendor, to pour out its light on Yod: and thus,--
Yod received light from Vav, and thereby so directed his countenance that it should illuminate and confer exceeding great energy on Hakemah, which yet remained in Kether; so giving it the faculty to proceed forth therefrom; and that it might collect and contain within itself, and there reveal, all the other eight numerations, until that time in Kether.
The sphere of Kether opened, and thereout issued Hakemah, to remain below Kether, containing in itself all the other numerations.
By a similar process, Binah, illuminated within Hakemah by a second Yod, "issued forth out of Hakemah, having within itself the Seven lower Numerations."