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THE SEPHER HA-ZOHAR OR THE BOOK OF LIGHT |
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CHAPTER 1. GENESIS. (CREATION) "BRASHITH." "In the beginning" was En Soph,15a the Divine, the self-existent infinite begin, without likeness or reflection, the incomprehensible, the unknowable One, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. who only hath immortality, dwelling in Light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen or can see, before whom the great archangel with face beneath his wings bends in lowly reverence and adoration, crying, "Holy! Holy! Holy! who art and was and evermore shall be." Tune had begun. Its great pendulum, whose beats are the ages, commenced to vibrate. The era of creation or manifestation had at last arrived. The nekuda reshima, primal point or nucleus, appeared. From it emanated and expanded the primary substance, the illimitable phosphorescent ether, of the nature of light, formless, colorless, being neither black nor green nor red. In it, latent yet potentially as in a mighty womb, lay the myriad prototypes and numberless forms of all created things as yet indiscernible, indistinguishable. By the secret and silent action of the divine will, from this primal luminous point radiated forth the vital life-giving spark which, pervading and operating in the great, enteric ocean of forms, became the soul of the universe, the fount and origin of all mundane life and motion and terrestrial existence, and in its nature and essence and secret operation remains ineffable, incomprehensible and indefinable. It has been conceived of as the divine Logos, the Word, and called Brashith, for the same was in the beginning with God. [paragraph continues] (All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life became the light of man.) "They that understand (the secret doctrine) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they who turn or lead many into the might path (of knowledge) as the stars forever and ever." (Dan. xii. 3.) The word zohar (brightness) designates that nekuda reshima, the central ray or point of light which was the primal manifestation of the Divine, En Soph. From it proceeded vibrations which made luminous the illimitable ether, from which was formed the universe that became the glorious temple or palace of the great Unknown. It was in a manner the holy seed or germ that gave origin and birth to the world, and is occultly referred to in the words: "The holy seed shall be the substance thereof." (Is. vi. 13.) Its analogue in nature is the silkworm which, unseen and in secret, elaborates and prepares a product that ultimately constitutes the material of the monarch's purple robe of splendor. Furthermore, for the manifestation of the glory of the divine Unknown to humanity, making use of verbal terms and letters, it has built for it the name15a-15b alhim, or lord, as evidenced in the mystic sense of brashith bara alhim. "In the beginning, alhim created"; or, as it should be rendered by rushith, that is the primal zohar, the origin of all words, "God created alhim." The use of the word bara (created) need not excite surprise, for it occurs again in the words: "And he created alhim, the man, in his image." (Gen. i. 27.) This zohar, their, denotes the mysterious. One called brashith because the beginning of all things. In answer to the desire of Moses to know the name of the divine Being, it was given AHIH ASHR AHIH, "I am that or who I am." The sacred name AHIH is as a two-sided figure, whilst the name alhim is as a crown; and asher formed of the same letters as the word rash (head or crown) is a synonym of alhim and proceeds or comes forth from brashith. Whilst the primal zohar or divine ray of life was quiescent and unmanifested it was impossible for it to become known by any word or term whatsoever. But after operating in the boundless ether, the receptacle of all forms and prototypes of created things in the universe that was to be, then asher, representing the divine essence, took upon itself the form of a head or crown (rash) between the two AHIH's of the divine appellation, AHIH asher AHIH. Observe now, that the word brashith is composed of rash (crown), synonym of asher, and beth (house or palace). Hence the occult signification or rendering of the words "Brashith bara Alhim" is this: When rash the divine germ from which emanated and expanded the boundless ether appeared, and this ether became differentiated into form and color giving rise to the universe or palace of the great king, then was created alhim the great secret fructifying principle of nature, which was and is as a point that gives rise to lines which produce surfaces, or as the letter yod I, whence proceed all the other letters of the alphabet. Again, from another aspect, when zohar the primal luminous point or ray gave rise to the emanating ether, it took. upon itself the form of the vowels holem ( ֹ ) shurek ( ּ ) and hirek ( ִ ) which are different dispositions of the one and same elementary point in their esoteric meaning. When the primal vibration of the divine word took place it produced and impressed a wavelike motion throughout the boundless ether in which were contained all the sounds of the alphabet from A to Th. This operation and effect is symbolized by the union of these two letters forming the word ath as it is found written ath ha-shamayim (the heavens). Thus: Brashith bara Alhim ath hashamayim signify: He, the unknown mysterious One, created alhim the fructifying and generative principle of the heavens, one in origin but dual in operation. Hence it is seen that the divine word and essence designated by the word asher is found between the fecundative and generative principles, both of which are symbolized by the same name AHIH in the divine appellation AHIH asher AHIH. The Zohar (brightness) also denotes the generative essence and includes all the letters taken as types and forms of creatures and things in its operation. Such also is the signification of the verse: "Jehovah, our God is one Jehovah"15b (Deut. vi. 4), containing three names expressive of the three gradations of the divine essence, as exhibited in the three first words of Genesis. "Brashith balm Alhim ath hashamayim." Brashith specifies the mysterious divine Being; bara, the mystery of creation: alhim, the mystery of preservation: ath hashamayim, the fructifying and generative principles considered as one. If to the word ath be added h from the following word hashamayim (heavens) we get the pronominal term athah (thou)--Alhim, the divine Being to which the scripture alludes. "Thou ( Athah) givest life to all creatures." (Nehem. ix. 6). In this deeply mysterious ath, therefore, is comprehended the divine essence in its fructifying and generative form, and Alhim the point of union between them; and it may thus be regarded as a mystic analogue, though dimly and obscurely, of that majestic unknown Being that operated in the creation and production of the illimitable universe, whose goodness and beneficence are manifested in the preservation of the world with its myriads of creatures, who in their fructifying and generative powers and functions are finite replica of Himself, the "I am that I am." In concluding these remarks on this first verse in Genesis,15b-16a observe that brashith (in the beginning) is equivalent to bra-shith (he created six) and refers to the scriptural words: "From one side of the heaven to the other," that is, to the six directions of space (north, south, east, west, above, and below), all converging to the three points representing the divine essence, which are one and the same, the mystery of which is included and hidden in the divine name composed of forty-two letters. "They that are wise shall shine,"Dan. 12:3 i.e., those who are initiated into the secret doctrine. They are like the notes and accents in music by which musicians and singers are guided and led in their playing and chanting, as troops that follow their leader and chief. The consonants and vowels are the chief elements in the formation of words, but the wise alone by their understanding give life and meaning to them. "Those who turn many into the right way (of knowledge) shall shine as the stars forever and ever." By the word stars is meant the signs of punctuation used to separate the parts of a sentence and render the words intelligible, and thus are teachers and students of the secret doctrine. who, by their intellectual and spiritual enlightenment and knowledge of esoteric science. cause earth's ofttimes weary wandering and belated pilgrims to find the true path of light that leads them to the higher and diviner life. happy are they engaged in the work of guiding others into the right way! Around them is a halo which the prophet Ezekiel beheld in vision encircling the heads of cherubim, the brightness and refulgence of which shall never become faded or dimmed but endure forever. "And the earth was tohu and bohu" (Gen. i. 2), that is, without form and void. The word "was" relating to the past, is here used to indicate the primeval state of the earth at the time of its creation. The water covering the earth was cold as snow and impregnated and contaminated with mud and debris which by the action of a strong fire congested and hardened and the space or place it occupied in becoming separated from the water was called Tohu, or the place of waste and dregs, and corresponded to the evil demons that made it their abode. Bohu, on the contrary, was that part or portion of the earth that became purified. If it be asked: by the action of what power was this purification accomplished, the scripture answers:16a "Darkness was upon the face of the deep." The term darkness refers to the fire or light which, though of divine origin, existed like a nebulous dark cloud at the beginning of creation. "And the spirit of God proceeded from the lord of life and hovered or moved upon the face of the waters." (Gen. i. 2). After impregnating them with the breath of life, and causing them to become purified and fructified, then from out of the state of Tohu came forth a great and mighty wind that overthrew mountains and broke into pieces the rocks, similar in its effects to the sight beheld by the prophet Elijah, as it is written; "after the wind, an earthquake" (I. Kings xix. 12), that dispelled the darkness in which was the hidden and concealed fire that transformed the world from tohu into Bohu, and from a state of chaos made it receptive of seeds and germs of life. This is expressed in the words; "and after the fire a still small voice" (I. Kings xix., 12). Tohu was thus a state of chaos in which the world existed for ages after its first creation, enshrouded in darkness and immersed in water. By the action of fire, in its qualities of heat and flame, and the concomitant operation of the divine spirit, the constituent elements became differentiated and each imbued with energies and powers of attraction and cohesion, as also of repulsion, and thus prepared to be taken up and used in the elaboration of material forms and bodies in which pre-existing spiritual entities or beings might incarnate and manifest themselves in accordance with laws regulating and governing their birth, growth and development. This preparatory and progressive stage in the world's physical history was what is termed bohu, a state of darkness which was at the same time an allotrophic form of the divine light that in its infinite modes of energy and operation pervaded the vast expanse, making it pregnant with the germs of life that eventually came forth out of the earth's mighty womb and began their ascent on the spiral curve of evolutionary existence; until, after aeons of upward struggle and ceaseless endeavor, they attained their destiny, becoming children of Light, assimilated in the grandeur of their expanded faculties of mind and heart with the great Father of Light, the [paragraph continues] Holy One (blessed be He), whose love and beneficence to all his creatures are as great as his power, and who knows neither measure nor end. "And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"; and then went forth the fiat of the divine word: "Let there be light and light was" (Gen. i. 3), light radiant and glittering with a thousand different colors and rays, fringing and embellishing all objects with a halo and sheen of beauty and splendor, entering into and informing each atom and evoking its latent life and energy and exciting it to the display and exercise of its inherent properties and functions in the great economy of nature. In all the various phases of development from tohu to bohu,16a-16b through countless ages of silent, secret and ceaseless progression from lower to higher stages and states of being, the Divine has manifested itself under many and different aspects or characters corresponding to and symbolical of them. Thus, whilst the earth was in a state of chaos, it manifested itself as Shaddai, the Almighty; and when it passed from the state of tohu to bohu, as Sabaoth, or Hosts. When darkness disappeared, then became it known as Alhim. But not until the life-giving word was spoken, did it become known as Jehovah, the "I am that I am." This is wherefore the scripture states in the vision of Elijah: "Jehovah was not in the earthquake" (I. Kings xix. 2), but Shaddai. Jehovah was not in the fire (I. Kings, xix. 12), but was "Sabaoth." "After the fire a darkness made visible," it manifested as Alhim; then was heard the still small voice and the name Jehovah was complete, the four letters of which serve as symbols of the divine essence as the hands and feet represent the human frame. Taking now the tetragrammaton or holy name, AHIH, manifested in these three aspects or forms of cosmic development, we find the divine appellation of twelve letters, AHIH asher AHIH, the name revealed to the prophet Elijah. "And God said: Let there be light and light was." Proceed we now to investigate and acquaint ourselves with the hidden mysteries and teachings of the secret doctrine regarding creation which have just been outlined in a general manner. Hitherto we have dwelt upon the secret operation of En Soph or the unknown infinite and eternal Being in preparing the earth and impregnating its substance with a mysterious divine virtue or power which rendered it capable of becoming the medium for the enfoldment and manifestation of pre-existing spiritual entities and beings. These effects achieved, there was needed the omnific, life-giving Logos or Word to originate and utter the symphonal vibration that should impart life and breath and motion to the universe. Then and not till then was it spoken; then and not till then the celestial and terrestrial worlds becoming bound and associated together by a reciprocal influence, a new and a living way was opened for the incarnation and exhibition of life upon the earth. This is why in the antecedent primal stages of development in the world's history the expression "God said," is not found in scripture. At first he willed, as the Arabic version gives it, and his will operated silently, slowly, yet surely and effectively. The primary substance of the earth being thus prepared, it was through the mysterious action of the Word that it became endowed with vital properties and attributes through the divine vibration imparted to it. This is what scripture affirms: "And God said," that is, Alhim manifested himself by and through the divine Logos; and thus by and through the Word, produced motion or vibration under the laws of which created matter, or substance, resolved itself into an infinitude of different forms. "Let light be." Now the word yehe (he) is composed of16b three letters, IHI, yod being the first and third letter and H coming between them. The yod, or I, represents the male and the female principle. The full word is therefore a symbol of the divine Father and Mother, the final yod being the same as the first in order to show that all the three aspects or forms as stated, under which En Soph operated in the creation and production of the universe, were only the manifestations of one and the same divine Being. The first yod also designates the Father, the engenderer of light; the second letter H denotes the Logos; the third letter yod, the primal light. The divine aspects are further symbolized by the three vowel points, holem ( ֹ ) shurek ( ּ ) and hirek ( ִ ) the Father, the Word and the Light. Before the manifestation of the Logos seven other letters were formed, but the primal light proceeding from the Father was too ethereal and empyreal to receive and become impressed with their forms and signatures. When, however, the state, of tohu gave place to that of bohu, other seven letters were formed; but, again, as matter was not sufficiently condensed, it could not retain them. At the manifestation of the creative Logos, eight others completing the letters of the alphabet were formed, which endured because by the action of the Logos, the barrier between the spiritual and earthly was done away and they began to exercise a reciprocal influence on each other. This is the occult meaning of the words: "Let there be a firmament" and thus form a medium, a point of union between the higher and lower worlds. This taking place was the prelude to the appearance of life upon the earth. "God saw the light that it was good" (Gen. i. 4), for then the universe became lighted up and pervaded throughout with the divine life which preserves it for the common weal and happiness of created and animated beings.16b-17a "And God called the light Day" (Gen. i. 5). Why is it written: "He called"? Because Alhim wished or willed an emanation distinct from the Logos, which should constitute the world-soul, the foundation root of universal life. This light emanation, the life of the world, is termed Day, representing and corresponding to the first AHIH in the divine appellation "I am that I am." "And the darkness he called Night." That is, He produced from out of the primal darkness a passive or reflected light like that of the moon and called it Night. It was by the union of Day and Night, symbolizing light and darkness, the male and female principles, that the Logos or creative Word proceeded. This mystery is also symbolized by the vowel points ( ֹ ) ( ּ ) ( ִ ). When the creative and passive light blend and unite, that is, when the active male principle unites with the passive female principle, an equilibrium is established and procreation takes place. The union of these two lights or principles gives rise to a sense of pleasure and delight which has been personified as the goddess Venus, and is known and termed in the secret doctrine as "Musaph" (something additional, augmentation) without which life would not be worth living. This it was that caused all as yet unembodied spirits and holy souls to be filled with a joyous longing and desire for incarnation on the earth plane and thereby attain to higher states and stages of existence and thus approximate nearer to the great Being who in scripture is termed Jehovah, Zebaoth, the Lord of Hosts, God of all the countless myriads of created souls and Lord of all the earth. From what has just been said it will be perceived that the words Day and Night in scripture are symbols of the heavenly or divine lights from the synthesis of which creation, as it exists, has resulted. "And God said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters" (Gen. i. 6). In these words the scripture begins to unfold and display in detail the various processes in mundane creation which began by dividing the waters above from the waters below. Amongst the many antinomies of existence by which we are able to distinguish their nature and thus attain unto truth, the conception of right and left will hest assist us in understanding and grasping the secret doctrine contained in these words, the right corresponding to light, goodness, harmony; the left, to darkness, evil, discord, from which has proceeded that state called Gehenna or Hell, a subject upon which Moses himself pondered and thought deeply and long in his studies on this part of Genesis. In the work of creation there was a differentiation of the divine essence resulting in two states of the primal substance,17a-17b called light and darkness, connoted also by the terms right and left. When Alhim, the creative mean, or word, appeared and became a point of union between them, they began to blend harmoniously together and thus gave occasion for the appearance of vegetable and animated existences. Discord vanished and peace universally prevailed. This primal discord between the light and darkness, the right and left, may be illustrated by the quarrel and contention that arose between Korah, and his associates, and Aaron, the high priest. After his studies on the great problem of the origin of Gehenna, Moses thus reasoned to himself: I must adjust and harmonize this difference and discord between Korah and Aaron on the principle of reconciliation that prevailed and operated between light and darkness at the time of creation, that is, I must become a mediator between them. Finding, however, that the contention on the part of Korah was of a stubborn and inflexible character, he said truly: This opposition and difference between the two parties, Korah and Aaron, is altogether different from what prevailed between primeval light and darkness, and though willing to mediate and make peace and harmony between them, Korah and his company have rejected and refused my counsels and thus have instituted and made a Gehenna or Hell into which they must eventually fall. In refusing to accept and comply with the proposition of Moses, Korah demonstrated that his fend and dispute had not for its object the advancement of the divine glory. He thus became an apostate and renegade to the divine rule or principle of reconciliation, by which opposites blend and work harmoniously together. In this consisted the sin of Korah and his company, which caused Moses, though of great meekness of character, to be filled with wrath and anger, not because of their rejection of him as a mediator, but on account of their adverse opposition and antagonism to the principles of reconciliation, the existence of which they failed to perceive or ignored as operating in the preservation of the world. The following remarks are from an ancient occult work entitled Liber Adami, or, The Book of Adam. "When the passive light, termed in scripture 'darkness,' became blended and unified with the active light,17b there were myriads of spiritual beings or existences, part of whom were fully developed and ready for incarnation, the rest but imperfectly so. Believing that the light and darkness were antagonistic in nature and principle, there arose a division of opinion amongst them, some declaring themselves partisans of light, others its opponents and advocates of darkness. When the mediating Logos had blended light and darkness and thus symbolized the perfect unity of the divine essence, the advanced and enlightened amongst them embraced and received the fact, whilst those only partially developed remained obdurate in their ideas and opinions and thus by their contrariety and differences of thought and the contentions and quarrels that arose therefrom, Gehenna or Hell came into existence." This discord and dissension has found an entrance and reflection in the world and is distinguished by the object in view, whether it be actuated by desire for truth or motived by selfishness and a hankering and craving to rule and dominate over others. Examples and instances of these two classes of individuals are found in the history of mankind. Of the first class, were the famed teacher Hillel (nasior president of the school of Jerusalem at the beginning of the Christian era) with his colleague Schammai. Their only object was the research of truth and the advancement of the divine glory, and though their disputes were very keen and sharp, yet friendship and good will always existed between them. Of the second class, an example has just been given in the case of Korah and his party in their contention with Aaron for supremacy, which resulted in their destruction and descent into Hell, the limbo and native place of dissension and discord. We can now discern the reason why God made the firmament and separated the waters that were above from the waters that were beneath, that is, he caused a clear distinction to be made between those who, entertaining different views and opinions, were actuated by the desire for truth, and those whose object, through crass, self-willed ignorance, was the rejection of and antagonism towards it. In connection with Korah and his company, cut off or separated from the congregation of Israel, the same word, yabdel (separated), is used by Alhim in dividing the waters above and the waters beneath the firmament, as also by Moses when he spake: Deut. 10:8"Seemeth it to you a small thing that the God of Israel hath separated yon from the congregation," etc., and further, "the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord."17b-18a Here the question may arise: If on the second day of creation the separation between light and darkness occurred, how was it that the quarrel arose with Levi the third tribe of the children of Israel? Should it not have been in connection with Simeon, the second tribe? The fact of the case is this: the tribe of Levi though reckoned the third, in the eye of Jacob, was accounted as second. The form of service called separation recited by the children of Israel at the close of the sabbath has for its object the separation of the spirit ruling during weeks days from the spirit that rules and presides over the sabbath day. When the sabbath closes, the wicked spirit is filled with the desire to acquire ascendency over Israel, but as soon as it hears the recitation of the verse: "Let the beauty of the Lord our God he upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea the work of our hands establish thou it" (Ps. xc. 17), it betakes itself to flight, and when with the sprig of myrtle and cup of wine in hand the word of "separation" is spoken, it hurries away and returns to Gehenna whence it came, its own place, where dwell Korah and his company as it is written: "They and the accomplices went down alive into the pit" (Num. xvi. 33). They were not, however, swallowed up until the congregation of Israel had separated itself from them, even as the descent into hell of the wicked and contentious angels occurs only after the repetition of the formula of separation at the close of the sabbath. There are two Gehennas; one above, where are the wicked and rebellions spirits; and the other, whither Korah descended and is the pattern of the former. "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters" (Gen. i. 6). The word Alhim, God, is composed of two words AL-HIM, which signify God, water, or sea. This last word has the same letters as yamah, by which the scripture teaches that all division of opinion, symbolized by the term sea, is right and just when its object is the glory of the divine, as then AL becomes united to HIM. When, however, this is not so, AL remains separated and detached and yamah, or HIM, then symbolizes the great ocean or abyss of darkness in which Hell is enshrouded18a and concealed. When the waters became separated, then Alhim interposed and became the point of union between them, and harmony prevailed and dissension ceased. The waters above the firmament, the male part; those below, the female. Those above were designated Alhim, and distinguished by the first H in the divine name IHVH; those below were called Adonai, and characterized by the second H. Although the mediation of Alhim took place on the second day, unity and harmony did not begin to prevail only on the third day when, as the scripture states: "God saw that it was good," which is not affirmed of either the first or second day of the work of creation. It was then the letter V entered in the divine name and took up its position between the two H's. This interposition and mediation of Alhim, between the waters above and those below the firmament, is further symbolized by the waters of the river JordanJosh. 3:16 when they became separated to allow of the passage of the children of Israel into the promised land. The waters flowing down to the place of passage formed into a heap, whilst those below flowed into the sea and the children of Israel passed over between them. In order to distinguish and emphasize the separation of the waters which, had not Alhim become mediator between them. would never have proved fruitful and brought forth abundantly the living creature, the scripture repeats five times the word raqiang (firmament). Now the time essential for this correlative union was a period of five hundred years, during which the waters above and those below flowed unitedly by the tree of life, serving as a point of contact and junction, so that by their reciprocal action they might give rise to vegetable and animal life upon the earth plane. This union or blending together was thus necessary ere their proper distribution could take place, as it is recorded of David after gathering together food and provisions, he afterwards distributed them2 Sam. 6:19 to all the congregation of Israel. It is also written: "That thou givest them, they gather" (Ps. civ. 28), and again, "She riseth also whilst it is night, and giveth meat to her household" (Prov. xxxi. 15). WHEN discord prevailed between the elements, a preternatural and extraordinary degree of coldness predominated throughout the world and the waters below became congealed and arid, giving birth to two demons, one male, the other female, who engendered myriads of beings similar to themselves in order to add to and increase the forces of disorder and disruption. Herein consists the secret symbolism of circumcision.18a One of these demons is called Apheth (viper) and the other Nachash (serpent.) They are one and the same in their natures. After union with Nachash, and seven years of gestation, Apheth deposited offspring on the earth. Herein also is the mystery of the seven names of Gehenna, as also of the seven names of the tempter spirit. Thus everything emanating and proceeding from the sphere of darkness is a medley of good and evil. That the good, the pure and undefiled might subsist and continue as the base and foundation of the world, it was essential that from it should emanate the divine name of eighteen letters, the source and origin of all the benefactions and blessings by which the world is sustained and upheld. "And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place" (Gen. i. 9). By the term waters is also meant the ten sephiroth, kether, hochma, bina, etc., whose origin is derived from the great Being who in himself is both male and female. And who is He? The eternal One, En Soph, the boundless One, from whom hath proceeded all life and breath and all things. The waters above the firmament designate these sephiroth, who came forth from H the fourth letter in the tetragrammaton, IHVH. In order, however, to arrive at and obtain some conception, though it be inadequate, of En Soph, through them, it was necessary that the sephiroth should be arranged and posited in a certain order, or sequential series and relationship18a-18b to each other, and thus become a reflected image of the Eternal. This then is the meaning of the words "into one place," i. e, that by the union of the sephiroth we might be able to ascend to the supreme point of origin, the Eternal One, as saith the scripture, "Jehovah is One and his name One."Zech 14:9 One above and One below; above, the unity of the boundless One in whose essence is contained and concentrated all celestial and terrestrial existence; One below, yet the same unity needing the intermediary of the sephiroth in order to be apprehended and conceived of. When this takes place, it is perceived that there are not two gods, but one God; one in unity of essence, above all and in all. The visible reflection of the divine unity is referred to in scripture as follows: "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne" (Is. vi. 1), and, "they saw the God of Israel" (Ex. xxiv. 10), "The glory of the Lord appeared" (Num. xiv. 10), "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain so was the appearance of the brightness around about" (Ex. i. 28). This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. That is, as the light of the rainbow, though refracted into different colors, is one and the same, so the divine light and splendor, though refracted and reflected by the sephiroth, is only one and the same. This mystery is also contained in the words: "Let the dry land appear" (Gen. i. 9), for by the word yabash (earth or dry land) is signified the eternal One, the life of the world, from whom come forth all creatures and existences, as from the earth spring forth all flowers, fruits and seeds. Furthermore, by the words "I do set my bow in the cloud" (Gen. ix. 14), is denoted and symbolized the sephiroth called Malcuth (kingdom ), since "I have established it from the creation of the world." Reverting to the conflict between the primal elements of light and darkness, it is written, "Rachel travailed and she had hard labor" (Gen. xxxv., 16), the esoteric meaning of which is this: When conflict commenced, the angel Michael took up a position on the right of Kether, the supreme sephiroth, Raphael on the left and Gabriel in the front, thus giving rise to the three different colors. So is the divine glory surrounded with circles of colors which are but reflections of it and connoted by the three words, Jehovah, Alohenu, Jehovah,Deut. 6:4 appellations of the divine One who, concealed and invisible to human vision, is but One, as are the colors of the rainbow; and whose unity is expressed in the verse: "Blessed be the name of his glorious and everlasting kingdom." [paragraph continues] The beauty of the three colors in the verse: "Hear! oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one God" (Deut. vi. 4). The lower is copy or pattern of the higher. The unity above is expressed by a verse containing six words. Shema Israel, Jehovah, Alohenu, Jehovah, Achad.18b (Hear, Israel, Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one); the unity below, by the verse Mi, mdd, beshahuloi mim. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand" (Is. xl. 12), both referring to one Being, the transcendently glorious equilibrator or adjustor, creator of the world, IHVH. Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! (Holy! Holy! Holy!) "Let the waters be gathered together," or as it may be rendered: "let the waters become equilibrated and blended harmoniously together, then will the earth become filled with the glory of God and then will the dry land appear," i.e., the mystery of the divine unity expressed in the occult formula imparted to and made known only to initiated students and adepts of the secret doctrine, CHUZU BMUCHSO CHUZU. And God said: "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed" (Gen. i. 11). When the waters had been thus brought into one place, or when the strife of the contending elements had subsided and ceased, then began the work of generation and procreation resulting in the appearance of created beings innumerable, delighting in the service of their Lord. This is expressed in the words: "He caused the grass to grow for the cattle" (Ps. civ. 14) on a thousand hills, for whose sustenance it shoots forth daily. By the word chatzir (grass) is denoted those angelic beings appointed and ordained to administer to the necessities of cattle and supply them with food. "And herb for the service of man" designates and refers to the ministering angels called Ophanim, Hayoth and Cherubim, whose special and peculiar mission and service is to aid and assist in the celebration of sacrifices and worship of the Creator, which constitutes the true service of man. Included under the sane terms are those spiritual beings whose study it is to supply the needs of those whose works are good and their worship acceptable to the divine Being, and also to look after their means and sustenance, as it is written: "To bring forth food out of the earth," which connotes the herb seeding seed (not seed of the grass) for the good and welfare of the world. All these various orders of spiritual beings by the divine prevision have been delegated for the service of humanity, that it may enjoy the greatest benefactions and blessings from on high. "And the fruit tree yielding fruit" (Gen. i. 11). The word18b-19a fruit here repeated twice indicates the male and female sexes, for as one tree is fructified by another tree, so is the female made prolific by the male. Who amongst these angels then were male and female! They are those called cherubim and thimroth. Who and what are the thimroth? They are angelic beings who are present in the incense of burnt offerings and are therefore called thimroth aschan (columns of smoke) and are thus helpers to man in his worship. "Yielding fruit," that is to say, angels in male and female forms resembling human beings with this special difference, they are of majestic form and noble countenance, whilst the cherubim are smaller in stature and of frailer build. Scripture saith of them, "they have the figure of a man," which is the synthesis of all figures and forms, because bearing the impress of the Holy Name whose four letters correspond to and symbolize the four quarters of the world, North, South, East and West. Michael is stationed at the north and the faces of all the angelic hosts are directed towards him as being their chief. Scripture further states, they have the forms of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. By the face of a man is meant the face of the male and female blended into one. This form of the human figure is that which is graven on the heavenly chariot 1 surrounded with myriads of angelic beings, as it is written: "The chariot of God is encompassed about with thousands upon thousands of shinan (angelic beings)" (Ps. lxviii. 18), by which word is meant the four differing figures and features of the angels. The first letter of it, Sh, is the initial of the word shor or ox; the second letter, N, is the initial of nesher, an eagle; whilst the third letter, A, is the initial of aryeh, a lion; and the fourth letter is N, final; thus symbolizing the form of a man that stands erect and is always understood to include both the male and female figure. All the myriads upon myriads of angelic beings spoken of by the Psalmist derive their particular forms from the mystery expressed by the Psalmist, each according to their group. Yet notwithstanding their diversity of form they have all one common character, so that whether they bear the form of the ox, eagle or lion, they all exhibit the trait of the human which is synthesized by the four sacred names graven and imprinted on the divine chariot. Those with the figure of an ox are endowed with special power which is called el (power). Those with the form of au eagle, with that degree of grandeur called gaddol (greatness); those with a lion's form, that degree of strength called ghibor (strength). As the supreme He, in the likeness of a man, regards them all, they look to Him and receive an impress, peculiar and belonging to man only, and called nora (fear) and which inspires the animals with a feeling of terror and fright. All these angelic forms thus synthesized in the human form reflect its traits and features, as it is written, "they had the face of a man" (Ez. i. 10). For this reason the Holy One (blessed be He) is called powerful, great, mighty and terrible, which four names are symbolized by the four letters of the tetragrammaton, IHVH, which includes all names.19a These four forms are graven on the divine chariot, thus: on the right side, the face of a man; on the left, that of an eagle; on the front, of a lion; and behind, of an ox. These forms are likewise graven on the four quarters of the world. Like a great branched tree laden with fruit, the divine chariot marked with these forms sends forth all souls which are the seeds or germs of life to the world, as is implied in the words: "The herb yielding seed" (Gen. i. 11), that is, angels called "herb" who cast their seed into the world from which come human creatures. "Fruit tree bearing fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself." These words designate the man who conserves his seed to advantage. "Upon the earth" refer to him who lives a dissipated life, the which is therefore unlawful and forbidden. The angelic beings symbolized by the word grass are not fruitful, having no seed, and therefore vanish and fade away as they have not the signature of any of the letters of the divine name and become consumed by the primal fire out of which they came forth. Human beings possess not the same stability and endurance of form as the higher angels in their classes, who have no need of a material covering which a man wears as long as his soul is bound and attached thereto. At night when man sleeps, his soul, quitting the body, ascends into the region of "the consuming fire" 2 and returns thence at the moment of waking refreshed and strengthened, and enters again into the body. The reason of this is, that his soul has not the same powers of endurance and stability as higher and more exalted spiritual beings. To these refreshed souls the scripture alludes. "They are new (or rather renewed) every morning" and further adds, "great is thy faithfulness" (Lam. iii. 23), the import of which is that the divine faithfulness19a-19b is as illimitable as his goodness and like a mighty ocean into which all rivers and streams flow, yet it is not full, and which also sendeth them forth again to the place from whence they came. Eccl. 1:7 Oh! truly great is the beneficence and faithfulness of the divine Being who draweth up the souls of men into the great purifying fire and flame of his love and returneth them again and again until they have accomplished their destiny--final union with Himself. "And God saw everything that it was good" (Gen. i. 13), because on the third day of creation harmony and peace between all contending elements and forces generally prevailed, which beholding, the sons of the morning or the first born children of light, the angels on high, sang their joyous song of "peace and concord throughout the universe." Only on this great day, is the word "vayomer" (and God said) repeated twice, an occult word containing the mystery of the twelve transformations of the letters of the sacred name IHVH, symbolizing the four cherubic forms graven on the divine chariot. Footnotes 100:1 By this expression Is meant the divine humanity whose transcendent glory, majesty and splendor are beyond the powers of human comprehension and language to express. He is the Augoeides of the Platonists. By theologians and in Christian creeds, he is called the Unigenitus, Light of light. very find of very god, begotten, not made, the brightness and reflection of the great divine Father of Light and love and the express image of his person. In Kabbalistic philosophy, he is termed the heavenly man, Adam Kadmon, Merkava (the chariot). Few are they who have enjoyed the high privilege of beholding him. It is only the pure is heart that see him, and that only occasionally. The glory surrounding him is too overwhelming for human eyes to behold An ancient seer and prophet. Ezechiel, says: "And when I saw it, I fell upon my face." Another equally Illustrious seer relates: "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet, as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, 'Fear not; I am the first and the last.'" Another says of him: "To Him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He most reign until all things become subject to Him, and then will He deliver up His Kingdom to the Father, and God shall be All and in all." 102:2 This expression is not to be taken in the vulgar and material sense as is common in Christendom. It Is rather to be considered as the great alchemical fire that transmutes the baser metals into silver and gold, or, in other words, that by its action upon our lower self, changes our evil and defiled human nature so that it becomes like unto the divine nature. It is described in the words of the great and saintly mediaeval Kabbalist, Count Pious do Mirandola: "There is the element of fire in the material world, the sun is the fire of heaven, and in the supersensual world is the fire of the divine Intelligence." The elementary fire burns, the heavenly fire vivifies, the Divine loves, that is, makes us lovable and loving so that we become, as one expresseth it, partakers of the divine nature. Happy and blessed is our destiny, the destiny of every created human soul. AND God said "Let there be light" (Gen. i.14); the word19b meoroth (lights) is defective in the Hebrew, being written without vau and therefore is it that offspring suffer from epilepsy and similar complaints. When the primal light was as yet invisible or unmanifest, a qalepha 1 (sheath or covering) formed itself around it, which, becoming enlarged, produced a second that extended itself to "little form" 2 with which it wished to be united and bear its form permanently. The Holy One dismissed and sent it below. When he created Adam in order that the "little form" might appear in the world, the qalepha, seeing Eve was conjoined with Adam, flew towards the paradise above desiring, as at first, to be joined with and form part of "little form," but the angel watchers on high would not allow her to enter and the holy One, having rebuked her, cast her into the depths of the vast abyss of space. When Adam sinned, however, she was permitted to ascend thereout and allowed to have power and influence over the offspring of "little form," who are punishable for the actions of their progenitors. Thus she goes throughout the world. When she dune to the gate of the earthly paradise and saw it guarded by cherubim, she seated herself next to the one that wielded the flaming sword, but, on observing its threatening attitude towards her, fled back to the world and finding these little ones as just described, killed them when the moon was on the wane. This is wherefore the word meoroth (lights) is, as has been stated, defective. Until the birth of Cain took place, she was unable to get near Adam, but eventually succeeding in doing so, she brought forth evil offspring and flying or winged demons. This association with Adam continued a hundred and thirty years until the coming of Naamah, by whose great beauty Aza and Azael, sons of God, were seduced and fell from their high state of light and purity. From them came forth a brood of evil spirits into the world. Naamah it is who wandereth through the world at night time, causing men to lose their virility, and wherever they are found sleeping alone in a house she acquires power over them, especially in times of physical weakness and ill health, whilst the moon is waning. When, however, the moon is increasing, the letters of the word meoroth are changed into the term imrath (the word), as it is written: "Imrath Jehovah, the word of the Lord, is refined" (Ps. xviii. 30) as gold tried in the fire. "He is a shield and buckler to all them that put their trust on him," a buckler and shield against evil and malignant spirits who roam and fly about in the world during the decadence of the moon, to such as those whose trust is in the Holy One. When King Solomon went down into the garden of nuts, as saith the scripture: "I went down into the garden of nuts" (Cant. vi. 11) he took up a nutshell, that gave rise to reflections and ideas that enabled him to understand the reason and cause why anything that is pure and holy becomes environed by what is evil, as the nut enclosed within a shell. He perceived that evil spirits attach themselves to the pure and good, environing them similar to shells by exciting and producing certain kinds of pleasing emotions and feelings, the tending of which is to defile and corrupt, as it is written: "The pleasures of man produce and bring forth evil spirits" (sadah and sadoth) (Eccle. ii. 8) which occurs during the hours of sleep. It was necessary that the Holy One should create them in the world in order that it might be complete. The universe as a whole is a system of worlds, enveloping the other from the lowest to the highest, from the most material to the highly spiritual, from the darkest and most dense to the most luminous and ethereal, all is a scale of graduated worlds of being and existence, and therefore the saying: "as above so below, and as below so above." Each world is a garment or envelope to the next in sequence. From the primal point of light issue forth luminous rays which extend through and pervade all the separate encircling worlds of existence, converting them into palaces of the great king, the splendor, beauty and magnificence of which are beyond description, and, as with these worlds rising in their order one above the other, so is it with regard to the human form, which in its grace and beauty of contour is the highest expression and approximate image of the divine, more than all other physical forms below it in the scale of being. All this is in accordance with the divine plan of creation, man himself being a microcosm or miniature of the universe, and composed of a series of coverings or envelopes, one within the other, as spirit, astral form and physical body. As long as the substance of the moon was conjoined with that of the sun, it shone with its own light, but becoming separated and disjoined from it and independent, it reflected a diminished luminosity and became itself enveloped with zones of decreasing light, so that we may now understand why the scripture saith: "Let there be lights," using the defective word meoroth, by which is designated occultly the zones or planes of existence of varying degrees of light which encircle each star and planet in the universe, as also this, our earth, through whose circumambient envelopes of more ethereal substance the primal life-giving light is reflected, and thus differentiated and adapted to become a blessing to man and every animate and inanimate creature. "And God made two great lights" (Gen. i. 16). The Hebrew word vayas, "and he made," refers to the creation as a whole, everything in its kind being subject to its law and order. These two great lights were at first joined together and formed one whole and were of equal light, being both of them impressed20a with the two same sacred names, Jehovah and Alhim, though this latter name was as yet manifested only in an occult manner; yet scripture calls them both by the word great, in the plural, with the article of distinction, hagedolim (the great), because of their absolute identity, each bearing the same mysterious name Matspats, understood only by students of the secret doctrine, and which form the two highest of the thirteen degrees of divine mercy and goodness upon which the world is founded. The moon, unable to rule along with the sun, and feeling its loss of dignity in becoming disjoined from the sun, said: "Where feedest thou" (Cant. 1, 7), or "whence derivest thou thy light and glory?" The sun answered and said: "Where thou restest thyself at midday." The light of the moon was therefore diminished in order that the light of the sun might be greater and more manifest at noon, and accordingly the scripture further adds, "that [paragraph continues] I may not be as one that turneth aside from following in the path of the flocks." Constrained to be similar to the sun, the moon humbled herself, diminished her light at midday, as it is written. "Go thy way in the footsteps of the flocks" (Cant. 1, 8). The Holy One said to the moon: "Go and humble thyself," after which she lost her own light and now reflects only that of the sun though at first she was the same in rank and dignity with it, thus intimating occultly that the female can never fulfil her destiny and discharge her function except in joint union with her husband. The greater light designates Jehovah; the lesser light, Alhim; the one being a reflection and manifestation of the other as a word is of thought. At first Alhim was expressed by the four letters of the sacred name, or tetragrammaton, but afterwards through manifesting on lower planes of existence, was known and distinguished by this name; yet nevertheless it radiates its power and glory in all directions in boundless space, as the mediator between the known and the Great Unknown, between the spiritual and material, the celestial and terrestrial scales and grades of life and existence as indicated esoterically by the letter H, which in Alhim conjoins Al with im, Al denoting God and im (or yam) the sea as symbol of matter. Thus Alhim becomes the word or Logos mediating between the world of pure emanations and the worlds of creation. The former being higher or prior in existence, is termed the light that rules by day, the latter, the light that rules by night. The scripture further states: "He made the stars also," referring to the countless and innumerable hosts of angelic and ministering spirits existing in and by him who is the light and life of the universe, as it is written: "And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth" (Gen. i., 17); that is, upon this lower world which is a replica or reflection of the world above it, and on the fourth day became illuminated with divine light and termed the Kingdom of David, the Asiatic world of effects, the fourth pillar of the divine throne of glory. This being completed, the four letters of the sacred name became adjusted one to another in their place and position in creation. Notwithstanding this, the throne was not completed till the sixth day, when the form of man was created and all the worlds throughout the realms of space were fixed in their relative orders and position and classed under the four letters of the divine name, viz., the Atzilatic, Briatic, Ietziratic and Asiatic worlds. The fourth day is called in scripture the day rejected by the builders, as it is written: "The stone which the builders rejected" (Ps. cxviii., 22), and also "My mother's children were angry with me" (Cant. i., 6), the esoteric meaning of which is: the light of the moon became diminished on that day and the enveloping worlds were established in their relative positions around the glittering and resplendent orbs of light in the firmament, in order to support the throne of David. All these worlds send forth reflections of their light upon the earth which they receive from other worlds higher and more glorious than themselves, which in their totality form the Grand Archetypal Man, whose image, all who bear it, are called Man. This is the signification of the words: "Ye are men" (Ez. xxxiv., 21); that is, ye are called by the name of Adam (man). This, however, does not apply to the idolatrous nations. Every living spirit is therefore called Adam, for it is a divine emanation of which the body is a raiment or covering, as it is further written: "Thou hast clothed me with skin of flesh" (Job. x., 11), showing that the flesh of man is only a garment, and does not constitute the man. The souls that became incarnated on the earth plane in animals are in form similar to the garment that covers them, some of them being pure animals as mentioned in scripture, the ox, the sheep, stag, wild goat, giraffe and others. Those souls who have been created and appear as men take upon them the human form and are called human souls, whilst the tens, "flesh of beast" signifies that the soul that has incarnated in this form has the name, the qualities and nature of a beast. For instance, the ox is a soul residing in an ox form, the flesh being its garment. This same applies to the rest of animals, and as idolatrous nations are not in scripture called men, so those impure souls have nothing in common with the truly human. The bodies of idolatrous people are called impure flesh, as it is defiled by the soul of which it is the covering. The body is impure so long as the impure stall resides within it. As soon, however, as the soul quits it, it becomes pure again, being only a shell or covering. The souls of idolaters who incarnate on the earth plane take upon them the forms of unclean animals, such as the camel, swine, coney, and others. It is for this reason that animals have been distinguished into two classes, the pure and impure. Each have their peculiar tendencies and natural inclinations, and gravitate to the source whence they first originated. The heavenly lights suspended in the firmament are types20b-21a and figures of things in the world, as it is written: "And God placed them in the firmament" (Gen. i, 17), the greater light to rule by day, the lesser light to rule by night. By the greater light scripture denotes the males who rule by day in that they provide for and look after the household and its necessary requirements and needs. On the arrival of night the sway of the female begins, as the proper manageress of the household, for, as saith the scripture: "She riseth also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens" (Prov. xxxi. 15). She and not he. Thus the light ruling by day signifies the male, or husband; the light ruling by night, the female, or wife. We further read: "He made the stars also." When the wife relinquishes domestic cares and duties in order to attend to her husband, she leaveth the direction of them to her maidens who abide at home to carry on the management, which again reverts to the husband when day begins. "And God made two lights"; that of the sun is termed "flames of light" and go upward; that of the moon is termed "flames of fire" and descend upon the earth, and exercise their power and influence during week days. This is why at the close of the Sabbath, the blessing of the fire is pronounced. "Blessed art thou, Oh Lord, who has created the flames of fire," for then its rule and influence begins again. The fingers of the hand are occult symbols of a deep spiritual mystery the back of them being furnished with nails. It is therefore lawful to regard and fix attention on them at the close of the Sabbath, for the light of the fire whose rule begins at that moment is represented by the exterior part of the fingers, whilst the flame of light that comes from above must only be meditated upon by regarding the interior part of the fingers to which it corresponds. This mystery is expressed in Scripture thus: "Thou shalt see my back part, but my face shalt thou not see" (Ex. xxxiii. 23). Therefore a man should not regard and meditate upon the interior part of the hand at the close of the Sabbath when he repeats the prayer ending with the words: "Who hast created the flame of fire." The words "Thou shalt see my back part" refer to the back of the fingers symbolizing the light that rules and prevails during week days. "My face shalt thou not see," to the front part, the "flames of light," which rule during the Sabbath. on which day the Holy One himself presides over the invisible hosts of spirits surrounding his throne of glory, who are under his special charge. Therefore, on the Sabbath, rest from toil and labor is granted to all the worlds. The holy nation is the only one upon the earth that inherits and enjoys this heritage of the "flames of light" proceeding from the primal light and manifested only on the Sabbath day, and from which also emanate all the lesser lights that prevail below. At the departure of the Sabbath these "flames of light" become invisible, but the flames of fire, each of them in their appointed place and manner, rule and prevail during the week days. For this reason the nails of the fingers should be only regarded and meditated on by the glare of a fire. It is written: "And the living creatures (hayoth) ran and returned as flashing flames of light" (Ez. i. 14). No human eye is able to view these angels going to and fro. They are the angels of "The Wheel,"21a the occult meaning of which is this: Metatron is the chief and highest among the angels. Above him at a distance of five hundred leagues are those hayoth, or living moving creatures, whose flight through the realms of space is so rapid as to be indistinguishable to mortal eye; they are concealed beneath the two supreme letters of the divine name, Y and H, which rule and dominate the two remaining letters, V and H, that form their chariot. The great mysterious, the Unknowable, ruleth over all these hayoth, of whom those that are invisible rule over those that are visible and reflect their light end glory down upon them. All these living creatures are placed n the firmament of heaven, and respecting them it is written: "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven" (Gen. i. 14), that is, let the living creatures called hayoth be in the region called the firmament of heaven. Above and beyond them, however, is another heaven as it is written: "And the likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was as the color of the terrible crystal" (Ez. i. 22). It was the higher firmament of heaven whose glory and magnificent splendor (like that of the starry mist of the Milky Way, which includes within its dim and remote recesses innumerable and countless worlds of ineffable brilliancy and beauty) dawned upon the prophet's vision, and there it exists a universe of light and love hidden and concealed from mortal gaze like the thought of the Divine Mind, ineffable, transcending all human comprehension and powers of conception. As man has never been able to divine and understand the nature of thought, much less can he gauge the thoughts of Ain Soph (who is as a mighty ocean in which all thought is drowned) the Infinite and Boundless One, the concealed of all concealments, without beginning and without end, the great invisible center and fount of all life and motion existent in worlds known and unknown, careering in their mighty orbits in the fathomless abysses of space, the Great Being the smallest portion of whose glory and might and majesty is reflected and seen in sun and moon and the splendid galaxies of stars and constellations, all glittering and flashing in a midnight sky, and in the mystic music of the spheres are forever singing as they shine: "The hand that made us is divine." In the present world of shadows and uncertainties, man must have wandered and lived ignorant, uninstructed and unenlightened, unable to acquire the faintest glimmer or notion of the mind and nature of the Divine Being but for the intermediation of the Logos21a or Word that, operating through the sephiroth kether (crown) produced the letters of the alphabet which, in their forms, simple and multiplex, are symbols of spiritual ideas by means of which we obtain conceptions, though inadequate, defective and incomplete, of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. The letter aleph symbolizes the beginning and the end. Throughout the universe, all classes of beings are impressed with its signature, both those in heaven and those on earth. Though it includes many forms, yet they are but one full letter. By the higher part of it is symbolized the divine mind and thought, as also the upper firmament of the spiritual world. Beneath it and in the middle of aleph is the letter vau, the numerical value of which is six, denoting the six degrees between the Supreme Mind and the firmament above the hayoth, or "the hidden living creatures." The light emanating from the Divine is expressed in the word "brashith," of which the first part, bra, contains the initial letters of the name Abraham, to which scripture refers: "And the Lord appeared to Abraham as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day" (Gen. xviii. 1), the esoteric meaning of which is as follows: When Abraham sat at the door of his tent; that is, at the gate separating the higher and lower world, symbolized by the letter aleph, he felt the great heat of the day; that is, he became mentally and spiritually enlightened by the divine light of the First Logos. The light of the Second Logos was beheld by Isaac when, in the cool of the evening and the sun was going down, he prayed for the coming of this light, as it is written: "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide" (Gen. xxiv. 63). It was21b then he foresaw the contention that would arise between Jacob and Esau. The light of the Third Logos, that proceeds from the other two, was that seen by Jacob, as it is written: "And as he passed, peniel the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh" (Gen. xxxiii. 31). At eventide he beheld the light called and known as the Netzach of Israel (victory of Israel), and he halted on his thigh, because this light of sephirothic origin constitutes the thigh in the sephirothic figure. His thigh, not thighs, for as just said, he beheld the light of netzach, which is only' of the fourth degree. For this reason, after Jacob no one was endowed with the gift of prophecy until the coming of Samuel, as scripture states: "The netzach, the strength or victory of Israel" (1 Sam. xv. 29). "And he touched the sinew of his thigh." When the angel of Esau who struggled with Jacob saw he could not prevail against him because he derived his power and strength from the two first sephirothic degrees or emanations; that is, from the supreme light and that called Adam Kadmon, the archetypal man, he touched the sinew of his thigh in which was contained the force symbolized by netzach (denoting firmness, inflexibility), and from that time as we have observed, prophecy was not found in Israel until the coming of Samuel, when it is said: "The netzach or strength of Israel is not a man"; that is to say, comes not from that sephirothic degree called man, but from that named netzach. Joshua indeed prophesied but only in an inferior manner because of his intimate and close association with Moses, as it is written: "And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him" (Num. xxvii. 20). This was the case with David, as he says: "At thy right hand are the pleasures of Netzach" (Ps. xvi. 11). Not in but at thy right hand, that is netzach. Footnotes 103:1 A term applied to the world of elementals void and destitute of mind who desired to become united and associated with humanity. 103:2 Little Form, denoting the world of forms and beings before incarnating as human beings on the earth plane. The psalmist, speaking of man, says "thou hast made him 'littler' than the angels, that is, in form and mind." WHY was the thigh of Jacob weakened? Because impurity attacks a man on his left side and deprives him of his power and strength, and this state of weakness prevailed till the coming of Samuel, who reminded the people that netzach was the light of Jacob, the netzach that triumphs in Israel. This also is why the Prophecies of Samuel during his lifetime were denunciations of wrath and judgment. Furthermore, the Holy One endowed Samuel afterwards with the sephirothic power called hod. When? After he had anointed Saul and David as kings, which made him the equal of Moses and Aaron who rejoiced, the one in Netzach, the other in Hod. All the sephiroth are bound together in orderly sequence as it is written: "Moses and Aaron were his priests and Samuel amongst those that call upon his name" (Ps. xl. 6). All are united and joined the one to the other, as were Jacob, Moses and Joseph. At first Jacob was lord of the house, then after his death Moses took possession. Joseph only ruled it during his life and that through Jacob his father. When he died Moses then ruled, for when the Divine Presence went out of Egypt, Moses became joined to Joseph, as it is said: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (Ex. xiii. 19).21b-22a Why is it said, "with him?" Because as a man cannot enjoy the female except through means of a body, so with the body of Joseph as a link, Moses became united with the Schekina, which thus in a manner of speaking had three husbands, being united at first with Jacob, then Joseph and Moses. Jacob died, and his body was buried in the holy land. Joseph died, but his body was not buried there, only his bones. Moses died, but neither his bones nor his body were interred in the holy land. After his death, the Schekina entered into Palestine and returned to her first husband, Jacob. From this we infer that a woman twice married after her decease becomes joined to and cohabits with her first husband. Moses entered not into Palestine, yet was he more favored than Jacob, who became joined to the Schekina on high after death, whilst Moses was honored by her presence with h in earth life. If it is said the pre-eminence is with Jacob, it is not so, because when the children of Israel went forth out of Egypt, they were subjects of Jubilee, the lowest stage of knowledge leading to divine wisdom and knowledge, and therefore wandered they in the wilderness, being unable to enter into Palestine. Their children, however, entered in, because they were children of the Schekina. During life Moses lived with her and followed her commands, but when he departed out of the world he ascended to the mount of the Holy Spirit, and through it to Jubilee on high where were gathered the six hundred thousand souls that along with him had come out of Egypt. With Jacob this was not the case.22a He, through the spirit, attained to that degree in the divine life termed Shemita, corresponding to the period of demission in connection with the year of Jubilee. He did not enjoy communion with the Schekina in his lifetime because he had to concern himself too much with the cares of his household. The holy land could only be gained and entered by divine aid and assistance. This is why those who are spiritually minded only become united with the Divine, whilst those engrossed with the cares, duties and anxieties of married life are only partially so. The life of the former is spiritual, that of the latter is carnal and worldly. There can be no point of union, no association with one another. Between those who died in the wilderness and those who entered into the promised land is only a physical resemblance. Those who died in the wilderness attained to that degree of spirituality which enable them to behold the Divine in all his wondrous works and marvellous doing with their own eyes, whilst those who entered into the Promised Land and had lived in the wilderness were worldly minded and thus unqualified for the attainment of spiritual light and life. Jacob, whilst he lived, was attached to his wives, but after death his spirit became united with the Divine. Moses separated himself from his wife and attached himself to the Divine whilst in the body, and after death became united with the great mysterious Being who is above all and in all. All the separate grades and degrees of spiritual life form one great and vast whole. The soul of Moses belongs to that called Jubilee, his body to Shemita. The soul of Jacob belonged to Shemita, his body to his wives. All these celestial degrees of light have their types on the earth plane and are suspended and posited or placed in the firmament. Though the scripture uses two different words to denote heaven, yet are they synonyms one of the other and mean the same thing, being included in one name, the mysterious name containing all names, of Him who can only be the object of all our thought and subject of all our faith. And God said: "Let us make man" (Gen. i. 26). "The secret of the Lord, that is, the secret of the divine life, is with them that fear him."Ps. 35:14 Rabbi Simeon was sitting surrounded by his students and meditating on these words when suddenly a voice audible only to himself cried "Simeon! Simeon!"22a what signify these words "Let us make man?" Who was he that spake thus to Alhim? It was the voice of the great celestial Being known as the Aged of the Aged who, making himself visible for a moment and speaking these words to Rabbi Simeon, disappeared then from view and was seen no more. Divining from the exclamation Simeon! Simeon! and not Rabbi! who it was that had addressed him, Rabbi Simeon turned to the students and made known to them who and what he had just seen and heard. "It is evident," said he, "that the Holy One whom the scriptures describe as The Ancient of Days (Dan. vii. 9) has just spoken and now is the time to unfold and make known a profound mystery which up to the present has never been divulged and revealed to mortal man." Pausing a moment as one enraptured and overwhelmed, and filled by the sudden influx of a great invisible spiritual force and power, the students gazing in breathless silence and speechless wonderment, in low and solemn tones Rabbi Simeon spake again. "In ages long gone by lived a great and powerful king whose design it was to build palaces wherein to dwell and live in a manner becoming his royal grandeur. In his retinue of servants and attendants was found an architect, of great abilities and lofty genius in the art and science of construction, who made it the chief aim of his life to acquaint himself with the plans and ideas of his monarch and carry thorn into execution and doing nothing except by his authority and command. The king was the Divine Being personified in scripture as heavenly Wisdom. Alhim was the celestial architect personified22a-22b as "the heavenly Mother." Alhim was also the architect of the world below and was designated and known as the Schekina, and as a woman is not allowed to do anything without the consent and against the wish and will of her husband, all the palaces have been built by emanation. The father, through the Logos or Word, said to the mother: "Let this be done!" and it was done at once, as it is written: "And God said let there be light and light was," that is, the Logos said to Alhim, the creative Logos, "let there be light." The master or lord of the palace speaks and the architect forthwith executes and thus were all the palaces or worlds made and produced by emanations, as, "let there be a firmament," "let, there be lights in the firmament," all were done on the moment. Regarding the present world, the world of separation, that is to say where all things appear to be independent of each other, the architect said to the master of the palaces: "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness." Certainly replied the master, it will be good to make him, but he will surely transgress and commit wrong against thee, in that he will be ignorant and foolish, as it is written: "A wise son is the joy of his father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Prov. x. 1). A wise son denotes man who came forth by emanation, a foolish son, created man." Rabbi Simeon ceased speaking as all the students before him rose up and cried: Rabbi! Rabbi! Master! Master! Was there then a division between the Father and the Mother whether man should come forth from the father by emanation or from the mother by creation? No, replied Rabbi Simeon, because man by emanation is male and female as he proceeds from the father and mother conjoined, as it is written: "And God said let there be light and light was." "Let there be light" connotes the part of man that emanated from the father; that is, the male principle; "and light was," refers to that part that emanated from the mother, the female principle. Man therefore was created androgynous with two faces. The emanative man possessed no special form or likeness, but the heavenly mother it was who wished to produce and provide the created man with a special image. Now the two lights emanating from the father and mother, called in scripture, light and darkness, the form of created man must of necessity be compounded from the active light proceeding from the father, and the passive light (termed darkness) that proceeded from the mother. As, however, the father had said to the mother that the emanated man if placed in the world would through frailty transgress and sin, he refused to take part in the formation of a human form for him. For this reason the light created on the first day was concealed and hidden and treasured up by the Holy One for the righteous, as also the darkness was created and reserved at the same time for the evil and wicked, as it is written: "The wicked shall be silent in darkness" (I Sam. ii. 9). And it was also on account of this darkness that man would, as foreseen, sin against the light, the father was unwilling to take part in the creation of man below on the earth plane.22b This also is why the mother said: "Let us make man in our image," that is of light, "and in our likeness," of passive light or darkness (which as has been stated is a materialized allotrophic form of light itself), which serves as a garment of the light as the body serves as a covering for the soul, as it is written: "Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh" (Job x. ii). As Rabbi Simeon ceased speaking for a moment, the students, one and all, pleased and delighted with their master's teaching, exclaimed: "Happy oh Master is our lot, in that we have had the privilege of hearing and listening to teachings that have never been delivered and imparted to anyone until now." Resuming his discourse, Rabbi Simeon spake and said: "See now! that I even I am He and there is no Alhim with me" (Deuter. xxxii. 39). Give attention, oh students, to the expositions I am about to give of teachings handed down from ancient masters which I am permitted to impart and make known to you. Who was he that gave expression to the words: "Behold I even I am He"' It was the Supreme Being, the Highest of the high, the Cause of all causes. the one and only originator of the universe, without whom nothing was made that was made, in heaven above or on earth below, as we have already expounded in our remarks on the words: "Let us make man." From the plural form of this expression, we perceive that in the divine essence there are two hypostatic beings or Logoi who speak the one to the other at this moment. The second said to the first: "Let us make man" because it did nothing from itself, but by the permission of the first. He it is who said: "Behold I even I am He and there was no Alhim with Me"; that is, there was no Alhim with whom I consulted and took counsel, therefore, the logical conclusion is that Alhim who said "Let us make man" was a hypostatical Logos made for the creation of man. Master! cried the students as they stood up. pardon our interrupting thee, but hast thou not said that the Cause of all22b-23a causes said to the first hypostatic being or Logos, called Kether (Crown), "Let us make man." Then answered Rabbi Simeon and said, note well the explanation I am about to give unto you. I have not said that He who is Cause of all causes is the same as the Alhim, or that He is not the same. In the divine essence there is no conjunction of persons or natures whatever as commonly understood. What conjunction there is in the divine essence is similar to that which exists in the male and female principles which are as one, as it is written: "For I called them one" (Is. li. 2). Because in the divine essence there is no multiplicity nor conjunction, therefore is it that God said: "Behold I even I am He and no Alhim is with me"; that is, I am Alhim and Alhim is I. Then rose up all the students and bowed themselves before their master, Rabbi Simeon, and said: Happy and blessed is the man whom his Lord hath chosen and permitted to reveal and make known mysteries that have never been divulged even to the angels themselves. Rabbi Simeon continuing his discourse spake and said: We must bring to a close the interpretation of the esoteric meaning of this most mysterious part of scripture. It is further added: "I kill and make alive, I wound and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand" (Deuter. xxxii. 39). The words "I kill and make alive" have reference to the sephiroth found on the right hand of the sephirothic tree of life, viz., hochma (wisdom), chesed (grace), and netzach (victory); those on the left hand being binah, (understanding), geburah (justice), hod (glory). From the former proceed principles conducive to life, from the latter those that tend and converge to death. If these pairs of opposites had not been united by the mediating sephiroth, viz., tiphereth (beauty), yesod (foundation), and malkuth (kingdom), there could not have been any equilibrium of principles in the world, no balance of justice, inasmuch as every perfect tribunal consists of three judges who in their official capacity and jurisdiction are considered as one. When the three Logoi constitute themselves as a tribunal for the dispensation of right and justice, the right hand is extended to receive penitents and on the sephirothic tree this hand, termed the Schekina, the right hand of God, is associated with chesed (grace or mercy). The left hand is associated with the sephiroth geburah (justice). [paragraph continues] The hand called on the above mentioned three, Jehovah or Schekina, corresponds to the mediating sephiroth, tiphereth (beauty, etc.), so that when a man repents of his sins and wrongdoings, this hand is outstretched to save him from the exacting justice and severity of the tribunal; but when the Cause of all causes judges,23a then as scripture states, "there is none that can deliver out of my hands." Still further, in this verse, the word I (ani) is repeated three times and thus there are three alephs, a, a, a, and three yods, i, i, i which letters form part of the tetragrammaton, or Sacred Name, written in full. The verse also contains three vaus (v-ahayeh, v-ani, v-en) that are also found in the divine name. The masters have explained the occurrence of the word Alhim in this verse as meaning Alhim acherim, other, that is, false Gods. According to this view the interpretation of it is this. "Behold I, even I, the Holy One am He, or I am the Schekina and Alhim is not with me; that is, the demons Samuel (prince of darkness) and Nachash (serpent) are not with me. I kill and make alive by the Schekina; I destroy the guilty and unrepentant and I make to live him that is just and upright; and there is none who can deliver out of my hands; that is, from the hands of Jehovah, from the three Logoi whose essence is denoted by and concealed in the fourteen letters of the mysterious word Chuza Bmuchso Chuza. Such is the truth." The interpretation we have given and the remarks we have made concerning the Supreme Being, the Cause of all causes, and his relation to the Logoi have never been hitherto vouchsafed and imparted either to prophet or sage. Ponder over and observe the mysterious gradations of the Divine essence or life obscurely and dimly connoted by the sephiroth who are its raiments and coverings and as there is an ascending series of worlds beyond worlds in infinite succession profusely scattered throughout the boundless realms of space each with their motions, periods of duration and their laws, in one grand scheme involved and in a perfect whole united, so with the sephiroth in the highest world of emanations. Though differing in their relationship to the great center and source of Life and Light, yet are they each of them mirrors of the glory and beauty, the splendor and power, the might and majesty of the divine attributes and reflections of the Cause of all causes, the great Being dwelling in light ineffable, in presence of which all other lights become dimmed and disappear as fades and vanishes the darkness before the rising sun. "Let us make man." Another and altogether different interpretation and meaning has been given of these words by the learned of former times, and is as follows: They apply them as spoken by ministering angels who, endowed with a knowledge both of the past, the present and future, foresaw that man would fall and therefore they opposed his creation. Furthermore, at the moment that the Schekina or creative Logos said to the Holy One: "Let us make man" the angels Aza and Azael objected and said: Why create man since thou foreseest that he will sin and break thy law, along with the woman who will be formed from the passive light called darkness, as the man from the active light? Then spoke the Schekina and said in reply to them: Through woman, against whom ye object, shall ye yourselves fall and lose your glory and state, as it is written: "And the sons of Alhim23a saw the daughters of man were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. vi. 2). Said the students to Rabbi Simeon: Master! were not Aza and Azael correct in saying that man through the woman would sin and transgress? To this remark Rabbi Simeon replied: It was on this account that the Schekina said unto them: "Before accusing them ye should see to it that ye are better and stronger and purer than they. Man will fall and sin by one woman alone; ye will fall and be seduced by many. He will repent, but ye will become obdurate and hardened in your sin." Said the students again to Rabbi Simeon, since sexual desires and impulses were the cause of sin and transgression, wherefore do they exist? Said Rabbi Simeon: If the Holy One had not created a spirit of good that emanates from the active light, and spirit of evil that emanates from the passive light or darkness, man would have been a neutral ignorant kind of being unable to distinguish and contrast things essential to mental growth and spiritual development and progress; therefore was he created dual in nature, endowed with sexual feelings and rational functions, from the right and orderly discharge of which, or otherwise, he enjoys or suffers, as it is written: "See I have set before thee this day, life and good, death and evil" (limiter. xxx. 15). Why then, said the students, was man thus created with a power of choosing and determining his future? Would it not have been better to have formed him with no desires and inclinations except for the just, the true and good, and thus have avoided becoming the cause of such disturbance in heavenly regions? Said Rabbi Simeon in reply: It was necessary that man23a-23b should be created thus in order that the good law might operate and be an incentive to spiritual progress and development. Now the law in its jurisdiction operates in two ways in the dispensation of justice, promising rewards to the righteous and decreeing punishment to the guilty and sinful; therefore is it written; "Verily there is a reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked," and man must therefore be created and adapted for the reception of these different effects, viz., rewards and penalties. The Divine Being desires that good should prevail throughout the world, as the scripture saith: "He hath not created the earth in vain, he formed it to be inhabited" (Is. xlv. 18). Furthermore, the good law is as it were a judicial robe to the Schekina, and if man had been created without moral tendencies and with an inclination liable to be diverted to evil as well as good, then would the Schekina have been like a poor man without garb or raiment. He who commits sin despoils in a manner the Schekina of its robe and incurs punishment and condemnation; as on the other hand, he who observes and practices the commandments of the law, is accounted as meritorious as one who arrays the Schekina with a robe or garment. This truth is symbolized by the garment with fringes or borders (zizith) as it is written: "For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin when he shall sleep" (Ex. xxii. 27) referring to the Schekina. When anyone offers up an insincere prayer, destroying angels pursue after it, as saith the scripture: "All her persecutors have overtaken her" (Lam. i. 3), therefore we pray that "He being full of compassion, forgiveth our sins and destroys us not utterly" (Ps. lxxviii. 38). CHAPTER 5. THE KING'S PALACES. THE word sin refers to Samuel, who is the serpent; 23b destroys means the destroying angel, his anger, the Holy One who wishes not that these angels should seize hold of our prayers. The destroying angels are under the control of seven chiefs, each having seventy others subject to his orders and authority. These are always ready to seize a man's prayer as it proceeds from his lips, and there are myriads of them. When a man with fringed garment and phylacteries girded upon his head and arm, uttereth a sincere prayer, scripture saith: "And all the people of the earth shall see, thou bearest the name of Jehovah and shall be afraid of thee" (Deuter xxviii. 10). As we have before stated, the name of Jehovah is contained in the phylactery on the head of every suppliant, and when thus seen these destroying angels fly quickly away as it is written: "A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand" (Ps. xci. 7). When Jacob by divine clairvoyance saw the afflictions and the captivity his descendants would endure and suffer in the later days, it is said that he was greatly afraid and distressed (Gen. xxxii. 7). This was why he divided the people into three companies, as it is written: "And he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel and unto the two handmaids, and he put the handmaids and their children foremost, Leah and her children in the middle and Rachel and Joseph hindmost" (Gen. xxxiii. 1, 2). By these three companies or divisions were prefigured the three captivities: the handmaids and their children referring to the captivity of Edom or Egypt, Leah and her children, and Rachel with Joseph, to the other two captivities. Foreseeing the anguish and misery that would be endured by his descendants in the future, this is why he prayed and vowed, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my Adonai (Gen. xxviii. 20-21). David also alluded to the captivity of the Schekina, foreseeing the children of Israel returning with joy to their fatherland and in the exuberance of his joy, composed ten different songs, the last of which is entitled "A Prayer of the afflicted one, when overwhelmed, he poureth out his complaint before the Lord" (Ps. cii.). The prayer of the poor and suffering has precedence with the Holy One and is regarded before the prayer of all others. And what is the Poor man's prayer? It is the evening prayer which he is privileged to utter when by himself and alone. The upright poor man is the descendant of Jacob under the power of other nations, and resembles the evening prayer in that he is in the night of captivity. The prayer of the Sabbath day is a charity or good deed done to the poor, and is as the rising sun that beams upon everything and is a benefit to all. For this reason a man should regard himself as a mendicant at the King's gate or door, as humility of heart and mind should be the chief feature in praying during the week days especially when, girded with the phylacteries, a man stands as a suppliant and mendicant before the palace gates of Adonai, the Great King, and prays: "Open my lips, Oh Adonai, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise" (Ps. li. 17). During week days, an angel like an eagle descends as soon as the evening prayer begins and taking it between his wings ascends and presents it then to the Holy One. This ministering angel is called Ouriel (light of God) when the prayer is an act of piety and love, and Nouriel (fire of God) when it proceeds from earnestness of heart and feeling which is as a fiery glow coming forth from the soul within, as it is written: "A fiery stream issued and came forth"23b (Dan. vii. 9). During morning prayer, the ministering angel who descends is in form like a lion, and after taking it, ascends again heavenward. During vespers, or evening prayer, the ministering angel is in form of an ox and under the rulership of Gabriel.23b-24a On the Sabbath day the Holy One descends Himself from heaven accompanied by the patriarchs, in order to welcome his only daughter. This is the mystery and occult meaning of the word Sabbath, She-Bath, the signification of which is, for she is his only child. When the Sabbath dawns, the Holy One descends from his throne of glory to greet its coming, and myriads of angelic beings assemble and sing their hymn of praise and adoration: "Lift up your heads, oh ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Who is the King of Glory! The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting door, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts! He is the King of Glory. (Ps. xxiv. 9.) Then are opened the gates of the seven palaces, the first of which is the palace of love, the second of reverence, the third of mercy, the fourth of the luminous mirror, the fifth of the non-luminous mirror, the sixth of justice, the seventh of judgment. These palaces are alluded to in the words Brashith bra Alhim. (Gen. 1. i.) Brashith divided into Bra-shith signifies He created six, viz., the six palaces, and Alhim along with them forms the seventh. Corresponding to them are also seven palaces here below on the earth plane, an allusion to which is made in the psalm beginning with the words, "Give unto the Lord, oh ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength." (Ps. xxix. 1.) In this psalm the words, "the voice of the Lord," are found repeated seven times, as also the divine name Jehovah eighteen times, corresponding to the number of worlds that the Holy One visits, as described in Psalm lxviii. 18. The chariot of God, viz., the divine form in which He manifests his glory, is surrounded by tens of thousands and myriads of angels, and in this form of manifestation He visits the eighteen systems of worlds in the universe. The gates of the palace whither prayers ascend are strongly guarded, but they find no entrance unless sincere and the result of meditation, whilst the palace of the Shekina or Divine Presence is always open, and it is of prayers sent up to it that the Psalmist refers. "They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gate" (Ps. cxxvii. 5), that is, the King's gate, or gate of the Divine Shekina, to whom all prayers from our Higher Self, or the divine within us, should be addressed direct and without any intermediary; because what cometh from the divine, unto the divine returneth, like the Scripture with all its positive and negative commandments24a and precepts which came direct from the name of Jehovah, as it is written: "This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." (Ex. iii. 15.) The word shemi (my name), augmented with the two first letters yod and he (I and H) of the divine name has the numerical value of 365, equal to the number of negative precepts or prohibitions of the law. Also the word zicri (my memorial). augmented with i the two last letters of the same name, vau and he (V and I1), in its numerical value represents the 245 positive precepts or commandments of scripture. It is for this reason that the liturgy of the Shema, containing 248 words, is repeated before the benediction, "Blessed be thou, Oh Lord, who hast chosen thy people Israel in love." CHAPTER 6. ON ISRAEL OR THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT. Now the children of Israel are all included and summed up in the name Abraham, of whom God spoke as "his friend," and which also applies to Israel, for Israel is contained in the divine name written in full, IV D, HA, VAV, HA, the numerical value of which is 45, equaling that of Adam (man). The scripture states that "He created man (Adam) in his image," signifying Israel who existed in the divine thought or mind before the creation of the world, and afterwards was created in the likeness and image of God. Offspring, life and the means of subsistence proceed from the middle column of the sephirotic tree of life, called in scripture, "My first born, even Israel" (Ex. lv. 22), and that nourisheth all the world. The support of Israel since the destruction of the temple is prayer, which is accepted in lieu of sacrifices. Its cry since the time of the first captivity has been: "Give me children or else I die" (Gen. xxx. 1). When the Shekina vanished from the temple, the ten sephirotic splendors also departed with it, and, becoming blended and united together they ascended on high and surrounded the throne of glory that they might still continue to receive prayers that go up on high. When man therefore desires that his prayers may ascend to heaven as a sweet and pleasing melody, or when he yearns to break the yoke and bondage of the old serpent who seeks always to disturb and thwart his prayers, he ought first of all to unify himself with the Divine Presence or heavenly Shekina, and use it as a sling wherewith to combat against and overcome his spiritual adversary. This living consciousness of the Divine within us and about us it is that endows us with strength and fortitude to tread the path of duty calm and unperturbed, and thus become better able to accomplish life's great mission and achieve its greatest victory, self conquest, the prelude to the realization of our destiny, i.e.. union with the Divine. The teachings of Theosophy on this subject of the secret doctrine24a are contained in the names of the accents used in sacred chanting, such as Zarka (a sling), Shophar (a trumpet), Segolta (a bunch of grapes), etc. CHAPTER 7. THE PRAYER OF RABBI SIMEON. The students had assembled and waited for the master to begin his daily discourse and exposition of the secret doctrine. Rabbi Simeon, after a few moments of meditation, prayed and said: "Oh ye angels on high and ye great teachers of the secret doctrine taught and expounded in the sacred schools above, assemble yourselves and be present to note the words and their esoteric meaning that I am about to make known, and thou, oh Elijah, I conjure by the bond of our brotherhood, and pray thou mayst be allowed to descend and be present whilst I explain the mystery of the great struggle between good and evil in the world, as also of the conflict between light and darkness that has been, and still is, waged from the beginning; and thou Enoch, great angel of the Divine Presence! come thou and be present also, along with the masters of the school over which thou presidest. This I entreat and supplicate not for my own self, but for the honor and glory of the Shekina." Then began Rabbi Simeon his discourse. "Oh Zarka," he said, "it is indeed through thee that our prayers ascend and reach their destined place on high. As a slinger slings and directs his stones to a certain mark or object, so should we, whilst praying, direct and address our prayers to the Divine in a manner of which thou art the symbol. Therefore the teachings of our forefathers instruct us that all our desires should be expressed before the pronunciation and utterance of the divine name, and by standing up cause them to ascend on high. Prayer should be direct and uninterrupted by anything whatever, even though it be a serpent entwining itself about our lower limbs, and always addressed to the Infinite One as we have been taught. At the repeating of 'Blessed be thou, oh Lord,' every knee should be bowed, and never by word or act of inattention should the union between himself and the Divine Being be disrupted. The union of the Shekina with its heavenly spouse is sometimes effected by passing through six degrees of the lower limbs of the sephirotic tree. It is for this reason that during prayer, the knees should be bowed and the six joints of each of the legs may be emblematic of this union, which is sometimes effected by passing through six degrees of the arms of the sephirotic tree. Occasionally, the Shekina ascends on high between the father and the mother symbolized by the letters yod and he. When it ascends it attains to the highest position, so that, losing sight of it, the angels themselves ask, "Where is the place of its glory?" When it rises above aleph, it forms and becomes a crown, which is called kether (crown). When, however, the Shekina descends below, it takes the form of a vowel beneath aleph, and then is called nekudah (point), as the crown above is called taga in the esoteric science of the accents. When this taga becomes joined to the Shekina,24a-24b the letter zain is formed, a symbol of the union denoted by the seventh shephira, and in its form an emblem of the foundation stone of the universe. This is why it is written; "Thou shalt have a perfect and just stone" (Deuter. xxv. 15). There is no musical accent which has not its corresponding vowel point,--thus segoltha coincides with segol, the accent zakeph with seheva. Those who are acquainted with the esoteric meaning of the accents will easily find the correspondents of all the others, such as athnach, munach, etc. CHAPTER 8. PREVIOUS WORLDS AND RACES. "These (aleh) are the generations (children or races) of the heavens and the earth" (Gen. xi., 4). It has been stated that in every passage of Scripture that the word aleh occurs, there is no connection with what precedes it. This is the ease with the passage just quoted. Its logical reference and connection is with the words "tohu," and "bohu" (without form and void) in the second verse of Gen. i. There are those who say that the Holy One created worlds and then destroyed them. Why were they destroyed? Because, as the Scripture says, "the earth was tohu and bohu," indicating the state of former worlds before their destruction. But would it not have been better if he had24b-25a not created them? Most certainly it would, and the explanation involves a great mystery. if you ask an explanation of what and wherefore He destroyed them, our reply is this: In the first place the Holy One never has destroyed the work of his hands. The scripture referring to the heavens, states: "The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Is. li. 6), from which it has been inferred that the Holy One creates and destroys worlds with their inhabitants according to a certain law. The fact is, that the Holy One created the, world and its population through the law expressed esoterically in the word "brashith," and referred to in the following passage: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, and before he had created anything I was with him" (Prov. viii. 22); and by this brashith (beginning) he created the heavens and the earth, the foundations of which were based on "berith" (law or covenant), the letters of which are contained in br(ash)ith. It is of this berith that scripture speaks: "If the law (or covenant) I have made had not existed, there would have been no day nor night, heaven nor earth" (Jer. xxxiii. 25), and it is of this law the Scripture further states: "The heavens are the Lord's," and he has given the earth to the children of men. (Ps. cxv. 16.) By the earth the Psalmist means our earth or world, which is one of seven worlds or earths referred to by David: "I will walk before the Lord in the lands or earths of the living" (Ps. cxvi. 9). If, therefore, the Lord created worlds and destroyed them by reducing them to a state of tohu and bohu before the creation of the heavens and the earth, it was because the berith or law of such creation was not yet elaborated or existent. This is why the earth has escaped the fate of previous worlds. At first God made known this law by the symbolism of circumcision to the heathen nations of antiquity; but, as they were unwilling to accept it, the earth remained barren and unfruitful. This is the esoteric meaning of the words, "Let the waters be gathered into one place" (Gen. i. 8), signifying the secret doctrine or knowledge of the divine law; "into one place" designates Israel, whose spiritual derivation is from the place of which it is said, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord in his place" (Ez. iii. 12), meaning by "the Glory of the Lord" the lower Shekina, and "in his place" the Shekina on high. As the souls of Israel are unified with it, therefore Jehovah is with them and over them, for it is written, "The portion of the Lord is his people" (Deuter. xxxii. 9). For this reason, the Scripture also saith, "Let the waters be gathered together in one place";25a that is, Israel who accepted the law, and "let the dry land or element appear"; that is, the idolatrous nations who, unwilling to receive it, have remained barren and sterile. This, then, is the explanation of what has been erroneously said: "God created worlds and destroyed them" through caprice. It was because of their rejection of and non-conformity to the law of nature. According to traditions that have been handed down, they, that is, the early races and their offspring, were created and called into existence by the second Divine Form, or hypostasis, symbolized by the letter H, as it is written "behibaram" (whom he created), a word which the most ancient teachers maintain ought to be divided and written "behi baram," meaning, God created them by the he. This is why the letter H in this word (an anagram of the name Abraham) is found written in the Pentateuch smaller than the other letters, and implying the barrenness and infertility of the heathen during the fifth or He millenium after creation, which led up to the destruction of the first and second temples. Moses, because he wished to bring these nations to a knowledge of the Divine, believing they had been created by the Divine Form called He, was greatly disappointed and grieved when God said to him: "Go, get thee down, for thy people have sinned" (Ex. xxxii. 7), in that they have failed in love to H and reverence to V that were due unto them, and have fallen from that high state of spiritual elevation represented by V, the letter which proceeds and is derived from the L and H, and descended from on high along with H in order that not a single soul should be lost of those who had inhabited previous worlds that had entered into pralaya, symbolized by the captivity of Israel. The souls of the Antediluvians (ereb rah) emanated from those to whom Scripture refers. "For the heavens shall disappear like smoke and the earth wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Is. li. 6). They are also those for whom Noah was unwilling to intercede, and therefore it is written of them, "And they were destroyed from the earth" (Gen. vii. 23). They were the same souls of whom it is also written, "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven" (Deuter. xxv. 19). Unthinkingly, Moses caused to descent the being called He among these men, and was therefore denied the privilege of25a entering into the Holy Land until He returned to its former place on high. When He descended from above Vau came down also. Who shall raise He again on high? It is Vau whose presence was not with Moses (the word Moses is written without a Vau). This is why the letter He in "behibaram," an anagram as stated of Abraham, is written smaller than the other letters in the book of the law, and to which scripture alludes. "He brought them forth out of Egypt" by means of the Vau who, at the same time, brought out the He. When the Vau and He became conjoined, the vow was made. "The hand of God upon his throne shall be raised against Amalek, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Ex. xvii. 16), "yod al cas Jah milehamah la Jehovah beamalek." What is the signification of the words, "from generation to generation"? They allude to the time of Moses. We have been informed by ancient masters that a generation is in number equivalent to 600,000 souls, and there exists a tradition that in the time of Moses each woman bore in her womb potentially the same number of embryos. After the deluge the souls of the antediluvians incarnated in five different races or nations, viz., the Nephilim (fallen or degraded), Giborim (mighty ones), Anakim (tall ones), Rephaim (the giants), and Amalekim (Amalekites). It was through the last of these that He fell from on high. Balaam and Balak were descendants of Amalek. Take Ain and Mim (a and m) from the former, L and K from the latter, and the remaining letters form the word Babel, and the subtracted letters the name Amalek. It is of them that Scripture refers, "therefore is the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound (babel) the language of the earth" (Gen. xl. 9). And they were they who survived the catastrophe of the deluge of whom it is said: "He destroyed every living thing on the face of the earth" (Gen. vii. 23). These five races survived till the time of the fourth captivity of Israel, whose chief enemies they were, and therefore called instruments of iniquity. They are denoted in Scripture by the words, "And the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. vi. 11). Of these, the first race was the Amalekites. Of the Nephilim it is recorded, "And the sons of God beheld the daughters of men that they were fair" (Gen. vi. 2). They were also the second in rank of the angel hosts that were cast out of heaven and became incarnated. WHEN the Holy One wished to form man and said: "Let us make man in our image. " He intended to set him over the angelic hosts who should be subject to his commands. The revolting angels, however, protested and said: "What is man that he merits Thy regards? (Ps. viii. 5); he will most certainly sin against Thee and disobey Thy commandments." Said the Holy One unto them: "If ye were on earth below you would become more wicked and culpable than he.25a-26b And so it happened, for as it is written, as soon as "they beheld the daughters of men that they were fair, they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. vi. 2). Therefore, the Holy One hurled them into the abysmal darkness, where they abide unto this day. Such was the doom of Asa and Azael, from whom originated and were engendered those angelic beings who, through sexual intercourse with their fair and beautiful human wives, became the fallen ones and thus forfeited the joys of the heavenly world, exchanging its eternal happiness for the fleeting pleasures and delights of earthly existence, as it is written, "He repayeth them that hate him, to their faces to destroy them" (Deuter. vii. 10). The Giborim (mighty ones) formed the third race, and were they whom Scripture describes as "mighty men which were of old, men of great renown" (Gen. vi. 4). They it was who, at the building of the tower of Babel, said: "Go to and let us build us a city and tower whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name" (Gen. xi. 4). Becoming incarnated, they were those who built mansions, colleges, and founded oracles and temples, not for the worship and glory of the Divine Being, but for their own self-exaltation, and then tyrannized over Israel as though they were dust of the earth, by plundering and robbing them of every thing they possessed. Concerning them the Scripture states, "And the waters prevailed and were increased greatly upon the earth" (Gen. vii. 19). The fourth race was that of the Rephaim or Giants, who, whenever they beheld the children of Israel in sore straits or distress and afflictions, scoffed and derided them and treated with contempt the good law and its students and followers, but regarded with favor and indulgence the idolatrous and ungodly. Of them it is written, "The Rephaim (giants) shall not rise again" (Is. xxvi. 14), and when the redemption and deliverance of Israel shall appear, then will be accomplished the words of scripture respecting them, "Their memory shall perish."25b The fifth race was the Anakim (tall ones), a despicable people, of whom it is said: "The Rephaim were like unto them" (Deuter. xi. 11). It was through them that the earth reverted back to its previous state of tohu and bohu, occult words in which is contained the epitome of their history and final disappearance from off the face of the earth, which occurred when the light divine appeared in the world. Another explanation of the words, "These are the generations or offspring of the heavens and the earth," is gathered from the words, "And Aaron took them and cast them into the furnace and formed of them a calf." Then said the Israelites: "These (aleh) be thy gods, oh Israel" (Ex. xxxii. 4). On the day that all these different races were exterminated, the Holy One along with the Shekina created the heavens and the earth anew, as it is written, "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make shall remain before me" (Is. lxvi. 22), which words are the complement to "on the day that God created. . . ." Then it was that God also made to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food" (Gen. ii. 4).25b But not until the extermination of the above mentioned races did the secret doctrine appear in the world, and the children of Israel flourished and sprung forth as the trees and green herb out of the ground alluded to in scripture; for till then "the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground" (Gen. ii. 5). The esoteric meaning of which is, the children of Israel were not there to do sacrifice and render worship to the Holy One. A further exposition is that the words, "And every plant of the field," denote the first Messiah; and the words "every herb of the field" a second Messiah. What was the reason for the appearance of these Messiahs? Because there was no Moses to make intercession with the divine Shekina, and therefore is it written, "There was no man to till the ground." This esoteric meaning and interpretation is also that of the words, "And the Sceptre shall not depart front Judah" (Gen. xlix. 10), referring to the Messiah son of David; whilst the words, "nor a prince of his posterity," denote Messiah the son of Joseph,--"Until the coming of Schiloh, "--signifies Moses; the numerical value of these two names being the same. The Hebrew words "velo iqhath" (to him shall the nations look) are composed of the same letters as "velevi, qehath" (hevi and Qohath) the ancestors of Moses. Also, "every plant of the field," signifies the righteous whose souls emanated from him who is termed "The Just One," who is the life of the world and abideth forever. The word "shiah" (plant) is composed of the letter Sh, the branches of which symbolize the three Patriarchs and "hai" (life) denoting the Eternal One who alone hath life and immortality. The following word "eaheb" (every herb) denotes the union of the seventy-two branches of the celestial tree, and which only became united with the Shekina on the appearance of Adam (the man) whose name in its numerical value is equal to that of Jehovah. The words, "and every herb of the field before it grew out of the ground" denote also The Just One, of whom it is written, "Truth shall spring out of the ground" (Ps. lxxxv. 11), and "The Truth shall be sent down upon the earth" (Dan viii. 12.) These passages signify that students of the secret doctrine, like the green herb, will spring up during the period of captivity; that the truth will become recognized and prevail when Moses cometh again, of whom it is written, "The jaw of truth was in his mouth" (Mal. ii. 1); so that no one was better able to unfold and expound Divine mysteries than he. When he returns, "a mist shall go forth from the earth and water the whole face of the ground" (Gen. ii. 1); that, is. Ad (a mist). shall be taken from Adonai (Lord) and V and N becoming added to it shall form Adon, master or lord of the earth, by whom it shall be watered. Then will Israel understand the full meaning of the secret doctrine. The word Ad, translated in the targum or Chaldean paraphrase a cloud, designates also him who is referred to in scripture as "The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day" (Ex. xl. 38). It is by him that the masters of the secret doctrine and all students of the good law shall be enlightened and flourish when He cometh again. CHAPTER 10. SYMBOLISMS OF MAN. "And the Lord God formed man" (Gen. ii. 7), that is, Israel. Here the word vayitzer (formed) is written with two yods or I's, indicating that the Holy One formed him with two natures, the higher and lower self; the one divine, the other earthly, and impressed upon his form the divine name, I V I, expressed by the two eyes and the nose between them, thus: I. The numerical value of these letters is 26, which is also that of the divine name, Jehovah.25b-26a It is on this account that scripture saith, "From the top of the rocks I shall see Him" (Num. xxiii. 9). The word zurim (rocks) denotes also forms, so that Balaam who uttered these words, meant that in viewing the form of Israel, he beheld and recognized the divine name. Another comparison of Israel with this Divine name is in the two tables of stone containing the law and representing two I's, the letter V symbolizing what is written on them. Man also in himself represents the union and blending together of the higher and lower Shekinas, symbolized by the repeating of the Shema, morning and evening. The union of the two natures in man is also referred to in the words, "Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" (Gen. ii. 23). We also read that God planted man, that is, Israel, in the sacred garden of Eden, as it is written, "And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden" (Gen. ii. 15). Jehovah Alhim, the Lord God; that is, the heavenly father and mother; "garden," the lower Shekina; "in Eden," the heavenly mother; [paragraph continues] "the man," the middle column of the sephirotic tree; from which was formed his wife, and who being his delight should never be separated from him. It was then that the Holy One planted Israel, who are the holy branches of the world, or, in other words, a race purer and better than those that had formerly existed; as it is written, "The branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified" (Is. Ix. 21). "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food" (Gen. ii. 9). "The Lord God denoting the celestial father and mother; "every tree that is pleasant to the sight," the Just; and "good for food," the middle column consisting of the sephiroth kether, tiphereth, yesod, etc., and from which proceed those stores of food by which the righteous are sustained and which, when mankind becomes purified and enlightened, will contribute to the life of the world.26a Then will every one take of the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and eat and live for ever more.Gen. 3:22 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes those whose intellectual faculties are directed only to phenomenal objects that can be seen and handled, and by whom the presence and operation of the Shekina in nature, in the life of nations and in the soul of man himself, are unrecognized and ignored; and thus it will be until the times of error and darkness pass away; then will they also become proselytes of the divine life of whom it will be said: "The Lord alone is their leader and there is no strange god in their midst" (Deuter. xxxii. 12); and, human nature transformed and enlightened and purified, mankind will become as a tree that, in its stately form and beauty, is pleasant to the sight. The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil occasioned Israel to fall into error which they should have avoided and remembered the divine command admonishing them to "Eat not of the tree" of Good and Evil, on pain and penalty of spiritual death involving loss of union with the Divine, without which there can be no interior enlightenment, no spiritual development. This command with its twice repeated warning, "thou shalt die, thou shalt die," refers also to the children of Israel who endured two great calamities, the destruction of the first and second temples, and the loss of the higher and lower Shekina or manifestation of the Divine presence in their midst, as expressed and typified in the words, "And the river shall be dried up" (Ia. xix. 5), and which then became resolved in Ain Soph, the Boundless One, whence it emanated at first. This aridity or state of dryness will not however continue always, for when Israel comes out of captivity then will the river that was dried up and wasted go forth again out of Eden to water the garden, and divine knowledge cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. This recurrence and reappearance of the Divine Presence amongst mankind is mystically referred to in the words, "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord" (Is. lviii. 14).26a-26b The word anag (delight or joy) in this passage of scripture is composed of the initial letters of "Eden," Nahar (a river), and Gan (a garden.) Then also shall be accomplished and fulfilled the words of scripture: "Then Moses and the children of Israel shall sing" (not sang, as generally translated--Ex. xv. 1) for error and idolatry symbolized by Pharaoh and his hosts will he destroyed and pass away forever. Furthermore, we read, "the river that went forth out of Eden to water the ground was parted and became into four heads" (Gen. ii. 10). These four heads or channels are symbolized on the sephirotic tree by chesed (mercy) which forms the right arm, teaching that he who desires to become wise should always turn himself to the south, the quarter presided over by Michael and his hosts, along with Judah and two other tribes of Israel, whilst he who prays for wealth should turn towards the north where is stationed Gabriel with his hosts, along with Dan and two other tribes.. The third channel is symbolized by Netzach (triumph or victory), the right limb of the sephirotic tree presided over by Nuriel with his hosts, along with Reuben and two other tribes. The left limb is Hod (splendor). It is to this sephira that, what is said of Jacob, is applied, "And he halted upon his thigh (Gen. xxxii. 31). The fourth head is presided over by Raphael and his hosts, along with Ephraim and two other tribes. The mission and work of this ruler is the healing and assuagement of the afflictions of the captivity. The words, "and became parted into four heads" refer also to four individuals who gained entrance into the mysterious garden of Eden, or Paradise. The first entered it by the channel Pishon, that is, "Pishoneh halakhoth" (the mouth that teaches the good law). The second, by Gihon (the place where is buried he who creepeth on his belly--Levit. xl. 42). It is under the presidency of Gabriel whose name is composed of the words [paragraph continues] Gebra, al (divine man), and who is alluded to in the words,26b "the man who walks on a hidden path and whom God has covered as with a veil" (Job. iii. 23), and also in the following passage: "No man knoweth unto this day the place of his sepulchre" (Deuter. xxxiv. 6); the esoteric signification of which is understood only by those initiated in the secret doctrine. The third individual entered by the channel called Hiddekel or Had qal (the adapting word), the third part of the secret doctrine imparted to initiates and known as Darash (exposition). The fourth entered by Phrath, the channels through which flows the principle of fecundity. Ben Zoma and Ben Azai, who penetrated into and attained to the knowledge of the secret doctrine concealed within its esoteric covering, by their wrong use of it found it a curse instead of a blessing, whilst to Rabbi Akiba it became a blessing and a source of joy, tranquillity and power.
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