The correspondences are a set of symbols, associations and qualities
which provide a handle on the elusive something a sephira represents.
Some of the correspondences are hundreds of years old, many were concocted
this century, and some are my own; some fit very well, and some are obscure
- oddly enough it is often the most obscure and ill-fitting correspondence
which is most productive; like a Zen riddle it perplexes and annoys the
mind until it arrives at the right place more in spite of the
correspondence than because of it.
There are few canonical correspondences; some of the sephiroth
have alternative names, some of the names have alternative
translations, the mapping from Hebrew spellings to the English alphabet
varies from one author to the next, and inaccuracies and accretions are
handed down like the family silver. I keep my Hebrew dictionary to hand but
guarantee none of the English spellings.
The correspondences I have given are as follows:
- The Meaning is a translation of the Hebrew name of the sephira.
- The Planet in most cases is the planet associated with the sephira. In
some cases it is not a planet at all (e.g. the fixed stars). The
planets are ordered by decreasing apparent motion - this is one
correspondence which appears to pre-date Copernicus!
- The Element is the physical element (earth, water, air, fire, aethyr)
which has most in common with the nature of the Sephira. The Golden Dawn
applied an excess of logic to these attributions and made a mess of them,
to the confusion of many. Only the five Lower Face sephiroth have
been attributed an element.
- Briatic colour. This is the colour of the sephira as seen in the world
of Creation, Briah. There are colour scales for the other three worlds but
I haven't found them to be useful in practical work.
- Magical Image. Useful in meditiations; some are astute.
- The Briatic Correspondence is an abstract quality which says something
about the essence of the way the sephira expresses itself.
- The Illusion characterises the way in which the energy of the sephira
clouds one's judgement; it is something which is obviously true.
Most people suffer from one or more of these according to their temperament.
- The Obligation is a personal quality which is demanded of an initiate at
this level.
- The Virtue and Vice are the energy of the sephiroth as it manifests in
a positive and negative sense in the personality.
- Qlippoth is a word which means "shell". In medieval Kabbalah each
sephira was "seen" to be adding form to the sephira which preceded it in
the Lightning Flash (see Chapter 3.). Form was seen to an accretion, a shell
around the pure divine energy of the Godhead, and each layer or shell hid
the divine radiance a little bit more, until God was buried in form and
exiled in matter, the end-point of the process. At the time attitudes to
matter were tainted with the Manichean notion that matter was evil,
a snare for the spirit, and consequently the Qlippoth or shells were
"demonised" and actually turned into demons. The correspondence I have given
here restores the original notion of a shell of form without the
corresponding force to activate it; it is the lifeless, empty husk of a
sephira devoid of force, and while it isn't a literal demon, it is hardly a
bundle of laughs when you come across it.
- The Command refers to the Four Powers of the Sphinx, with an extra one
added for good measure.
- The Spiritual Experience is just that.
- The Titles are a collection of alternative names for the sephira; most are
very old.
- The God Name is a key to invoking the power of the sephira in the
world of emanation, Atziluth.
- The Archangel mediates the energy of the sephira in the world of
creation, Briah.
- The Angel Order administers the energy of the sephira in the world of
formation, Yetzirah.
- The Keywords are a collection of phrases which summarise key aspects of
the sephira.
- Sephira:
- Malkuth
- Meaning:
- Kingdom
- Planet:
- Cholem Yesodeth (the Breaker of the Foundations, sphere of
the elements, the Earth)
- Element:
- earth
- Briatic Colour:
- brown (citrine, russet-red, olive green, black)
- Number:
- 10
- Magical Image:
- a young woman crowned and throned
- Briatic Correspondence:
- stability
- Illusion:
- materialism
- Obligation:
- discipline
- Virtue:
- discrimination
- Vice:
- avarice & inertia
- Qlippoth:
- stasis
- Command:
- keep silent
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel
- Titles:
- The Gate; Gate of Death; Gate of Tears; Gate of Justice; The
Inferior Mother; Malkah, the Queen; Kallah, the Bride;
the Virgin.
- God Name:
- Adonai ha Aretz, Adonai Malekh
- Archangel:
- Sandalphon
- Angel Order:
- Ishim
- Keywords:
- the real world, physical matter, the Earth, Mother
Earth, the physical elements, the natural world, sticks
& stones, possessions, faeces, practicality, solidity,
stability, inertia, heaviness, bodily death, incarnation.
- Sephira:
- Yesod
- Meaning:
- Foundation
- Planet:
- Levanah (the Moon)
- Element:
- Aethyr
- Briatic Colour:
- purple
- Number:
- 9
- Magical Image:
- a beautiful man, very strong (e.g. Atlas)
- Briatic Correspondence:
- receptivity, perception
- Illusion:
- security
- Obligation:
- trust
- Virtue:
- independence
- Vice:
- idleness
- Qlippoth:
- zombieism, robotism
- Command:
- go!
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of the Machinery of the Universe
- Titles:
- The Treasure House of Images
- God Name:
- Shaddai el Chai
- Archangel:
- Gabriel
- Angel Order:
- Cherubim
- Keywords:
- perception, interface, imagination, image, appearance,
glamour, the Moon, the unconscious, instinct, tides,
illusion, hidden infrastructure, dreams, divination,
anything as it seems to be and not as it is, mirrors
and crystals, the "Astral Plane", Aethyr, glue,
tunnels, sex & reproduction, the genitals, cosmetics,
instinctive magic (psychism), secret doors, shamanic
tunnel.
- Sephira:
- Hod
- Meaning:
- Glory, Splendour
- Planet:
- Kokab (Mercury)
- Element:
- air
- Briatic Colour:
- orange
- Number:
- 8
- Magical Image:
- an hermaphrodite
- Briatic Correspondence:
- abstraction
- Illusion:
- order
- Obligation:
- learn
- Virtue:
- honesty, truthfulness
- Vice:
- dishonesty
- Qlippoth:
- rigidity
- Command:
- will
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Splendour
- Titles:
- -
- God Name:
- Elohim Tzabaoth
- Archangel:
- Raphael
- Angel Order:
- Beni Elohim
- Keywords:
- reason, abstraction, communication, conceptualisation,
logic, the sciences, language, speech, money (as a
concept), mathematics, medicine & healing, trickery,
writing, media (as communication), pedantry,
philosophy, Kabbalah (as an abstract system), protocol,
the Law, ownership, territory, theft, "Rights", ritual
magic.
- Sephira:
- Netzach
- Meaning:
- Victory, Firmness
- Planet:
- Nogah (Venus)
- Element:
- water
- Briatic Colour:
- green
- Number:
- 7
- Magical Image:
- a beautiful naked woman
- Briatic Correspondence:
- nurture
- Illusion:
- projection
- Obligation:
- responsibility
- Virtue:
- unselfishness
- Vice:
- selfishness
- Qlippoth:
- habit, routine
- Command:
- know
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Beauty Triumphant
- Titles:
- -
- God Name:
- Jehovah Tzabaoth
- Archangel:
- Haniel
- Angel Order:
- Elohim
- Keywords:
- passion, pleasure, luxury, sensual beauty, feelings,
drives, emotions - love, hate, anger, joy, depression,
misery, excitement, desire, lust; nurture, libido,
empathy, sympathy, ecstatic magic.
- Sephira:
- Tipheret
- Meaning:
- Beauty
- Planet:
- Shemesh (the Sun)
- Element:
- fire
- Briatic Colour:
- yellow
- Number:
- 6
- Magical Image:
- a king, a child, a sacrificed god
- Briatic Correspondence:
- centrality, wholeness
- Illusion:
- identification
- Obligation:
- integrity
- Virtue:
- devotion to the Great Work Vice: pride, self-importance
- Qlippoth:
- hollowness
- Command:
- dare
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Harmony
- Titles:
- Melekh, the King; Zoar Anpin, the lesser countenance, the
Microprosopus; the Son; Rachamin, charity.
- God Name:
- Aloah va Daath
- Archangel:
- Michael
- Angel Order:
- Malachim
- Keywords:
- harmony, integrity, balance, wholeness, the Self,
self-importance, self-sacrifice, the Son of God, centrality,
the Philospher's Stone, identity, the solar plexus,
a King, the Great Work.
- Sephira:
- Gevurah
- Meaning:
- Strength
- Planet:
- Madim (Mars)
- Briatic Colour:
- red
- Number:
- 5
- Magical Image:
- a mighty warrior
- Briatic Correspondence:
- power
- Illusion:
- invincibility
- Obligation:
- courage & loyalty
- Virtue:
- courage & energy
- Vice:
- cruelty
- Qlippoth:
- bureaucracy
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Power
- Titles:
- Pachad, fear; Din, justice.
- God Name:
- Elohim Gevor
- Archangel:
- Kamael
- Angel Order:
- Seraphim
- Keywords:
- power, justice, retribution (eaten cold), the Law (in
execution), cruelty, oppression, domination & the Power
Myth, severity, necessary destruction, catabolism,
martial arts.
- Sephira:
- Chesed
- Meaning:
- Mercy
- Planet:
- Tzadekh (Jupiter)
- Briatic Colour:
- blue
- Number:
- 4
- Magical Image:
- a mighty king
- Briatic Correspondence:
- authority
- Illusion:
- being right (self-righteousness)
- Obligation:
- humility
- Virtue:
- humility & obedience
- Vice:
- tyranny, hypocrisy, bigotry, gluttony
- Qlippoth:
- ideology
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Love
- Titles:
- Gedulah, magnificence, love, majesty
- God Name:
- El
- Archangel:
- Tzadkiel
- Angel Order:
- Chasmalim
- Keywords:
- authority, creativity, inspiration, vision, leadership,
excess, waste, secular and spiritual power, submission
and the Annihilation Myth, the atom bomb, obliteration,
birth, service.
- Non-Sephira:
- Daath
- Meaning:
- Knowledge
- Daath has no manifest qualities and cannot be invoked directly.
-
- Keywords:
- hole, tunnel, gateway, doorway, black hole, vortex.
- Sephira:
- Binah
- Meaning:
- Understanding
- Planet:
- Shabbathai (Saturn)
- Briatic Colour:
- black
- Number:
- 3
- Magical Image:
- an old woman on a throne
- Briatic Correspondence:
- comprehension
- Illusion:
- death
- Virtue:
- silence
- Vice:
- inertia
- Qlippoth:
- fatalism
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of Sorrow
- Titles:
- Aima, the Mother; Ama, the Crone; Marah, the bitter
sea; Khorsia, the Throne; the Fifty Gates of
Understanding; Intelligence; the Mother of Form; the
Superior Mother.
- God Name:
- Elohim
- Archangel:
- Cassiel
- Angel Order:
- Aralim
- Keywords:
- limitation, form, constraint, heaviness, slowness, old-age,
infertility, incarnation, karma, fate, time,
space, natural law, the womb and gestation, darkness,
boundedness, enclosure, containment, fertility, mother,
weaving and spinning, death (annihilation).
- Sephira:
- Chokhmah
- Meaning:
- Wisdom
- Planet:
- Mazlot (the Zodiac, the fixed stars)
- Briatic Colour:
- silver/white, grey
- Number:
- 2
- Magical Image:
- a bearded man
- Briatic Correspondence:
- revolution
- Illusion:
- independence
- Virtue:
- good
- Vice:
- evil
- Qlippoth:
- arbitrariness
- Spiritual Experience:
- Vision of God face-to-face
- Titles:
- Abba, the Father. The Supernal Father.
- God Name:
- Jah
- Archangel:
- Ratziel
- Angel Order:
- Auphanim
- Keywords:
- pure creative energy, lifeforce, the wellspring.
- Sephira:
- Kether
- Meaning:
- Crown
- Planet:
- Rashith ha Gilgalim (first swirlings, the Big Bang)
- Briatic Colour:
- pure white
- Number:
- 1
- Magical Image:
- a bearded man seen in profile
- Briatic Correspondence:
- unity
- Illusion:
- attainment
- Virtue:
- attainment
- Vice:
- -
- Qlippoth:
- futility
- Spiritual Experience:
- Union with God
- Titles:
- Ancient of Days, the Greater Countenance
(Macroprosopus), the White Head, Concealed of the
Concealed, Existence of Existences, the Smooth Point,
Rum Maalah, the Highest Point.
- God Name:
- Eheieh
- Archangel:
- Metatron
- Angel Order:
- Chaioth ha Qadesh
- Keywords:
- unity, union, all, pure consciousness, God, the
Godhead, manifestation, beginning, source, emanation.
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