All of the concepts we have discussed thus far belong to the theosophical system known as Kabbalah in which the mysteries of the Hebrew alphabet are correlated with the several cosmic planes, or Worlds, as states of consciousness. (The word Kabbalah is capitalized here as indicating a special theosophy, chiefly that of the Zohar.) The Kabbalah is a vision of the universe as viewed clairvoyantly by seers and interpreted by means of the highest spiritual revelation of mystics and the intuition and reason of scientists and philosophers. The word itself means "to receive," or the oral or unwritten tradition transmitted "mouth to ear."
The Hebrew alphabet has two written forms, the Hebraic and the Aramaic. The Aramaic is called the "square letters" and the Hebrew the "triangular letters" from the way in which they were written. Aramaic and Hebrew are two dialects of the same ancient Semitic speech, to which Phoenician also belonged. Phoenician is termed Proto-Hebraic, and Hebrew is closely related to the Phoenician tongue. Hebrew is the western dialect while Aramaic is the eastern, belonging to Babylonia, Chaldea and Persia. Abraham spoke Aramaic in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees, but when he travelled west into Canaan he adopted the western dialect spoken there, the Amorite, which evolved into what we call Hebrew.
Meanwhile Persia rose to power and conquered Assyria, Babylonia, Phoenicia, Palestine and Egypt. The kings of Persia then made Aramaic the "lingua franca" for the entire section of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates River, including Egypt. Aramaic was the speech of commerce throughout this area. In Babylon Ezra and his scribes began the work of collecting the Hebrew Scriptures and translating them into Aramaic, which in his time was becoming the common speech in Palestine; but Hebrew continued as the sacred language, treasured in the Mysteries, and was spoken as long as the nation endured. There are small differences between Hebrew and Aramaic, but these are differences of dialect since they are the same basic Semitic speech.
The fact that Aramaic was the "lingua franca" of the whole Persian Empire west of the Euphrates, spoken not only in Palestine but also in Phoenicia, Egypt, Babylonia and Persia explains why the kabbalistic names of the Archangels and other cosmic forces were so widely known in antiquity. The Book of Daniel shows this when it says that Gabriel is the "Prince" of Persia but Michael is the "Prince" of Israel. The differences in culture among these various nations speaking Aramaic more or less willingly account in part for the contradictions and discrepancies found in kabbalistic writings.
Since the ancient world knew of only seven planets, including the Sun and Moon, the 22 letters were arranged in the septenary divisions with the 22nd letter, Tau, standing alone at the end. Again we see the relationship with Phoenicia, for it was the Phoenician Cadmus who is said to have added the letter T to the alphabet, and it was he who gave these "Cadmean" or "Kadmean" letters to the Greeks.
The Kabbalah, difficult and abstruse as its teachings seem at first to be, is readily understood against an astronomical background. The Babylonians spoke of a Tree of the Cosmos, in which the birds — planets and spirits-flew from branch to branch. Far back into Sumero-Akkadian times the basis of an astronomical religion, a religion of astronomers, was laid. The Annunaki, spirits of heaven, were not merely demons and elemental spirits but whole hierarchies of angels. The Egyptians spoke of the Tree of the Gods in their Visible Forms and an Ennead, or Nine Great Gods. In Babylonia the Tree was an ancient cedar or cypress or palm tree; in Egypt it was a sycamore, palm or acacia. Other nations named other trees according to size, vigor and healing properties. The silver fir is one of the most sacred. And so in the Kabbalah there is the great Cosmic Tree called the Tree of Life, as being the selfsame Tree which grew and still grows in Paradise.
Ten cosmic Intelligences are mentioned in the Kabbalah, which are called Sephiroth. Each Intelligence taken singly is a Sephira. Biblically they are reminiscent of the Ten Commandments of Moses, but they are much more than that, for they are tremendous macrocosmic Forces, which collectively are God.
Kabbalists in the Greek Period correlated their spiritual revelations with the science of the Greeks, gathering their material from the schools of all nations; and so these Ten Sephiroth correlate with the ten spheres of Greek astronomy of which seven were those of planets, Sun and Moon; and three outer spheres which were those of the fixed stars, The Infinite and The Eternal. The Earth was "God's Footstool" or "The Hearthstone of the Universe." "The Infinite" related to Divine Mind, which ordered the revolutions of the lower spheres and was later given the name of Primum Mobile, the First Mover. Beyond this was the Empyrean, where Eternity abode incomprehensibly to mankind.
An "Invisible Sephira," Daath, is not shown on the kabbalistic diagram, but we may think of it as the Eleventh Sephira.
Kabbalists give as the home world of the Ten Sephiroth the "World of Emanations," which is the World of Spirit. They are called Emanations because the First Sephira emanates from God, the Second from the First, the Third from the Second and so out to the Tenth. But these Sephiroth are not distinct and separated from one another. The First Sephira is present throughout, for the other Sephiroth are really his unfoldings. He is named Metatron when personified in the rites, and he is "The Word" of St. John's Gospel or "The Spirit of the Cosmic Process" of Philo Judeus.
The Ten Sephiroth work through the Four Great Worlds called Atziluth, Briah, Yetsirah and Assiah, but these worlds are not divisions of the material universe. They correspond to the World of Spirit, World of Thought, World of Feeling and Desire, and finally to the physical universe in a special sense — the universe as God sees it.
All of the Ten Sephiroth appear in each one of the Four Worlds and seven planes. In Atziluth they appear in their own essence, as archetypal forces or Emanations, each with a God-Name. In Briah they appear as Archangels, each with a Name indicative of the work which he does. In Yetsirah, which is the World of Formation or Creation so-called, they appear as hosts of creative beings, popularly called "choirs of angels." One Sephira and One Archangel (the two are the same) are the ensouling Power of an entire choir of angels in this world. Seers compare these groups of angels to the twelve zones of the Grand Man of the Zodiac, ruled by the twelve signs. Finally, in the fourth World, Assiah, they manifest in the Four Elements and the innumerable hosts of living creatures which are found in the universe of space and time, every part of the physical world having its angelic counterpart or double in the World of Formations, Yetsirah. Human souls, the Ishim, also correlate to the divisions of the Divine Man.
The Sephiroth, as Archangels, are the same as the "Sirens" of the Greek philosophers, winged Spirits governing the ten Ptolemaic spheres, who carried the planets about in their courses and whose song constituted the music of the spheres. Later philosophers thought that the music of the spheres came from the motion of the spheres in their orbits, but the earlier mystics believed it was the Winged Spirit which sang and whose song was heard by the illumined mind.
St. John said, "God is light," and this is the basic principle of all kabbalism. Says the Kabbalah, "The Aged of the Aged, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form and yet has no form. He has a form whereby the universe is preserved and yet has no form because he cannot be comprehended. When he first assumed the form (of the first Sephira) he caused nine splendid lights to emanate from it, which shining through it diffused a bright light in all directions. Imagine an elevated light sending forth its rays in all directions. Now if we approach it to examine the rays, we understand no more than that they emanate from the said light. So is the Holy Aged an absolute light, but in himself concealed and incomprehensible. We can only comprehend him through those luminous emanations which, again, are partly visible and partly concealed. These constitute the sacred Name of God."
There are several substitute Names of God, consisting of three letters, four letters, seven letters, ten letters, twelve letters, thirty-two letters, forty-four letters and seventy-two letters. All of these names are substitute names and relate to the alphabetical correlation with the parts of the universe, seen and unseen. The Names are formed of the initial letters of formulas of cosmic principles or the initial letters of sentences which describe some deep Mystery of God. Some kabbalists relate ten vowel sounds to the Ten Sephiroth, as well as to the ten numbers.
The Four Great Worlds are further subdivided into the seven planes familiar to all modem occultism. Within the seven planes stands the Tree of Life, the most important symbol of kabbalism; and in the Tree of Life are the "Birds" which fly to and fro on the branching pathways of the sky, which are the paths of evolution. Upon the Tree also is the Serpent, coiling among the branches — not a symbol of evil but of illumination, "the Lightning Flash."
When the student first gazes upon the kabbalistic diagram called the Tree of Life he may be puzzled to know why it is called a tree for it consists of three upright pillars of which the central pillar is taller than the other two. The pillars are hung with circles, and these are joined by lines running this way and that. The glyph is really that of a Cosmic Christmas Tree. The circles and lines are ornaments hung upon and about the branches. A Babylonian diagram shows the sacred tree hung with ribbons and bows.
This diagram is a mnemonic device, designed by Initiates to guide the neophyte in meditation. The original diagram of the Tree must have been simply the Tree with its trunk and branches within which the great Tree Spirit dwelt, and together with it, under its protecting power, innumerable smaller spirits, and to these were added the Birds to the human species and the Serpent of Wisdom.
The kabbalists beheld in their mysteries the likeness of the sacred Staff of Hermes, with serpents twined about it. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and messengers from kings customarily carried a staff wound with ribbons showing their official status. However, the "ribbons" had another purpose. Secret messages were written lengthwise upon a strip of leather — perhaps snake skin — wrapped around the staff, which were unreadable when unwound; the recipient then wound the strip upon a staff of the same dimension and read the message. The ribbons were later taken to be serpents, but this was an error, as the Greek myth indicates. Similarly, the ribbons on the Babylonian tree became the Serpent on the Tree of the Kabbalah, with its intricate paths hinting of a secret message. Again we note that the name Metatron, the highest Archangel, comes from the word Metator, "Messenger," "Outrider," or "Waymaker."
The Zohar says, the divine rod which was in Moses' hand... on which there was engraved the Ineffable Name radiating in various combinations of letters. These same letters were in possession of Bezalel who was called the Weaver." "Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart. . . of the craftsman and the skilled workman, and the weaver .. . .... .. So that rod had engraved on it the Ineffable Name on every side, in forty-two combinations, which were illumined in different colors."
Again the diagram of the Tree of Life is likened to a Fountain, which a tree resembles in its growth pattern; the roots being a shadow tree underground. The Fountain has a succession of basins, one below the other, the Water of Life and Wisdom overflowing (emanating) from the topmost and cascading from basin to basin to the lowest, which is the physical universe. The Water does not flow directly downward, however, but is led by channels in a zigzag descent, from left to right and from right to left, until it reaches the bottom. One thinks of the Persian goddess of the waters, Anahita, whose name points to Anu and Ana, the great God and Goddess of Heaven, and who survives biblically in the name Anna. The beautiful and glorious goddess Anahita plunged from mountain peaks, her rivers cascading through gorges and valleys to the sea. In Palestine the equivalent is the River Jordan with its serpentine windings.
All of the overflowings or "Emanations" are from within outward, expressing the concept of spiritual unfoldment from the highest spiritual state down to the physical world which, however, is not "lowest" but simply outermost. From this place the flowing of the waters must begin over again, returning to its source like the rivers which left their mountain summits and found their way to the ocean, whence again they rise under the powers of Fire and Air to repeat the cycle.
"The Mirror of the Wisdom of God" is one of the profoundly moving mysteries of the Kabbalah, pointing to man's essential unity with God as Image and Likeness. Ancient peoples were as troubled by evil in the world as man is today, and so the wise men worked out this problem of the origin and nature of evil in terms of the Tree, on the allegory of Reflection and its manifold illusions. But they also recognized a True Image, which was not illusion but was Archetypal Man, an Idea in the ever-existing Divine Mind.
The student must think of the Tree of Life as growing by a lake of water in which it is reflected, while its roots, branching in the darkness underground, constitute another inverted Tree. The image cast upon the waters is inverted and also reversed in the fashion of mirror-images. Thus "right" and "left," positive and negative, masculine and feminine, bear a special relationship to each other, which is not the same as when one stands opposite another person, facing him. Two individuals facing one another have right and left reversed, so that to touch right hands they must reach diagonally across the body. Standing before a mirror image, however, one extends the right hand straight forward, and it meets the left hand of the image coming toward him, as it seems, in the glass or the water. This is the key to many secrets in kabbalistic writings, with left and right constantly confused. It is the explanation to the many misunderstandings of "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" interpretations of the kabbalistic diagrams and ciphers. One sees in it also a hint of the fact that Hebrew is written from right to left; even the horoscope is read right to left. Many ciphers are based on the various ways in which ancient people wrote thair alphabets.
In the "Mirror" we have the clue to the Hebrew doctrine of the illusion which creates seeming evil, and to the interpretation of the Tree of Life which has bewildered so many students. Another clue lies in the Invisible Sephirah, Daath, hidden in the Abyss of the Trinity and the Serpent of the lower abyss, under the roots of the Tree. Hebrew space consisted of the four cardinal directions, East, West, North and South, and to this they added "Up" and "Down" or Height and Depth. The four Great Archangels are the Throne Bearers, but Height and Depth are revealed in Daath and his reflected image in the lowest abyss.
The Invisible Sephira lies coiled in the abyss of the Trinity and is in fact its bridge or ladder. We have and are Wisdom and Understanding; we know that we are Wisdom and Understanding in Daath, the Invisible Sephira, whose name is Knowledge. Genesis shows us two Trees, that of Life and that of Knowledge. The Kabbalah shows us one Tree, with its Reflection.
God as the Ocean of Wisdom and Becoming is described in the Kabbalah, "The Source of the sea's water and the water stream proceeding therefrom to spread itself are two. A great reservoir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow had been dug; this reservoir is called sea, and is the third. The unfathomable deep divides itself into seven streams, resembling seven long vessels. The source, the water stream, the sea and the seven streams, make together ten. And when the master breaks the vessels which he has made, the waters return to the source, and then there remains only the pieces of these vessels, dried up and without any water. It is in this way that the Cause of Causes gave rise to the Ten Sephiroth."
"The Crown (Kether) is the source from which streams forth an infinite light, hence the name En Soph, the Infinite... He then made a vessel as small as a point, Yod, which is filled from this Source, which is Wisdom itself. . . Upon this he made a large vessel like a sea, which is called Intelligence... but God need only withdraw Himself and it would dry up. . The sea is finally divided into seven streams called Greatness, Judicial Strength, Beauty, Firmness, Splendor, Foundation and Kingdom."
The student of Esoteric Masonry will find in this analogy a clue to the meaning of the work done by Hiram Abiff, the Master Workman of Solomon's Temple.
Again the Tree is likened to a Temple, and in Esoteric Masonry the Three Pillars, the triangles, lines and circles derive from architecture, which in kabbalism refers to the Temple of Solomon in its three historic phases: the First Temple, that of Solomon; the Second Temple, that of Zerubbabel; and the Third Temple, that of Herod, which was simply the Temple of Zerubbabel rebuilt, with Greek modifications and ornamentations. Herod restored it course by course, without interrupting the services at any time. As in Zerubbabel's Temple, priest-masons did the work in the Temple proper. The old Temple literally melted into the new or Herodian Temple, stone by stone, which took its place. Not a stone was lost.
Solomon's Temple also included as adjuncts the palaces and courts of justice, and a military force which was the prototype of the medieval Templars who enforced the law and guarded the temporal and sacred edifices. The Temple itself was the State Church or Royal Chapel. Those who say that Masonry is the relic of the Order of Templars of the Middle Ages fail to see that the Templars were only one part of the working organism which was Solomon's Temple.
The diagram of the Tree of Life sums up all aspects of Solomon's Temple, its environs; its walls, chambers, gates, caves, vaults, storehouses, passages above and below ground, winding stairways, tower and observatory; its furniture, veils and ornamentation; its priests, servitors and sacrifices; outer and inner courts and porches.
Sometimes the Tree is likened to a pyramid, reminiscent of the tradition that Solomon's Temple was really built like the towers of Babylon in seven stages, or like that of Ur in three stages, as suggested by the several Triads of triangles on the Tree, with Kether as the point of the pyramid. Or it may have included a tower on the place where later the Tower Antonia stood as a fortress, with the Temple proper near it, as in some of the Babylonian Temple areas. In either case the Temple rooms themselves had a special meaning.
The Holy of Holies was the west room and innermost chamber, entered by the Hight Priest once each year at the Feast of the Atonement. Its furniture consisted of the Ark of the Covenant overshadowed by Cherubim above the Mercy Seat which was on the Ark; the Ark containing the Tablets of the Law, the Pot of Manna, Aaron's Rod that Budded and for many centuries the Brazen Serpent of Moses. These sacred articles were lost in the course of time, and the Holy of Holies was empty at the last.
The Holy Place was the east room of the Temple, separated from the Holy of Holies by a wall or curtain. In this room were the Seven-branched Candlestick, the Table of Shewbread with twelve loaves, the Altar of Incense and accessories and the walls ornamented with palms and pomegranates and other mystic symbols.
Before the entrance of the Temple stood the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, and supporting the Holy of Holies but invisible to the multitude was the Third Pillar, sacred to the Mysteries of Israel and hinting of the Brazen Serpent of Moses which had been upraised on a Tau cross in the wilderness for the healing of the people.
The third pillar is Man himself, macrocosmic and microcosmic, the central pillar on the diagram of the Tree of Life. It is the Pillar of Enoch, the Initiated One, upon which at a particular time certain Wise Ones inscribed a Secret Word or Name which, written vertically in Hebrew letters, would describe the form of a man with Jod as the head and He-Vau-He as the body. This man is a divine androgyne, as shown in the arrangement Jah-Hawwa, Father-Mother God: J and E-V-E. Of this Mystery the neophyte may say, I AM THAT. Since in fact there are only three letters in the Sacred Name, He being repeated, the Triangle is also sacred to the Lost Word and is used in art as the symbol of the Trinity, being shown on the Tree of Life as the succession of Triads.
In the Christian Mysteries the Third Pillar relates to the Christ Sacrifice, the incarnation of the supreme Archangel, and the raising of Hiram Abiff in the person of Lazarus, who is also St. John. In the orders of architecture it is the Child, as Jachin and Boaz are Father and Mother.
The Temple structure with its two rooms stood within the Priest's Court, which held the Brazen Laver and Altar of Burnt Offerings, together with their numerous conduits of flowing water and, according to legend, a great fountain gushing forth from a subterranean spring. Beyond the Priests' Court was the Court of the Israelites, one part for men and one for women; and on all sides of the Court of the Israelites was the extreme outer Court or Court of the Gentiles. Gentiles, even converts, could not pass into the Court of the Israelites on pain of death. The famous "Porches" ran along the outside of the Court of Gentiles. The military tower called Antonia in Roman times overlooked the whole area.
Again the Tree is likened to a Chariot of Fire, the chariot of Elijah wherein the prophet was caught up into heaven without passing through death. Note that the Ark of the Covenant was supported on two staves passed through rings when it was carried in the migration of the tribes from Egypt to the Holy Land, and so we may truly state that the Ark was also a Chariot. The diagram of the Tree in fact resembles a Chariot more than a Tree, and here we have the explanation of the many mystic visions of a "Chariot of Angels" wherein the soul is wafted to heaven. We are reminded also of the Cherubim which the Bible says were the chariot of Jehovah, wherein God rode when He "bowed the heavens and came down." It was their wings which overshadowed the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies over the Ark. There God appeared to the High Priest once each year at the Feast of Atonement as Light and as an Archangel.
Popular religions everywhere depict the human soul as always in the care of angels, protecting deities, guardian gods and goddesses. So also the Kabbalah says every human being has his guardian angel who cares for him in life and at death conducts him to his place in paradise.
The Initiate knows the Fiery Chariot in a special sense, as intimated in the story of Simeon ben Jochai, who had been condemned to death by Titus and spent twelve years in hiding in a cavern in Galilee where he wrote his great book on kabbalistic Mysteries. There he was visited by Elijah, the Hierophant of Esoteric Judaism, and there he taught his son and disciples. He passed out of the body while still discoursing on the holy doctrine, and immediately a dazzling light filled the dark cavern, whilst another light appeared at its entrance. At last the two lights disappeared and then the disciples knew that the "lamp of Israel was extinguished." When his body was being carried to the burial place, the coffin seemed to be enwrapped with vivid flame, and a flame went on before; and as the coffin was laid in the tomb a voice from heaven cried, "This is he who caused the earth to quake and the kingdoms to shake!"
Afterward his son and disciples collected his writings on the Secret Doctrine of Israel so that it might be preserved for posterity, as it had formerly been preserved by Adam who had received it from angels, who had received it from God when they formed a theosophical academy in Paradise. These angels again taught the Kabbalah to the children of Adam so that they might find the way back once more to their Source. Hence the Kabbalah is "that which is received,", from the Hebrew word meaning "to receive" the secret or oral tradition.
The universe proceeds from a Trinity of Flame and "whoso wishes to have an insight into the sacred unity, let him consider a flame rising from a burning coal or a burning lamp. He will see first a twofold fight, a bright white (yellow) and a black (or blue) light; the white light is above and ascends in a direct line, whilst the blue or dark light is below and seems as the chair of the former, yet both are so intimately connected with the burning matter which is under it again. The white light never changes in color; it always remains white, but various shades are observed in the lower light, whilst the lowest light, moreover, takes two directions-above it is connected with the white light and below with the burning matter. Now this is constantly consuming itself and perpetually ascends to the upper light, and thus everything merges into a single unity. . . . The creation, or universe, is simply the garment of God woven from the Deity's own substance." Therefore, "When the Concealed of all the Concealed wanted to reveal Himself He first made a point (the First Sephira), shaped it into a sacred form (the totality of Sephiroth) and covered it with a rich and splendid garment that is the world."
We have seen that there are ten circles hung upon the Tree of Life which are connected by "pathways." The ten circles are the ten stations of the Ten Sephiroth on the Cosmic Tree; they are connected by 22 Paths, making 32 paths in all. These are paths for meditation. The Central Pillar is called the Path of the Arrow, for it goes straight to Godhead. Upon it are hung the stations of the luminaries, the Sun and Moon, with the White Glory of Kether on the apex and the subterranean fife of Sandalphon and Malkuth at the base.
Although the Secret Doctrine was taught by the angels in Paradise in the very beginning of time, it passed through human intermediaries from age to age in the world. Adam brought it out of Eden and gave it to Seth; from Seth it passed through the patriarchal lines to Enoch, and from Enoch to Noah who preserved it through the Flood. The Angel of the Presence again revealed it to Moses on Mt. Sinai, who handed it down to the Seventy-Two Elders, or Princes, of Israel. The fact that there were 72 Elders suggests a division of each of the twelve signs of the zodiac into six parts, instead of the three decans usual with modem astrology. Later the Sons of Levi took the documents in charge, for it was Itharnar, the son of Levi, who was the first to write down the Doctrine of Moses. Levites and scribes had them in their care thenceforward. They protected the secret books through the historical period in Palestine; and during the Exile in Babylon Ezra, the Scribe of the Most High, again collected all of the sacred books together, "so that men may find a Path."
The Essenes and early Christians called themselves "Followers of the Way" or Path, and John the Baptist, like his Essene comrades, declared that he had come to make plain a Way or Path in the wilderness.
The basic number of kabbalistic Paths are the 10 Sephirothic stations on the Tree plus 22, the number of the letters of the alphabet, or 32 Paths. To this are added the 72 Paths which represent the 72 Princes of Israel who received the Doctrine from Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Sanhedrin or Council of the Hebrew nation consisted of 70, 71, or 72 members drawn from all the tribes.
As the number 11 points to a special Mystery we observe again that it relates to the Invisible Sephira, which is the Mystery of Mysteries for souls in incarnation. Jod or Yod is the 10th letter; Kaph, the 11th, points to the Eleventh Sephira whose name is Daath, while 22 points to the Cross-Cube.
The Path of Daath is not described, but the mystic views it as arching over the Abyss of the Trinity and reflected in the dark waters of the nether abyss.
The 22 letters belonging to the 22 Paths which connect the ten Stations begin with Aleph, Beth and Gimel; but of these three letters only Aleph-a mother letter-penetrates through to Kether, which is the Glory Crown of the Central Pillar. In the Triad of Kether the three mother letters have their roots. The Triad or Trinity of Kether include Hokhmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding). These are often said to rule the zodiac and the sphere of Saturn; but there are different arrangements. In his Divine Comedy Dante places Saturn below the Abyss of the Trinity, not above it. Hokhmah and Binah symbolize Father-Mother God. Kether, on the central pillar, represents the central equilibrating force, which harmonizes the two and makes them one. Behind Kether lies the Unmanifest, the Boundless Light of Infinity and the Cosmic Primordial Light.
Aleph, the first letter, leads the pilgrimage of flames, descending from the Inscrutable Height of Kether. It is the only vowel in the alphabet of 22 letters.
As there are Ten Sephiroth, there are three Triads or Trinities hung upon the Tree of Life, and the Sephiroth of the Central Pillar are the harmonizing Force for them all. The second Triad is that of Jupiter, Mars and the Sun — Chesed, Geburah and Tiphareth meaning Mercy or Love, Strength or Severity, and Beauty. Tiphareth is the harmonizing power of the central pillar. The third Triad is that of Mercury, Venus and the Moon, with the Moon as the power of the central pillar. Their names are Hod, Netzach and Yesod, meaning Glory, Victory and Foundation, the Moon, Yesod, being the equilibrating power of the central pillar for Mercury and Venus.
The Earth is the bottommost, and its Kingdom is Malkuth, whose Archangel is Sandalphon. Kabbalists are not in agreement about the various Names of Archangels and their rulership of the planets; but we follow in this study the listing as given by Max Heindel, although Mr. Heindel does not state the Name of the Archangel of the Earth, and we have therefore used the name Sandalphon as given by kabbalists. Sandalphon is also spelled Synandelphon. Samael is the Angel of Wrath and Satanael is the Angel of Bitterness and Despair, the two Principles of the Hell Consciousness which belong to the nether abyss and are not shown on the Tree.
The Book of Jubilees correlates the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet with the Six Days of Creation, as given in Genesis. According to this Book it was the Angel of the Presence (Michael) who enlightened Moses on Mt. Sinai, revealing to him how on the First Day God created the heavens and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve Him — the Angels of the Presence, the Angels of Sanctification, the Angels of the spirit of fire and winds and clouds — followed by other works on each of the succeeding days until at the end of six days He had completed 22 works, including the creation of mankind. On the Sabbath God rested. There are strong similarities here to the Sepher Yetzirah, Simeon's "Book of Creation" or Formations.
"Male and female created He them," is the constant refrain, and this is again shown in the kabbalistic Mysteries, with the positive and negative Powers balanced by the Power of the Central Pillar. The Kabbalah postulates two Principles in nature, masculine and feminine in essence, represented in the Two Pillars to left and right on the Tree diagram.
These are the two Powers or Principles, Father-Mother God, Jah-Hawwah, in separation; but united they are inscribed upon the Central Pillar and crowned with the Crown of Kether. Thus inscribed they represent the Son of God the Alone Begotten, the Cosmic Christ or Metatron whom Philo Judeus tenned "the Spirit of the Cosmic Process" because it is He who unfolds Himself in all of the succeeding Emanations. He is "that Word" which was "in the beginning with God, and without whom was not anything made that was made."
The first three letters, Aleph, Beth and Gimel, lead the procession of Letters, but it is only the three mother letters, Aleph, Mem and Shin — the "spirits of fire, wind and cloud" of Jubilees — which have a place in the Supernal Triad, the triune Word as it proceeds from the Mouth of God, in Breath, Heat and Sound, which the consonants form into syllables.
As each of the Sephiroth has its Archangel, so each of the twelve tribes of Israel was ruled by an Archangelic Prince, while the nation as a whole was ruled by Michael, "who is like God." The Temple at Jerusalem was the central focus for the twelve tribes, as the Sun is the focus for the powers of the zodiac. The Earth was not called a planet by the ancients but is represented by Malkuth and its Archangel Sandalphon; modern kabbalists must make a place for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, but the three aspects of God behind the First Triad allowed for three extra principles, with Daath, "the invisible Sephiroth," ruling the Abyss of the Trinity.
Each Planetary Spirit is both god and goddess, represented by one of the double letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each Planetary Spirit is in the likeness of Father-Mother God, Jah-Hawwah. Five planets only were known to ancient astronomers, and each planet ruled two signs of the Zodiac. The Sun ruled one sign, Leo, and the Moon ruled one, Cancer. Together the two luminaries represented the deific Principle, Light, "God is Light." The Hebrew names for the planets are:
The Hebrew name for the zodiac is Mazzloth.
— Corinne Heline
