08-10-2008, 12:00 AM
The Qabalah does not conceive of God as fabricating creation stage by stage, but
thinks of the different phases of manifestation as evolving one from another, as if each
Sephirah were a pool which, being filled, overflowed into a lower pool. To borrow again
from MacGregor Mathers, hidden in an acorn is an oak with its acorns, and hidden in
each of these is an oak with
its acorns. So each Sephirah contains the Potentiality of all
that come after it in the scale of downflowing manifestation. Kether contains the rest of
the Sephiroth, nine in number; and Chokmah, the second, contains the potentialities of all
its successors, eight in number. But in each Sephirah only one aspect of manifestation is
unfolded; the subsequent ones remain latent, and the preceding ones are received by
reflection. Each Sephirah, then, is a pure form of existence in its essence; the influence of
preceding phases of evolution is external to it, being reflected. These aspects, as it were,
having been crystallised out in the previous stages, are no longer in solution in the
outfiowing stream of manifestation which ever proceedeth from the Unmanifest through
the channel of Kether. When therefore we want to find the essential nature, the basis of
manifestation, of a particular type of existence, we get it in the Sephirah to which it
corresponds when we meditate upon that Sephirah in its primal form; for there are four
forms, or worlds, under which the Qabalists conceive of the Tree, and these we will
consider in due course. They are only referred to now in order that the student may have
enough background to see his picture in perspective.
13. The student will find it very helpful to refer to the chapters in
The Ancient Wisdom,
by Annie Besant, which deal with the phases of evolution. These throw much light upon
the subject with which we are dealing, though the system of classification is not the same.
14. Let us conceive of Kether, then, as a fountain which fills its basin, and the overflow
therefrom feeds another fountain, which in its turn fills its basin and overflows. The
Unmanifest for ever flows under pressure into Kether, and there comes a time when
evolution has gone as far as it can in the extreme simplicity of the form of existence of
the First Manifest. All possible combinations have been formed, and they have undergone
all possible permutations. Action and reaction are stereotyped, there can be no new
development save the combining of the combinations among themselves. Force has
formed all possible units; the next phase of developrnent is for these units to combine
into more complex structures. When this occurs, a new and more highly organised phase
of existence begins; all that has already been evolved remains, but that which evolves
now is more than the sum of the previously existing parts, for new capacities come into
being.
15. This new phase represents a change of mode of existence. Just as Kether crystallised
out of the Limitless Light, so the second Sephirah, Chokmah, crystallises out of Kether in
this new mode of being, this new system of actions and reactions which have ceased to be
simple and direct and become complex and tangential. We now have two modes of
existence, the simplicity of Kether and the relative complexity of Chokmah; both these
are so simple that no kind of life known to us could he maintained in them ; nevertheless,
they are the forerunners of organic life. We might say that Kether is the first activity of
manifestation, movement; it is a condition of pure becoming, Rashith ha Gilgalim, the
First Swirlings, the commencement of Whirling Motions as it is called by the Qabalists-
Primum Mobile as it is called by the Alchemists. Chokmah, the Second Sephirab, is
called by the Rabbis Mazloth, the Sphere of the Zodiac. Here we have introduced the
concept of the circle with its segments. Creation has moved onwards. Out of the
primordial Egg has developed the Serpent that holdeth his tail in his mouth, as Mme
Blavatsky chronicles in her invaluable storehouses of archaic symbolism, the
Secret Doctrine
and Isis Unveiled.
16. In a similar manner to that in which Kether overflowed into Chokmah does Chokmah
overflow into Binah, the Third Sephirah. The Paths pursued by the Emanations in these
successive overflowings is represented upon the Tree of Life by a Lightning Flash, or in
some diagrams by a Flaming Sword.
It will be observed by reference to diagram I that the Lightning Flash must
proceed from Kether outwards and downwards to the right to reach Chokmah, and then
turns on a level course to the left and proceeds an equal distance beyond Kether upon that
side, and there establishes Binah. The result is a triangular figure upon the glyph, and it is
called the Triangle of the Three Supernals, or the First Trinity and is separated from the
rest of the Sephiroth by the Abyss, which normal human consciousness cannot cross.
Here are the roots of existence, hidden from our eyes.
thinks of the different phases of manifestation as evolving one from another, as if each
Sephirah were a pool which, being filled, overflowed into a lower pool. To borrow again
from MacGregor Mathers, hidden in an acorn is an oak with its acorns, and hidden in
each of these is an oak with
its acorns. So each Sephirah contains the Potentiality of all
that come after it in the scale of downflowing manifestation. Kether contains the rest of
the Sephiroth, nine in number; and Chokmah, the second, contains the potentialities of all
its successors, eight in number. But in each Sephirah only one aspect of manifestation is
unfolded; the subsequent ones remain latent, and the preceding ones are received by
reflection. Each Sephirah, then, is a pure form of existence in its essence; the influence of
preceding phases of evolution is external to it, being reflected. These aspects, as it were,
having been crystallised out in the previous stages, are no longer in solution in the
outfiowing stream of manifestation which ever proceedeth from the Unmanifest through
the channel of Kether. When therefore we want to find the essential nature, the basis of
manifestation, of a particular type of existence, we get it in the Sephirah to which it
corresponds when we meditate upon that Sephirah in its primal form; for there are four
forms, or worlds, under which the Qabalists conceive of the Tree, and these we will
consider in due course. They are only referred to now in order that the student may have
enough background to see his picture in perspective.
13. The student will find it very helpful to refer to the chapters in
The Ancient Wisdom,
by Annie Besant, which deal with the phases of evolution. These throw much light upon
the subject with which we are dealing, though the system of classification is not the same.
14. Let us conceive of Kether, then, as a fountain which fills its basin, and the overflow
therefrom feeds another fountain, which in its turn fills its basin and overflows. The
Unmanifest for ever flows under pressure into Kether, and there comes a time when
evolution has gone as far as it can in the extreme simplicity of the form of existence of
the First Manifest. All possible combinations have been formed, and they have undergone
all possible permutations. Action and reaction are stereotyped, there can be no new
development save the combining of the combinations among themselves. Force has
formed all possible units; the next phase of developrnent is for these units to combine
into more complex structures. When this occurs, a new and more highly organised phase
of existence begins; all that has already been evolved remains, but that which evolves
now is more than the sum of the previously existing parts, for new capacities come into
being.
15. This new phase represents a change of mode of existence. Just as Kether crystallised
out of the Limitless Light, so the second Sephirah, Chokmah, crystallises out of Kether in
this new mode of being, this new system of actions and reactions which have ceased to be
simple and direct and become complex and tangential. We now have two modes of
existence, the simplicity of Kether and the relative complexity of Chokmah; both these
are so simple that no kind of life known to us could he maintained in them ; nevertheless,
they are the forerunners of organic life. We might say that Kether is the first activity of
manifestation, movement; it is a condition of pure becoming, Rashith ha Gilgalim, the
First Swirlings, the commencement of Whirling Motions as it is called by the Qabalists-
Primum Mobile as it is called by the Alchemists. Chokmah, the Second Sephirab, is
called by the Rabbis Mazloth, the Sphere of the Zodiac. Here we have introduced the
concept of the circle with its segments. Creation has moved onwards. Out of the
primordial Egg has developed the Serpent that holdeth his tail in his mouth, as Mme
Blavatsky chronicles in her invaluable storehouses of archaic symbolism, the
Secret Doctrine
and Isis Unveiled.
16. In a similar manner to that in which Kether overflowed into Chokmah does Chokmah
overflow into Binah, the Third Sephirah. The Paths pursued by the Emanations in these
successive overflowings is represented upon the Tree of Life by a Lightning Flash, or in
some diagrams by a Flaming Sword.
It will be observed by reference to diagram I that the Lightning Flash must
proceed from Kether outwards and downwards to the right to reach Chokmah, and then
turns on a level course to the left and proceeds an equal distance beyond Kether upon that
side, and there establishes Binah. The result is a triangular figure upon the glyph, and it is
called the Triangle of the Three Supernals, or the First Trinity and is separated from the
rest of the Sephiroth by the Abyss, which normal human consciousness cannot cross.
Here are the roots of existence, hidden from our eyes.