Tag: revelation

The Sefer Yetzirah: Chapter Three:

3.1 The three mother letters A, M, SH are the foundations of the whole; and resemble a Balance, the good in one scale, the evil in the other, and the oscillating tongue of the Balance between them.

Wescott trans. 3.1. The Foundation of all the other sounds and letters is provided by the Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin; they resemble a Balance, on the one hand the guilty, on the other hand the purified, and Aleph the Air is like the Tongue of a Balance standing between them. (35)23

23 “This chapter is especially concerned with the essence of the Triad, as represented by the Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem, and Shin. Their development in three directions is pointed out, namely in the Macrocosm or Universe; in the Year or in Time; and in the Microcosm or Man.”

35. The importance of equilibrium is constantly reiterated in the Kabalah. The “Siphra Dtzeniouta,” or “Book of Mystery,” opens with a reference to this Equilibrium as a fundamental necessity of stable existence. (The notions of strife, sophrosyne and prudence in the Greeks.)

Commentary on 3.1:

The beginning of Chapter 3 of the Sefer Yetzirah repeats what was already mentioned in 2.1. As explained there, the three Mothers are related to the three elements of air, water and fire. Mem “hums”, while Shin “hisses”. As the foundations of the whole, the three Mothers represent the three columns of the Tree of Life: Mem/Chakmah; Shin/Binah; and Alef/Keter. They connect together the horizontal paths of the Tree in its downward and upward motions. Both the vertical and horizontal lines of the “plan” or the Tree of Life belong to the letters Alef, Mem, and Shin. The seven double letters work with the three Mothers in both the downward and upward motion on the Tree of Life. The repetitions indicate what I have called the gyring motion of the journey either up or down the Tree of Life.

The translation here seems to have made an error: it is not the “tongue” or stem of the Balance which oscillates, but rather the good and evil pans on either side which move either upward or downward depending on the “weight” present. “Sin” is the weight, and sin is that which produce injustice. If the tongue is said to oscillate, then this would indicate the nature of historical knowledge that is passed on to others through Time. The pan of good is that which is “merited” or earned, while the pan of evil is that which is “owed” or “liable”; it is a “liability”, a “debt”. (This is why in the Lord’s Prayer Christians ask the Father “to forgive us our “debts” as we forgive our “debtors” i.e., what is ‘owed’ to others and what others ‘owe’ to us, a conception of justice.) The Law of Necessity itself does not change. All created things move within its limits and cannot exceed the limits imposed on them. That which is “owed” must be paid at some point in time. That which is “merited” is that which is obedient to the Law of Necessity (God’s Law, the Divine Will). The concept of karma is appropriate here. This is what Justice is. (This is one of the reasons why I am inclined to view Justice as #8 in the Tarot cards and not as #11 as The Order of the Golden Dawn has assigned to it.)

The contraries present in the world are not “opposites” but deprivations. They may be viewed in the light of yin/yang which in themselves are not opposites but contrary forces. What is interesting to note here is that good and evil are present from the foundations of the world and are part of the foundations of the world. They are not merely constructs of the human mind, or what we call human values. The World at its very heart in its creation is ethical. “Consciousness” and “conscience” are the awareness that thought is present in the World itself and that human beings do not live beyond good and evil in their freedom. The Sephirot to the left and the Sephirot to the right are connected by the three Mothers.

Sefer Yetzirah Text 3.2

3.2 These three mothers enclose a mighty mystery, most occult and most marvelous, sealed as with six rings, and from them proceed primeval Fire, Water, and Air; these are subsequently differentiated into male and female. At first existed these three mothers, and there arose three masculine powers, and hence all things have originated.

Wescott trans. 3.2. The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, are a great Mystery, very admirable and most recondite, and sealed as with six rings; and from them proceed Air, Fire, and Water, which divide into active and passive forces.
The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, are the Foundation, from them spring three Fathers, and from these have proceeded all things that are in the world.

Commentary 3.2:

What is notable here is that the origins of the world are feminine. As was discussed earlier, the three Mothers appear to represent what Plato called the khôra in his Timaeus. For Plato, the khora was “most perplexing” while here it is “most occult and most marvelous”. The YHV is said to be derived from the three Mothers: Yud=Mem, Heh=Shin, Vav=Alef. AMSh are said to be the mediators between contraries. The contraries are brought into a relation of harmony, “friendship” because they exist in “strife”. The “foundation” that is the Mother letters is the “mean proportional” that reconciles and connects the incommensurables of the left and the right on the Tree of Life (i.e., nature and convention; justice and victory/glory; water and fire with a “hissing” sound). The mean proportional is the Logos or the Word that is the Breath that the Mother letters represent.

The sealing with six rings represents the six directions of the sphere (space) discussed earlier. The rings are the circumferences of the circles within the sphere, the gyring motions either upward or downward. The six rings are Tiferet, the beauty of the world, which through shape and colour provide the “outward appearances of the things” or eidos. The suggestion here is that human beings are incapable of having knowledge of the whole beginning with knowledge of the individual or particular thing through the knowledge of all things. (The Lord of the Rings: “Three rings for the Elvin kings=Air those who give language to human beings and other living things such as trees; Seven for the Dwarf lords=Earth, the miners and craftsmen, the technai and the artisans, of the realm of Yetzirah; Nine for Mortal Men=Water; = 19 rings; One ring to rule them all=Fire the letter ש Shin; = 20 rings i.e., Judgement. The ring of Sauron can only be unmade in the Fires of Mt. Doom; i.e., the end is imbedded in the beginning and “doom” is Fate or Fortune which is conceived as a mountain which one must climb.)

“The script that is written in the King’s name and sealed with the King’s ring cannot be reversed.” (Esther 8.8) Here, the World is seen as a “script” or a written document requiring interpretation or reading. This interpreting is called hermeneutics. We carry out this reading constantly in our day to day lives and this reading is prompted by the thought present in the principle of reason or it may be done through another type of thinking.

The three Fathers are the three columns of the Tree of Life which define space. They are three vertical lines; the Mothers are three horizontal lines. The “descendants” of the Fathers are all living things which require space to be. Air is Keter, water is Chakmah, and Fire is Binah. With the being of living things is the inception of Time.

Sefer Yetzirah Text 3.3

3.3 The three mothers are A, M, SH; and in the beginning as to the Macrocosm the Heavens were created from Fire; the Earth from primeval Water; and the Air was formed from the Spirit, which stands alone in the midst, and is the Mediator between them.

Alt. Trans.
Three Mothers: Alef Mem Shin
He engraved them, He carved them,
He arranged them, He weighed them,
He transformed them.
And with them He depicted
Three Mothers AMSh in the universe (space)
Three Mothers AMSh in the Year (time)
Three Mothers AMSh in the Soul (thought, the spiritual, cognition),
Male and female.

Wescott trans. 3.3. The Three Mothers in the world are Aleph, Mem and Shin: the heavens (36)24 were produced (37)25 from Fire; the earth from the Water; and the Air from the Spirit is as a reconciler between the Fire and the Water.

Wescott Notes:

24 36. Heavens. The Hebrew word Heshamaim HShMIM, has in it the element of Aesh, fire, and Mim, water; and also Shem, name; The Name is IHVH, attributed to the elements. ShMA is in Chaldee a name for the Trinity (Parkhurst). ShMSh is the Sun, and Light, and a type of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Malachi iv. 2.

25 37. Were produced. The Hebrew word BRA, is the root. Three Hebrew words are used in the Bible to represent the idea of making, producing, or creating. BRIAH, Briah, giving shape, Genesis i. 1. OShIH, Ashiah, completing, Genesis i. 31. ITzIRH, Yetzirah, forming, Genesis ii. 7. To these the Kabalists add the word ATzLH, with the meaning of “producing something manifest from the unmanifested.”
Emanation. Shin. Aleph. Mem. Macrocosm. Primal Fire. Spirit. Primal Water.
Universe. Heavens. Atmosphere. The Earth.
Elements. Terrestrial Fire. Air. Water.
Man. Head. Chest. Belly.
Year. Heat. Temperate. Cold.

Commentary on 3.3:

The three Mothers Alef, Mem, and Shin, air, water, and fire are initially one in the beginning but in the creation, they are separated into three: the Heavens are made from Fire (the sun and stars), the Earth is made from the primeval chaos of water (mire and clay), and air is formed from spirit which stands in the middle and is the mediator that brings the contraries of fire and water, heaven and earth, together into “harmony” or a relation of “friendship”. This bringing together creates ‘world’ for us. It is what we understand by “experience”.

The three Mothers are brought together through five processes: engraving, carving, arranging, weighing, and transforming. Through these processes the three Mothers make three domains: world, year, and soul. “Breath from breath” is an indication of the soul’s relation to the divine. It is the soul which mediates between time and space. It is the soul, through the five processes, which bring beings to light and reveals them in time that is water and fire.

Three spatial dimensions are made from six directions. AMSh separates the space continuum from the time and spiritual continuum and then brings them together into a unity and harmony. Dynamis and kinesis is movement in space, and movement or motion is Time. The two belong together but are separate. This is to be understood on a number of levels: what separates us, literally, from the Heavens is air for we are bound to the earth. However, the Mothers are all present in all three: three in space, three in time, and three in the soul. The air is the mediator that brings together the one and the many (three) whether it be in space, time, or soul, male and female. Space is three dimensions; time is past, present and future; soul is cognition, thought and spirit or will.

Water represents matter (earth from water), fire represents energy (dynamis, whether in motion or not), and air is the bridge or mediator between them. Earth itself is not a basic element but is composed from the other three, primarily water. Air represents the paths through which the Sephirot interact in the Tree of Life i.e., from Chakmah to Binah, from Wisdom to Understanding, from cognition to thought with the influence of air. Fire is the radiation of energy and water the absorption of energy, the giving and receiving that is mediated by air which links the two by being able to transmit the energy. Through this, one may understand the metaphor of Plato who, in his “Seventh Letter”, says that Love is “fire catching fire”. Radiation and absorption are not opposites. Water is deprived of fire; in other depictions Chaos is ‘darkness without light’. The light in its linking does not itself move (it is not subject to time). The light of Keter is a “borrowed” light from that Light which is beyond Being. In the question of identity and difference, difference is deprivation, deprival not an opposite.

Beings made by techne or the five processes are beings by physis or Nature that relate to Being in a different way. Shakespeare says: “The Art itself is Nature”, the art being the five processes of making, and the making of art is part of the essence of human being. The techne or the maker, the artist, is an initiate (The Magician card of the Tarot #1). Human beings do not “create”; they make. They are not the source of their “in-spiration”. The “all One” of Heraclitus is the “friendship” of the mean that holds together contrary forces and energies. The assertive character of the logos in Aristotle (the apophanesthai) is the naming of things as Otherness. The saying something about something as something (“this is a computer”) is the imperative voice in the Hebrew. This is the voice of the making of things, the algorithmic voice. It is an assertive, imperative voice involving the will.

Sefer Yetzirah Text 3.4

3.4 In the Year or as regards Time, these three mothers represent Heat, Cold, and a Temperate climate, the heat from the fire, the cold from the water, and the temperate state from the spiritual air which again is an equalizer (mediator) between them. These three mothers again represent in the Microcosm or Human form, male and female; the Head, the Belly and the Chest; the head from the fire, the belly from water, and the chest from the air lieth between them.

Wescott trans. 3.4. The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, Fire, Water and Air, are shown in the Year: from the fire came heat, from the waters came cold, and from the air was produced the temperate state, again a mediator between them. The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, Fire, Water and Air, are found in Man: from the fire was formed the head; from the water the belly; and from the air was formed the chest, again placed as a mediator between the others.

Commentary on 3.4

The Coming to be of Human Beings

The Sefer Yetzirah introduces the coming to be of human beings with the coming to be of time. Time is shown as cyclical or circular, not linear such as past, present and future. (“The future comes to meet us from behind” as the Greeks would say.) The mediation is made possible by the cyclical nature of time (S.Y 6.3). Things in space are fixed in their position; they are limited, for if they were unlimited, we would not be able to distinguish one thing from another. The Other is the coming together of fire and water, the formation of substance or earth, materiality, physicality. Time is motion in space and Air provides the conduit or path for this motion and mediates between the contraries of hot/cold, fire/water. The air itself in not in motion but is the medium through which time passes. Water is designated as H2O: the combination of fire and air.

Fire is seen as an excess of sensations, while water is the lack of sensations (depression, gloom). In the cycle, the intermediate point must be crossed no matter the direction. (The gnomon of the sundial is a concrete image of this).

Human beings are seen as a microcosm of the created World. The Head is fire because it is associated with Binah or Understanding and Knowledge; the Belly is associated with water because it is associated with Chakmah or the “appetites” and the passions (also with Yesod); and the Chest is associated with air because it is associated with Tiferet, with the lungs and with Air (Life). The Chest is also associated with the Heart since the heart is located in the chest and through it all of the paths of the Sephirot must pass. The Hebrew word Ravayah is similar to the Greek word sophrosyne or temperance, moderation. The actions and desires of human beings are realized in time; their being is in the present. Air (breath, the Logos, the Heart) decides between their rashness and their moderation, the fire and the water, the goodness and the evil of the actions.

Sefer Yetzirah Text 3.5

3.5 These three mothers did he create, form, and design, and combine with the three mothers in the world, and in the year, and in Man, both male and female.
He caused Aleph to reign in the air, and crown it, and combined one with the other, and with these he sealed the Air in the world, the temperate climate of the year, and the chest (the lungs for breathing air) in man; the male with Sh, A, M, the female with Sh, M, A.(?) He caused Mem to predominate in Water, and crowned it, and combined it with others, and formed Earth on the world, cold in the year, and the fruit of the womb in mankind, being carried in the belly. He caused Shin to reign in Fire and crowned it, and he combined one with the other, and sealed them, as heaven in the universe, as heat in the year, and as the head of Man and Woman.

Wescott trans. 3.5. These Three Mothers did He produce and design, and combined them; and He sealed them as the three mothers in the Universe, in the Year and in Man−−both male and female. He caused the letter Aleph to reign in Air and crowned it, and combining it with the others He sealed it, as Air in the World, as the temperate (climate) of the Year, and as the breath in the chest (the lungs for breathing air) in Man: the male with Aleph, Mem, Shin, the female with Shin, Mem, Aleph. He caused the letter Mem to reign in Water, crowned it, and combining it with the others formed the earth in the world, cold in the year, and the belly in man, male and female, the former with Mem, Aleph, Shin, the latter with Mem, Shin, Aleph. He caused Shin to reign in Fire, and crowned it, and combining it with the others sealed with it the heavens in the universe, heat in the year and the head in man, male and female. (38)

Commentary on 3.5

The three Mothers are present in combinations at all times, but in their various emanations one element will predominate over another. The three Mothers are combined with the three mothers of the World, Time and human beings. In Air, Alef predominates, but Mem and Shin are also present. To “seal” is to fix in position: air in the world, the temperate in climate, and the lungs in human beings. For males and females, Shin or fire predominates in the Head; for females, the Belly is Alef, while for the male it is Mem, but the other two elements are also always present. Mem predominates in water and in combination with the others forms earth within the world, and the female womb as the receptacle for humankind.

Whichever element predominates determines the shape of the Hebrew letters. When Alef predominates, we have the following configuration:
Alef: Male: Alef Mem Shin; Female: Alef Shin Mem (World, temperate season, lungs/heart)
Mem: Male: Mem Alef Shin; Female: Mem Shin Alef (Earth, cold, belly)
Shin: Male: Shin Alef Mem; Female: Shin Alef Mem (Heaven in the World, Hot in the Year, the Head in the Soul)

What should be noted here is that everything that comes to the soul passes through the body. The soul and body are mirror images of each other, counterparts to each other, not opposites of each other. The three Mothers constitute the three worlds of space and time: Asiyah, the world of the physical or Mem; Yetzirah, the world of formation or Alef; and Beriyah, the world of understanding and knowledge or Shin. Human beings occupy these three worlds simultaneously, and it is its ability to occupy “worlds” that distinguishes human beings from other animals. It is language, the logos, the Alef as a principle, which allows us to do so.

The crowns of the letters are the supposed means by which one moves from one universe to another and from one Sephirot to the other. More will be said about the crowns later in this commentary.

The Nature of the Three Mother Letters:

The Three Mother letters come from the three references in Genesis where it is said “Elohim made…”. The shape of the Hebrew letters is extremely important.
Aleph — “and Elohim made the Firmament and divided the waters . . .” 1:7

Keter, Sephirah #1 in the Tree of Life, is usually assigned to the letter Alef which means “ox”, “master”, “teacher”, “wondrous”. א Alef (Ox)`. Aleph or (Alef) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and signifies either the number 1 or the concept of 0 and would correspond to either The Fool #0 or The Magician #1 in the Tarot. Using the concept of 0 suggests that Alef signifies no-thing and is not to be comprehended by either numbers or words since numbers and words come into being with the creation of Time and Space; but both Time and Space, numbers and words, are with the One from the beginning.

Aleph indicates the Oneness and Unity of the Creator; but as the shape of the letter suggests, this Oneness is a 1 + 1 +1, a One composed of Three. The three parts of the letter are two letter Yods and one letter Vav. The diagonal Vav separates the two Yods which are two points, or two individual beings: the Divine Soul and the Soul of Creation. This diagonal suggests that the creation is a barrier but also a way through, a door or gateway perhaps; and the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Dalet, means “door” which also suggests this. It hints that beyond the illusion of separation and duality is underlying Oneness – that nothing is separate and the Creator is the source of everything.

The shape of the Aleph is two Yods י, one above and one below, with a diagonal line, the Vav ו, between them, representing the higher world and the lower world, with the Vav separating and connecting the two.

Aleph represents the creation of something from nothing. In the Sefer Yetzirah, this indicates that it is of the world of Beriyah. It is the essential symbol of beginnings (suggesting The Fool #0) and the ultimate reality that cannot be talked about since it is timeless, spaceless, and present everywhere. It is the One that cannot be divided, representing the perfection beyond human comprehension.

Aleph suggests the wonder that arises from beginnings, the sense of a quest-ion that begins or is responsible for the “quest” or the journey. On this journey, there is a “Master” or ruler and a “teacher”: these are the Laws of Necessity (the Divine Will or Torah). Necessity brings suffering; the purpose of suffering is to teach. As the Greeks understood, the “mathematical” is that which can be learned and that which can be taught. Necessity is both master and teacher with regard to our human being in the world, and it is that which can be learned and that which can be taught. There is also the suggestion that the journey cannot be undertaken alone. One requires a “master” or a “teacher”.

Mem, the second Mother letter, derives from “and Elohim made the two great lights . . . and the stars.” 1:16 מ Mem (water).

The letter Mem is water mayim מים , the waters of wisdom, knowledge, and is related to The High Priestess #2 card of the Tarot. Mem has both an open and a closed format with the open format illustrated here. The open format represents exoteric wisdom, while the closed format represents esoteric wisdom.

This is shown in the Tarot card by the Priestess holding a scroll with the word “Tora” inscribed on it. The revealed letters are the exoteric or public wisdom of the Torah, while the missing “h” or Heh represents the esoteric or private
qualities of the writing suggesting that ‘jubilation’ (Heh means ‘jubilation’) is to be found in the esoteric elements of the Torah. On the right pillar of Boaz behind her is a Yod signifying the individual, while on the pillar of Jakim is a Beth (meaning ‘house’) signifying the house of the collective, the society, the city. There is an element of the ‘hidden’ in our understanding of the letter Mem. On the curtain behind The High Priestess are seven pomegranates in the shape of the lower seven Sephirot of the Tree of Life, which are the Sephirot of the manifestation of creation. The universe is manifested in the 7 Pillars Of Wisdom which are the areas of knowledge of the ancient world.

Associated with water, the influence of Mem flows downward in the Tree of Life as the element of fire, Shin, rises upward. Mem indicates the life-force of the Divine which moves downward, while Shin represents the fire of desire striving to move upward. Mem is associated with the receptacle of Space into which the creation is received and contained. The downward movement of water also suggests gravity, the most elemental sign of the Law of Necessity, and the ‘plan’ according to which all creation must succumb and submit.

Mem represents both water and manifestation, but it cannot manifest itself until God speaks ‘Let there be light’. It is said that in every person is the thirst for the words of the Creator, which are the waters of life and light is the life itself. The open Mem refers to the revealed aspects of God’s will as the law of necessity, while the closed Mem refers to the concealed part of the celestial rule that nonetheless guides us and all of existence, to which we attribute the concept of Providence. For the Hebrews this also relates to the Torah. Mem also represents the time necessary for ripening when it is accompanied by fire (Binah and The Empress #3 card of the Tarot) and indicates to us the importance of balanced emotions and of humility when it is connected to Netzach, the seventh Sephirot. This “time of ripening” is designated as Memory. In the process of thought, an “urge” or desire wells up where, in Time, will and theoretical thought bring this urge or desire to its completion. This involves both the worlds of Beriyah and Yetzirah.

Mem corresponds to the number 40 and represents the time necessary for the ripening process that leads to fruition i.e., forty days metaphorically. Christ is said to have fasted in the desert for 40 days and nights following which He was tempted by Satan with the three temptations or tests: the temptation of turning stones into bread (the desire to control necessity and to emancipate human being within that necessity from that necessity), the temptation to be given all the power in the world (the will to power as manifested in the social and collective), and the temptation of suicide (the temptation to view one’s individual ego as the All or the One). All human beings ultimately face these three temptations at some point in their lives. The power to turn stones into bread, the desire for the power of social prestige and recognition, and the power of suicide or self-destruction where we must choose whether we are our own or belong to God and must not tempt God. Suicide is the false form of de-creation.

Shin derives from “and Elohim made the beasts of the earth after its kind . . .” Gen. 1:25

Shin, the 21st Hebrew letter, is the letter of fire and transformation, purification. Shin literally means “tooth” and its shape is 3 branches of flame. These are the 3 pillars of the Tree of Life, reaching high like flames, purifying and changing the condition of our lives, teaching us to become aligned with the Whole of Creation through the process of de-creation which occurs through suffering which is deprival and need. Shin also represents the right and left extreme contraries or deprivals and the requirement to balance them by following the central pillar, the middle way.

The shape of the letter Shin on the left suggests the arcs of the paths within the Tree of Life. Both the tooth and fire meanings of Shin refer to it as a process of transformation, breaking down, grinding into particles, building anew, cooking, the firing of a clay pot into a form. This breaking down and transformation is the first step of the conversion that leads to the “baptism” that is the de-creation on the upward journey through the Tree of Life. The whole process of transformation that occurs in the conversion, the healing that occurs through baptism, the breaking down of the ‘ego’ necessary before one can re-unite with the One, and the restoration to the One are all aspects of the qualities of Shin. The transformative process begins and is related to the world of Yetzirah or Formation. It is Shin which transforms the mere physical world of Asiyah into a world where the physical matter becomes useful and apt for human purposes, the making of something from something.

The fire of Shin also paradoxically represents the unchangeable, the unmovable, and thus is a symbol of the divine power to raise up through Grace, to overcome gravity. It is this power of ‘rising up’ that Plato speaks of when he says that Love is ‘fire catching fire’. (This is the distinction between The Magician #1 and the figure in the Strength #11 card. The Strength card is the individual who has completed the conversion and baptism process through the fire of Shin.) The spirit, when understood as will, is that which constantly transforms matter, yet remains unchanged itself. It is this confusion between spirit understood as Love and spirit understood as Will that has caused so much grief for human beings. It is the two faces of Eros made manifest. Shin is the flame of the spirit, of Love, which we must keep always burning within us, but this Love must be a desire for the Good. From where and when does it devolve into will to power for its own sake? This is a question I wish to explore in these writings. Where do human beings make the decision that the absence of God requires ‘the death of God’ so that we can be ‘free’ in our own willing and making? Is this the constructive/destructive power of fire? How are these aspects ultimately related to Eros?

Finally, the Shin teaches us balance. It is composed of 3 Vavs, the 3 pillars of the Tree of Life. The right pillar of Boaz is of kindness and mercy, the left of Jakim of strict justice and severity. These are the contradictions of Necessity. The world cannot continue without both, so we must try to recognize the balance between the two. This is Justice. In all aspects of life, we must search for the middle way between the deprivations and extremes.