Sephirot
The sephirot (Hebrew, singular sefirah) are the 10 divine emanations through which the supreme God (Ein Sof, "the infinite") manifests in the world according to Jewish Kabbalah. They are arranged in the diagram of the Tree of Life (Etz Chayim), connected by 22 paths. Each sephirah represents a divine quality and a step in the spiritual ascending path of the soul.
Origin and the Tree of Life
The concept of sephirot appears systematically in the foundational text of Kabbalah Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation, dated between the 2nd-8th centuries AD) and is developed in great detail in the medieval Spanish-Provençal Kabbalah of the 12th-13th centuries (especially in the Sefer ha-Zohar, the most important Kabbalistic text). The 10 sephirot are arranged in a specific diagram with 3 vertical columns of central balance: the "Tree of Life".
The 10 sephirot from top to bottom (from the most transcendent and abstract to the most manifest and material): 1) Keter (Crown — divine pure consciousness, primordial origin). 2) Chokmah (Wisdom — flash of insight, masculine creative principle). 3) Binah (Understanding — receptive feminine principle, structured comprehension). 4) Chesed (Mercy — divine generous love). 5) Gevurah (Severity — divine just judgement, necessary discipline). 6) Tiferet (Beauty — central balance, harmony, beauty integrated). 7) Netzach (Eternity / Victory — divine love sustained through time). 8) Hod (Splendour — communicated divine power, intellectual glory). 9) Yesod (Foundation — astral basis of the manifest world). 10) Malkuth (Kingdom — physical visible world, full manifestation).
Specific symbolism
Each sephirah has rich associated symbolism: 1) Specific Hebrew divine name (each sephirah has a name of God — e.g.: Keter = "Eheieh"; Tiferet = "YHVH Eloah ve-Daath"; Malkuth = "Adonai ha-Aretz"). 2) Specific archangel (e.g.: Tiferet = Raphael; Malkuth = Sandalphon; Hod = Michael). 3) Specific element of the cosmic body (Keter = head; Tiferet = heart; Yesod = sex; Malkuth = feet). 4) Specific colour. 5) Specific planet in some systems (Keter = source above all planets; Chokmah = primum mobile / sphere of stars; Binah = Saturn; Chesed = Jupiter; Gevurah = Mars; Tiferet = Sun; Netzach = Venus; Hod = Mercury; Yesod = Moon; Malkuth = Earth).
Three columns: the right column = "Pillar of Mercy" (Chokmah, Chesed, Netzach — feminine? — generative-expansive principle); the left column = "Pillar of Severity" (Binah, Gevurah, Hod — restrictive-structured principle); the central column = "Pillar of Equilibrium" (Keter, Tiferet, Yesod, Malkuth — balanced central path). The mature spiritual seeker tries to keep on the central path of equilibrium. Each sephirah is also internally divided into 10 sub-sephirot — the system is fractal.
Practical work with sephirot
In serious practice (Jewish Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalah, Western occultism), sephirot are worked with: 1) Sustained contemplative meditation on each sephirah individually — months or years per sephirah, deepening into its specific quality. 2) Visualisations of the Tree of Life — visualise it intentionally on / around the body during meditation; the position of each sephirah corresponds to specific points of the body (Keter on top of the head, Tiferet on the heart, etc.). 3) Ceremonial rituals based on the Tree of Life (especially in Western magical tradition of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and derivatives). 4) Astrology + Kabbalah: each natal planet corresponds to a sephirah and works with its energy. 5) Tarot: see Kabbalah; the 22 Major Arcana correspond to the 22 paths between sephirot. 6) Prayer with divine names of each sephirah.
Recommended approach: serious sustained study (years), preferably with an experienced teacher, with patience and reverence. The Tree of Life is one of the deepest maps of psycho-spiritual reality of Western tradition.
Also known as
- Sefirah/sefirot
- Tree of Life
- Etz Chayim
- Divine emanations