Qabalah by John Bonner

Author:John Bonner [Bonner, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781609252281
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

CHESED

MERCY

GEDULAH

The Fourth Path is named Measuring, Cohesive or Receptacular; and is so called because it contains all the holy powers, and from it emanate all the spiritual virtues with the most exalted essences: they emanate one from the other by the power of the primordial emanation The Highest Crown.

—The Yetziratic Text

Chesed is the first Sephirah below the Abyss, the fourth in order of emanation and the central sphere of the Pillar of Mercy. From the Supernal Triad of the Macroprosopos we now move into the lower Tree, the Microprosopos or Lesser Countenance, which comprises the Sephiroth below the Abyss, excluding the pendant sphere of Malkuth.

After the stabilization and structuring of Chokmah's free-flowing force in the sphere of Binah and its equalization in Daath, the creative impulse is once again released into a dynamic mode. In Chesed the energies expand and move outwards on their journey down through Zeir Anpin.

In the traditional division of the Tree into triads of Sephiroth, the first or Supernal Triad is Olamha-Mevshekal, the “World of the Intellect.” The second triad, which comprises Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth, is called Olam-ha-Morgash, the “Moral” or “Sensuous” world. The second triplicity, like the others, is composed of male (positive or yang energies), female (negative or yin energies) and a point of balance or harmony between the two. Chesed represents the dynamic male aspect of the second triad, as might be expected from its position in the very center of the Pillar of Mercy, the active, masculine column of the Tree. It is negative to Chokmah which precedes it on the pillar of Mercy but is positive to Netzach and Geburah.

Looking at the Holy Tree we can see that the second triad is a direct reflection of the first. This being so, Chesed may be considered a particular reflection of the sphere of Chokmah, a lower arc of the divine wisdom expressed therein, and partaking to a considerable degree of its paternal authority. The fourth Sephirah functions after the manner of Chokmah, but now with an added stability introduced by the feminine influence of Binah. Although Chesed, like Chokmah, is a positive and dynamic sphere, it can be said to be more “balanced” than the second Supernal, being in receipt of the combined energies and potencies of the entire Supernal Triad, refracted through Daath.

From the worlds of Archetype and Creation, which jointly represent two stages of “potential manifestation,” the progression is now definitely towards “actual manifestation.” Although Chesed is the first Sephirah of the world of Yetzirah, or “Formation,” we are still at a considerable remove from anything remotely discernible by our untrained senses; and many stages of concretion away from the reality of material existence.

According to the Zohar there have emanated six principles, or Sephiroth, called the Sephiroth-ha-Benyin, or “Sephiroth of Construction,” which symbolise the dimensions of matter. “The universe consists of six dimensions, above, below, and the four sides, in the mystery of Zeir Anpin which contains six sides. Therefore there are six working days …. but the Sabbath is Malkuth the Wife (rest or passivity)” (R.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.