Kabbalah seeks to lead to Self knowledge among those who use it. It attempts to provide answers to the riddles of the universe and the riddles of humanity. This it does, in part, by likening the one to the other" saying, "that which is above is like unto that which is below." In terms of the "above," it sets forth a description of the basic laws of the world or the universe, and works its way, step by step, to individual human beings and their various states of awareness. It is a comprehensive system, and is so constructed that it can readily absorb into itself other teachings and philosophies without losing anything of its own character.
The basis of Kabbalah is a diagram called the Tree of Life. It consists of a representation of ten spheres or regions systematically arranged to illustrate the patterns and relationships of things. The most important thing about this diagram is that it illustrates the doctrine of emanations, by which each sphere emanates its successor, without losing anything of itself, so that the first sphere is said to contain all those below it in order of creation.
Similarly, it is said that the last sphere contains all those above it in the order of creation.
These ten spheres are called the ten Sephiroth, a Hebrew word meaning numbers, or better, numerations, the singular of which is Sephira.
The first Sephira is called Kether, which means Crown, and may be considered as representative of the Infinite Source of all things. From the activity of this source emanates 'Hokma, Wisdom, which, while being a separate sphere, is nonetheless still part of Kether; and Kether, although having emanated 'Hokma, has lost nothing of itself. 'Hokma in turn emanates Binah, Understanding, which in turn causes to be emanated 'Chesed, Mercy; Geburah, Strength; Tiphareth, Beauty; Netzach, Victory; Hod, Glory; Yesod, Foundation; and Malkuth, Kingdom.
Kabbalah is a Hebrew system which has been developed and expanded by Christians and others. The important thing, however, is not how it has developed but what it is capable of bringing to its students. It is suited particularly for those seeking an increase of awareness, Self-knowledge and Self-realisation.
The ten Sephiroth exist in what are called the Four Worlds. This means that Kabbalah distinguish between four states of being, from the most abstract and spiritual to the most dense and material. Rather like the Sephiroth, the Four Worlds depend from each other, but in a different manner. The first of the Four Worlds or levels is called Atziluth, or the World of Emanation. Here, creative force is seeking expression, but lacks form. In Atziluth, the Divine Source takes the first steps towards creation. If we think of this in terms of the creation of the world, then drawing a parallel with Genesis we can say:
"In the beginning the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (or "the gods") moved upon the face of the waters."
Atziluth, then, is pure spirit beginning to take its first movements towards creative expression. It is that region where all potential lies, from where may come anything we may learn how to bring into expression, or that may be brought into expression by divine activity or "Holy Spirit." In Kabbalah, we try to make our actions and operations come into line with this divine activity, or LAW.
The next World in order is called Briah, and is described as the World of Creation. It is the region where the basic plans for the objects of creation have their beginning. From Genesis again:
"And God said 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
If there were no light or darkness we should be unable to perceive anything, whether of light we measure in wavelengths, or of spiritual light when the word is used another way. In Briah are the the seeds - and only the seeds - of differentiation. In terms of human psychology, here lie the roots of mind, the raw material from which ideas and ideals are born.
It is not until we reach the World of Yetzirah, or the World of Formation, that form, produced through force, begins to take on recognisable shape. In this region, everything that takes place can present an image to the mind. Symbols, as distinct from the words which describe them, are of great value, for they can convey concepts which, if we tried to think about them in an ordinary sequential manner might take days to formulate. An excellent example of this is the Tree of Life itself. It makes no difference whether an image invoked in the mind is of an object, perhaps remembered, or if it is pure fantasy. For this reason Yetzirah, where in human terms, all is seen in the form of image and symbol, is the most dangerous of the Four Worlds, for here fantasy is almost as real as the record of facts held in the memory.
To complicate matters, it is at this level that we mostly "live and move and have our being" in real terms: another way of saying that we spend most of our waking lives in a perpetual round of fantasies and mental imaginings, often hardly noticing our physical surroundings at all. This will help explain why, in Christian terminology, the world of Yetzirah equates with Purgatory - not a place to which we go after death to be "punished" for our crimes, but a world in which we live right now, and in which we need to "purge" or purify our lives. It is in this world that most of the work of the Kabbalist takes effect.
Kabbalah helps us to distinguish between that which is real and that which is not. From there we can begin to build a real place for ourselves in a real world, and to become real people.
The last of the four Worlds is called Assiah, the material world, related to the Klippoth, or shells. In Assiah, all the activity of the previous three Worlds finds its expression in material activity, or material objects. It is also the world of appearances, for all things in Assiah contain within them the three worlds preceding it, hence the idea of shells, or containers. That includes us. It is Assiah with which we are necessarily the most familiar, and in which we seek to create order. We often fail in this, since for there to be order in Assiah, it must first be conceived in Atziluth. In other words, there can be no harmony in the world unless we recognise therein the activity of the divine influence, the Holy Spirit, or presence of 'God' - YHWH - "That-which-is," or "Eternal Being."