Path #23 - "The twenty-third path is called the stable consciousness because it is the power of sustenance among all the Sephiroth."
As the work of self-transformation of the personality progresses, the initiate comes to see that the personality exists between two poles - rationality or logic, and emotion or instinct. In kabbalah, these poles are symbolised by Hod (rational intellect) and Netzach (instinctual emotion). Along the ascending path of initiation (as opposed to the descending path of creation), the first of these poles that the initiate encounters is the rational intellect, represented by Hod. The work of Hod therefore, is to pursue a rational understanding of the dynamics operative within the inner and outer worlds. This leads to the vision of the "Eternal Splendor" and the infinite complexity of the Universe, symbolised here by the "Library of Hermes" which contains rational information about every aspect of existence.
The "32 Paths" text states that this is the "power of sustenance among all the Sephiroth".
It expresses the mechanism of infinite complexity as one thing begets another, endlessly creating subtle shades of difference between the generations. This mechanism fills and thus stabilises the sequential infinity, and can be seen within the kabbalistic doctrine of emanation at every level of the Tree.
Hod is the terminus of the Pillar of Severity or Form. In the language of the "32 Paths" the Pillar of Severity is the receptacle of the "substance of the Unity", whereas the opposite side-pillar (Mercy or Force) is the receptacle of the "splendor of the Unity" and the Middle Pillar, the receptacle of the "holy powers". In Hod, as Paul Case stated, we "realize" the splendor of the opposite pillar, but this is different from the actual experience of that splendor. Here in Hod, the splendor is seen with the rational mind alone, as it appears reflected through infinite complexity. Thus it is not experienced in its wholeness as a more-than-rational force. In other words, in Hod we come to a rational understanding of the infinite complexity in much the same way as we came to understand our personalities in Malkuth - by analysing their manifestations.
