Further Reading

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Of The 22 Paths With Their Yetziratic Attributions and Colour Correspondences


Here it may be well to state that "The Sepher Yetzirah" or "Book of Formations" allots to each of these "Paths" as well as to the "Ten Sephiroth" which it describes as "The First Ten Paths" (Making in all the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom), a certain type of INTELLIGENCE, and though I do not consider this is of very great importance so far as the present work is concerned, we might just as well learn these titles as we proceed so as to develop our system of correspondences.
We must then deal with the Sephiroth first:
1. Kether is called "The Admirable or Hidden Intelligence. "
2. Chokmah is called " The Illuminating Intelligence. "
3. Binah is called " The Sanctifying Intelligence."
4. Chesed is called "The Measuring, Cohesive or Receptacular Intelligence."
5. Geburah is called "The Radical Intelligence."
6. Tiphereth is called "The Intelligence of the Mediating Influence. "
7. Netzach is called "The Occult Intelligence."
8. Hod is called "The Absolute or Perfect Intelligence. "
9. Yesod is called " The Pure or Clear Intelligence. "
10. Malkuth is called " The Resplendent Intelligence. "
So far we have disposed of the Ten Sephiroth and we shall now deal with the "Paths" which connect them.
These paths are numbered from ELEVEN to THIRTY-TWO each corresponding to a LETTER of the Hebrew alphabet shown by the leading authorities as in order from KETHER to MALKUTH.
From KETHER proceed three Paths the first of which is numbered 11 and attributed to Aleph; it joins Ketber and Chokmah and is called the SCINTILLATING Intelligence.
12 is the Path of Beth, it unites Kether and Binah and is called the Intelligence of TRANSPARENCY.
13 is the Path of Gimel it connects Kether with Tiphereth and is called the UNITING Intelligence.
Three Paths proceed from CHOKMAH. The 14th is the reciprocal path uniting Chokmah with Binah. It is the path of Daleth and is called The ILLUMINATING Intelligence. The 15th, or Path of Heh joins Chokmah and Tiphereth and is called the CONSTITUTING Intelligence, and the 16th path of Vau unites Chokmah with Chesed. It is called The TRIUMPHAL or ETERNAL ONE.
Only Two Paths proceed from BINAH, the 17th uniting it with Tiphereth and attributed to Zain. It is called the DISPOSING ONE or Intelligence. The 18th Path or Cheth connects Binah with Geburah and is called The Intelligence of THE HOUSE OF INFLUENCE.
Three paths proceed from Chesed. The 19th which is the reciprocal path of Teth is called the Intelligence of all the ACTIVITIES OF THE SPIRITUAL BEING. The 20th or Path of Yod joins Chesed with Tiphereth and is known as the Intelligence of WILL. The 21st or Path of Kaph unites Chesed and Netzach and is called the Intelligence of CONCILIATION.
Two Paths proceed from GEBURAH. The 22nd or Path of Lamed joins Geburah and Tiphereth. It is called the FAITHFUL Intelligence. The 23rd or Path of Mem joins Geburah and Netzach, it is known as The STABLE Intelligence.
Three Paths issue from Tiphereth. The 24th, which unites Tiphereth and Netzach is attributed to Nun and is called The IMAGINATIVE Intelligence. The 25th or Path of Samech joins Tiphereth and Yesod, it is called The Intelligence of PROBATION or TENTATIVE ONE. The 26th Path of Ayin connects Tiphereth with Netzach and is known as THE RENOVATING ONE.
Three Paths proceed out of Netzach. The 27th or Path of Peh is the lowest of the reciprocal paths, it unites Netzach and Hod. It is called the EXCITING Intelligence. The 28th which is called Tzaddi joins Netzach and Yesod and is known as the NATURAL Intelligence, while the 29th or Path of Qoph joining Netzach and Malkuth is called The CORPOREAL Intelligence.
The Two Paths issuing from Hod are the 30th which is that of Resh joining Hod and Yesod and called The COLLECTING Intelligence, and the 31st Path of Shin leading from Hod to Malkuth which is called The PERPETUAL INTELLIGENCE.
The 32nd or last Path is attributed to Tau it is the connecting link between Yesod and Malkuth and is called The ADMINISTRATIVE Intelligence. (hermetic.com)