The power of the word that formed the Universe, the Earth, and all that is upon it is what the ancient kabbalistic mysteries are all about.
The earliest Initiates believed that God taught these mysteries to the angels. After the fall of man the angels gave the secrets to Adam so that he would have an understanding of his error and gain back what he had lost.
These secrets are supposed to awaken in man when he studies the 10 numbers and 22 basic sounds formed from the letter combinations of God's own name. This, combined with the basic geometric figures of circle, triangle, and square, are the basis of the Kabbalah; the figures that were used in designing the alphabet.
The Kabbalah supplies the key to the spiritual truths of both the Old and New Testaments, a key which goes back long before Pythagoras to a dynasty of priest-kings originating on Atlantis, known as the Melchizedek.
The last of these priest-kings is said to have passed this knowledge on to Abraham, and then it went from one biblical patriarch to another—Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon.
Abraham was supposed to have brought these wisdoms to Egypt, where the Egyptians gained knowledge of them. Jesus was instructed in these mysteries about 600 years after Pythagoras studied there. Hebrew theology was separated into three definite parts: The Law, which was taught to all Hebrew children; The Soul of the Law (Mishna) that was made known only to the teachers and rabbins; and the Qabbala, or Soul of the Soul of the Law. This was so secret it was revealed only to the highest Initiates and never written. It is said that it is these secrets that God disclosed to Moses on Mount Sinai after the Ten Commandments were divinely inscribed and presented to him.
Briefly, all comes from naught: 0, the Cosmic Egg in which all numbers are contained. God was known as Alpha and Omega: 1 and 0, the first and the last. (0 is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.) Together 1 and 0 form 10, the perfect number, and since it is perfect, it is the sacred number of the Universe and is written as or meaning “God in All.”
In the 26th verse of the first chapter of Genesis, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The foundation of the Qabbala, or Kabbalah, are the Ten Sephiroth, or creative forces. They are also known as Sepharim and Elohim, and stand for the manifested Universe. All three words, Sephiroth, Sepharim, and Elohim, mean the same thing: numbers, letters, and sounds. Sephiroth comes from the root sephir which, when the vowels are removed, is S-ph-r, meaning “to cypher.” Cypher is the figure 0, and it also means that there is a hidden message containing its own key.
These Sephiroth are depicted as 10 globes of light, each representing a number and each containing all numbers inside the 10 which is the cypher itself, thus:
The large cypher divided in half is the 1 and the 0. In the Kabbalah these 10 globes of light are on a tree of the soul and are connected by 22 paths which are the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each with its own individual esoteric meaning. The light emanates from the dot point in the center of each globe, which is a reflection of the light of God, and when one understands the globes' deepest meanings, he receives the light of wisdom and knowledge.
Over the years, the kabbalistic approach has influenced both Christians and Jews. These are spiritual mysteries that are not easily grasped; the true answers are clear to those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” Letters, numbers, and sounds are those keys and, like the wind, heat, and electricity, are powerful forces.
The word “mysteries” comes from the Greek word “muein,” to shut the mouth, and “mustes,” the word for an Initiate. The very word implies secrecy, not something for the masses, and not to be spoken of lightly.
There is a reason for this. It has been observed for thousands of years that as one begins to unfold the spiritual nature, the true nature comes to the forefront; and any repressed emotions, sensualism, or faults must be dealt with. This is so difficult that the majority will fail unless they are willing to fight every base tendency and win over it. If the inner person is wholesome and good, and not easily provoked to anger, the good is magnified. So those who would seek such enlightenment must have a high level of consciousness.
The Very Center
Invisible throne of the Supreme Definitionless Creator.
Center Triangle
Three Mother Letters: A = Air, M = Water, Sh = Fire.
The Holy Trinity. The Creative Principle.
Inner Star
Seven Double Letters: Wisdom.
Outer Star
Twelve Simple Letters—twelve signs of the Zodiac.
There were three views of creation perceived by the ancients: the Sepher Yetzirah, the Tree of the Sephiroth, and the Tetractys of Pythagoras.
Moses De Leon founded The Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), in a jar in a Galilean cave. Rabbi Simeon, who was known to have taught and written in that very cavern, wrote the book. But the book was believed to have been originally written by Abraham.
Figure 1 on page 43 shows the double star of the Sepher Yetzirah with the letters in English rather than Hebrew, for clarification. Sepher means, “to cypher” or figure out.
In the double star, the center triangle contains the Holy Trinity, the Creative Principle.
The middle star contains the seven double letters that symbolize everything there is that life can be exposed to, good and bad. Those seven, with the first three, are the Ten Sephiroth, or attributes of God.
The outside star contains the 12 simple letters, which represent the signs of the zodiac.
The spirit of God dwells in the center triangle, the Holy Temple that sustains all. From this center He created all there is by the three Sepharim: numbers, letters, and sounds, which are one and the same.
The Voice, Spirit, and Word of the Holy Spirit formed these three. They were called the Mother Letters because everything came from these basic elements.
The Mother Letters are Aleph (A), Mem (M), and Schin (Sh). First the Holy Spirit created A and from A sprang Air, and in this was formed the sound of the remaining 21 letters. The sounds that came from A, or the Air of His breath, were designed to be uttered in five different areas of the human mouth:
From the formed letters He chose Mem (M) for the second Mother Letter and from it came Water, for Water is mute like M and it was extracted from the Air.
For the third Mother Letter he selected from His letters Schin (Sh) and from Sh came Fire (ether), for Sh is the sound of Fire and it was drawn from the Water. Air is the base of balance between Fire and Water.
Those first three letters, or elements, are like a scale with virtues on one end and vices on the other, placed in balance by the tongue. He chose three consonants belonging to the first elements: I, H, and V, shaped them into a Great Name, and then fastened them with His spirit. This sealed the entire Universe in six directions: height, depth, east, west, south, and north.
The Inner Star holds the seven double letters: B, D, G, K, P, R, and Th that serve as a pattern for soft and hard, strong and weak. They symbolize all the good and bad that humans encounter in life. Each letter is like a balance board with its God quality on one side and its opposite extreme on the other:
| 1. B (B, V) | Wisdom  Foolishness |
| 2. G (ge, je) | Riches Poverty |
| 3. D | Fertility Sterility |
| 4. K (K, Ch) | Life Death |
| 5. P (P, Ph) | Power Servitude |
| 6. R | Peace War |
| 7. T (T, Th) | Beauty Deformity |
Of these seven letters He formed the seven planets, the seven days of the week, and the seven openings for the senses in both male and female: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth. There are also seven each of heavens, earths, and sabbaths.
These seven and the first three, making up the Ten Sephiroth, are His qualities and attributes. They are the 10 emanations of number, which have 10 unlimited traits or infinitudes:
Over all is the One who rules them and His Word is always in them.
In the Outer Star, the 12 simple letters, H, V, Z, Ch, T, I, L, N, S, O, Tz and Q, stand for the 12 basic traits of speaking, hearing, seeing, thinking, movement, work, sex, smell, sleep, taste (and swallowing), anger, and cheerfulness.
These 12 letters correspond to 12 directions: north in height and depth and northwest; south in height and depth and southeast; west in height and depth and southwest; and east in height and depth and northeast. By these God fashioned the 12 signs of the zodiac, the 12 months of the year, and the 12 major organs in the human body.
By designating the weights, amounts, and groupings of the 22 letters, God made all things that have existence.
First He formed the 22 letters with His voice, and with His breath He impressed them on the Air. He placed the letters around a spherical wall with 231 doorways, or gates and then turned that globe forward and backward. Forward was good and backward was evil, as all things must have a front and back. So there were altogether 231 methods to form ways for the powers of the letters to emerge. According to The Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), everything that is made, from matter to language, proceeded from the utterance of words formed from the various combinations of letters of the awesome name of God that were spoken forth on His breath. And, “by the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalms 33:6).
Instead of a triangle within two stars, The Tree of the Sephiroth (Tree of Life) is a tree with 10 globes of light that is intended to symbolize the entire Universe, which is the body of God. It is sometimes depicted as three pillars with the globes (Figures 2 and 3). The globes are the Sephiroth (numbers) and each represents distinct attributes of our Creator. Together they symbolize everything, which is contained in Heaven and Earth, and each contains a deep mystery. The 10 globes are connected by 22 paths, which are the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together they total 32 and are known as the 32 Paths of Wisdom. This is akin to the 32 degrees in Freemasonry.
Early Kabbalists envisioned the very beginning of all things as a vacuum of pure spirit not limited by conditions of time or space. This negative existence of pure spirit filled the circular void of space, or auric egg, and was called Ain (nothingness). It was also called “The Most Ancient of Ancients,” and is the womb of the Universe.
This pure essence desired to express life and it moved toward the center of itself, producing a circle within the circle, which was without limit or boundary, and it was called Ain Sop or Ensoph.
It continued its movement to the center of its boundless, limitless circle where it became a dot that broke into light, Ain Soph Aur, meaning limitless light—three in one. This fills the whole circle of the Universe but makes its particular dwelling place in the very center where the point of light is at its brilliant Source, just as our own mind is our center encircled by our body.
That dot, the dwelling place or throne of God, contained within it all creation that is to be and is called Kether the Crown, the omnipresent Divine Will, first emanation of the Tree of the Sephiroth. Being All, It was androgynous.
This Monad, by its Will, gave birth out of itself to the other nine globes or spheres starting with the pair Chochma the Father (Wisdom), a male potency with the Divine Intellectual power to generate thought, and Binah, the Mother (Understanding and Intelligence), the female potency with the Divine Intellectual capacity to produce it, using for tools the 22 letters that make up the “too sacred to be spoken” name of God. Kether, Chochma, and Binah together are the Creative Trinity, which are the roots of the Tree.
The first two letters of the sacred name Jehovah (IHVH) symbolize the creative activities of the Universe. There was no J in the Hebrew alphabet. They used I. Since they also used no written vowels, the first two letters became IH, the Father (Chochma) is the I, and the Mother (Binah) is the H.
The H is known as the childbearing letter because its numerical value is 5, the same as the Hebrew verb Awbab, or Abb, meaning, “to bear fruit.” This coincides with the fifth house of the horoscope, which is the giver of children and creativity.
Before the remaining Sephiroth could be created, there had to be an active force to produce the idea put forth by Wisdom, Intelligence, and Will. This active force is the spoken word and it is called Daath. It is not a Sephira for it is not an attribute, but an invisible acting force. Yet some have called it the 11th Sephira. This is interesting because the force is the spoken word that sets the molecules awhirl into creation. “The Word” or “Logos” is the name given Jesus, “The Word of God without whom was not anything made that was made.” And Jesus' name totals 11. So Chochma and Binah in Kether combine to produce Daath, which is the Word within the Deity.
These three, Kether the Crown (Will), Chochma (Wisdom), and Binah (Understanding and Intelligence), form the Creative Principle 1, 2, 3, or the Triad, or the Holy Trinity. And the Word (Daath) sets the creation into motion. This is why the scripture says that “without the Word was not anything made that was made.” And, “For it is through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen came to be from those which are not seen” (Hebrews 11:3).
Initially, the idea of something being formed from a word sounds ridiculous. But on further study it begins to make scientific sense.
When a word is spoken it sets up a vibratory condition that allows it to be heard. Without vibration, all that is would cease to exist. This is because everything is composed of a basic universal substance that appears different only because of that substance's groupings of atoms and their rate of movement.
From the Creative Trinity the remaining seven Sephiroth were formed by action of the Word (Daath) and spewed forth in receptacles (Yods). These were filled with Light from Ain Soph Aur centered in Kether the Crown, which contains All.
Each receptacle contains a Sephira (number) and its attributes. From these seven were named the seven planets, the seven notes of the musical scale, and the seven colors separated by a prism. Each of the seven planets was assigned a metal, a Greek vowel, a color, and a musical note.
And so each of the 10 globes on the Tree has its own particular name which shows the qualities and attributes of the Creator. The number is the vibrational rate of those qualities. These are the ingredients for all creation.
The laws of the Universe were established by various groupings of the 22 Hebrew letters which are the pathways of the Tree. Creation, in order to take place, has been pictured as going through four Sephirotic Trees, each representing a world, or plane of existence. All emanates from the dot, the light in the center of Ain Soph Aur. The names of the worlds are taken from the Hebrew verbs that mean “will take of the spirit” (Atziluth), “have created” (Briah), “have formed” (Yetzirah), and “have made” (Assiah).
The first reflection is seen between the Creative Trinity: Kether, Chochma, and Binah as: 
and the next three: Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphereth as: 
This all comes about from the union of God with His feminine counterpart known as the Shekinah. The next three worlds are the result of this union.
In this world reside the 10 great spirits (archangels) who aid in bringing about divine order and intelligence in the cosmos.
The tree is a concept of eternal truths put into a form that we can relate to, and so much can be and is related to it. It represents the states of consciousness man experiences as he journeys in life through the Sephiroth and learns the lessons of each from the physical to the spiritual.
We are told that for any creation to take place, it must go through these four planes:
This is why later Kabbalists perceived four Sephirotic Trees as lightning energy that starts at the very top of the first and zigzags through its 10 Sephira. Its idea is planted in Briah as it zigzags through those 10 Sephira, and the zigzag continues on down through Yetzirah where the vibration attracts the molecules to its own keynote. Lastly it zigzags through Assiah where it has its birth in form.
Four trees and 40 Sephiroth later is the birth. Anywhere we see 40 in the Bible—it means completion.
In Genesis two trees are mentioned: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. One interpretation is that they are one and the same; the Tree of Life being the original while the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is its reflection on the waters.
They have also been described as being contained in the one Sephirotic Tree: evil being the left side called Severity, good being the right side of Mercy, and the Tree of Life being the central pillar of Beauty. This is more clearly seen as The Three Pillars (Figure 3 on page 48). The central column is the trunk while the right and left sides are its branches.
The Sephirotic Tree is sometimes depicted as a giant cosmic man making up the entire Universe (macrocosm). His image is of man on Earth (microcosm). Viewed this way we can more readily perceive what is meant by “For in Him we live, move and have our being . . .” (Acts 17:28).
In this concept the lights, or globes of each of the Sephira, are related to the organs of the human body:
| Kether: | Head. The pineal gland. |
| Chochma and Binah: | Right and left hemispheres of the great brain. |
| Chesed and Geburah: | Right and left arms. |
| Netzach and Hod: | Right and left legs, supports of the world. |
| Tiphereth: | Solar plexus. |
| Jesod: | The generative system, or foundation of form. |
| Malkuth: | Two feet, or the base of being. |
As the body of man, the central pillar of Beauty, or trunk of the tree, is the spinal column with Tiphereth centered in the solar plexus area. One must obtain a sense of balance from that area in order to balance out the opposing forces in man. This microcosm is the image of the macrocosm, the original meaning of “being made in the image of God.”
Mystically it was Adam Kadmon who became the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil from which Eve was tempted to take the fruit, which was supposedly the knowledge of human procreation in a material sense—bestial desire rather than spiritual love. This refers not to natural union but to the abusive use of the creative power and wasting precious life essence on self-gratification.
According to ancient cosmogyny, Adam and Eve were not individuals, but representative of root races. As Adam Kadmon is a collective name for the entire Universe, likewise Adam is a collective name for mankind.
Now we can see the pattern of Creator to that which is created; from macrocosm to microcosm, all a reflection of the Creator's thoughts at the time of conception. By analogy, the words we speak are our own creations. The Bible points out another Tree of Life, the tongue: “A wholesome tongue is the Tree of Life, and he who eats of its fruit shall be filled with it” (Proverbs 15:4).
The Pythagorean Tetractys was the symbol of greatest importance to Pythagoras and his disciples. By understanding it, the mysteries of the Universe were revealed to them.
It is called “The Tetractys of Pythagoras,” although it was not his invention, having been part of the mysteries long before his birth. It was, in fact, invented by the ancient priests long before man developed any true method of writing.
Tetractys comes from the Greek word “tettares,” which means four. There are four dots (Yods) across the bottom, along each side, and one in the center, 10 in all.
When you add the first four numbers: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4, the total is 10. To them this was proof that all 10 powers of creation (Sephira) exist in the number 4. So 10 was the ideal number and represented the Universe.
Pythagoras learned of this when he studied in Egypt in his youth. It became an important part of his teachings, and all his students are said to have been bound by an oath:
I swear in the name of the Tetractys, which has been bestowed on our soul. The source and roots of the overflowing nature are contained in it.
The dots in the triangle are called “Yods,” and according to the very first ancient written doctrines of kabbalistic knowledge, The Zohar (Book of Splendour) and The Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), the Yod is a point of light called Auir, ether, or space. It sprang forth from a source of infinite light.
That ray of light is shot directly from the Deity in the form of numbers and letters, and a point of light remains in each one. These are the cause of all that exists.
Yod is the name of the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and there it means “the origin of all things.” It is translated as “hand,” meaning the creative hand that fashions and makes things.
The first three Yods represent the threefold white light which is the Godhead, containing potentially all sound and color, the unconscious universal mind—the Creative Principle of Will, Wisdom, and Activity.
All things come from that light and all must return to it, Ain Soph Aur, where all things have their genesis. That light is the first form of intelligence.
The last seven Yods, or receptacles of light, held much meaning—seven visible planets, the seven notes of the musical scale, and the seven primary colors, all of which are the creative forces which emanate from the Primordial Cause that established the Universe.
Pythagoras said that every letter of the alphabet has its own rate of vibration and color. Everything from a grain of sand to a human being is vibrating at its own rate and around its own center, producing its own particular sound or keynote. This means that everything, without exception, is in a vibratory condition. The higher the rate of vibration, the more spirit force an object contains.
He noted that planets moved in their orbits, proceeded to calculate their distance from each other, and thereby figured the keynote of the planet. Each one sounded a separate note on the musical scale.
The Greeks assigned their seven vowel sounds, one to each planet, for they believed that the musical notes the planets each sang in their orbits were the mystical vowel sounds forever singing the name of God:
| First Planet |
Moon |
A (Alpha) |
| Second Planet |
Mercury |
E (Epsilon) |
| Third Planet |
Venus |
H (Eta) Long E |
| Fourth Planet |
Sun |
I (Iota) |
| Fifth Planet |
Mars |
O (Omicron) Short O |
| Sixth Planet |
Jupiter |
Y (Upsilon) |
| Seventh Planet |
Saturn |
O (Omega) Long O |
They believed that by intoning the “aum” they could become one with the highest vibration of the Godhead. “God,” said Pythagoras, “is the Supreme Music, the nature of which is harmony.”
When vowel sounds are aspirated, they set up a vibration that draws a like vibration to itself. This can be shown by a tuning fork. When plucked, its vibration touches anything in the room of a sympathetic nature, and it too will begin to vibrate.
So, to the initiated, the placement and number of Yods held a great deal of information, and by concentrating on all the attributes therein, they gained an inner awakening: “Concentration is the secret of intellectual power; without will-power exercised in effort we can acquire nothing.”
Occultists believe that the Tetractys is the missing capstone of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
