Sephiroth
Sephiroth, de l'hébreu. Les dix émanations de la Divinité ; la plus haute est formée de la concentration d'Aïn Soph Aur, ou Lumière Sans-Limite, et chaque Sephira en produit une autre par émanation. Les noms des Dix Sephiroth sont
1. Kether – la Couronne ;
2. Hochmah – la Sagesse ;
3. Binah – la Compréhension ;
4. Hesed – la Miséricorde ;
5. Ghebourah – la Puissance ;
6. Tiphereth – la Beauté ;
7. Netsah – la Victoire ;
8. Hod – la Splendeur ;
9. Yesod – la Fondation ;
10. Malcuth – le Royaume.
Cette conception de la Divinité incarnée dans les Dix Sephiroth est très sublime, et pour le Cabaliste, chaque Sephira est une image d'un groupe d'idées, de titres et d'attributs exaltés, que le nom ne représente que faiblement. Chaque Sephira est qualifiée soit d'active soit de passive, bien que cette attribution puisse induire en erreur : passive ne signifie pas un retour à l'existence négative, et les deux termes expriment seulement la relation entre les Sephiroth prises isolément, et non pas une qualité absolue. (w.w.w.).
(source : "Glossaire Théosophique" d'Héléna Blavatsky)
[A propos des "neuf Prajapatis - les assistants du Démiurge"]
Les neuf Sephiroth Kabbalistiques, émanée de Sephira la dixième, et les Sephiroth de tête, sont identiques. Trois trinités ou triades avec leur principe émanant forme la Décade mystique Pythagoricienne, la somme de tout ce qui représente le Kosmos.
(source : "Collected Writings" d'Héléna Blavatsky, traduction d'Esopedia, Vol.III, p.327 [1])
[L'écrivain[2] commente une doctrine professée aujourd'hui par les Parsis qui «... suppose, antérieur à Ormuzd et à Ahriman, et au-dessus d'eux deux, un principe unique source de tout, "Temps sans limites", Zarvan-Akarana, en dehors duquel est expulsé par émanation les deux principes, voués à être absorbés un nouveau jour avec les êtres qui peuplent le globe. » H.P.B. commente par ce qui suit :]
De même qu'au-delà de Brahmâ, Vishnu et Shiva, le "Créateur", le "Conservateur" et le "Destructeur", il y a Parabrahman, de même au-delà d'Ormuzd dans son "caractère dual d'Ahour-mazda" et Ahriman, est placé "Zarvan-akarana" - "la vie une" des Bouddhistes, le Parabrahman des Advaitins Vedantins, et le En-Soph des Kabbalistes Chaldéens, situé au-delà et au-dessus des trois groupes trinitaires des neuf Sephiroth. Sephira, la mère de tous-les-êtres exotériquement les dix, mais ésotériquement l'essence des neuf. Qu'on se souvienne que Binah (Jehovah) est incluse dans le premier groupe encore qu'elle arrive en second par rapport à Hokhmah ou sagesse[3].
(source : "Collected Writings" d'Héléna Blavatsky, traduction d'Esopedia, Vol.IV, p.421 [4])
As is constantly shown in the Zohar, the Infinite Unity, or Ain-Soph, is ever placed outside human thought and appreciation; and in Sepher Yetzirâh we see the Spirit of God—the Logos, not the Deity itself—called One.
One is the Spirit of the living God, . . . who liveth forever. Voice, Spirit, [of the Spirit], and Word: this is the Holy Spirit, [5], and the Quaternary. From this Cube emanates the whole Kosmos.
Says the Secret Doctrine :
It is called to life. The mystic Cube in which rests the Creative Idea, the manifesting Mantra [or articulate speech— Vach] and the holy Purusha [both radiations of prima materia] exist in the Eternity in the Divine Substance in their latent state
— during Pralaya.
And in the Sepher Yetzirah, when the Three-in-One are to be called into being—by the manifestation of Shekhinah, the first effulgency or radiation in the manifesting Kosmos—the “Spirit of God,” or Number One,[6] fructifies and awakens the dual Potency, Number Two, Air, and Number Three, Water; in these “are darkness and emptiness, slime and dung”—which is Chaos, the Tohu-Vah-Bohu. The Air and Water emanate Number Four, Ether or Fire, the Son. This is the Kabalistic Quaternary. This Fourth Number, which in the manifested Kosmos is the One, or the Creative God, is with the Hindus the “Ancient,” Sanat, the Prajâpati of the Vedas and the Brahmâ of the Brâhmans—the heavenly Androgyne, as he becomes the male only after separating himself into two bodies, Vâch and Virâj. With the Kabalists, he is at first the Yôd-Havâh, only later becoming Jehovah, like Virâj, his prototype, after separating himself as Adam-Kadmon into Adam and Eve in the formless, and into Cain-Abel in the semiobjective world, he became finally the Yôd-Havâh, or man and woman, in Enoch, the son of Seth.
For, the true meaning of the compound name of Jehovah—of which, unvoweled, you can make almost anything—is: men and women, or humanity composed of its two sexes. From the first chapter to the end of the fourth chapter of Genesis every name is a permutation of another name, and every personage is at the same time somebody else. A Kabalist traces Jehovah from the Adam of earth to Seth, the third son—or rather race—of Adam.[7] Thus Seth is Jehovah male; and Enos, being a permutation of Cain and Abel, is Jehovah male and female, or our mankind. The Hindu Brahmâ-Virâj, Virâj-Manu, and Manu-Vaivasvata, with his daughter and wife, Vâch, present the greatest analogy with these personages—for anyone who will take the trouble of studying the subject in both the Bible and the Puranas. It is said of Brahmâ that he created himself as Manu, and that he was born of, and was identical with, his original self, while he constituted the female portion “Śata-rupa” (hundred-formed). In this Hindu Eve, “the mother of all living beings,” Brahma created Viraj, who is himself, but on a lower scale, as Cain is Jehovah on an inferior scale: both are the first males of the Third Race. The same idea is illustrated in the Hebrew name of God יהוה. Read from right to left “Yôd” י is the father. “He” ה the mother, “Vau” ו the son, and “He” ה , repeated at the end of the word, is generation, the act of birth, materiality. This is surely a sufficient reason why the God of the Jews and Christians should be personal, as much as the male Brahmâ, Vishnu, or Śiva of the orthodox, exoteric Hindu.
Thus the term of Yhvh alone—now accepted as the name of “One living [male] God”—will yield, if seriously studied, not only the whole mystery of Being (in the Biblical sense), but also that of the Occult Theogony, from the highest divine Being, the third in order, down to man. As shown by the best Hebraists:
היה or Hayah, or E-y-e, means to be, to exist, while היה or Hayah, or E-y-e, means to live, as motion of existence. [8]
Hence Eve stands as the evolution and the never-ceasing “becoming” of Nature. Now if we take the almost untranslatable Sanskrit word Sat, which means the quintessence of absolute immutable Being, or Be-ness—as it has been rendered by an able Hindu Occultist—we shall find no equivalent for it in any language; but it may be regarded as most closely resembling “Ain,” or “Ain-Soph,” Boundless Being. Then the term Hâyâh, “to be,” as passive, changeless, yet manifested existence may perhaps be rendered by the Sanskrit Jîvâtman, universal life or soul, in its secondary or cosmic meaning; while “Hâyâh,” “to live,” as “motion of existence,” is simply Prana, the ever-changing life in its objective sense. It is at the head of this third category that the Occultist finds Jehovah—the Mother, Binah, and the Father, Arelim. This is made plain in the Zohar, when the emanation and evolution of the Sephirôth are explained: First, Ain-Soph, then Shekhinah, the Garment or Veil of Infinite Light, then Sephîrah or the Kadmon, and, thus making the fourth, the spiritual Substance sent forth from the Infinite Light. This Sephîrah is called the Crown, Kether, and has besides, six other names—in all seven. These names are: 1. Kether; 2. the Aged; 3. the Primordial Point; 4. the White Head; 5. the Long Face; 6. the Inscrutable Height; and 7. Eheyeh (“I am”).[9] This Septenary Sephîrah is said to contain in itself the nine Sephirôth. But before showing how she brought them forth, let us read an explanation about the Sephirth in the Talmud, which gives it as an archaic tradition, or Kabalah.
There are three groups (or orders) of Sephîrôth: 1. The Sephrth called “divine attributes” (the Triad in the Holy Quaternary); 2. the sidereal (personal) Sephîrôth; 3. the metaphysical Sephîrôth, or a periphrasis of Jehovah, who are the first three Sephirôth (Kether, Hokmah and Bînâh), the rest of the seven being the personal “Seven Spirits of the Presence” (also of the planets, therefore). Speaking of these, the angels are meant, though not because they are seven, but because they represent the seven Sephirôth which contain in them the universality of the Angels.
This shows (a) that, when the first four Sephîrôth are separated, as a Triad-Quaternary—Sephîrah being its synthesis—there remain only seven Sephiroth, as there are seven Rishis; these become ten when the Quaternary, or the first divine Cube, is scattered into units; and (b) that while Jehovah might have been viewed as the Deity, if he be included in the three divine groups or orders of the Sephiroth, the collective Elohim, or the quaternary indivisible Kether, once that he becomes a male God, he is no more than one of the Builders of the lower group—a Jewish Brahma. [10] A demonstration is now attempted.
The first Sephirah, containing the other nine, brought them forth in this order: (2) Hokmah (or Wisdom), a masculine active potency represented among the divine names as Yah; and, as a permutation or an evolution into lower forms in this instance—becoming the ophanim (or the Wheels—cosmic rotation of matter) among the army, or the angelic hosts. From this Hokmah emanated a feminine passive potency called (3) Intelligence, Binah, whose divine name is Jehovah, and whose angelic name, among the Builders and Hosts, is Arelim.[11] It is from the union of these two potencies, male and female (or Hokmah and Binah) that emanated all the other Sephiroth, the seven orders of the Builders. Now if we call Jehovah by his divine name, then he becomes at best and forthwith “a female passive” potency in Chaos. And if we view him as a male God, he is no more than one of many, an Angel, Arelim. But straining the analysis to its highest point, and if his male name Yah, that of Wisdom, be allowed to him, still he is not the “Highest and the one Living God”; for he is contained with many others within Sephirah, and Sephirah herself is a third Potency in Occultism, though regarded as the first in the exoteric Kabalah—and is one, moreover, of lesser importance than the Vaidic Aditi, or the Primordial Water of Space, which becomes after many a permutation the Astral Light of the Kabalist.
(source : "Collected Writings" d'Héléna Blavatsky, traduction d'Esopedia, Vol.XIV, pp.186-191 [12])
Les Sephiroth dans l'Univers
Q. Que sont, dans ce cas, les étapes de la manifestation ?
R. La première étape est l'apparition du point potentiel dans le Cercle - le Logos non-manifesté. La seconde étape est la projection du Rayon à partir du point blanc potentiel, produisant le premier point, qui est appelé, dans le Zohar, Kether ou Sephira. La troisième étape est la production à partir de Kether de Chochmah, et Binah, constituant ainsi le premier triangle, qui est le Troisième Logos ou Logos manifesté - en d'autres mots, l'Univers subjectif et objectif. De plus, à partir de ce Logos manifesté procèderont les Sept Rayons, qui dans le Zohar sont appelés les Sephiroth inférieures et dans l'occultisme Oriental les sept rayons primordiaux. De là procèderont les innombrables séries de Hiérarchies.
(source : "Collected Writings" d'Héléna Blavatsky, traduction d'Esopedia, Vol.X, p.352 [13])
Il y a un Principe Immuable et Illimité, une réalisation absolue, qui est antérieur à toute Existence manifestée et conditionnée. Il est hors de portée de la pensée ou de l'expression humaine.
- Dans la totalité de l'Univers manifesté, on peut concevoir trois aspects.
- 1. Le Premier Logos Cosmique, impersonnel et non manifesté, le précurseur de la Manifestation.
- 2. Le Deuxième Logos Cosmique, Esprit-Matière, Vie, l'Esprit de l'Univers.
- 3. Le Troisième Logos Cosmique, l'Idéation Cosmique, l'Ame Mondiale Universelle.
A partir de ces principes créateurs fondamentaux, et en gradation
échelonnée, apparaissent, en une succession ordonnée, les innombrables
Univers comprenant un nombre infini d'Etoiles et de Systèmes Solaires
Manifestés.
Chaque Système Solaire est la manifestation de l'énergie et de la vie d'une grande Existence Cosmique, Que nous appelons, faute d'un meilleur terme, un Logos Solaire.
Ce Logos Solaire s'incarne, ou vient en manifestation, par le moyen d'un système solaire.
Ce système solaire est le corps, ou forme, de cette vie cosmique, et il est triple.
Ce système solaire triple peut être décrit en termes de trois aspects, ou (selon la théologie Chrétienne) en termes de trois Personnes.
| Feu Electrique, ou Esprit | ||||
| 1ère personne | Père | Vie | Volonté Dessein | Energie Positive |
| Feu Solaire, ou Ame | ||||
| 2ème personne | Fils | Conscience | Amour Sagesse | Energie équilibrée |
| Feu par Friction, ou Corps, ou Matière | ||||
| 3ème personne | Saint-Esprit | Forme | Intelligence Active | Energie Négative |
Chacun de ces trois aspects est triple dans sa manifestation. Nous avons
donc :
- a. Les neuf Pouvoirs ou Emanations
- b. Les neuf Séphiroth
- c. Les neuf Causes de l'Initiation.
Ceux-ci, avec la totalité de la manifestation ou le Tout, font les dix (10) de
la manifestation parfaite, ou Homme parfait.
Ces trois aspects du Tout sont présents dans toutes les formes.
- a. Le système solaire est triple, se manifestant par les trois aspects ci-dessus.
- c. L'atome du savant est triple aussi, étant composé d'un noyau positif, d'électrons négatifs, et de la totalité de la manifestation extérieure, qui est le résultat de la relation des deux autres facteurs.
Les trois aspects de chaque forme sont liés entre eux et capables d'échanges, car :
- a. L'énergie est en mouvement et circule.
- b. Toutes les formes au sein du système solaire font partie du Tout, et ne sont pas des unités isolées.
- c. C'est la base de la fraternité, de la communion des Saints et de l'astrologie.
Ces trois aspects de Dieu, le Logos solaire, Energie et Force centrales (car
du point de vue occulte ces termes sont synonymes) se manifestent par sept
centres de force – trois centres majeurs et quatre centres mineurs. Ces sept
centres de Force Logoïque sont ainsi constitués qu'ils forment des Entités
organiques.
Ils sont connus comme :
- a. Les sept Logoï Planétaires
- b. Les sept Esprits devant le Trône
- c. Les sept Rayons
- d. Les sept Hommes Célestes
Les Sept Logoï incarnent sept types de force différenciée, et dans ce
Traité, sont connus sous le nom de Seigneurs des Rayons. Les noms des
Rayons sont :
- Rayon I Rayon de la Volonté ou Pouvoir. 1er Aspect
- Rayon II Rayon d'Amour-Sagesse. 2ème Aspect
- Rayon III Rayon d'Intelligence active. 3ème Aspect
Ce sont les Trois Rayons Majeurs.
- Rayon IV Rayon d'Harmonie, de Beauté, d'Art.
- Rayon V Rayon de Connaissance concrète ou Science.
- Rayon VI Rayon de la Dévotion ou de l'Idéalisme Abstrait.
- Rayon VII Rayon d'Ordre et de Magie cérémonielle.
(source : "Traité sur le Feu Cosmique" d'Alice Bailey, pp.3-5)
Voir aussi
Notes et références
- ↑ Source d'origine : notes de bas-de-page d'un article, "Footnotes to "The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac", in The Theosophist, Vol. III, No. 2, November, 1881, pp. 41-44
- ↑ NDE : P. D. Khandalavala, l'écrivain de l'article commenté par Helena Blavatsky.
- ↑ NDE : traduction incertaine de "Let us remember that Binah (Jehovah) is included in the first group yet stands second to Hokhmah or wisdom."
- ↑ Source d'origine : notes de bas-de-page d'un article, "Footnotes to "Zoroaster and his Religion", in The Theosophist, Vol. IV, No. 8, May, 1883, p. 191
- ↑ Spher Yetzirah, I, §9.
- ↑ In its manifested state it becomes Ten, the Universe. In the Chaldaean Kabalah it is sexless. In the Jewish, Shekhinah is female, and the early Christians and Gnostics regarded the Holy Ghost as a female potency. In the Book of Numbers “Shekhina” is made to drop the final “h” that makes it a feminine name. Narayana, the Mover on the Waters, is also sexless; but it is our firm belief that Shekhînah and Daiviprakiti, the “Light of the Logos,” are one and the same thing philosophically.
- ↑ The Elohim create the Adam of dust, and in him Jehovah-Binah separates himself into Eve, after which the male portion of God becomes the Serpent, tempts himself in Eve, then creates himself in her as Cain, passes into Seth, and scatters from Enoch, the Son of Man, or Humanity, as Yod-Havah.
- ↑ The Source of Measures, p. 8.
- ↑ This identifies Sephirah, the third potency, with Jehovah the Lord, who says to Moses out of the burning bush: “(Here) I am” (Exodus iii, 4). At this time the “Lord” had not yet become Jehovah. It was not the one male God who spoke, but the Elohim manifested, or the Sephiroth in their manifested collectivity of seven, contained in the triple Sephirah.
- ↑ The Brahmans were wise in their generation when they gradually, for no other reason than this, abandoned Brahma, and paid less attention to him individually than to any other deity. As an abstract synthesis they worshipped him collectively and in every God, each of which represents him. As Brahmâ, the male, he is far lower than Śiva, the Linga, who personates universal generation, or Vishnu, the preserver—both Śiva and Vishnu being the regenerators of life after destruction. The Christians might do worse than follow their example, and worship God in Spirit, and not in the male Creator.
- ↑ A plural word, signifying a collective host generically; literally, the “strong lion.”
- ↑ Source d'origine : article "The eastern Gupta-Vidyâ and the Kabalah"
- ↑ Source d'origine : compte-rendus de réunions, "Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society", part I, march 1890, part II, january 1891