Traditional Martinist Order Discourse KABBALAH (The Tree of the Sephiroth) We present below a sample discourse from the teachings of the Traditional Martinist Order, this one featuring a discussion of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. greet you before the luminaries of the Geburah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Traditional Martinist Order! and Malkuth. Together they form The Tree I of the Sephiroth, which is, in some man- ner, the invisible skeleton of Creation. As In the Sepher Yetzirah, it is said that indicated in the Sepher Bahir, the branches the benevolent and merciful God created of this tree nourish themselves in the Ain- the universe through thirty-two wonderful Soph, the hidden transcendence. Rather paths of Wisdom. These thirty-two paths than discuss the Ain-Soph today, we will correspond to the twenty-two Hebrew study this concept in the next discourse. letters and to the ten Sephiroth. After As you will notice on the diagram, the having studied the twenty-two letters in ten Sephiroth are arranged in three col- the two previous discourses, the moment umns forming a symbolic structure called has now come to approach the topic of Binyam. the ten Sephiroth. The left column is Severity. It extends The Kabbalists say that when the Pri- from the sephira Binah to the sephira mordial Light descended from the Ain- Hod. Associated with the letter Mem, and Soph, or in other words the Infinite, to with water, it symbolizes passivity and has give the breath of life to all the worlds and a negative polarity. all creatures, It arrayed itself in the shape of The right column is Mercy, some- ten lights. These are the Sephiroth, which times called Clemency. It extends from the the Zohar compares to the “ten forms that sephira Chokhmah to the sephira Netzach. God produced to direct the unknown and Associated with the letter Shin and with invisible worlds, and the visible worlds.” In fire, it symbolizes the force of expansion the first chapter of theSepher Yetzirah, it is and has a positive polarity. said that they came out of the nothingness Finally, the central column is Equilib- and that their appearance “is as a flash of rium. It extends from the sephira Kether light whose extremities are without limit.” to the sephira Malkuth. Associated with One can also read in this book that the the letter Aleph, and with air, it symbol- Word of the Divine “comes and goes with- izes the equilibrium between the two po- in them and [that] when the Word speaks, larities, as well as the union between the such as a hurricane, they bow before the Divine World and the Material World. Divine Throne and they celebrate.” The kabbalistic tradition relates these The word sephiroth is the plural of three columns with the patriarchs Abra- sephira, a feminine word that means nu- ham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will also note meration. As you know, the ten Sephiroth that the columns descend from the infinite Rosicrucian are arranged in a hierarchical manner and to the finite through the four levels, or four Digest are linked one to another by channels. They materialized worlds, indicated by the dot- No. 1 2014 are: Kether, Chokhmah, Binah, Chesed, ted lines in the diagram. Page 32 The first level is theOlam Atziluth, is Kether, a word that we can translate as the World of Emanation. Formed by the Crown. It represents Divine Will, the be- sephiroth Kether, Chokhmah, and Binah, ginning of existence, and the eternal pres- it represents the Divine Will in a pure state. ent. The Sepher Yetzirah associates it with The second level is the Olam Briah, the the “Breath of the living Elohim.” World of Creation. Formed by the sephi- The second sephira is Chokhmah, a roth Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphereth, it word meaning “Wisdom.” Some Kabbal- is the world where Divine Will is trans- ists compare it with the Primordial To- formed into creative energy. rah, the Secret Wisdom. It represents the The third level is the Olam Yetzirah, masculine and active principle. The Sep- the World of Formation. Formed by the her Yetzirah associates it with the “Breath sephiroth Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, it is coming from the Breath.” the world of movement and generation, The third sephira is Binah, a word where all forms are elaborated. meaning “Intelligence.” It represents the feminine and passive principle. The Sepher Finally, the fourth level is Olam Assiah, Yetzirah associates it with the “Waters com- the World of Action. Formed by the sephi- ing from the Breath.” We should note that ra Malkuth, it is the world of phenomena, the Kabbalists call it Ima meaning “Moth- of matter and human beings. er,” whereas they refer to Chokhmah by It can be said that the four worlds sym- the name Abba, meaning “Father.” bolize the expansion of the Divine through If the first three sephiroth are inti- the visible and invisible planes of Creation. mately linked to the Divine World, the It is the reason why they are associated with next seven sephiroth are more particularly the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, the linked to the Terrestrial World. Some Kab- Sacred Name of the Divine. As one can see balists associate them with the seven days in the diagram, Atziluth corresponds to of Creation. Between these two worlds, we Yod, the first letter of the Tetragrammaton; find Daath, a hidden sephira whose name Briah to He, the second letter; Yetzirah to means “Knowledge.” It represents the Vav, the third letter; and Assiah to He, the Knowledge that directly emanates from fourth letter. the Divine. As such, it is inaccessible to in- Kabbalists consider that the Tree of the carnate Humanity. Sephiroth is an expression of the face of The fourth sephira is Chesed, meaning the Divine and the means by which the In- “Mercy.” Sometimes called Gedolah, it is visible acquires a certain visibility. They di- the first sephira of the World of Briah, the vide it into two faces: Arik Anpin (the Long world of Creation. It represents sharing, Face), and Zeir Anpin (the Small Face). goodness, and love. That is why the Zohar The long face comprises the three superior relates Chesed to the patriarch Abraham, sephiroth: Kether, Chokhmah, and Binah. who personifies these qualities. It is also as- As has previously been said, the Long Face sociated with the Oral Torah, the Esoteric represents the superior world, the world of Revelation. The Sepher Yetzirah considers the Divine Will. The Small Face is made Chesed the “Fire coming from the Waters.” up of the following six sephiroth: Chesed, The fifth sephira is Geburah, mean- Geburah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, and ing “Rigor” or “Justice.” Sometimes called Yesod. These are the sephiroth that are said Din, it is associated with the Written To- to be of Construction, fully manifested in rah, the Exoteric Revelation. The Zohar Malkuth, the tenth, or last sephira. relates Geburah with the patriarch Isaac, Let us now examine one by one the because of his absolute obedience to God’s Sephiroth of the Kabbalistic Tree. The first commands. Page 33 The sixth sephira is Tiphereth, mean- the merciful and benevolent God created ing “Beauty.” Placed between Chesed and the universe through thirty-two wonderful Geburah, in the middle of the central paths of Wisdom, which correspond to the column, it symbolizes the equilibrium of twenty-two Hebrew letters and to the ten oppositions. The Zohar relates Tiphereth Sephiroth. Here is what Athanasius Kirch- with the patriarch Jacob, whose manner is er, an adept of Kabbalah, said concerning a model of equilibrium between love and these paths: rigor. Among the six sephiroth of Con- “The thirty-two paths of Wisdom are struction, it is the only one to be directly the luminous paths by which the holy linked to Kether. men and women, devoted to God, are The seventh sephira is Netzach, mean- able to understand hidden things by a ing “Victory,” in the sense of mastery. This great application of the Divine Laws sephira is often associated with Joseph. The and a long meditation upon them.” Bible says that it is after having resisted his passions, symbolized by Potiphar’s wife, Note that each of these thirty-two that he became the Pharaoh’s minister and paths has a name and a precise significa- succeeded in reorganizing the economy of tion that is shown on Table 1. As you can Egypt. Netzach is at the base of the col- see, each path corresponds to a Hebrew umn of Mercy and receives its energy from letter or a sephira, with which is associated Chesed, placed directly above it. a quality of Divine Wisdom. Thus, Kether, The eighth sephira is Hod, meaning the first path, is Wisdom of Supreme Will; “Glory” or “Splendor.” Across from Net- Aleph, the second, Wisdom of Celestial zach, it is placed at the base of the column Unity; Chokhmah, the third, Superior of Rigor and receives its energy from Ge- Wisdom; etc. burah, situated just above it. It represents This first approach to the Tree of the the accomplishment of Divine Will. Sephiroth may seem complex to you. That The ninth sephira is Yesod, meaning being said, the most important thing is to “Foundation” or “Transmission.” As the become familiar with the name and the last sephira of the world of Yetzirah, World position of each of these sephiroth. After of Formation, it represents the foundation that, it is recommended that you follow of the created world. It also transmits the the advice given in the Sepher Yetzirah: breath of life, which comes from the high- “Keep your mouth from speaking of it, er sephiroth, toward Malkuth.