The Kabbalah-Emanations from the Source Part: I

By Robert Green

The following passage is from an old copy of Kabbalah. It is explaining the emanations flowing from God to the world of form. Kabbalah "conceals" with the terms it uses, so here are some definitions to help you understand this passage:

En-Sof is a complicated term that means "potential in the center, or heart"...It also is thought of as concentrated"...for the mystics, it's symbol is a circle with a dot in the center. Also, some commentators of the Kabbalah call it the "Dark Waters". Put simply, it is potential.

Shekhinah is the female essence of God. God in the Kabbalah sense is both male and female. The emanations that flow downward from God and give the illusion of form come from the "female part of God". We as mystics call this female part of God the COSMIC, the HOLY GHOST, or the MOTHER.

Sefirah are emanations, or we might call them waves, or vibrations. It is these waves, or emanations that we sense with our 5 senses and give us the illusion of a unversed that is separate from self.

With these definitions, this passage will make sense to you...

Sefirah is also symbolically representative of God's feminine counterpart, the Shekinah to whom we shall devote several pages shortly. It is through her that the divine grace of the En-Sof passes through into the lower world.

THE LAST few pages have concentrated on presenting the manner in which the En-Sof made Himself known through the agency of his emanations the Sefiroth. The Sefiroth should always be thought of as different aspects of the En-Sof, different colors along a spectrum, and as intimate portions of His process. The greatest mistake would be to view them as aspects of His creation instead of the result of His divine efflux. Creation implies the establishing of something other than oneself, outside of oneself, wholly capable of existing as an independent unit or entity. Emanation on the other hand is an act of flowing (from the Latin, emanare, to flow), which implies not only the existence of a source, but that the activity of flowing is dependent on the source if it is to remain an activity. What flows through the Sefiroth is the light of the En-Sof which they need for their existence. They are composed of that light in much the same way as a bowl is composed of clay. The intimacy of the connection between the Sefiroth and the En-Sof extends to the relationships between the different Sefiroth themselves. Participating in a common reception of the En-Sof s emanations, they share also each other's qualities. The nature of their differences is marked only by the degree of predominance of the quality after which they are named. Apart from that they are equal in both power and value.

Return to the list of Kabbalistic pages

Pictures on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life - click on this line