Sephirah

Geburah

Geburah is Severity, the restraining and corrective force on the left pillar. It limits what Chesed would allow to expand without measure, while Tiphareth mediates between them.

14 correspondences · 1 with an ancient or scriptural source · 0 with no source located

All the tables The sephiroth table

The oldest attribution here is Counts of 10, first attested 100 CE.

Counts of

  • 10

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Sefer Yetzirah's counting (2nd–6th century CE (contested))
    Earliest verified attestation
    100 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Attested
    Evidence
    The source states it

    Sefer Yetzirah counts ten sefirot but does not name them. Their order on this tree belongs to the later tradition, not to the book itself.

    Evidence

    1. Rabbi Akiva (traditional attribution); older versions attributed to Abraham, Sefer Yetzirah, 2nd–6th century CE (contested) — 1:2

      Sacred primary · originates · Westcott translation, 3rd edition, 1911 (first published 1887)

      Ten are the ineffable Sephiroth. Twenty-two are the Letters, the Foundation of all things; there are Three Mothers, Seven Double and Twelve Simple letters.

      The count, not the names.

      Read the source

Angelic choir

  • Seraphim

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1170 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    Fifth of Maimonides's ranks. From Isaiah 6:2. Both Maimonides and the Zohar place Seraphim high in the hierarchy but disagree on exact ordering.

    Evidence

    1. Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, Rambam), Mishneh Torah, 1170–1180 — Yesodei HaTorah 2:7

      · Original Hebrew, Maimonides c. 1180

      There are ten names given to the angels: Chayot HaKodesh, Ophanim, Erelim, Chashmalim, Seraphim, Malachim, Elohim, B'nei Elohim, Cherubim, and Ishim.

      Maimonides's ten angelic ranks. The pairing of each class with a specific sephirah is a later Kabbalistic development. Available on Sefaria.

    2. Aleister Crowley, 777, 1907–1909 — Table VI, col. IX

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source

Archangel

  • Khamael

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1509 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    Agrippa names Camael as the particular intelligence of Geburah, working through Mars, and calls him the ruler of Samson. This tree preserves the canonical spelling Khamael.

    Evidence

    1. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book III, chapter 10

      · English translation, J.F., London 1651

      Read the source

    2. Aleister Crowley, 777, 1907–1909 — Table VI, col. VIII

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source

Planetary attribution

  • Mars

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1509 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    Evidence

    1. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book II, ch. 32-38 (on Mars)

      · English translation, J.F., London 1651

      Read the source

    2. Aleister Crowley, 777, 1907–1909 — Table VI, col. I / Table IV

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source

  • Mars

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Agrippan occult philosophy (1509–1533)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1509 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    Agrippa's Renaissance Christian-Cabalist table is explicit. It is not presented as a planetary scheme stated by Sefer Yetzirah or another ancient Jewish source.

    Evidence

    1. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book II, chapter 13, Scale of the Number Ten

      Esoteric primary · systematises · English translation, J.F., London 1651

      The table aligns the ten Sephiroth with the ten spheres in order.

      Read the source

    2. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1509–1510, revised through 1533 — Book III, chapter 10

      Esoteric primary · systematises · English translation, J.F., London 1651

      Agrippa's prose names this Sephirah and the sphere through which its influence descends.

      Read the source

Channel of

  • Binah

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Cordovero's channels (1548)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1548 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    One of the twenty-two channels Pardes Rimonim 7:1 records as the opinion of the commentators. Drawn on this tree with the letter Cheth (ח); the lettering is Kircher's and the Golden Dawn's, not Cordovero's.

    Evidence

    1. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim, 1548, first printed 1592 — Pardes Rimonim 7:1

      Esoteric primary · originates · Hebrew text

      The enumeration closes 'they total 22, as the numerical value of bakh'. Cordovero assigns no letters to these channels.

  • Chesed

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Cordovero's channels (1548)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1548 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    One of the twenty-two channels Pardes Rimonim 7:1 records as the opinion of the commentators. Drawn on this tree with the letter Teth (ט); the lettering is Kircher's and the Golden Dawn's, not Cordovero's.

    Evidence

    1. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim, 1548, first printed 1592 — Pardes Rimonim 7:1

      Esoteric primary · originates · Hebrew text

      The enumeration closes 'they total 22, as the numerical value of bakh'. Cordovero assigns no letters to these channels.

Channel

  • Hod

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Cordovero's channels (1548)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1548 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    One of the twenty-two channels Pardes Rimonim 7:1 records as the opinion of the commentators. Drawn on this tree with the letter Mem (מ); the lettering is Kircher's and the Golden Dawn's, not Cordovero's.

    Evidence

    1. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim, 1548, first printed 1592 — Pardes Rimonim 7:1

      Esoteric primary · originates · Hebrew text

      The enumeration closes 'they total 22, as the numerical value of bakh'. Cordovero assigns no letters to these channels.

  • Tiphareth

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Cordovero's channels (1548)
    Earliest verified attestation
    1548 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    None located
    Evidence
    The source states it

    One of the twenty-two channels Pardes Rimonim 7:1 records as the opinion of the commentators. Drawn on this tree with the letter Lamed (ל); the lettering is Kircher's and the Golden Dawn's, not Cordovero's.

    Evidence

    1. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim, 1548, first printed 1592 — Pardes Rimonim 7:1

      Esoteric primary · originates · Hebrew text

      The enumeration closes 'they total 22, as the numerical value of bakh'. Cordovero assigns no letters to these channels.

Sephirah of

  • Five of Cups

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1888 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    The Fives bring resistance. The suit's growing force meets conflict, obstruction and the test of whether it can continue under strain.

    Evidence

    1. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (primarily); Harriet Felkin (later material), Book T, c. 1888 — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27

      · Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal)

      Read the source

  • Five of Pentacles

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1888 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    The Fives bring resistance. The suit's growing force meets conflict, obstruction and the test of whether it can continue under strain.

    Evidence

    1. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (primarily); Harriet Felkin (later material), Book T, c. 1888 — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27

      · Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal)

      Read the source

  • Five of Swords

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1888 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    The Fives bring resistance. The suit's growing force meets conflict, obstruction and the test of whether it can continue under strain.

    Evidence

    1. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (primarily); Harriet Felkin (later material), Book T, c. 1888 — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27

      · Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal)

      Read the source

  • Five of Wands

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1888 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    The Fives bring resistance. The suit's growing force meets conflict, obstruction and the test of whether it can continue under strain.

    Evidence

    1. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (primarily); Harriet Felkin (later material), Book T, c. 1888 — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27

      · Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal)

      Read the source

Divine name

  • Elohim Gibor

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1907 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    Elohim of might. The pairing with Geburah (also called Din, judgement) reflects the Zoharic association of Elohim with the receiving/restraining pole.

    Evidence

    1. Aleister Crowley, 777, 1907–1909 — Table VI, col. II

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source