Sephirah

Yesod

Yesod is Foundation, the imaginal or astral layer through which the forces of the Tree are gathered before reaching physical expression. It stands on the middle pillar between Tiphareth and Malkuth and is associated with images, dreams and patterned processes.

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

  • Kerubim

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

    Ninth of Maimonides's ranks. In popular imagination the Cherubim are winged infant figures; in the biblical tradition they are throne-bearers and guardians (Genesis 3:24, the guardians of Eden).

    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

  • Gabriel

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

    Gabriel is named in Daniel, though not there titled archangel. Agrippa directly assigns him to Yesod and the Moon.

    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

  • Moon

    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

  • Moon

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

    Evidence

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

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source

Channel of

  • 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 Resh (ר); 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.

  • Netzach

    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 Tzaddi (צ); 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 Samekh (ס); 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

  • Malkuth

    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 Tav (ת); 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

  • Nine of Cups

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

    In the Nines, the suit's force gathers into a strong foundation. It can now sustain a substantial result, fortunate or difficult according to the suit and surrounding cards.

    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

  • Nine of Pentacles

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

    In the Nines, the suit's force gathers into a strong foundation. It can now sustain a substantial result, fortunate or difficult according to the suit and surrounding cards.

    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

  • Nine of Swords

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

    In the Nines, the suit's force gathers into a strong foundation. It can now sustain a substantial result, fortunate or difficult according to the suit and surrounding cards.

    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

  • Nine of Wands

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

    In the Nines, the suit's force gathers into a strong foundation. It can now sustain a substantial result, fortunate or difficult according to the suit and surrounding cards.

    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

  • Shaddai El Chai

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

    'Almighty Living God'. Shaddai is biblical; the compound with El Chai ('Living God') is a Kabbalistic pairing specific to Yesod.

    Evidence

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

      · First edition, 1909 (anonymous)

      Read the source