4 Chesed
Mercy
Chesed is Mercy, the expansive and generous force on the right pillar. It is the first sephirah below the Abyss and is balanced across the Tree by Geburah's discipline and restraint.
10 sourced claims: 10 traditional
Names and titles
Divine names and Yetziratic titles from Sefer Yetzirah and Kabbalistic tradition.
The Measuring, Cohesive or Receptacular Intelligence
The three-part translation reflects Westcott's own uncertainty about the Hebrew — the appendix gives multiple candidate renderings.
Sources (1)
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Sefer Yetzirah
, Westcott translation, 2nd edition, 1893
— Appendix: The 32 Paths of Wisdom, Path 4
“The Fourth Path is named Measuring, Cohesive or Receptacular; and is so called because it contains all the holy powers, and from it emanate all the spiritual virtues with the most exalted essences: they emanate one from the other by the power of the primordial emanation. (The Highest Crown.)”
The 32 Paths of Wisdom appear as an appendix to Westcott's Sefer Yetzirah.
El (אל)
The simplest Hebrew divine name, meaning 'mighty one' or 'God'. Its assignment to Chesed reflects Chesed's character as pure, unrestricted giving.
Sources (1)
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. II · systematising, not originating
Angelic hierarchy
Archangels of the sephirah and the angelic choir it leads. Maimonides gives the ten choirs; the sephirothic pairings are later Kabbalistic tradition.
Agrippa names Zadkiell as the particular intelligence of Hesed, working through Jupiter, and calls him the ruler of Abraham. Pseudo-Dionysius is not cited: his hierarchy names angelic orders, not a list of seven individuals.
Sources (2)
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy , English translation, J.F., London 1651 — Book III, chapter 10
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. VIII · systematising, not originating
Chashmalim (Brilliant Ones)
Fourth of Maimonides's ranks. The Chashmalim reveal themselves 'through fiery flashes of light' according to medieval commentary; the name derives from Ezekiel 1:4.
Sources (2)
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Mishneh Torah
, Original Hebrew, Maimonides c. 1180
— Yesodei HaTorah 2:7
“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.
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. IX · systematising, not originating
Astrological
The classical planet or sphere associated with the sephirah.
Jupiter (Tzedek)
The classical benefic planet, matching Chesed's mercy and expansion. Chesed is also traditionally titled Gedulah ('Greatness').
Sources (2)
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. I / Table IV · systematising, not originating
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.
Sources (2)
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Three Books of Occult Philosophy
, English translation, J.F., London 1651
— Book II, chapter 13, Scale of the Number Ten
The table aligns the ten Sephiroth with the ten spheres in order.
Golden Dawn attributes
Correspondences established by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn between 1888 and 1912.
The Fours settle the suit into order and stability. Its force has found a form that can be established and held.
Book T classifies the Fours under Chesed. Completion here means a settled condition, not necessarily the final end of the whole process.
Sources (1)
- Book T , Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal) — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27