5 Geburah
Severity
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.
9 sourced claims: 1 canonical , 8 traditional
Names and titles
Divine names and Yetziratic titles from Sefer Yetzirah and Kabbalistic tradition.
The Radical Intelligence
'Radical' here in the older English sense of 'of the root' — that from which things spring — not the modern political sense.
Sources (1)
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Sefer Yetzirah
, Westcott translation, 2nd edition, 1893
— Appendix: The 32 Paths of Wisdom, Path 5
“The Fifth Path is called the Radical Intelligence, because it is itself the essence equal to the Unity, uniting itself to the Binah, or Intelligence which emanates from the Primordial depths of Wisdom or Chokmah.”
The 32 Paths of Wisdom appear as an appendix to Westcott's Sefer Yetzirah.
Elohim Gibor (אלהים גבור)
Elohim of might. The pairing with Geburah (also called Din, judgement) reflects the Zoharic association of Elohim with the receiving/restraining pole.
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 Camael as the particular intelligence of Geburah, working through Mars, and calls him the ruler of Samson. This tree preserves the canonical spelling Khamael.
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
Seraphim (Fiery Serpents)
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.
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.
Mars (Madim)
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 Fives bring resistance. The suit's growing force meets conflict, obstruction and the test of whether it can continue under strain.
Book T classifies the Fives under Geburah and says that the surrounding cards determine whether the struggle ends in success or failure.
Sources (1)
- Book T , Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal) — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27
Correspondences 9 sourced correspondences
| Relation | To | First attested |
|---|---|---|
| Planetary attribution | Mars | 1509 CE |
| Sephirah of | Five of Wands | 1888 CE |
| Counts of | 10 | 100 CE |
| Channel of | Binah | 1548 CE |
| Channel | Tiphareth | 1548 CE |
| Channel | Hod | 1548 CE |
| Archangel | Khamael | 1509 CE |
| Divine name | Elohim Gibor | 1907 CE |