Kabbalah numerology

Similar to other systems and mystical traditions you have a basic polarity which is essentially based on karma and Natural Law. You see this in Qultura methodology in Creative Law, one of the universal principles, in the polarity between drama and trauma. You also get it in Taoism in the polarity between yin and yang. In Hinduism you have vedanta and Buddhist samsara. In the Kabbalah the polarity is between severity and mercy on either side of the tree.

The Sefirot refers to Kabbalah numerology which are the ten numbers which symbolize life and are based on the Kabbalah or the Tree of Knowledge, the same tree that featured in the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. Each of the ten numbers is given here with its corresponding Tarot card from the Major Arcana using the Rider-Waite deck and the number is also given with its corresponding word in Hebrew and English translation of its term in the title. There is a brief explanation of the symbolism given with each number.

One is symbolic of God, which means Jahweh or Jehovah, the symbol of divine creativity. If we understand magic to be all about connection and unity between everything in existence, and magic is based on language, this should be clear for you to understand. If you recall God created the heaven and Earth from his breath and through uttering words. If you read the first few verses in the Book of Genesis you will find pronouncements for example 'God said "Let there be light" and there was light'.

This does not mean, as many people seem to think it does, that God actually created the universe, the sky, the clouds or this planet. God is metaphorical for existence, and when it is said that God created the heaven and earth, the planet and the animals, what is implied is that God gave us the names for everything. Please keep in mind that Torah means 'law' and Kabbalah means 'tradition'. What does a magician do, if not bring things into being? Think about it.

Two here refers to the tablets of the covenant. This gives us The High Priestess. If you look at the image on the card you will see that the High Priestess is holding the said covenant in her arms bearing the inscription 'Tora' which in Hebrew means 'Natural Law'.

Two also refers to the two inclinations, 'yetzer hatov' (good) and 'yetzer hara' (bad) which are symbolized by the two pillars Boaz and Jochaim referring to the pillars in the Temple of Solomon.

Three is a very important magical and divine number which gives us a number of different trinities:

• There are the three Patriarchs or Fathers - Abraham, Issac and Jacob
• The three sons of Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth
• The Holy of Holies occupied one third of the area of the temple (previously the Tabernacle)
• The Priestly Blessing contains three sections
• On the third day the Jewish people received the Torah

Three signifies the unity between two extremes or polar opposites, similar to mutual arising or dependent arising in eastern philosophies such as Taoism or Buddhism and also in Natural Law.

Four is sometimes symbolized as misfortune or hardship. Four also falls within the Pillar of Mercy. But see four is symbolic of cardinal direction and the Four Mothers or Matriarchs - Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. It is believed that heaven and earth have four corners or four sides. At the Passover Seder four cups of wine are drunk and four expressions of redemption are cited.

This might be a bit challenging to understand for some people, but keep in mind:

• There are five books of the Torah
• Of the Ten Commandments, five were written on two tablets.
• There are five sections of the Book of Psalms.
• There are five knots in the 'tzitzit', which is a ritually knotted tassel or fringe of the 'tallot gadol' (prayer shawl).
• There are five species of grain.

In Kabbalah numerology 6 is a central number and the only number linked to eight other numbers. In Judaism six can symbolize and signify:

• There are six books of the Mishnah, which is the first major written collection of the oral traditions of Judaism. Please keep in mind that Judaism is arguably the oldest religion in the world going back as far as the Bronze Age and, like other old religions traditions would have been passed on orally. This is very similar to the Pali Canon in Buddhism which was written down and stored in three baskets. The mishnah is also known as the Oral Torah.
• There are six working days in the week, the seventh being of course the Sabbath.

There were six days of Creation.

There are a lot of associations with the number seven. According to a midrash, a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud, 'all sevens are beloved'. Hence:

• There are seven terms for heaven and seven terms for earth.
• Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. Moses was the seventh generation from Abraham. David was the seventh son in his family. Asa who called out to God was the seventh generation of Israelite kings. The seventh day (Shabbat), month (Tishrei), year (shmita) and shmita (jubilee) all have special religious significance.
• The seven laws of Noah
• The counting of the Omer, which is the verbal counting of the 49 days from Passover to Shavuot, consists of seven weeks and seven days.
• The Sheva Brachot, or birkot nissuin, are the seven blessings in a Jewish wedding ceremony for the bride and the groom which are part of nissuin. A woman in niddah following menstruation must count seven 'clean' days in the mitveh, a special bath, to achieve ritual purity.
• The menorah in the Temple has seven lamps
• The shiva mourning period for first degree relatives is seven days.
• Seven is the number of aliyot or public readings of the Torah on the Shabbat or sabbath.
• There were seven of every pure animal in Noah's ark.

Seven in Kabbalah numerology symbolizes completion, association with God, or the convenant of holiness and sanctification. This is also the point which unifies all of Nature, as with Shabbat.

Number eight signifies new beginnings because the eighth day was the first day after creation when God returned to work and the week began again. It can also symbolize or signify:

• the eight days of the circumcision
• Total number of Yom Tov (Jewish holidays) in a year in Israel.
• The number of days of Chanukah (or Hannukah)
• The number of days of Pesach, a major pilgrimage holiday which commemorates the Jews escaping slavery in Egypt.

Eight also symbolizes the supernatural realm which feeds Nature and the striving of Mankind for a connection with the supernatural.

Nine is the most complete multiplicity which includes the division between the natural and the supernatural. In the Tree of Life this is the trunk which lies between the Crown (1) and the Earth (10).

Ten symbolizes and signifies the final unification between the natural and the supernatural. According to the Mishna, the world was created by ten divine utterances and there are ten Sefirot (human and Godly characteristics) depicted in Kabbalah.

Sefirot here means emanations, which are the ten attributes in the Kabbalah through which Ein Sof (the infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher meta-physical realms (seder hishtalshelus). This corresponds with both the Dao in Taoism and sunnata (pronounced 'shunya-ta', meaning the Void) of eastern cosmology such as Hinduism and Buddhism. But unlike eastern cosmology the Void and the chain of interdependent origin in Judaism are both inclusive in the Sefirot, which is also transliterated into English as the sephirot/sephiroth, singular sefirah/sephirah.

Please also note that:

• The tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is 'yud' (yodh) and linked to the tetragrammaton (YHWH) and to Jews as YHW-dim.
• The Ten Commandments
• The ten plagues of Egypt
• Ten Jewish people form a 'minyan', necessary for certain religious rituals. Traditionally this is ten males over the age of 13, but more liberally can include women.

So let us move on to what is known as The Orchard or PARDES, which is the Kabbalah way of interpreting text. There are four ways of interpreting text in the Kabbalah, which are:

• Peshat - the superficial or literal (direct) meaning.
• Remez - 'hints' or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond the literal sense and meanings.
• Derash - from Hebrew 'darash', the 'inquiring' or midrashic meaning as given through similar occurrences.
• Sod - the secret, mystical or esoteric meaning as given through inspiration or revelation.

Now you would be inclined to believe that the Kabbalah is connected with 'sod' or the secret, or esoteric meaning. But no, this is not the case. Kabbalah relates primarily to 'remez' or the allegorical meaning. Furthermore pay attention to 'derash'. Have you seen any Torah quotations on the internet? You probably haven't, because according to the Kabbalah all the words are necessary in the scriptures to complete the Torah, and the Old Testament. If you take something out or say quote a part of the Old Testament, you invalidate everything.

Judaism follows the exact same mystical traditions as other major religions and the Kabbalah is the basis of those traditions. Quoting biblical text is a Christian thing. Jews never quote from the Torah and Muslims do not quote from the Holy Koran, at least not outside a religious context.

The hayyoth refers to four living beings or creatures which are seen as heavenly beings in Jewish mythology and mysticism. They are described in the prophet Ezekiel's vision of the heavenly chariot in the first and tenth chapters in the Book of Ezekiel. References to these sacred creatures recur in texts of the Second Temple Judaism, in the rabbinical merkabah (chariot) literature and in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament.

The hayyoth in the Tarot

The four living beings which feature in the Major Arcana of the Tarot are based on the vision of John as described in the Book of Revelation.

The hayyoth - according to the beasts from John's vision referenced in the Book of Revelations appear in two cards in the Major Arcana; the Wheel of Fortune and The World. Within the context of both these Tarot cards they are said to symbolize the four Fixed signs of the zodiac, i.e. Taurus (ox or calf), Leo (lion), Scorpio (eagle) and Aquarius (man) and thus imply law and the lawful nature of existence.

The Wheel of Fortune

The hayyoth appears in the four corners of this card which symbolizes risk, opportunity and chance (see Combined numerology for the mystical principle) in a card which is based on the Rota Fortunae, or the Wheel of Fortune of the goddess Fortuna, which is inscribed on a wheel in a way ('ROTA') so as to be inverse to 'TORA', which specifically refers to Natural Law in Hebrew.

From a certain perspective the symbolism on this card implies impermanence but it also implies the lawful nature of existence which goes together with the impermanence.

The World

The hayyoth also appears on the last Tarot card of the Major Arcana which is titled The World but which can also be titled The Universe or The Cosmos. This card symbolizes cyclicity or the cyclical nature of existence, reincarnation and the interdependence of life, love and death as the three inseparable aspects of human existence.

But what is often missed out in interpretations of this card is how the hayyoth symbolizes the relationship between the four figures and the fifth figure, the dancing woman or hermaphrodite in the centre within the yoni, symbolizing the five dimensions of life, with the central dancing figure within the yoni symbolizing Akasha or spirit.

Kabbalah symbolism in Qultura

In addition to the tree, which symbolizes the Qultura community, the deliberate misspelling of 'culture' with the letter 'Q' (Qultura), the 17th letter of the alphabet is a reference to The Star in the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

On this card you see the image of a naked woman beside a pool of water, one foot in the water, one foot on land. Above her head is one large star symbolizing her core essence (symbolizing the principle and the process) and seven smaller stars representing the chakras.

The card symbolizes new hope, insight, wisdom, and enlightenment and motion towards light from darkness, but reversed symbolizes theft, privation, hubris, abandonment and neglect. It's a card which is associated with the astrological sign of Aquarius, which symbolizes community, equanimity and justice, and also the planet Uranus which symbolizes sudden change, revolution, rebellion, and non-conformity.

It therefore symbolizes our solidarity as a community with the dis-empowered, dispossessed, marginalized, excluded, and rejected.