Cabala

We give here some additional particulars.

1. The Sephiroth. The Cabala insists upon the following points with regard to these:

i. That they are not created, but emanated (נאצל) from the En-Soph.

ii. That they form among themselves, and with the EnSoph, a strict unity, and simply represent different aspects of one and the same being.

⇒Definition of cab

iii. That all the ten emanations alike partake of the perfections of the EnSoph.

iv. That, as emanations of the Infinite, the Sephiroth are-infinite and perfect, like the En-Soph, and yet constitute the first finite. On the accompanying wood-cut is shown the figure of the archetypal man, representing the ten Sephiroth. Another grouping is given in the table on following page.

2. Creation of Angels. "God," says the Sohar, "animated every part of the firmament with a separate spirit, and forthwith all the heavenly hosts were before him" (iii, 68a). These angelic beings consist of two classes-good and bad-have their respective princes, and occupy the three habitable worlds in the following order: The angel Metatron inhabits the second world, the World of Creation. He alone constitutes the world of pure spirits, and is the garment of Shaddai, i.e. the invisible manifestation of the Deity. His name is numerically equivalent to that of the Lord. The angelic host inhabiting this world are divided into ten ranks, answering to the ten Sephiroth; and each is set over a different part of the universe. The demons, who constitute the second class of angels, inhabit the fourth world, or the World of Action. Though they are the grossest and most deficient of all forms, they still form ten degrees, answering to the ten Sephiroth. The prince of this region of darkness is Samael, angel of poison or death. He is the evil spirit who seduced Eve; and has a wife, called the Harlot, or the Woman of Whoredom, who, together with him, is treated as one person, and is called "the Beast."

3. The Destiny of Man and the Universe. It is an absolute condition of the soul to return to, the infinite source from which it emanated, after developing on earth the perfections, the germs whereof are implanted in it, If the soul, after assuming a human body, during its first sojourn on earth, fails to acquire that experience for which it descends from heaven, and becomes contaminated by sin, it must reinhabit a body again and again, till it is able to ascend in a purified state. This transmigration, however, is restricted to three times. The world, being an expansion of the Deity's own substance, must ultimately share that blessedness which it enjoyed in its first evolution. Even Satan himself, the archangel of wickedness, will be restored to his angelic nature, as he, too, proceeded from the Infinite Source of all things. When the last human soul has passed through probation, then' the Savior will appear, and the great jubilee year will commence, when the whole pleroma of souls, cleansed and purified, shall return to the bosom of the Infinite Source:.