Keter - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Sephirot in Jewish Kabbalah

Category:Sephirot

KeterFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keter (Hebrew: lit. Crown) also , ֶּכֶתר known as Kether, is the topmost of theSephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.Since its meaning is "crown", it isinterpreted as both the "topmost" of theSephirot and the "regal crown" of theSephirot. It is between Chokmah andBinah (with Chokmah on the right andBinah in the left) and it sits aboveTiphereth. It is usually given three paths,to Chokmah, Tiphereth, and Binah.

Keter is so sublime, it is called in theZohar "the most hidden of all hiddenthings", and is completelyincomprehensible to man. It is alsodescribed as absolute compassion, andRabbi Moshe Cordovero describes it asthe source of the 13 Supernal Attributes of Mercy.

Keter is invisible, colorless.[1]

Contents1 Description2 Qualities

2.1 Ethical Behaviour2.2 13 Supernal Attributes of Mercy

3 Non-Jewish practices4 See also5 References

5.1 Jewish5.2 Non-Jewish

6 External links

Keter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keter

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DescriptionAccording to the Bahir: "What are the ten utterances? The first issupreme crown, blessed be His name and His people." [2]

The first Sephirah is called the Crown, since a crown is worn above thehead. The Crown therefore refers to things that are above the mind'sabilities of comprehension. All of the other Sephirot are likened to thebody which starts with the head and wends its way down into action. Butthe crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of"monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible andconcrete head of the king.

This first Sefirah represents the primal stirrings of intent in the Ein Soph,or the arousal of desire to come forth into the varied life of being.[2] But inthis sense, although it contains all the potential for content, it contains nocontent itself, and is therefore called 'Nothing', 'The Hidden Light', 'Theair that cannot be grasped'. Being desire to bring the world into being,Keter is absolute compassion.[3]

The name of God associated with Keter is Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Hebrew:אהיה אשר אהיה ), the name through which he revealed himself to Moses

from the burning bush.[4] "It is from the name Ehyeh that all kinds ofsustenance emanate, coming from the source, which is the infinite".

Keter, although being the highest Sephirah of its world, receives from theSephirah of Malkuth of the domain above it (see Sephirot). Theuppermost Keter sits below no other Sephirah, although it is below Or EinSoph which is the source of all Sephirot.

Da'at and Keter are the same Sephirah from two different aspects. Fromone aspect this Sephirah is referred to Keter and from another aspect it isreferred to as Da'at. Therefore when Da'at is counted then Keter is notcounted and when Keter is counted Da'at is not counted[citation needed].

QualitiesEthical Behaviour


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Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, in The Palm Tree of Devorah, discusses ethicalbehaviour that man should follow, related to the qualities of the Sephirot,in order that man might emulate his creator. Humility is the first, becausealthough Keter is the highest, it is ashamed to look at its cause, andinstead gazes at those below it.[5] One's thoughts should be pure, one'sforehead should display no harshness, one's ears should always turn tohear good, one's eyes should distance themselves from noticing evil,always looking at the good, one's nose should be free from the breath ofanger, one's face should always shine, and his mouth should expressnothing except good.

13 Supernal Attributes of Mercy

Main article: Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

Through discussion of a line in the Michah, 13 attributes are associatedwith the Sephirah Kether:

Who is God like you, who pardons iniquity and forgives thetransgressions of the remnant of his heritage? He does not maintainHis anger forever, for He delights in kindness. He will again show uscompassion, He will vanquish our iniquities, and You will cast all theirsins into the depths of the sea. Show faithfulness to Ya'akov,kindness to Avraham, which You have sworn to our fathers fromdays of old. (Michah, 7:18-20)

Accordingly, the 13 attributes are derived from this and described in greatdetail.

Additionally, the "Thirteen Attributes of Mercy" were described by RabbiChizkiyah in an allegorical depiction of a lily among thorns. The metaphorin whole is known and taught as "The lily amongst the thorns," a phrasefound in Shir Hashirim 2:2. A summary:

"The secret of spiritual protection is revealed through a richlymetaphorical discourse given by Rabbi Chizkiyah. The Rabbi explainsthat the spiritual forces that protect and watch over us are called the 13Attributes of Mercy. They are transmitted into our physical world throughthe first 13 words of the Torah. When judgments are decreed against us,these 13 forces can safeguard us from their influence. We begin drawing


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this Light of protection to ourselves at the very moment we begin tobrowse and behold the mystical shapes and sequences of the Aramaictext, and to learn the spiritual insights presented there." [6]

Non-Jewish practicesIn The Mystical Qabalah Dion Fortune describes Keter as pureconsciousness, beyond all categories, timeless, a point that crystallisesout of the Ein Soph, and commences the process of emanation that endsin Malkuth.

The name of God given to it is Eheieh, the archangel that presides over itis Metatron, the order of angels that resides in it are the Holy LivingCreatures (the Chaioth ha Qadesh, Hebrew: הקדש היות ), and its mundanechakra is said to be the First Swirlings of the cosmos (Primum Mobile,Rashith ha Gilgalin).

A.E. Waite made mention that Rabbi Azariel ben Menachem, a student ofIsaac the Blind, in his Commentary on the Sephiroth granted a particularcolour to each Sephira, yet these do not agree with the colours given inthe Zohar, where Kether (which, according to him, is also correlated toYechidah) is called colourless, Tiphareth purple, and Malkuth sapphire-blue.[7]

As pure formless consciousness, it is often compared with the Sahasrarachakra, which resides above the crown of the head, in Indian ShaktaTantra.

In Aleister Crowley's Liber 777, Keter is associated with the Four Aces ofthe Tarot deck, White Brilliance, Poseidon, Brahma, Wodan, Zeus, TheTrinity, Almond in flower, Diamond, Elixir Vitae, Dao, and Death (not acomplete list of the 777 associations).

It is said to have a negative aspect, the Qliphah Thaumiel.

Keter is also identified with the former planet Pluto, the Atma inTheosophy and Raja Yoga, and the Khabs am Pekht in Egyptianmysticism.[8]


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See alsoKabbalahSephirotCorona

References^ "Sefirot" (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/God/The_Middle_Ages/The_Kabbalists_on_God/The_Sefirot.shtml).Sefirot. My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 5 December 2011.

1.

^ a b Arthur Green. Guide to the Zohar2.^ Rabbi Moshe Cordovero. The Palm Tree of Devorah3.^ Aryeh Kaplan. Meditation and Kabbalah4.^ Rabbi Moshe Cordovero. The Palm Tree of Devorah.5.^ http://www2.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar6.^ A.E. Waite, The Holy Kabbalah7.^ David Rankine, Climbing the Tree of Life: A Manual of Practical MagickalQabalah

8.

Jewish

Bahir, translated by Aryeh Kaplan, (1995). Aronson. (ISBN1-56821-383-2)Lessons in Tanya (http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=6237)Kabbalah 101: Keter (http://www.aish.com/spirituality/kabbala101/Kabbalah_24_-_Keter_The_Sefirah_That_Isnt.asp)Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, The Palm Tree of Devorah, translated byRabbi Moshe Miller (1993). Targum Press Inc. (ISBN 1-56871-027-5)

Non-Jewish

Crowley, Aleister. 777 and other Qabalistic writings of AleisterCrowley. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1977.ISBN 0-87728-222-6.Fortune, Dion. The Mystical Kabbalah. Samuel Weiser, 1935.ISBN 1-57863-150-5.Regardie, Israel. A Garden Of Pomegrnates. Llewellyn, 1932.ISBN 1-56718-141-4.Waite, Arthur Edward. The Holy Kabbalah. Cosimo Classics, 2007.ISBN 1-60206-324-9.


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External linksBasics in Kabbalah, The Ten Sefirot: Keter (http://inner.org/sefirot/sefketer.htm) (inner.org)An Introduction to the Kabala (http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_introkabbalahwestcott12.htm) (about.com)Tree of Life: Keter (http://www.psyche.com/psyche/lex/zohar/keter.html) (psyche.com)

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