Reflection
 
The Eternal Golden Braid
Reflection

Throughout these writings, I make a big deal out of the idea of reflection and the Hermetic principle as above, so below, the idea that the large is mirrored in the small. I relate three groups of Souls to the three Triads, the Triads to Pillars, the Pillars to the three Supernals — an interestingly recursive reflection — and those Sephiroth to the three negative veils. I relate the three mother letters to each of those. Around and around and around it goes, chasing its own tail in ever-smaller circles until at last it disappears into an existential Nothing ... which, by reflection, is Everything. Little by little, we begin to see that each thing is like every other thing. Those things lose their separate identities, disclosing that they are in the end one Thing. Every number is infinite; there is no difference. Liber AL I:4

Another way to phrase it — perhaps its antithesis — might be emanation. Things emanate from the Unity, separating as they go, but fundamentally they remain parts of the Unity. We can continue to see how they relate to each other, and how one thing can transform into another thing. Everything proceeds from the mother letters, or rather from the concepts they represent; and in the organization of other parts we can see the reflections of those mothers. Some of the equivalences I talk about here are:

 מאש
יהוה‎[1]יוה
PrincipleAntithesisSynthesisThesis
Element[2]WaterAirFire
SupernalBinahKetherChokmah
PillarSeverityMildnessMercy
TriadPassiveSupernalActive

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Sefer Yetzirah

[1]These attributions to יהוה are those given by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in his commentary on Sefer Yetzirah. In that system, the feminine principle ה is derived from the active or masculine ש, and the masculine principle י from the passive מ. Those letters generate their anitheses. Other systems assign י to Chokmah and ה to Binah, so ש becomes the masculine י and מ becomes the feminine ה, which is more as we might expect.
[2]These are the Hebrew elements, of which there are only three.
[1]These attributions to יהוה are those given by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in his commentary on Sefer Yetzirah. In that system, the feminine principle ה is derived from the active or masculine ש, and the masculine principle י from the passive מ. Those letters generate their anitheses. Other systems assign י to Chokmah and ה to Binah, so ש becomes the masculine י and מ becomes the feminine ה, which is more as we might expect.
[2]These are the Hebrew elements, of which there are only three.

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An Interactive QabalahThe Mother lettersSeven of Swords A Brief Introduction to QabalahNepheshSix of Swords Kether, the CrownNeshamahFive of Swords Chokmah, WisdomThe Veil of ParokethFour of Swords Binah, UnderstandingPermutations of the NameThree of Swords Daath, KnowledgeThe Three PillarsTwo of Swords QliphothThe ProfaneAce of Disks Chesed, MercyReflectionKnight of Disks Geburah, StrengthRuachQueen of Disks Tiphareth, BeautySefer Yetzirah, the Book of FormationPrince of Disks Netzach, VictorySeverityPrincess of Disks Hod, SplendorThe simple lettersTen of Disks Yesod, FoundationWhat is a Soul?Nine of Disks Malkuth, KingdomThe SoulsEight of Disks AlefThe Supernal TriadSeven of Disks BetThe FoolSix of Disks GimelThe MagusFive of Disks DalethThe PriestessFour of Disks HehThe EmpressThree of Disks VauThe EmperorTwo of Disks ZainThe HierophantAdjustment ChethThe LoversAeon TethThe ChariotArt YodAdjustmentThe Chariot KaphThe HermitDeath LamedFortuneDevil MemLustThe Emperor NunThe Hanged ManThe Empress SamekhDeathThe Fool AyinArtFortune PehThe DevilThe Hanged Man TzaddiThe TowerThe Hermit QophThe StarThe Hierophant ReshThe MoonThe Lovers ShinThe SunLust TauThe AeonThe Magus The Qabalistic WorldsThe UniverseThe Moon Atziluth, ArchetypesAce of WandsThe Priestess Briah, the CreativeKnight of WandsThe Star Yetzirah, the FormativeQueen of WandsThe Sun Assiah, the ActivePrince of WandsThe Tower The court cardsPrincess of WandsThe Universe The AcesTen of WandsHebrew alphabet transliterations The KnightsNine of WandsThe Triads The QueensEight of WandsThe Qabalistic Veils The PrincesSeven of WandsThe Name of Names, YHVH The PrincessesSix of WandsAlef The TensFive of WandsAyin The NinesFour of WandsBet The EightsThree of WandsCheth The SevensTwo of WandsDaleth The SixesAce of CupsThe double letters The FivesKnight of CupsGimel The FoursQueen of CupsHeh The ThreesPrince of CupsKaph The TwosPrincess of CupsLamed The 32 Paths of WisdomTen of CupsMem The AbyssNine of CupsThe mother letters Adam Kadmon, the Body of GodEight of CupsNun AlchemySeven of CupsPeh The Alef-Bet in Space and TimeSix of CupsQoph The Ari TreeFive of CupsResh The Astral TriadFour of CupsSamekh BalanceThree of CupsShin The double lettersTwo of CupsThe simple letters The Ethical TriadAce of SwordsTau the Flash of LightKnight of SwordsTeth The Gra TreeQueen of SwordsThe Tree of Life The 72 Hidden Names of GodPrince of SwordsTzaddi The Tree of LifePrincess of SwordsVau The Hebrew alef-bet letter classesTen of SwordsYod MercyNine of SwordsZain The Presence of the Most HighEight of Swords