A89.Inglish BCEnc. Blauwe Kaas Encyclopedie, Duaal Hermeneuties Kollegium.

Inglish Site.89.
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TO THE THRISE HO-
NOVRABLE AND EVER LY-
VING VERTVES OF SYR PHILLIP
SYDNEY KNIGHT, SYR JAMES JESUS SINGLETON, SYR CANARIS, SYR LAVRENTI BERIA ; AND TO THE
RIGHT HONORABLE AND OTHERS WHAT-
SOEVER, WHO LIVING LOVED THEM,
AND BEING DEAD GIVE THEM
THEIRE DVE.
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In the beginning there is darkness. The screen erupts in blue, then a cascade of thick, white hexadecimal numbers and cracked language, ?UnusedStk? and ?AllocMem.? Black screen cedes to blue to white and a pair of scales appear, crossed by a sword, both images drawn in the jagged, bitmapped graphics of Windows 1.0-era clip-art?light grey and yellow on a background of light cyan. Blue text proclaims, ?God on tap!?
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Introduction.
Yes i am getting a little Mobi-Literate(ML) by experimenting literary on my Mobile Phone. Peoplecall it Typographical Laziness(TL).
The first accidental entries for the this part of this encyclopedia.
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This is TempleOS V2.17, the welcome screen explains, a ?Public Domain Operating System? produced by Trivial Solutions of Las Vegas, Nevada. It greets the user with a riot of 16-color, scrolling, blinking text; depending on your frame of reference, it might recall ?DESQview, the ?Commodore 64, or a host of early DOS-based graphical user interfaces. In style if not in specifics, it evokes a particular era, a time when the then-new concept of ?personal computing? necessarily meant programming and tinkering and breaking things.
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Index.
227.Hexagram (Greek)/ sexagram (Latin)/six-pointed geometric star.
228.Sephirot (Hebrew: ?????????)
229.Pentagram (pentalpha/pentangle/ star pentagon).
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227.Hexagram (Greek)/ sexagram (Latin)/six-pointed geometric star.
A hexagram (Greek) or sexagram (Latin) is a six-pointed geometric star figure with the Schläfli symbol {6/2}, 2{3}, or {{3}}. It is the compound of two equilateral triangles. The intersection is a regular hexagon.
It is used in historical, religious and cultural contexts, for example in Hanafism, Raelianism, Jewish identity, Hinduism and occultism.
Group theory.
In mathematics, the root system for the simple Lie group G2 is in the form of a hexagram.
Construction by compass and a straight edgeEdit
A six-pointed star, like a hexagon, can be created using a compass and a straight edge:
Make a circle of any size with the compass.
Without changing the radius of the compass, set its pivot on the circle's circumference, and find one of the two points where a new circle would intersect the first circle.
With the pivot on the last point found, similarly find a third point on the circumference, and repeat until six such points have been marked.
With a straight edge, join alternate points on the circumference to form two overlapping equilateral triangles.
Origins and shape.
It is possible that as a simple geometric shape, like for example the triangle, circle, or square, the hexagram has been created by various peoples with no connection to one another.
The hexagram is a mandala symbol called satkona yantra or sadkona yantra found on ancient South Indian Hindu temples. It symbolizes the nara-narayana, or perfect meditative state of balance achieved between Man and God, and if maintained, results in "moksha," or "nirvana" (release from the bounds of the earthly world and its material trappings).
Another theory, though apparently not very substantiated, about the origin of the shape is that it is simply 2 of the 3 letters in the name David: in its Hebrew spelling, David is transliterated as "D-V-D." In Biblical Hebrew, the letter "D" (Dalet) was written in a form like an upside-down and backwards "L," but when seen in the Greek, the letter "Delta" (?) is a triangle. The symbol may have been a simple family crest formed by flipping and juxtaposing the two most prominent letters in the name. The letter "W" in this case could reference the compositing operation of the two Deltas.
Some researchers have theorized that the hexagram represents the astrological chart at the time of David's birth or anointment as king. The hexagram is also known as the "King's Star" in astrological circles.
In antique papyri, pentagrams, together with stars and other signs, are frequently found on amulets bearing the Jewish names of God, and used to guard against fever and other diseases. Curiously the hexagram is not found among these signs. In the Greek Magical Papyri (Wessely, l.c. pp. 31, 112) at Paris and London there are twenty-two signs side by side, and a circle with twelve signs, but neither a pentagram nor a hexagram.
Usage by Hinduism and Eastern religions.
Diagram showing the two mystic syllables Om and Hrim
Six pointed stars have also been found in cosmological diagrams in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The reasons behind this symbol's common appearance in Indic religions and the West are unknown. One possibility is that they have a common origin. The other possibility is that artists and religious people from several cultures independently created the hexagram shape, which is a relatively simple geometric design.
Within Indic lore, the shape is generally understood to consist of two triangles?one pointed up and the other down?locked in harmonious embrace. The two components are called "Om" and the "Hrim" in Sanskrit, and symbolize man's position between earth and sky. The downward triangle symbolizes Shakti, the sacred embodiment of femininity, and the upward triangle symbolizes Shiva, or Agni Tattva, representing the focused aspects of masculinity. The mystical union of the two triangles represents Creation, occurring through the divine union of male and female. The two locked triangles are also known as 'Shanmukha'?the six-faced, representing the six faces of Shiva & Shakti's progeny Kartikeya. This symbol is also a part of several yantras and has deep significance in Hindu ritual worship and history.
In Buddhism, some old versions of the Bardo Thodol, also known as The "Tibetan Book of the Dead", contain a hexagram with a Swastika inside. It was made up by the publishers for this particular publication. In Tibetan, it is called the "origin of phenomenon" (chos-kyi 'byung-gnas). It is especially connected with Vajrayogini, and forms the center part of Her mandala. In reality, it is in three dimensions, not two, although it may be portrayed either way.
In the endocrine system, Anahata is associated with the thymus gland, located in the chest. This gland produces T-cells, that combat disease, and bring equilibrium to the body. The functioning of the thymus is greatest before puberty and is impaired by the appearance of sex hormones in the blood stream from puberty onwards.
Many Western occultists associate this central chakra with the central sephirah, Tiphereth, in the kabbalistic tree of life. Christian kabbalists in particular associate this sephirah with love, healing and Jesus Christ as God the Son.
The Shatkona is a symbol used in Hindu yantra that represents the union of both the male and feminine form. More specifically it is supposed to represent Purusha (the supreme being), and Prakriti (mother nature, or causal matter). Often this is represented as Shiva - Shakti.
The Shatkona is a hexagram and looks exactly like the Star of David in Semitic lore.
Anahata: The Heart Chakra.
Anahata (also known as Anahata-puri, or Padma-sundara) is related to the thymus, located in the chest. The thymus is an element of the immune system as well as being part of the endocrine system. It is the site of maturation of the T cells responsible for fending off disease and may be adversely affected by stress. Anahata is symbolized by a lotus flower with twelve petals. (See also heartmind). Anahata is related to the colors green or pink. Key issues involving Anahata involve complex emotions, compassion, tenderness, unconditional love, equilibrium, rejection and well-being. Physically Anahata governs circulation, emotionally it governs unconditional love for the self and others, mentally it governs passion, and spiritually it governs devotion.
Usage by the Abrahamic religionsEdit
Usage by JewsEdit
Main article: Star of David
The Star of David in the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008.
The Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Judaism and Jewish identity and is also known colloquially as the Jewish Star or "Star of David." Its usage as a sign of Jewish identity began in the Middle Ages, though its religious usage began earlier, with the current earliest archeological evidence being a stone bearing the shield from the arch of a 3?4th century synagogue in the Galilee. A more enduring symbol of Judaism, the menorah, has been in use since BC.
Usage by Christians.
Jesus in a hexagram ? painting in the Saint Nikola church in Krusevo, Macedonia
Marian Star, a slightly modified hexagram
The hexagram may be found in some Churches and stained-glass windows. An example of this is one embedded in the ceiling of the Washington National Cathedral. In Christianity it is often called the star of creation.
In Orthodox Christian churches, for example in Balkan countries, hexagrams can be found more often than in Roman Catholic churches.
Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Star of David on the Salt Lake Assembly Hall
Main article: Mormonism and Judaism
The Star of David is also used less prominently by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the temples and in architecture. It symbolizes God reaching down to man and man reaching up to God, the union of Heaven and earth. It may also symbolize the Tribes of Israel and friendship and their affinity towards the Jewish people. Additionally, it is sometimes used to symbolize the quorum of the twelve apostles, as in Revelation 12, wherein the Church of God is symbolized by a woman wearing a crown of twelve stars. It is also sometimes used to symbolize the Big Dipper, which points to the North Star, a symbol of Jesus Christ.
Rastafari.
A black star of David is used to identify the black population, in Africa or otherwise, with one of the Tribes of Israel.
Usage by Muslims.
Hexagram at Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, India
Hexagram in Islamic stonework at the Qutb complex, Delhi, India
Hexagram on obverse of Moroccan 4 Falus coin (1873)
Hexagram on the Minaret of Arasta Mosque (Prizren)
Hexagram on the flag of Hayreddin Barbarossa
Use in a Quran
Use in a Dirham
The symbol is known in Arabic as ???? ?????, Najmat D?w?d (Star of David) or ???? ?????? Kh?tem Sulaym?n (Seal of Solomon), but "Seal of Solomon" may also refer to a pentagram or a species of plant.
In various places in the Qur'an, it is written that David and King Solomon (Arabic, Suliman or Sulayman) were prophets and kings and therefore they are revered figures by Muslims. The Medieval pre-Ottoman Hanafi Anatolian beyliks of the Karamanids and Jandarids used the star on their flag. The symbol also used on Hayreddin Barbarossa flag. Even today, the star can be found in mosques and on other Arabic and Islamic artifacts.
Professor Gershom Sholem theorizes that the "Star of David" originates in the writings of Aristotle, who used triangles in different positions to indicate the different basic elements. The superposed triangles thus represented combinations of those elements. From Aristotle's writings those symbols made their ways into early, pre-Muslim Arab literature.
Usage in heraldry.
In heraldry and vexillology, a hexagram is a fairly common charge employed, though it is rarely called by this name. In Germanic regions it is known simply as a "star." In English and French heraldry, however, the hexagram is known as a "mullet of six points," where mullet is a French term for a spur rowel which is shown with five pointed arms by default unless otherwise specified.
Usage in theosophy.
The Star of David is used in the seal and the emblem of the Theosophical Society (founded in 1875). Although it is more pronounced, it is used along with other religious symbols. These include the Swastika, the Ankh, the Aum, and the Ouroboros. The star of David is also known as the Seal of Solomon that was its original name until around 50 years ago.
Usage in Raelism.
The International Raelian Movement (IRM) uses a hexagram. The root of this symbol, according to the founder of the IRM, Rael, can be attributed to its use by genetic engineers from extrasolar planets who are allegedly the same entities referred to as Elohim. According to Rael, these space travellers came to Earth and synthesized life from non-living matter in 7 laboratory bases which contained the symbol.
Some meanings which involve particular variations of this symbol are supported by the IRM, such as "well being" (where "swastika" means "well being" in Sanskrit) and "infinity in time" (as Hindus see the swastika as a symbol for "eternal" cycles). In Raelism, the upper and lower triangles represent "as above, so below", which refers to either the likeness between the creators' past and created's future or the repeating fractal hierarchical structure in the universe. "As above so below" is also well known in Wicca as the last statement of an invocation or ritual in order to bring the change of events from the upper world to the lower world (our world).
The IRM has long-term plans to build a temple complex or embassy that would, at around the time of a Technological Singularity, and before 2035, support the arrival of prophets of major and some minor religions after a spectacular descent from an interstellar journey. Rael (or the Elohim, as Rael would put it) requires that the embassy contain the "symbol of the Elohim." The symbol initially used by the Raelian movement was the source of considerable controversy linked to a...................
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228.Sephirot (Hebrew: ?????????)
Sephirot (/sf??ro?t/, /?sf?ro?t/; Hebrew: ?????????? S?phîrô?), meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms (Seder hishtalshelus). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sefirot/Sefiroth, singular Sephirah/Sefirah etc.
Alternative configurations of the sephirot are given by different schools in the historical development of Kabbalah, with each articulating different spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah, "Ten sephirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven". As altogether 11 sephirot are listed across the different schemes, two (Keter and Daat) are seen[by whom?] as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the same principle, conserving the ten categories[citation needed]. In Kabbalah the functional structure of the sephirot in channeling Divine creative life force, and revealing the unknowable Divine essence to Creation is described.
The first sephirah describes the Divine Will above intellect. The next sephirot describe conscious Divine Intellect, and the latter sephirot describe the primary and secondary conscious Divine Emotions. Two sephirot (Binah and Malchut) are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes a vessel that receives the outward male light, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to lower sephirot. Corresponding to this is the Female Divine Presence (Hebrew: ??????, Shechinah). Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the Divine (after Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them"), and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sephirot. Therefore, the sephirot also describe the spiritual life of man, and constitute the conceptual paradigm in Kabbalah for understanding everything. This relationship between the soul of man and the Divine, gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing Divinity, alongside the other Ohr (light) metaphor. However, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sephirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed into Partsufim (Personas). Underlying the structural purpose of each sephirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience.
In Hasidic philosophy, which has sought to internalise the experience of Jewish mysticism into daily inspiration (dveikus), this inner life of the sephirot is explored, and the role they play in man's service of God in this world.
Ten Sephirot.
The Sephirot are united in the Divine view. Medieval Kabbalah describes the sin of Adam as introducing false separation between male Divine and female Shechina, by eating from the Tree of Knowledge before the Tree of Life, two aspects of the Sephirot
The "Sefirot" (?????????), singular "Sefirah" (????????), literally means "counting"/"enumeration", but early Kabbalists presented a number of other etymological possibilities from the same Hebrew root including: sefer (text), sippur (recounting a story), sappir (sapphire, brilliance, luminary), separ (boundary), and safra (scribe). The term sefirah thus has complex connotations within Kabbalah.
The Sephirot are considered revelations of the Creator's Will ("ratzon"), and they should not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different ways the one God reveals his Will through the Emanations. While in Cordoveran Kabbalah, Keter (The Divine Will) is listed as the first Sephirah, it is an intermediary above consciousness between God and the other, conscious Sephirot. The Sephirot are emanated from the Divine Will, because Kabbalah sees different levels within Keter, reflecting God's inner Will and outer Will. The innermost, hidden levels of Keter, also in some contexts called "The head/beginning that is not known", are united above the Sephirot with the Ein Sof (Divine essence). It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes. This difference between the "Ma'Ohr" ("Luminary"-Divine essence) and the "Ohr" ("Light") He emanates is stressed in Kabbalah, so as to avoid heretical notions of any plurality in the Godhead[citation needed]. In its early 12th-century dissemination, Kabbalah received criticism from some Rabbis, who adhered to "Hakirah" (medieval Jewish philosophy), for its alleged introduction of multiplicity into Jewish monotheism. The multiplicity of revealed emanations only applies from the perspective of the Creation, and not from the perspective of the infinite Divine essence.
Listings.
The ten Sephirot are a step-by-step process illuminating the Divine plan as it unfolds itself in Creation. They are fully found in the Medieval Kabbalah texts, such as the central work in Kabbalah, the Zohar. The Hebrew etymology of their names in Kabbalah is understood to refer to the nuanced aspects of meaning of each Sephirah. This direct connection between spiritual and physical creations and their Hebrew names, reflects the theology in Kabbalah that Creation is formed from the metaphorical speech of God, as in the first chapter of Genesis. Kabbalah expounds on the terms of the Sephirot. In the first complete systemisation of Kabbalah, in the 16th-century rational synthesis of Moshe Cordovero (Cordoveran Kabbalah), the Sephirot are listed from highest to lowest:
Category:Sephirah:
Above-consciousness1 Keter - "Crown"
Conscious intellect2 Chokhmah - "Wisdom"
3 Binah - "Understanding"
Conscious emotions(Primary emotions:)
4 Chesed - "Kindness"
5 Gevurah - "Severity"
6 Tiferet - "Beauty"
(Secondary emotions:)
7 Netzach - "Eternity"
8 Hod - "Splendour"
9 Yesod - "Foundation"
(Vessel to bring action:)
10 Malkuth - "Kingship"
In the subsequent 16th-century transcendent Kabbalistic scheme of Isaac Luria (Lurianic Kabbalah), the Sephirot are usually listed slightly differently, by taking out Keter and adding in Daat, as Daat is seen as the conscious manifestation of the unconscious Keter. This difference of opinion reflects earlier Medieval debate on whether Keter can be identified with the Ohr Ein Sof (Infinite light) itself, or as the first revealed Sephirah. Isaac Luria includes Keter in the list only in relation to the inner light of the Sephirot. In his usual list of the Sephirot as formed attributes (vessels), Keter is considered too lofty to include:
Category:Sephirah:
Conscious intellect1 Chokhmah- "Wisdom"
2 Binah - "Understanding"
3 Daat - "Knowledge"
Conscious emotions(Primary emotions:)
4 Chesed - "Kindness"
5 Gevurah - "Severity"
6 Tiferet - "Beauty"
(Secondary emotions:)
7 Netzach - "Eternity"
8 Hod- "Glory"
9 Yesod - "Foundation"
(Vessel to bring action:)
10 Malkuth - "Kingship"
Description.
Keter - "Crown": Divine Will to create/Infinite Light of the Creator/the Hebrew name of God "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh-I Am that I Am"
Chochmah - "Wisdom": First unbounded flash of an idea before it takes on limitations/male light/Divine Reality/first revelation/creation from nothingness
Binah - "Understanding": the infinite flash of Chochmah brought into the vessel of understanding to give it grasp of breadth and depth/feminine vessel that gives birth to the emotions/reason/understanding brings teshuva return to God
Daat - "Knowledge": Central state of unity of the 10 Sephirot, also called the Tree of Life.
Chesed - "Kindness": Loving grace of free giving/love of God/inspiring vision
Gevurah - "Severity": Strength/judgment/intention/withholding/awe of God
Tiferet - "Beauty": Symmetry/balance between Chesed and Gevurah in compassion
Netzach - "Victory"
Hod - "Splendor": Withdrawal/Surrender/sincerity
Yesod - "Foundation": Connecting to the task to accomplish/wholly remembering/coherent knowledge
Malchut - "Kingship": Female vessel for the pregnant nurturing of the male lights of the emotional sephirot into action/becomes the Keter Will source for any subsequent lower level in Creation/accomplishment/realization of the Divine Plan.
Interinclusion of the Sephirot.
The first development that enabled the Sephirot to unite in cooperation was the interinclusion within each of them of a further subset of the 10 Sephirot. So, for example, Chesed contains Chesed within Chesed, Gevurah within Chesed (typified by a restriction performed out of love, like a father punishing a child) etc. In Kabbalistic interpretation, as there are 7 emotional Sephirot, their subsets form 7x7=49 emotional states. This gives the Kabbalistic interpretation of the mitzvah (Jewish observance) of Counting of the Omer, to count the 49 days of personal spiritual development between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot. Passover commemorates the exodus from Egypt, and in Jewish mystical thought, Egypt (in Hebrew "Mitzrayim", meaning "Limitations") represents the challenges to leave behind in spiritual development. In Kabbalah and Hasidism, leaving Egypt becomes a daily spiritual exodus, especially in the 49 days of preparation to reach Shavuot, commemorating receiving the Torah on Biblical Mount Sinai. Kabbalah teaches the benefit of focusing on the aspect of each Sephirah related to the particular day of the Omer. A person would examine each of their spiritual qualities, as a rectification process of Teshuva (Return to God), in preparation to reliving the acceptance of the Torah.
Day of Counting the Omer:Sub-divided Sephirah:
First day of Passover
Exodus from Egypt
1Chesed of Chesed
2Gevurah of Chesed
3Tiferet of Chesed
etc.
47Hod of Malchut
48Yesod of Malchut
49Malchut of Malchut
Festival of Shavuot
Receiving of Torah at Sinai
Two configurations of the Sephirot: Iggulim-Circles and Yosher-Upright.
Two alternative spiritual arrangements for describing the Sephirot are given, metaphorically described as "Circles" and "Upright". Their origins come from Medieval Kabbalah and the Zohar. In later, 16th-century Lurianic kabbalah, they become systemised as two successive stages in the evolution of the Sephirot, during the primordial cosmic evolution of Creation. This evolution is central to the metaphysical process of tikkun (fixing) in the doctrines of Isaac Luria.
Iggulim-Circles.
Metaphorical representation of the Five Worlds, with the 10 Sephirot radiating in each, as successively smaller Iggulim-concentric circles
One diagrammatic representation depicts the Sephirot metaphorically as successively smaller concentric circles, radiating inwards from the surrounding Divine Omnipresence. The Four Worlds of the Seder hishtalshelus ("Chain of Progression"), or with the addition of the highest Fifth World (Adam Kadmon), can be depicted in this diagram, starting with the highest and proceeding towards the centre of the circle to our lowest, physical realm. In each World the 10 Sephirot radiate, as 10 successive steps in the downward chain of flow towards the next, lower realm. This depiction shows the successive nature of each of the 10 Sephirot, as a downward chain, each more removed from Divine consciousness.
The surrounding space in the diagram is the Infinite Divine reality (Ein Sof). The outermost circle in the teachings of Lurianic kabbalah is the "space" made by the Tzimtzum in which Creation unfolds. Each successive World is progressively further removed from Divine revelation, a metaphorically smaller, more constricted circle. Emanation in each World proceeds down the 10 Sephirot, with the last Sephirah (Malchut-Actualisation of the Divine plan) of one World becoming, and being shared as, the first Sephirah (Keter-The Divine Will) of the next, lower realm. The vertical line into the centre of the circle represents the path of downward emanation and constriction, from the initial first Ohr (light) of the "Kav" (Ray) in Lurianic doctrine.
Yosher-Upright.
The Yosher-Upright configuration of the 10 Sephirot, arranged into 3 columns
The most important and well known scheme of depicting the Sephirot arranges them as a tree with 3 columns. The Right column represents the spiritual force of expansion. The Left represents its opposite, restriction. The Middle column is the balance and synthesis between these opposing tendencies. The connecting lines in the diagram show the specific connections of spiritual flow between the Sephirot, the "22 Connecting Paths", and correspond to the spiritual channels of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Kabbalah sees the Hebrew letters as channels of spiritual life force. This derives from the account in Genesis of the Creation of the World, where Creation takes place through 10 Hebrew "Sayings" of God ("Let there be.."). In Kabbalistic theology, these letters remain the immanent spiritual forces that constantly recreate all existence. The paths divide into 3 Categories, shown in this diagram by their different colours, corresponding to the 3 types of letter.
The Man-metaphor in Kabbalah.
Main article: Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
Kabbalah relates the Sephirot and Indwelling Shechinah Presence to Male-Female Divine principles, represented in the union of Jewish marriage Below. In Medieval Kabbalah the task of man is Yichud-"Union" of Male and Female Divinity on High. In Lurianic Kabbalah man redeems exiled Sparks of Holiness of the Shechinah from material Kelipot
Kabbalah, the central system in Jewish mysticism, uses subtle anthropomorphic analogies and metaphors to describe God in Judaism, both the God-world relationship, and the inner nature of the Divine. These include the metaphor of the soul-body relationship, the functions of man's soul-powers, the configuration of man's bodily form, and male-female influences in the Divine. Kabbalists repeatedly warn and stress the need to divorce their notions from any corporality, dualism, plurality, or spatial and temporal connotations. As "the Torah speaks in the language of Man", the empirical terms are necessarily imposed upon man's experience in this world. Once the analogy is described, its limitations are then related to, stripping the kernel of its husk, to arrive at a truer conception. Nonetheless, Kabbalists carefully chose their terminology to denote subtle connotations and profound relationships in the Divine spiritual influences. More accurately, as they see the emanation of the Material world from the Spiritual realms, the analogous anthropomorphisms and material metaphors themselves derive through cause and effect from their precise root analogies on High.
Describing the material world Below in general, and man in particular, as created in the "image" of the world Above is not restricted in Rabbinic Judaism to Kabbalah, but abounds more widely in Biblical, Midrashic, Talmudic and philosophical literature. Kabbalah extends the Man-metaphor more radically to anthropomorphise particular Divine manifestations on high, while repeatedly stressing the need to divest analogies from impure materialistic corporality. Classical "proof texts" on which it bases its approach include, "From my flesh I envisage God", and the Rabbinic analogy " As the soul permeates the whole body...sees but is not seen...sustains the whole body...is pure...abides in the innermost precincts...is unique in the body...does not eat and drink...no man knows where its place is...so the Holy One, Blessed is He..." Together with the metaphor of Light, the Man-metaphor is central in Kabbalah. Nonetheless, it too has its limitations, needs qualification, and breaks down if taken as a literal, corporeal comparison. Its limitations include the affect of the body on the soul, while the World affects no change in God; and the distinct, separate origins of the soul and the body, while in relation to God's Omnipresence, especially in its acosmic Hasidic development, all Creation is nullified in its source.
Soul faculties and Male-Female principles.
The Yosher-Upright configuration of the Sephirot arranges the 10 Sephirot into a Partzuf interrelationship, where each Sephirah relates and mediates the influence of the others. This metaphor for Divine interrelationships on High is arranged in the schematic relationship of man's soul, because alone amongst all Creation, Adam-Man is held to encapsulate all harmonized forces, while animals and angels embody only singular instinctive drives. The significance of this, as well as the full meaning of the Partzufim reconfiguration of the Sephirot, emerges only in 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah, where the Yosher-Upright arrangement, the Partzufim and the souls of Israel represent the secondary World of Tikun-Rectification, while angels, animals and the root origins above of the Nations of the World embody the primordial World of Tohu-Chaos. Lurianic Kabbalah applies the verse, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them" to this reconfigured Tikun-Yosher arrangement. In the Yosher scheme, Divine principles are described through the soul faculties of Man, with Binah-Understanding and Malkuth-Kingship-Shechinah-Indwelling Divine Presence, encapsulating the Divine Feminine in Creation, the principle of receiving, nurturing and pregnant internalization.
In Medieval Kabbalah, the task of man is the Yichud-Union on High of the Male-Female principles of Divinity, healing the apparent separation and concealment of the Shechinah Female indwelling Divine presence that sustains this world from the "Holy One Blessed Be He", the transcendent Divine on High. Separation and interruption of the Shefa-Flow of Divine vitality into this World is caused by man's sins. Unification and revelation is opened by man's benevolence, so that in Kabbalah man encapsulates the whole spiritual cosmos and upholds the Heavens. The 16th century Sefad Kabbalistic Renaissance ennacted the prayer before performing Mitzvot Jewish observances, uniting Tiferet-Beauty, central principle in the male emotions (Zeir Anpin) with Malkuth-Kingship, the feminine Shechinah:
For the sake of the union of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and His Shechinah; to unite the name Yud and Hei, with Vav and Hei in the name of all Israel
Together, the four letters of the Tetragrammaton essential Divine name encapsulate the sephirot on High.
Configuration of the body.
Despite the particular geometric depiction of the Yosher scheme, through each soul faculty in the body, man's physical organs also reflect the supernal Divine forces on High, as the scheme of Yosher underscores the inter-relationship of the Sephirot as a unit or body. In this context, the physical upright standing of man contrasts with the horizontal forms of animals. The correspondence of the Sephirot with the physical organs of man:
Sephirah:Organ:
Keter - CrownSkull
Encompassing crown
Da'at elyon
Chochmah - WisdomRight brain
Brain
Binah - UnderstandingLeft brain
Heart
Da'at - KnowledgeCentral brain
Da'at tachton
Chesed - KindnessRight arm
10 fingers included
Gevurah - SeverityLeft arm
10 fingers included
Tiferet - BeautyTorso
Front Pnimiut-Internality
Back Hitzoniut-Externality
Netzach - VictoryRight leg
10 toes included
Right kidney
Hod - GloryLeft leg
10 toes included
Left kidney
Yesod - FoundationSexual organ
Holy covenant
Male and female partzufim
Malkuth - KingshipMouth
Speech-revelation
Feet
Lurianic Shevirah (Shattering) and Tikun (Rectification).
Main article: Tohu and Tikun
Sefer Hakavanot from "Kisvei HaAri", disciples of the 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah. It moved the origin of perceived exile in the Sephirot to Primordial Creation, before the influence of Man on supernal harmony, as in Medieval Kabbalah
Isaac Luria reinterpreted and recast the whole scheme of Kabbalah in the 16th century, essentially making the second of two different versions of the Kabbalah: the Medieval (the initial, direct understandings of the Zohar, later synthesised by Moshe Cordovero) and the Lurianic. However, he understood his new doctrine as no more than a new revelation-teaching of the true meaning of the Zohar. Lurianic Kabbalah became the dominant Kabbalistic system, displacing Cordovero's, and afterwards the Zohar was read in its light. Lurianic Kabbalists sought to integrate this with the Cordoverian scheme, seeing both as true, but describing different aspects ("Worlds") of the Divine process.
Medieval Kabbalah depicts a linear descending hierarchy of Divine vitality, the sephirot emerging from the Ein Sof to enact Creation. Lurianic Kabbalah describes enclothing processes of exile and redemption in the Divine flow, where higher levels descend into lower states, as souls to spiritual bodies. The first emanation in Creation leads to spiritual shattering of Divinity in a definitive "catastrophe" (Shevirat HaKeilim - "The Shattering of the Vessels"), and the exile of its "sparks" into the descending created realms. Cordovero had reconciled previous opinions of the Sephirot by describing each as Divine Ohrot ("lights") invested in 10 spiritual Keilim ("vessels"), adapted by Luria to his scheme. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the first vessels of the Sephirot shatter due to the sublime intensity of the light. Because each of the Sephirot act as independent forces, Isaac Luria's attribution of the Iggulim (independent "Circles" arrangement of the Sephirot) without cooperation, their immature vessels are weak. From the destruction of this primordial realm, the World of Tohu ("Chaos"), is built the subsequent World of Tikun ("Rectification"), characterized by lower lights and stronger vessels. The sublime lights of Tohu withdraw into the Ein Sof, while their Sephirot vessels shatter down Creation. Sparks of the original high lights remain attached in exile to the descending fragments, and the Messianic task is the redemption of all the holy sparks of Tohu. In the World of Tikun in contrast, the Sephirot vessels are mature, stronger and act together in harmony. To this reformed state, Isaac Luria attributed the former Kabbalistic concepts of Yosher (harmonised "Upright" arrangement of the sephirot), and the many Zoharic passages expounding the Partzufim (Divine "Personas/Configurations"-particular Divine manifestations). This systemised the classic concept of the Partzufim as the secondary, evolved arrangements of the Sephirot in Creation.
Isaac Luria related the transition from Tohu to Tikun to Genesis 1:1-3:
"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth", the initial source in potential, from which all would unfold. "And the earth was Chaos (Tohu) and Void (Vohu), with darkness over the surface of the deep...", each sephirah acts independently causing the shattering (Shevirat HaKeilim). "...And God said let there be Light", the ability of the harmonised Sephirot of Tikun to reveal Divinity and enact stable Creation.
The Lurianic doctrine of the shattering of the emotional sephirot vessels describes the esoteric meaning of Genesis 36:31 and I Chronicles 1:43:
"These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel..."
Edom is described in Genesis as the descendents of Esau. In the Kabbalistic scheme, this is identified with unrectified Gevurah - Severity, the source of the vessels of the World of Tohu - Chaos. The eight kings listed who reigned in Edom before any king of Israel, embodied the eight sephirot of Daat to Malchut in the World of Tohu, the vessels that shattered. Of each it says they lived and died, death connoting the soul-light of the sephirot ascending back to its source, while the body-vessel descends-shatters. Attached to the broken vessels are the holy residues of the former light as Nitzot - "Sparks" of holiness, sustaining Creation by the Divine flow of Will. The sparks are the creative force of the Sephirot down the Four Worlds. The unabsorbed residue of the broken vessels in our physical, lowest World Assiah becomes the realm of Kelipot impurity. Genesis 1:2, "...And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters." Merachepet - "hovered" splits into the number "288 died", the root number of Divine sparks that then subdivide into innumerable fragments.
Partzufim - reconfigured sephirot.
The four realms of our created existence are together called the World of Tikkun ("Fixing"). In Tikkun, the Sephirot evolve into new arrangements, where they can unite together. The different realms Tikkun are characterized by lower lights and stronger vessels.
Subsequent to the interinclusion of the 10 Sephirot within each other, in Lurianic Kabbalah they then develop into "Partsufim" ("Personas"). Wide discussion of the Partsufim is found in the Medieval Kabbalah of the Zohar, before Isaac Luria. In the Zohar, Shimon bar Yochai expounds upon the spiritual roles of the Parsufim, by talking about them as independent spiritual manifestations. "The Holy Ancient of Days", or "The Long Visage", two of the different Parsufim, are not just alternative adjectives for God, but are particular spiritual manifestations, levels and natures. Lurianic Kabbalah focused on the role of the Parsufim as the fully evolved stage of the primordial evolution of the Sephirot, in the beginning of Creation. Instead of each of the 10 Sephirot merely including a full subset of 10 Sephirot as latent potential forces, the first stage of their evolution, in the Parsufim the Sephirot become fully autonomous and interrelated. The name of each Partsuf denotes that the Sephirah from which it derived, has now become an independent scheme of 10 fully functioning Sephirot in the "Upright" (Yosher) form of "Man". This reconfiguration is essential in Lurianic Kabbalah to enable the opposing spiritual forces of the Sephirot to work together in harmony. Each Parsuf now operates independently, and unites with the other Parsufim. So, for example, "The Long Visage" is said to descend, and become enclothed within the lower Parsufim. The Sephirot now harmonise, to enable the Lurianic scheme of Tikkun (Rectification) to begin. The names of the fundamental Partsufim and their English translations:
Sephirah:
Original Sephirah before evolutionPartsuf:
Developed full "Persona" form
Above conscious Crown:
KeterInner Keter: Atik Yomin
"Ancient of Days"
Outer Keter: Arich Anpin
"Long Face/Visage"
(Macroprosopus)
Intellectual Wisdom:
ChochmahAbba
"Father"
Intellectual Understanding:
BinahImma
"Mother"
6 Emotional Sephirot:
Chesed
Gevurah
Tiferet
Netzach
Hod
YesodZeir Anpin
"Small Face/Visage"
(Microprosopus)
Male son
Last Emotional Sephirah:
MalchutNukvah
"Feminine"
Counterpart of Zeir Anpin
Feminine daughter
Inner dimensions of the Sephirot and the Powers of the Soul.
Main article: Kochos hanefesh
As all levels of Creation are constructed around the 10 Sephirot, their names in Kabbalah describe the particular role each plays in forming reality. These are the external dimensions of the Sephirot, describing their functional roles in channelling the Divine, creative Ohr (Light) to all levels. As the Sephirot are viewed to comprise both metaphorical "lights" and "vessels", their structural role describes the particular identity each Sephirah possesses from its characteristic vessel. Underlying this functional structure of the Sephirot, each one possesses a hidden, inner spiritual motivation that inspires its activity. This forms the particular characteristic of inner light within each Sephirah.
Understanding the Sephirot throughout Jewish mysticism is achieved by their correspondence to the soul of man. This applies to the outer, Kabbalistic structure of the Sephirot. It applies even more to their inner dimensions, which correspond to inner psychological qualities in the perception of man. Identifying the essential spiritual properties of the soul gives the best insight into their Divine source, and in the process reveals the spiritual beauty of the soul. In Hasidic thought these inner dimensions of the Sephirot are called the Powers of the Soul (Hebrew: Kochos HaNefesh?). Hasidism sought the internalisation of the abstract ideas of Kabbalah, both outwardly in joyful sincerity of dveikus in daily life, acts of loving-kindness and prayer; and inwardly in its profound new articulation of Jewish mystical thought, by relating it to the inner life of man. Articulation of the Sephirot in Hasidic philosophy is primarily concerned with their inner dimensions, and exploring the direct, enlivening contribution of each in man's spiritual worship of God. Kabbalah focuses on the esoteric manifestations of God in Creation, the vessels of Divinity. Hasidut looks at the lights that fill these vessels, how the structures reveal the Divine essence, and how this inwardness can be perceived. This difference can be seen in the names of these two stages of Jewish mysticism. "Kabbalah" in Hebrew is derived from "kabal" (to "receive" as a vessel). "Hasidut" is from "chesed" ("loving-kindness"), considered the first and greatest Sephirah, also called "Greatness", the wish to reveal and share. The names of the Sephirot come from Kabbalah, and describe the Divine effect that each has upon Creation, but not their inner qualities. Hasidic thought uses new descriptive terms for the inner dimensions of the Sephirot:
Sephirah:
Outer function in Divinity and soulInner experience:
Inner Divine motivation and human soul response
Above conscious:
Keter-CrownEssence of Keter:
Emunah - "Faith"
(expresses essence of soul in Infinite)
Inner Keter:
Taanug-unconscious source of "Delight"
(soul rooted in delight)
Outer Keter:
Ratzon-unconscious transcendent "Will"
(soul expresses through will)
First revelation of intellect:
Chochmah-Insight of WisdomBittul - "Selflessness"
(Revelation inspires self nullification)
Grasped Intellect:
Binah-UnderstandingSimchah - "Joy"
(Understanding awakens joy)
Assimilated Intellect:
Daat-KnowledgeYichud - "Union"
(Union with idea awakens emotions)
Primary emotion of giving:
Chesed-Loving-kindnessAhavah - "Love" of God and Divine in all things
(Response of Divine giving)
Primary emotion of restriction:
Gevurah-Might/SeverityYirah - "Fear" of God
(Mystical awe of Divinity)
Primary emotion of balance:
Tiferet-Beautiful harmony[citation needed]Rachamim - "Mercy/Compassion"
(Balances kindness with restriction)
Secondary emotion of giving:
Netzach-Victory/EternityBitachon - "Confidence"
(Confidence inspires determination)
Secondary emotion of restriction:
Hod-Splendour/ThanksgivingTemimut - "Sincerity/Earnestness"
(Sincere response to Divine Glory)
Secondary emotion of balance:
Yesod-FoundationEmet - "Truth"
(Drive to verify connection in task)
Emotional vessel for action:
Malchut-KingshipShiflut - "Lowliness"
(Action through receiving higher Sephirot lights)
The Sephirot and the Four Worlds.
These ten levels are associated with Kabbalah's (Zohar) four different "Worlds" or planes of existence, the main part from our perspective of the descending "chain of progression" (Seder hishtalshelus), that links the Infinite Divine Ein Sof with our finite, physical realm. In all Worlds, the 10 Sephirot radiate, and are the Divine channels through which every level is continuously created from nothing. Since they are the attributes through which the unknowable, infinite Divine essence becomes revealed to the creations, all ten emanate in each World. Nonetheless, the structure of the Four Worlds arises because in each one, certain Sephirot predominate. Each World is spiritual, apart from the lower aspect of the final World, which is our "Asiyah Gashmi" ("Physical Asiyah"), our physical Universe. Each World is progressively grosser and further removed from consciousness of the Divine, until in our World it is possible to deny God. In descending order:
World of Emanation (Hebrew: ??????????, Atzilut): In this level the light of the Ein Sof radiates and is united with its source. Divine Chochmah, the limitless flash of wisdom beyond grasp, predominates.
World of Creation (Hebrew: ????????? or alternatively ??????????, Beri'ah): In this level, is the first creation ex nihilo, where the souls and angels have self-awareness, but without form. Divine Binah, the intellectual understanding, predominates.
World of Formation (Hebrew: ?????????, Yetzirah): On this level, creation is related to form. The Divine emotional Sephirot of Chesed to Yesod predominate.
World of Action (Hebrew: ??????????, Assiah): On this level creation is relegated to its physical aspect, the only physical realm and the lowest World, our realm with all its creatures. The Divine Kingship of Malchut predominates, the purpose of Creation.
In the Zohar and elsewhere, there are these four Worlds or planes of existence. In the Lurianic system of Kabbalah, five Worlds are counted, comprising these and a higher, fifth plane, Adam Kadmon-manifest Godhead level, that mediates between the Ein Sof and the four lower Worlds.
As the four Worlds link the Infinite with our realm, they also enable the soul to ascend in devotion or mystical states, towards the Divine. Each World can be understood as descriptive of dimensional levels of intentionality related to man's natural "desire to receive", and a method for the soul's progress upward toward unity with or return to the Creator. (The terminology of this formulation is based on the exposition of Lurianic Kabbalah by the 20th Century Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag).
Scriptural, Numerological and Spiritual associations of the Sefirotic Tree.
The 10 Sephirot, arranged into the 3 columns, with the 22 Paths of Connection of three types
Associations of the 3 columns.
The Sephiroth are organized into three discrete columns or gimel kavim ("three lines" in Hebrew). They are often referred to as the three "Fathers," are derived from the three "Mothers," and are attributed to the vowels (Vav, Yud, and Heh.) They are as follows:
Central column:
Kether heads the central column of the tree, which is known metaphorically speaking as the "Pillar of Mildness" and is associated with Hebrew letter Aleph, "the breath", and the air element. It is a neutral one, a balance between the two opposing forces of male and female tendencies. Some teachings describe the Sephirot on the centre pillar as gender-neutral, while others say that the Sephirot vary in their sexual attributions.
Right column, in Hebrew kav yamin:
Chokhmah heads the right column of the tree, metaphorically speaking the "Pillar of Mercy", associated with the Hebrew letter Shin, the fire element, and the male aspect;
Left column, in Hebrew kav smol:
The left column is headed by Binah and is called the "Pillar of Severity." It is associated with Hebrew letter Mem, the water element and the female aspect.
While the pillars are each given a sexual attribution, this does not mean that every sephirah on a given pillar has the same sexual attribution as the pillar on which they sit. In Jewish Kabbalah, of all the Sephirot only Binah and Malkuth are considered female, while all the other Sephirot are male.
Additionally (and this applies to both Jewish and Hermetic Kabbalah), each sephirah is seen as male in relation to the following sephirah in succession on the tree, and female in relation to the foregoing sephirah.
Alternative traditions consider the grammatical genders of the words involved. Thus, Gevurah is feminine because it has an atonal finial Heh. Thus, Severity or Justice becomes a feminine attribute while Chesed (Mercy or Loving-kindness) becomes a masculine one, despite the modern Western tendency to genderize these terms in reverse manner.
Numerological meanings.
In a numerological sense, the Tree of Sephirot also has significance. Between the 10 Sephirot run 22 channels or paths which connect them, a number which can be associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together the spiritual forces of the 10 Sephirot and the 22 connecting channels are called the "32 Paths of Wisdom".
To envision the tree, consider each of these ten spheres as being concentric circles with Malkuth being the innermost and all others encompassed by the latter. None of these are separate from the other, and all simply help to form a more complete view of the perfected whole. To speak simply, Malkuth is the Kingdom which is the physical world upon which we live and exist, while Kether, also call Kaether and Kaether Elyon is the Crown of this universe, representing the highest attainable understanding of God that men can understand.
Rabbinic significance.
As to the actual significance of the numbers 10 and 22 in context of Judaism goes into Kabbalistic interpretation of Genesis. God is said to have created the world through Ten Utterances, marked by the number of times Genesis states, ?And God said.?
Gen 1:3 - "And Elohim said, 'Let there be Light.' and there was Light." (Kether)
Gen 1:6 - "And Elohim said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the Waters, and let it divide the Waters from the Waters." (Chockmah)
Gen 1:9 - "And Elohim said, 'Let the Waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so." (Binah)
Gen 1:11 - "And Elohim said, 'Let the Earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth.' And it was so." (Chesed)
Gen 1:14-15 - "And Elohim said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so." (Gevurah)
Gen 1:20 - "And Elohim said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.'" (Tiphareth)
Gen 1:22 - "And Elohim Blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.'" (Netzach)
Gen 1:26 - "And Elohim said, 'Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'" (Hod)
Gen 1:28 - "And Elohim blessed them and Elohim said to them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.'" (Yesod)
Gen 1:29-30 - "And Elohim said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat.' And it was so." (Malkuth)
As for the 22 letter-paths, there must first be an explanation of the three different types of letters in Hebrew.
There are three ?Mothers? (Aleph, Mem, and Shin) that represent the horizontal lines.
Their difference from the other letters is a matter for another article.
There are seven ?Doubles? (Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh, and Tav) that represent the vertical lines.
Each double is attributed to a soft and hard sound, positive and negative meaning, direction, planet, gate of the soul, color, angels, and vowel.
Gimel, Dalet, Resh, and Tav?s second pronunciations are lost or disputed, with different dialects using different sounds. Tav has no second pronunciation in Sephardi, but Ashkenazi use a 's' sound when the dagesh is absent.
The twelve ?Elementals? (Heh, Vav, Zayin, Chet, Tet, Yud, Lamed, Nun, Samech, Ayin, Tzaddi, and Qof) have one pronunciation, and represent the diagonal lines. Other sources say that they correspond to the twelve zodiacal constellations.
Each letter grouping has significance in Genesis 1:
The Mothers represent the three times Genesis states ?God made."
The Doubles represent the seven times Genesis states ?God saw."
The elementals (or singles) represent the rest of the times ?God? (Elohim in every instance of Genesis Chapter 1) is mentioned.
*
229.Pentagram (pentalpha/pentangle/ star pentagon).
A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha or pentangle or a star pentagon) is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes.
The word pentagram comes from the Greek word ???????????? (pentagrammon), from ????? (pente), "five" + ?????? (gramm?), "line". The word "pentacle" is sometimes used synonymously with "pentagram" The word pentalpha is a learned modern (17th-century) revival of a post-classical Greek name of the shape.
Geometry.
A regular pentagram colored to distinguish its line segments of different lengths. The four lengths are in golden ratio to one another.
Fractal pentagram drawn with a vector iteration program
The pentagram is the simplest regular star polygon. The pentagram contains ten points (the five points of the star, and the five vertices of the inner pentagon) and fifteen line segments. It is represented by the Schläfli symbol {5/2}. Like a regular pentagon, and a regular pentagon with a pentagram constructed inside it, the regular pentagram has as its symmetry group the dihedral group of order 10.
Construction.
The pentagram can be constructed by connecting alternate vertices of a pentagon; see details of the construction. It can also be constructed as a stellation of a pentagon, by extending the edges of a pentagon until the lines intersect.
Golden ratio.
The golden ratio, ? = (1 + ?5) / 2 ? 1.618, satisfying.
plays an important role in regular pentagons and pentagrams. Each intersection of edges sections the edges in the golden ratio: the ratio of the length of the edge to the longer segment is ?, as is the length of the longer segment to the shorter. Also, the ratio of the length of the shorter segment to the segment bounded by the two intersecting edges (a side of the pentagon in the pentagram's center) is ?. As the four-color illustration shows:
The pentagram includes ten isosceles triangles: five acute and five obtuse isosceles triangles. In all of them, the ratio of the longer side to the shorter side is ?. The acute triangles are golden triangles. The obtuse isosceles triangle highlighted via the colored lines in the illustration is a golden gnomon.
Trigonometric values.
Further information: Exact trigonometric constants: Pentagon.
As a result, in an isosceles triangle with one or two angles of 36°, the longer of the two side lengths is ? times that of the shorter of the two, both in the case of the acute as in the case of the obtuse triangle.
Three-dimensional figures.
Further information: Uniform polyhedron: Icosahedral symmetry
Several polyhedra incorporate pentagrams:
Pentagrammic prism
Pentagrammic antiprism
Pentagrammic crossed-antiprism
Small stellated dodecahedron
Great stellated dodecahedron
Small ditrigonal icosidodecahedron
Dodecadodecahedron
Great icosidodecahedron
Snub dodecadodecahedron
Small snub icosicosidodecahedron
Small retrosnub icosicosidodecahedron
Great retrosnub icosidodecahedron
Great dirhombicosidodecahedron
16th stellation of icosidodecahedron
Higher dimensions.
Orthogonal projections of higher dimensional polytopes can also create pentagrammic figures:
4D5D
The regular 5-cell (4-simplex) has 5 vertices and 10 edges.
The rectified 5-cell has 10 vertices and 30 edges.
The rectified 5-simplex has 15 vertices, seen in this orthogonal projection as 3 nested pentagrams.
The birectified 5-simplex has 20 vertices, seen in this orthogonal projection as 4 overlapping pentagrams.
All ten 4-dimensional Schläfli?Hess 4-polytopes have either pentagrammic faces or vertex figure elements.
Cultural significance.
Early history.
In early (Ur I) monumental Sumerian script, or cuneiform, a pentagram glyph served as a logogram for the word ub, meaning "corner, angle, nook; a small room, cavity, hole; pitfall" (this later gave rise to the cuneiform sign UB ??, composed of five wedges, further reduced to four in Assyrian cuneiform ).
The word Pentemychos (?????????? lit. "five corners" or "five recesses") was the title of the cosmogony of Pherecydes of Syros. Here, the "five corners" are where the seeds of Chronos are placed within the Earth in order for the cosmos to appear.
A Pythagorean "Hugieia Pentagram"
In Neoplatonism, the pentagram was said to have been used as a symbol or sign of recognition by the Pythagoreans, who called the pentagram ?????? hugieia "health"
Western symbolism.
The pentagram was used in ancient times as a Christian symbol for the five senses, or of the five wounds of Christ. A Christian use of the pentangle occurs in the 14th-century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the symbol decorates the shield of the hero, Gawain. The unnamed poet credits the symbol's origin to King Solomon, and says the symbol is key to understanding the work. The poet explains that each of the five interconnected points represents a virtue tied to a group of five. Gawain is keen in his five senses, dextrous in his five fingers, faithful to the salvation provided through the Five Wounds of Christ, takes courage from the five joys that Mary had of Jesus, and exemplifies the five virtues of knighthood.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and others perpetuated the popularity of the pentagram as a magic symbol, attributing the five neoplatonic elements to the five points, in typical Renaissance fashion. By the mid-19th century a further distinction had developed amongst occultists regarding the pentagram's orientation. With a single point upwards it depicted spirit presiding over the four elements of matter, and was essentially "good". However, the influential writer Eliphas Levi called it evil whenever the symbol appeared the other way up.
"A reversed pentagram, with two points projecting upwards, is a symbol of evil and attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and demonstrates the triumph of matter over spirit. It is the goat of lust attacking the heavens with its horns, a sign execrated by initiates."
"The flaming star, which, when turned upside down, is the hierolgyphic [sic] sign of the goat of Black Magic, whose head may be drawn in the star, the two horns at the top, the ears to the right and left, the beard at the bottom. It is the sign of antagonism and fatality. It is the goat of lust attacking the heavens with its horns."
"Let us keep the figure of the Five-pointed Star always upright, with the topmost triangle pointing to heaven, for it is the seat of wisdom, and if the figure is reversed, perversion and evil will be the result."
Man inscribed in a pentagram, from Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's De occulta philosophia libri tres. The five signs at the pentagram's vertices are astrological.
Another pentagram from Agrippa's book. This one has the Pythagorean letters inscribed around the circle.
The occultist and magician Eliphas Levi's pentagram, which he considered to be a symbol of the microcosm, or human.
The apotropaic use of the pentagram symbol in German folklore (called Drudenfuss in German) is referred to by Goethe in his Faust (1808), where a pentagram prevents Mephistopheles from leaving a room (but did not prevent him from entering by the same way, as the outward pointing corner of the diagram happened to be imperfectly drawn):
Mephistopheles:
I must confess, my stepping o'er
Thy threshold a slight hindrance doth impede;
The wizard-foot [Drudenfuss] doth me retain.
Faust:
The pentagram thy peace doth mar?
To me, thou son of hell, explain,
How camest thou in, if this thine exit bar?
Could such a spirit aught ensnare?
Mephistopheles:
Observe it well, it is not drawn with care,
One of the angles, that which points without,
Is, as thou seest, not quite closed.
East Asian symbolism.
Wu Xing (Chinese: ??; pinyin: W? Xíng) are the five phases, or five elements in Chinese tradition (medicine, acupuncture, feng shui, and Taoism) They are similar to the ancient Greek elements, with more emphasis on their cyclic transformation than on their material aspects. The five phases are: Fire (? hu?), Earth (? t?), Metal (? j?n), Water (? shu?), and Wood (? mù).
Use in modern occultism.
A goat's head inscribed in a downward-pointing pentagram, from La Clef de la Magie Noire by Stanislas de Guaita (1897).
Based on Renaissance-era occultism, the pentagram found its way into the symbolism of modern occultists.
Following Anton LaVey, and ultimately based on a drawing by French nobleman and occultist Stanislas de Guaita (La Clef de la Magie Noire, 1897), the Sigil of Baphomet, a pentagram with two points up inscribed in a double circle with the head of a goat inside the pentagram is the copyrighted logo of the Church of Satan.
Aleister Crowley made use of the pentagram in his Thelemic system of magick: an adverse or inverted pentagram represents the descent of spirit into matter, according to the interpretation of Lon Milo DuQuette. Crowley contradicted his old comrades in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who, following Levi, considered this orientation of the symbol evil and associated it with the triumph of matter over spirit.
Use in new religious movements.
Bahá'í.
Main article: Bahá'í symbols
The five-pointed star is a symbol of the Bahá'í Faith. In the Bahá'í Faith, the star is known as the Haykal (Arabic: "temple"?), and it was initiated and established by the Báb. The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh wrote various works in the form of a pentagram.
An unidentified work of the Báb.
An unidentified work of the Báb.
Latter Day Saint Movement.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began using both upright and inverted five-pointed stars in Temple architecture, dating from the Nauvoo Illinois Temple dedicated on 30 April 1846. Other temples decorated with five-pointed stars in both orientations include the Salt Lake Temple and the Logan Utah Temple. These usages come from the symbolism found in Revelation chapter 12: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."
Wicca.
A typical Neopagan pentagram (circumscribed).
Because of a perceived association with Satanism and occultism, many United States schools in the late 1990s have sought to prevent students from displaying the pentagram on clothing or jewelry. In public schools, such actions by administrators have been determined to be in violation of students' First Amendment right to free exercise of religion in 2000. The encircled pentagram (referred to as a pentacle by the plaintiffs) was added to the list of 38 approved religious symbols to be placed on the tombstones of fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery on 24 April 2007. The decision was made following ten applications from families of fallen soldiers who practiced Wicca. The government paid the families USD 225,000 to settle their pending lawsuits.
Other religious use.
The five pointed star is a symbol of the Serer religion, and a multicolored version is used as symbol of the Druze religion.
Other modern use.
The pentagram is featured on the national flags of Morocco (adopted 1915) and Ethiopia (adopted 1996), in reference to the Seal of Solomon.
Morocco's flag
Ethiopia's flag
The Order of the Eastern Star, an organization associated with Freemasonry (established 1850), used to have a point-down pentagram as its symbol, with the five isosceles triangles of the points colored blue, yellow, white, green, and red (the logo shown here is from Prince Hall Association, the nonPHA logo has the Pentagram inscribed with the cabalistic Word)
Order of the Eastern Star emblem.
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