Upon reading a few articles, one on Jewish/Sufi Post Platonism (Gnosticism), another on astrology (star maps), Star Of David (Sacred Fruit, aka Math Porn), Vesica Piscis, and Kaballah (and sacred geometry). I noticed the word emanation and thought of Plotinus’ 3 Hypostasis, I then synthesized the following:
The idea of having an internal star map imprinted on our minds at conception sounds similar to Plato’s idea that all ideas are revealed from within. I had a difficult time with Plato’s internal ideas vs understanding ideas. Interestingly enough, I have read that Greece described art as an uncovering of beauty vs a creation of it. Sculptors hewing from a block of stone would uncover the beauty of the form of a statue. Aristotle would later argue that the form was held within the sculptor’s mind. Stoics would describe knowledge (this is much later than Plato though) as being an external stimulus projected onto the mind (which appears opposite of Plato’s position that knowledge is from within).
I think the idea of a “star map” stamped on our minds at conception bridges two worlds. It shows how the configuration of the constellations is like a specific position of a set of gears in an an engine at the time of combustion. A causal seed, or marker, signifying a specific point in time (inception) and the subsequent set of events that define a “person” that are logically dependent on that point in time.
Plato felt that knowledge was held in the pre-existent and eternal forms which are internalized within the soul and that our souls merely remembered internal ideas that are eternal. In this way, the ideas are like integrated (interconnected points of) ideas akin to Indra’s Net.
My view has been that evolution has brought us humans our ideas by evolving our species through the crucible of nature and time. The ideas are internalized evolutionary responses shaped by time.
We are cocooned within the world soul, biosphere, gaia, what have you. Like a protein and enzyme. Unaware of how we fit like a key within the universe. Yet we don’t control the fact that we are human, or what chromosomes we are born with. We have to give concessions to factors that shaped us. Those factors are the configurations of events at the time we are born which are wholly dependent on the universes internal configuration at the time we were born.
So the idea expressed here is that we are time stamped with a cosmic time seed, makes a lot of sense to me. I always felt that the position of the stars at the time of birth determines what and who we are.
As Ibn says,
“all phenomena are nothing but manifestations of Being, which is one with God.”
When I read this quote, I think of the Universe. These cosmic timestamps which determine our nature, right down to our very species and birth locations. To me this (universe and time position) is the true source of being.
Explanation of symbols found under Merkabah Mysticism
The way I see this related to Kaballahism, is the tree of life is kind of like an artificial neural network of inputs where we sit at the bottom (the output) (Malkuth) unaware of the inputs that led us to the outputs. Each of the 11 Seraphim’s is akin to a neuron with it’s own specific weight (think polynomial function), this weight is set at birth as imprinted by the internalized star maps. The Seraphim represent the position of the cosmos at birth. Each Seraphim represents a core personality trait, but what important to understand is how each layer is influencing another area and they all interlace.
Merkabah is a vehicle of enlightenment to travel between each sphere
Kabbalah relates the Merkabah vision of Ezekiel and the Throne vision of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8) describing the seraph angels, to its comprehensive
Four Worlds.
The highest World, Atziluth (“Emanation”-Divine wisdom), is
Neoplatonic: The One
the realm of absolute Divine manifestation without self-awareness,
metaphorically described in the vision as the likeness of a Man on the throne.
The throne of sapphire is an etymological root in Kabbalah for the Sephirot divine powers.
The second World, Beriah (“Creation”-Divine understanding), is
Neoplatonic: Internal contemplation (Aristotle’s Active Intellect)
the first independent root creation,
the realm of the Throne,
denoting God descending into Creation,
as a king limits his true greatness and revealed posture when seated.
The World of Beriah is the realm of the higher angels,
the Seraphim (“burning” in ascent and descent as their understanding of God motivates self-annihilation).
The third World, Yetzirah (“Formation”-Divine emotions), is the realm of
Neoplatonic: World Soul
archetypal existence,
the abode of the main Hayyot angels (“alive” with divine emotion).
They are described with faces of a lion, ox and eagle, as their emotional nature is instinctive like animals, and
they are the archetypal origins of creatures in this World.
The lowest World, Assiah (“Action”-Divine rulership), is the realm guided by the lower channels of the Ophanim (humble “ways” in realised creation).
Neoplatonic: Matter, subject to yin/yang (physical forces), Heraclitus divine judgement
“We must know that war (πόλεμος polemos) is common to all and strife is justice, and that all things come into being through strife necessarily.”
“All things come into being by conflict of opposites, and the sum of things (τὰ ὅλα ta hola, “the whole”) flows like a stream.”
“There is a harmony in the bending back (παλίντροπος palintropos) as in the case of the bow and the lyre.”
The Kabbalistic account explains this difference in terms of the Four Worlds.
All prophecy emanates from the divine chokhmah (wisdom) realm of Atziluth.
However, in order to be perceived it descends to be enclothed in vessels of lower Worlds.
Isaiah’s prophecy saw the Merkabah in the World of Beriah divine understanding,
restraining his explanation by realising the inadequacy of description.
Ezekiel saw the Merkabah in the lower World of Yetzirah divine emotions,
causing him to describe the vision in rapturous detail.
According to the Kabbalistic explanation, the Seraphim (“burning” angels) in Beriah (divine understanding) realise their distance from the absolute divinity of Atziluth.
Their call, “Holy”, repeated three times, means removed or separated. This causes their “burning up” continual self-nullification, ascending to God and returning to their place.
Their understanding realises instead that God’s true purpose (glory) for creation is with
lowly man.
The lower Hayyot (“living” angels) in Yetzirah (divine emotions) say, “Blessed” (etymologically in Kabbalah “drawing down” blessing) be the glory…from “His (distant-unknown to them) place” of Atziluth.
Though lower than the Seraphim,
their emotional self-awareness has a superior advantage of powerful desire.
This causes them to be able to draw down divine vitality from a higher source,
the supreme realm of Atziluth,
to lower creation and man.
In Ezekiel’s vision, the Hayyot have a central role in the merkabah’s channeling of the divine flow in creation.
Flower of Life
Metator’s Cube
Tree of Life
Mixed
