Four Worlds

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The Four Worlds in Kabbalah
A"K
Atziluth Beri'ah Yetzirah Assiah
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The Four Worlds (Hebrew: עולמות ʿOlāmot, singular: ʿOlām עולם), sometimes counted with a primordial world, Adam Kadmon, and called the Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in a descending chain of existence.

The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of

as אבי״ע Aviyaʿ after their initial letters. In addition to the functional role each world has in the process of creation, they also embody dimensions of consciousness within human experience.

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The Worlds are formed by the Light (or) that fills all worlds that is the immanence. The ten sefirot "attributes" and their associated twelve partzufim or "personas" reflect this light in the Four Worlds, as do more specific Divine manifestations. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the partzufim interact dynamically, and sublime levels are clothed within lower existences, a concealed soul. Nonetheless, in each world, sefirot and partzufim predominate. The Five Worlds are, in descending order:

1. chain of lights from Adam Qadmon precipitates the World of Chaos and The World of Rectification
   . As Keter is elevated above the sefirot, Adam Qadmon is supreme above the Worlds; therefore, it is generally not enumerated in the list of spiritual worlds.
2. Hokhma "Wisdom" dominating. In the context of Atziluth, the last sefira, Malkuth "Kingdom" represents the divine speech through which God created the universe in the first part of the Genesis creation narrative
   . It is through Malkuth that the lower worlds are sustained.
3. Beri'ah "Creation" (בְּרִיאָה^[a] On this level is the first concept of creatio ex nihilo (Ayin and Yesh), but without yet shape or form. Beriah is the realm of the "Divine Throne", denoting the sefirot configuration of Atziluth descending into Beriah like a King on a Throne. The sefira Binah "Understanding" predominates.
4. seraphim
   , are in Yetzirah, denoting their burning consummation in divine emotion.
5. Assiah "Action" (עֲשִׂיָּה): On this level, Creation is complete, differentiated and particular, as by this point the Divine vitality has undergone much concealment and diminution. However, it is still on a spiritual level. The angels of Assiah function on the active level, as the sefirah Malkuth (fulfilment in Kingship) predominates. Below spiritual Assiah is Assiah Gashmi (עֲשִׂיָה גַשׁמִי ʿăśiyā g̲ašmi "Physical Asiyah"), the final, lowest realm of existence, our material universe with all its creations. Much like the sefira Malkuth within Atziluth is the conduit by which the later worlds emanate, the final sefirot of Assiah is the point by which the physical universe derives.

Meaning

angelic hierarchy embodies external dimensions of the lights/vessels

, while souls embody inner dimensions.

The Four Worlds are spiritual, heavenly realms in a descending chain, although the lowest world of Assiah has both a spiritual and a physical aspect. The physical level of Assiah is our physical finite realm, including the cosmological Universe studied by science. Consequently, as Kabbalah becomes more of a metaphysical study, the terms "higher" and "lower" are used as metaphors for being closer or further from Divine consciousness, revelation, and emanance. The 16th-century systemisation of Kabbalah by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero brought the preceding interpretations and schools into their first complete rational synthesis. Subsequent doctrines of Kabbalah from Isaac Luria, describe an initial tzimtzum (withdrawal of the universal Divine consciousness that preceded Creation) to "allow room" for created beings on lower levels of consciousness. Lower levels of consciousness require the self-perception of independent existence, by the created beings on each level, to prevent their loss of identity before the magnificence of God. This illusion increases with more force in each subsequent descending realm. The number of graduations between the Infinite and the finite, is likewise infinite, and arises from innumerable, progressively strong concealments of the Divine light. Nonetheless, the four worlds represent fundamental categories of Divine consciousness from each other, which delineates their four descriptions. Consequently, each world also psychologically represents a spiritual rung of ascent in human consciousness, as it approaches the Divine.

Merkabah-Chariot,^[2] and Isaiah's vision of the Kisei HaKavod-Throne of Glory,^[3] are related in Kabbalah to beholding the Four Worlds from Yetzirah, and from Beriah

Kabbalah distinguishes between two types of Divine light that emanate through the 10 sefirot (Divine emanations) from the Infinite (

transcendent

higher light Sovev Kol Olmin, the light that "surrounds all worlds" would be the manifestation on a particular level of a higher light which above the capacity of that realm to contain. This is ultimately rooted in the infinite light ("Ohr Ein Sof") that preceded Creation, the Tzimtzum and the Sephirot, rather than the source of the immanent light in the "Kav" (first emanation of creation after the Tzimtzum), in the teachings of Isaac Luria. Consequently, all the worlds are dependent for their continual existence on the flow of Divinity they constantly receive from the Divine Will to create them. Creation is continuous. The faculty of Divine Will is represented in the sefirot (10 Divine emanations) by the first, supra-conscious Sephirah of "Keter"-Crown, that transcends the lower 9 Sephirot of conscious intellect and emotion. Once the Divine Will is manifest, then it actualises Creation through Divine Intellect, and "subsequently" Divine Emotion, until it results in action. The reference to temporal cause and effect is itself a metaphor. The psychology of man also reflects the "Divine psychology" of the sefirot, as "Man is created in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27). In man the activation of willpower through intellect and emotion until deed, requires time and subsequent cause and effect. In the Divine Sephirot and their activation of Creation, this does not apply, as limitations only apply to Creation.

The

Dveikus

).

Correspondences

World:	Descriptions:	Dominant Sephirah :	Letter of Tetragrammaton:	Level of soul:	Level of Torah- PaRDeS :	Other associations:
Adam Kadmon "Primordial Man"	Primary form of Kav Above consciousness Sephirot concealed Latent potential Tetragrammatons United with Ein Sof Divine intent Pure light, no vessels	Keter-Crown In relation to 4 Worlds Inherent Will to Create Revealed in Keter-Will of Atzilut	Apex atop י Yud Above representation Alluded to by thorn	Yechidah-Singular Essence of soul Unity with God	Sod Sh'b'Sod Secret within Secret Reflects Atzmut -Essence Inner soul of Torah Yechidah-source of Torah	Beyond all names Including all names Beyond good-bad polarity
Atziluth "Emanation/Nearness"	From Nullification of Essence Divine All	Partzuf of Abba-Father	י Yud Dimensionless point First illumination-Male Dot in the Palace	Chayah-Living Encompassing soul Spiritual awareness	Sod-Secret Kabbalah Soul of Torah Chayah-Wisdom of Torah	Concealed World with Beriah Divine name ע״ב Divine good Ta'amim -Notes
Beri'ah "Creation"	Formless existence First self-awareness Parsah-Veil from Atzilut to Beriah Divine Intellect Nullification of Being First sensed Creation Divine Throne Higher Garden of Eden	Partzuf of Imma-Mother	Higher ה Hei Dimensional expansion Vessel for intellect-Female Palace	Neshamah-Breath Divine intellect in soul Highest internalised potential Breath is internalised	Drush-Homiletic Midrash Neshamah-Understanding of Torah Aggadah alludes to Kabbalah	Divine name ס״ג Mostly good Little potential source of bad Thought garment Torah scroll Nekudot -Vowels
Yetzirah "Formation"	General existence Divine Emotions Striving for ascent Awareness of distance Active self-nullification Archetypal forms Lower Garden of Eden	Midot-6 Emotions Partzuf of Zeir Anpin -Son	ו Vav Descending illumination Emotional revelation-Male Reveals Da'at-Knowledge	Ruach-Spirit Divine emotions in soul Potential internalised spirit Emotional movement	Remez-Hint Ruach-Emotions of Torah Soul of simple meaning Some Torah commentaries	Revealed World with Asiyah Divine name מ״ה Equal good-bad potential Speech garment Torah scroll Tagin -Crowns
Asiyah "Action"	Particular existence Divine action Concealment of God 1 Asiyah Ruchni-Spiritual Below it: 2 Asiyah Gashmi-Physical Purpose of Creation	Shechinah -Divine Presence	Lower ה Hei Dimensional expansion Vessel for emotions-Female Nurtures action	Nefesh-Lifeforce Vitality of actions Invested in body	Pshat-Simple Nefesh-Physicality of Torah Halachah and Torah narratives	Divine name ב״ן Mostly bad-little good Action garment Torah scroll Otiyot-Letters

See also

• Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
• Hopi mythology § Four Worlds
• Masseket Azilut
• Mind–body problem
• Popper's three worlds

Notes

1. ^ alternatively בְּרִיָּה; "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2014-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

References

1. ISBN 978-965-7146-05-7
   .
2. ^ Book of Ezekiel 1:4-26
3. ^ Book of Isaiah 6:1–3

Further reading

• Klein, Eliahu, ed. (2005). Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah. North Atlantic Books.
  ISBN 978-1556435423
  .

External links

• The Worlds: The Stages of the Creative Process from God's Infinite Light to Our Physical World - Describes the many levels and Partzufim between Adam Kadmon and Atzilut, as well as prior stages, and then the subsequent Four Worlds
• 4/Four Worlds: Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah