The Kabbalah, Part 6

[Note: Part 1-5 of this Kabbalah series are available at this blog.]

In this, the final Part of my Kabbalah series, I will complete my consideration of the Sephirot in relation to astrology and Tarot. Four Sephirot remain for me to consider: Tiferet, Yesod, Hod, and Malkuth.

The most common keyword associated with Tiferet is “beauty.” Other keywords for this Sephirot include “spirituality” and “integration.” I think “integration” is the best keyword, because this Sephirot is essentially about self-integration/self-actualization, on the highest level – meaning spiritual Self-realization.

It couldn’t be clearer that the Sun is the planet that correlates with Tiferet. The Sun is the integrating planet in astrology, the central body that all the other planets revolve around. The Sun Tarot Card is the obvious card for Tiferet. The common image in this card – two young, naked (meaning Virgin, or unborn) lovers holding hands under the shining Sun – implicitly refers to the union of Keter (Pluto/the Magician/Siva) and Da’at (Neptune/the High Priestess/Shakti) in the spiritual Heart-center (or Sun), the abode of the awakened Self, or Soul, or Son.

Just as the Sun clearly correlates with Tiferet, the Moon is the obvious match for Yesod. The common keyword for Yesod is “Foundation.” Yesod/Moon is, ultimately, the Feeling of Being, the E-Motional, reflective component of the Being-ness of Self, or Son. The common Moon Tarot card image is two dogs barking at the Moon. The Moon is unaffected by such barking (meaning emotional reactivity) and still continues as the constant reflective Medium (or Mirror) for the Sun despite its apparent “crabby” phases, instigated by the crab commonly pictured underneath the dogs.

The Sephirah Hod is common match for the planet Mercury. But the common keywords for Hod – “Splendor” and “Glory” – don’t readily accord with Mercury, the planet that rules mentation and communication.But if we expand our understanding of Mercury to include orienting the mind to receiving the Divine, we can understand why the Jewish Kabbalists associate Hod with prayer, the repetition of Divine names in order to evoke the Descent of the Divine Splendor. As Wikipedia puts it, “Hod is where form is given by language in its widest sense, being the key to ‘the mystery of form.’”

The Judgement Tarot card is, in my opinion, the best match for Hod/Mercury. This card conveys two essential messages: One, “Judge ye not so ye be not judged” (meaning transcend the conventional mind, which focuses on judging), and two, answer the clarion call of the Divine (represented by the Archangel Gabriel’s trumpet) in order to receive redemption in the form of Splendor and Glory from above.

The final, or bottom, Sephirah is Malkuth, which means “Kingdom.” The “Kingdom referred to here is planet Earth, divinized and glorified by the Shekinah, the Divine Presence/Splendor. There are no planets in astrology other than Earth that correlate with Malkuth, and likewise no Major Arcana Tarot card is associated with it.

This concludes my informal summary series on the Kabbalah, which will eventually be refined and expanded into a book. But stay tuned for my forthcoming “Meditation on the Tarot” series, wherein I will contemplate and consider the esoteric meaning of each of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana.