SEPHER YETZIRAH

Translated from the Hebrew by

William Wynn Westcott

SEPHER YETZIRAH
THE BOOK OF FORMATION
WITH

THE FIFTY GATES OF INTELLIGENCE

&

THE THIRTY-TWO PATHS OF WISDOM

Translated from the Hebrew by
WILLIAM WYNN WESTCOTT,

M.B., J.P.

SUPREME MAGUS OF THE ROSICRUCIAN SOCIETY OF ENGLAND

FOURTH EDITION

EDITED AND REVISED,

WITH NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY,
BY DARCY KUNTZ

HOLMES PUBUSHING GROUP

The Sepher Yetzirah: The Book of Formation. Copyright 1996

by Darcy Kuntz. All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from Holmes Publishing Group except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Golden Dawn Studies Series 3

First Edition, 1887
Second Revised Edition, 1893
Third Revised Edition, 1911
Fourth Revised Edition
1st Printing, 1996

ISBN 1-55818-333-7

The front cover illustration 'The Fall' is by

Austin Osman Spare which was published
in Aleister Crowley's The Equinox, 1909.

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF PUBLICATIONS,

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Contents
Page

Notes to the Fourth Edition.................................................... 7

Introduction to the Third Edition ........................................... 9
Preface to the Second Edition ................................................. 16
The Sepher Yetzirah
I. The Sephiroth, Numbers, Letters ................................ 17
I. The Twenty-two Letters .................. ............... ....... ...... 18
III. The Triad .................................................................... 19
IV. The Heptad with Supplement ..................................... 20
v. The Dodecad with Supplement ................................... 20
VI. Conclusion .................................................... "............ 21
The Fifty Gates of Intelligence .............................................. 23
The Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom ............... ............................ 25
Notes to the Sepher Yetzirah ........................ ......................... 28
Notes to the Thirty-two Paths ................................................ 35
The Hebrew Text of the Sepher Yetzirah ............................... 36
Bibliography........................................................................... 54

Illustrations
Page

1. The Snake and upside down "Tn ................................. Half-title

Based on the cover of W.W. Westcott's, Numbers, 1890.

II. The Ten Sephiroth and Twenty Two Paths ........................... 6

From W.W. Westcott's, An Introduction to The Kabalah, 1910.
III. Theli: The Celestial Dragon ................................................ 32
From Rabbi Eliezer Rokeach's commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah,
Mantua, 1562.

KETHER

&N

O----~-----...,;O

CH

GEB~--~-~-~~-O

n-----+-~-___:::ONET

THE TEN SEPHIROTH AND TWENTY TWO PATHS

Notes to the Fourth Edition

THE three main books of the Kabbalistic esoteric philosophy are the Sepher
Yetzirah (Book of Formation), the Sepher Zohar (Book of Splendour) and the
Sepher Bahir (Book of Brilliance). Of these books the Sepher Yetzirah is consi<~ered
to be the oldest treatise and is believed to be a bridge between orthodox and
esoteric Kabbalah. The origins of the Sepher Yetzirah have been lost to the
antiquity of time, but a number of modem author's believe that the Sepher
Yetzirah was created by an oral (Mishnah) and written tradition. In the oral
tradition it is attributed to the Patriarch Abraham and it was written down by
Rabbi Akiba Ben Joseph who lived circa A.D. 120.
William Westcott wrote that the Sepher Yetzirah "explains a most curious
philosophical scheme of Creation, drawing a parallel between the origin of
the world, the sun, the planets, the elements, seasons, man and the twentytwo letters of the Hebrew alphabet; dividing them into a Triad, a Heptad,
and a Dodecad; three mother letters, A [Aleph), M [Mem), Sh [Shin] are
referred to primeval Air, Water and Fire; seven double letters are referred
to the planets and the seven fold division of time, etc.: and the twelve
simple letters are referred to the months, Zodiac signs and human organs.
Modern criticism tends to the conclusion that the existing ancient versions
were compiled about A.D. 200. The "Sepher Yetzirah" is mentioned in the
Talmuds, both of Jerusalem and of Babylon; it was written in the NeoHebraic language, like the Mishna." [An Introduction to the Kabalah, 1910.
p. 2-3.]
Westcott's translation of the Sepher Yetzirah was originally part of a
lecture he read before the Hermetic Society of London on 29 July 1886. L
The title of his paper was 'The Sepher Yetzirah: A Rabbinical Treatise on
Creation.' This was the only paper Westcott read to the Society before it
fell into abeyance in 1887 with the death of Anna Kingsford.
The Hermetic Society was founded in 1885 by Anna Kingsford and
Edward Maitland. Both Kingsford and Maitland were members of the
Theosophical Society and become disenchanted by the Eastern aspects of
its teachings. The Hermetic Society was styled as a new Esoteric Church
based on Christian mysticism with the principal aim to study "The Greek
Mysteries and the Hermetic Gnosis and its allied schools, the Kabalistic,
Pythagorean, Platonic and Alexandrian."
7

Westcott's translation of the Sepher Yetzirah has been criticised as being

"in reality a paraphrase and fulfils few of the conditions required by
scholarship."2 Most commentaries of the Sepher Yetzirah tend to reveal more
about the author's own system than they do of the Sepher Yetzirah. As
Westcott had stated in his Introduction his translation was prepared for
members of the Theosophy Society, the Hermetic G.D. and the Rosicrucian
Society of England.
The first English edition of the Sepher Yetzirah was translated by Dr.
lsidor Kalisch and printed with the Hebrew text in 1877. Westcott offered
his edition in 1887 which was translated into English from the Latin versions
of Pis torius and Postellus. His second edition (1893) and third edition (1911)
were translated from the Hebrew and collated with the Latin versions of
Rittangelius, Pistorius and Postellus. Westcott had corrected his English
translation and expanded the Notes from answers which he gave (verbally
and written) to members of the Theosophy Society and the Hermetic G.D.
A.E. Waite falsely believed that the second edition of the Sepher Yetzirah
was issued as part of the Collectanea Hermetica in 1893. 3
The Sepher Yetzirah was a major Source Work for the Golden Dawn's
initiation ceremonies, diagrams and teachings. The 'Thirty-two Paths of
Wisdom' was used by the Golden Dawn to explain the twenty-two Major
Arcana and the twenty-two Paths (proper) connecting to the Sephiroth of
the Tree of Life.
This edition of the Sepher Yetzirah is primarily Westcott's third edition
and it has been collated with the second edition as footnotes. I have added
the Hebrew text of the Sepher Yetzirah from Kalisch's edition. His text has
the vowel pointing or Dagesh, but the oldest editions of the Sepher Yetzirah
did not have these vowel points.

Darcy Kuntz
( Frater D.E.U. )
Calgary, Canada, 1996.
Notes:
1. S.L. MacGregor Mathers read two papers to the Society. The first paper was
called 'The Qabalah' (3 June 1886) and the other was titled 'The Physical or Lower
Alchemy' (8 July 1886). A brief abstract of Mathers first lecture was printed in the
magazine Light (19 June 1886).
2. A.E. Waite's introduction to Knut Stenring's translation of The Book of Formation
(David McKay Co., 1923). p. 6.
3. Ibid. p. 6. Kaplan also repeated this error in his translation of the Sepher Yetzirah
(Samuel Weiser, 1990). p. 335.

Introduction to the Third Edition

THE "Sepher"Yetzirah," or "Book of Formation," is perhaps the oldest
Rabbinical treatise of Kabalistic philosophy which is still extant. The great
interest which has been evinced of late years in the Hebrew Kabalah, and
the modes of thought and doctrine allied to it, has induced me to translate
this tractate from the original Hebrew texts, and to collate with them the
Latin versions of me dire val authorities; and I have also published An
Introduction to the Kabalah which may be found useful to students.
Three important books of the "Zohar," or "Book of Splendour," which
is a great storehouse of Kabalistic teaching, have been translated into English
by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, I and the "Sepher Yetzirah" in an English
translation is almost a necessary companion to these abstruse disquisitions:
the two books indeed mutually explain each other.
The "Sepher Yetzirah," although this name means "The Book of
Formation," is not in any sense a narrative of Creation, or a substitute
Genesis, but is an ancient and instructive philosophical treatise upon one
aspect of the origin of the universe and mankind; an aspect at once archaic
and essentially Hebrew. The grouping of the processes of origin into an
arrangement, at once alphabetic and numeral, is one only to be found in
Semitic authors.
Attention must be called to the essential peculiarity of the Hebrew
language, the inextricable and necessary association of numbers and letters;
every letter suggesting a number, and every group of letters having a
numerical signification, as vital as its literal meaning.
The Kabalistic principles involved in the reversal of Hebrew letters,
and their substitution by others, on definite schemes, should also be studied
and borne in mind.
It is exactly on these principles that the "ground-work idea" 'of this
disquiSition rests; and these principles may be traced throughout the
Kabalistic tractates which have succeeded it in point of time and
development, many of which are associated together in one volume known
as the "Zohar," which is in the main concerned with the essential dignities
of the God-head, with the Emanations which have sprung therefrom, with
the doctrine of the Sephiroth, the ideals of Macroprosopus and
9

Microprosopus, and the doctrine of Re-incarnation.

The "Sepher Yetzirah," on the other hand, is mainly concerned with
our universe and with the Microcosm. The opinions of Hebrew Kabalistic
Rabbis and of modern mystics may be fitly introduced here.
The following interesting quotation is from Rabbi Moses Botarel, who
wrote his famous Commentary in 1409:-"It was Abraham our Father blessed be he - who wrote this book to condemn the doctrine of the sages
of his time, who were incredulous of the supreme dogma of the Unity. At
least, this was the opinion of Rabbi Saadiah - blessed be he - as written in
the first chapter of his book The Philosopher's Stone. These are his words:
The sages of Babylon attacked Abraham on account of his faith; for they
were all against him although themselves separable into three sects. The
First thought that the Universe was subject to the control of two opposing
forces, the one existing but to destroy the other, this is dualism; they held
that there was nothing in common between the author of evil and the
author of good. The Second sect admitted Three great Powers; two of them
as in the first case, and a third Power whose function was to decide between
the two others, a supreme arbitrator. The Third sect recognised no god
beside the Sun, in which it recognised the sole principle of existence."
Rabbi Judah Ha Levi (who flourished about 1120), in his critical
description of this treatise, wrote: "The Sepher Yetzirah teaches us the
existence of a Single Divine Power by sheWing us that in the bosom of
variety and multiplicity there is a Unity and Harmony, and that such
universal concord could only arise from the rule of a Supreme Unity."
According to Isaac Myer, in his Quabbalah (p. 159), the "Sepher Yetzirah"
was referred to in the writings of Ibn Gebirol of Cordova, commonly called
Avicebron, who died in A.D. 1070.
Eliphas Levi, the famous French Occultist, thus wrote of the "Sepher
Yetzirah," in his Histoire de la Magie, p. 54: "The Zohar is a Genesis of
illumination, the Sepher Jezirah is a ladder formed of truths. Therein are
explained the thirty-two absolute signs of sounds, numbers and letters: each
letter reproduces a number, an idea and a form; so that mathematics are capable
of application to ideas and to forms not less rigorously than to numbers, by
exact proportion and perfect correspondence. By the science of the Sepher
Jezirah the human spirit is fixed to truth, and in reason, and is able to take
account of the possible development of intelligence by the evolutions of
numbers. The Zohar represents absolute truth, and the Sepher Jezirah provides
the means by which we may seize, appropriate and make use of it."
Upon another page Eliphas Levi writes: "The Sepher Jezirah and the
Apocalypse are the masterpieces of Occultism; they contain more wisdom
than words; their expression is as figurative as poetry, and at the same time
it is as exact as mathematics."
10

In the volume entitled La Kabhale by the eminent French scholar, Adolphe

Franck, there is a chapter on the "Sepher Yetzirah." He writes as follows :"The Book of Formation contains, I will not say system of physics, but
of cosmology such as could be conceived at an age and in a country where
the habit of explaining all phenomena by the immediate action of the First
Cause, tended to check the spirit of observation, and where in consequence
certain general and superficial relations perceived in the natural world passed
for the science of Nature." . .. "Its form is simple and grave; there is
nothing like a demonstration nor an argument; but it consists rather of a
series of aphorisms, regularly grouped, and which have all the conciseness
of the most ancient oracles,"
In his analysis of the "Sepher Yetzirah," he adds:-"The Book of
Formation, even if it be not very voluminous, and if it do not altogether
raise us to very elevated regions of thought, yet offers us at least a composition
which is very homogeneous and of a rare originality. The clouds which the
imagination of commentators have gathered around it, will be dissipated, if
we look for, in it, not mysteries of ineffable wisdom, but an attempt at a
reasonable doctrine, made when reason arose, an effort to grasp the plan of
the universe, and to secure the link which binds to one common principle,
all the elements which are around us."
"The last word of this system is the substitution of the absolute divine
Unity for every idea of Dualism, for that pagan philosophy which saw in
matter an eternal substance whose laws were not in accord with Divine
Will; and for the Biblical doctrine, which by its idea of Creation, postulates
two things, the Universe and God, as two substances absolutely distinct
one from the other."
"In fact, in the 'Sepher Yetzirah,' God considered as the Infinite and
consequently the indefinable Being, extended throughout all things by his
power and existence, is while above, yet not outside of numbers, sounds
and letters-the principles and general laws which we recognise."
"Every element has its source from a higher form, and all things have
their common origin from the Word (Logos), the Holy Spirit .... So God is
at once, in the highest sense, both the matter and the form of the universe.
Yet He is not only that form; for nothing can or does exist outside of Himself;
His substance is the foundation of all, and all things bear His imprint and
are symbols of His intelligence."
Hebrew tradition assigns the doctrines of the oldest portions of the
"Zohar" to a date antecedent to the bUilding of the Second Temple, but
Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Titus,A.D.
70-80, is considered to have been the first to commit these to writing, and
Rabbi Moses de Leon, ofGuadalaxara, in Spain, who died in 1305, certainly
reproduced and published the "Zohar."
11

Ginsburg, speaking of the loharic doctrines of the Ain Suph, says that
they were unknown until the thirteenth century, but he does not deny the
great antiquity of the "Sepher Yetzirah," in which it will be noticed the
"Ain Suph Aur" and "Ain Suph" are not mentioned.
I suggest, however, that this omission is no proof that the doctrines of
"Ain Suph Aur" and "Ain Suph" did not then exist, because it is a reasonable
supposition that the "Sepher Yetzirah" was the volume assigned to the
Yetziratic World, the third of the four Kabalistic Worlds of Emanation,
while the "Asch Metzareph" is concerned with the Assiatic, fourth, or
lowest World of Shells, and is on the face of it an alchemical treatise; and
again the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" may be fittingly considered to be an Aziluthic
work, treating of the Emanations of Deity alone; and there was doubtless a
fourth work assigned to the World of Briah - the second type, but I have
not been able to identify this treatise.
Both the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmuds refer to the "Sepher
Yetzirah." Their treatise, named "Sanhedrin," certainly mentions the "Book
of Formation," and another similar work; and Rashi in his commentary on
the treatise "Erubin," considers this a reliable historical notice.
Other historical notices are those of Saadya Gaon, who died A.D. 940,
and Judah Ha Levi, A.D. 1150; both these Hebrew classics speak of it as a
very ancient work.
Some modern critics have attributed the authorship to the Rabbi Akiba,
who lived in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, A.D. 120, and lost his life in
supporting the claims of Barchocheba, a false messiah: others suggest it was
first written about A.D. 200.
Graetz however assigns it to early Gnostic times, third or fourth century,
and lunz speaks of it as post Talmudical, and belonging to the Geonim
period 700-800 A.D.; Rubinsohn, in the Bibliotheca Sacra, speaks of this
latter idea as having no real basis.
The Talmuds were first collected into a concrete whole, and printed in
Venice, 1520 A.D.
The "lohar" was first printed in Mantua in 1558; again in Cremona,
1560; and at Lublin, 1623; and a fourth edition by Knorr von Rosenroth, at
Sulzbach in 1684. Some parts are not very ancient, because the Crusades
are mentioned in one chapter.
Six extant Hebrew editions of the "Sepher Yetzirah" were collected
and printed at Lemberg in 1680. The oldest of these six recensions was that
of Saadjah Gaon (by some critics called spurious).
There are still extant three Latin versions, viz., that of Gulielmus
Postellus, 1552, Paris; one by Johann Pistorius, in his "Artis
Cabalisticce Tomus," 1587, Basle; and a third by Joannes Stephanus
Rittangelius, 1642, Amsterdam; this latter gives both Hebrew and Latin
12

versions, and also "The Thirty-Two Paths" as a supplement.

There is a German translation, by Johann Friedrich von Meyer, dated
1830; a version by Isidor Kalisch, in which he has reproduced many of the
valuable annotations of Meyer; an edition in French by Papus, 1888; an
edition in French by Mayer Lambert, 1891, with the Arabic Commentary
of Saadya Gaon; and an English edition by Peter Davidson, 1896, to which
are added "The Fifty Gates of Intelligence" and "The Thirty-Two Ways of
Wisdom." The edition which I now offer is fundamentally that of the ancient
Hebrew codices translated into English, and collated with the Latin versions
of Pistorius, Postellus, and Rittangelius, following the latter, rather than
the former commentators. As to the authenticity of "The Sepher Yetzirah,"
students may refer to the Bibliotheca magna Rabbinica of Bartoloccio de
Cellerio, Rome, 1678-1692; to Basnage, History of the Jews, 1708; and to
The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah, by A. E. Waite, 1902.
The following copies of the "Sepher Yetzirah" in Hebrew, I have also
examined, but only in a superficial manner:1. A Version by Saadiah, Ab. ben David, and three others, Mantua,
1562,4to.
2. A Version with the commentary of Rabbi Abraham F. Dior,
Amsterdam, 1642, 4to.
3. A Version with preface by M. ben J. Chagiz, Amsterdam, 1713,
16mo.
4. A Version, Constantinople, 1719, 8vo.
5. A Version, Zolkiew, 1745, 4to.
6. A Version, by Moses ben Jacob, Zozec, 1779, 4to.
7. A Version, Grodno, 1806, 4to.
8. A Version, Dyhernfurth, 1812, 8vo.
9. A Version, Salonica, 1831, 8vo.
10. A MS. copy dated 1719, in the British Museum.
I add here the full titles of the three Latin versions; they are all to be
found in the British Museum Library.
"Abrahami Patriarchce Liber Jezirah sive Formationis Mundi, Patribus quidem
Abrahami tempora prcecedentibus revelatus, sed ab ipso etiam Abrahamo expositus
Isaaco, et per prophetarum manus posteritati conservatus, ipsis autem 72 Mosis
auditoribus in secundo divince veritatis loco, hoc est in ratione, qUa! est posterior
authoritate, habitus." Parisiis, 1552. Gulielmus Postellus.
"Id est Liber Jezirah, qui Abrahamo, Patriarchce adscribitur, una cum
Commentario Rabbi Abraham FD. super 32 semitis Sapientice, a quibus Liber
Jezirah incipit: Translatus et notis illustratus a Joanne Stephano Rittangelio, Ling.
Orient. in Elect. Acad. Regiomontana Prof. Extraord," Amstelodami, 1642.
13

In Tomas Primus of "Artis Cabalisticce hoc est reconditce theologice et

philosophice scriptorum." Basilece 1587, is found "Liber de Creatione Cabalistinis,
Hebraice Sepher Jezira; Authore Abrahamo. Successive filiis ore traditus. Hine
jam rebus Israel inclinatis ne deficeret per sapientes Hierusalem arcanis et
profundissimis sensibus literis commendatus." Johannes Pistorius.
The "Sepher Yetzirah" consists of six chapters, having 33 paragraphs
distributed among them, in this manner: the first has 12, then follow 5, 5,
4, 3, and 4. Yet in some versions the paragraphs and subj ect-matter are
found in a different arrangement.
The oldest title has, as an addition, the words, "The Letters of our
Father Abraham" or "ascribed to the patriarch Abraham," and it is spoken
of as such by many medireval authorities: but this origin is doubtless fabulous,
although perhaps not more improbable than the supposed authorship of
the "Book of Enoch," mentioned by St. Jude, of which two MSS. copies in
the Ethiopic language were rescued from the wilds of Abyssinia in 1773 by
the great traveller James Bruce.
In essence this work was, doubtless, the crystallisation of centuries of
tradition, by one writer, and it has been added to from time to time, by
later authors, who have also revised it. Some of the additions, which were
rejected even by medireval students, I have not incorporated with the text
at all, and I present in this volume only the undoubted kernel of this occult
nut, upon which many great authorities, Hebrew, German, Jesuit and others,
have written long Commentaries, and yet have failed to explain satisfactorily.
I find Kalisch, speaking of these Commentaries, says, "they contain
nothing but a medley of arbitrary explanations, and sophistical distortions
of scriptural verses, astrological notions, Oriental superstitions, a
metaphysical jargon, a poor knowledge of physics, and not a correct
elucidation of this ancient book." Kalisch, however, was not an occultist;
these commentaries are, however, so extensive as to demand years of study,
and I feel no hesitation in confessing that my researches into them have
been but superficial.
For convenience of study I have placed the Notes in a separate form at
the end of the work, and I have made a short definition of the subjectmatter of each chapter.
The substance of this little volume was read as Lecture before "The
Hermetic Society of London," in the summer of 1886, Dr. Anna Kingsford,
President, in the chair. Some of the Notes were the explanations given
verbally, and subsequently in writing, to members of the Society who asked
for information upon abstruse points in the "Sepher," and for collateral
doctrines; others, oflater date, are answers which have been given to students
of Theosophy and Hermetic philosophy, and to my pupils of the Study
Groups of the Rosicrucian Society of England. 2

14

Notes
1. In the Introduction to the second edition Westcott originally wrote, "Three
important books of the "Zohar," or "Splendour," which is a great storehouse of
Kabalistic teaching, have been for the first time translated into English by that
skilful and erudite Kabalist, my fellow student in occult science, MacGregor Mathers,"
2. In Westcott's Introduction to the second edition he wrote, "others, oflater date,
are answers which have been given to enquiring Theosophists, and members of the
Hermetic G.D.
The late Madame Blavatsky, my esteemed teacher of Theosophy, and my personal
friend, at whose suggestion a friendly alliance between the Hermetic Order of the
G.D. and the Inner Group [Le., Esoteric Section] of the Theosophic students was
made, expressed to me her recognition of the value of the "Sepher Yetzirah" as a
mystical treatise on cosmic origin, and her approval of my work in its translation,
and my notes and explanations."
For a history of the "friendly alliance" between the Golden Dawn and the Esoteric
Section see R.A. Gilbert's, The Golden Dawn and the Esoteric Section. London:
Theosophical History Centre, 1987.

15

Preface to the Second Edition

IT has been at the earnest wish of many students, members of the
Theosophical Society, and of my Hermetic fratres of the Order of the G.D.,
that I have made a revised translation of the "Sepher Yetzirah." In this
edition I have followed most closely the Hebrew version of Joannes
Stephanus Rittangelius, which was printed in 1642 at Amsterdam, and I
have forsaken many of the Latinised renderings which had been adopted in
the First Edition, from the works of Postellus and Pistorius.
The Notes have been extended, and it is hoped that they explain and
illustrate difficult passages, and render this abstruse treatise more
comprehensible than it has been hitherto found.
["IT is of considerable importance to a clear understanding of this Occult
treatise that the whole work be read through before comment is made, so
that the general idea of the several chapters may become in the mind one
concrete whole. A separate consideration of the several parts should follow
this general grasp of the subject, else much confusion may result." From
Westcott's 'NOTES TO THE SEPHER YETZIRAH'.]
W.W.W., F.[ellow of the] T.[heosophical] S.[ociety]

16

SEPHER YETZIRAH
THE BOOK OF FORMATION
CHAPTER

THE SEPHIROTH, NUMBERS, LETTERS

1. In thirty-two 1 mysterious Paths of Wisdom did Jah,z the Jehovah of hosts,3

the God ofIsrael,4 the Living Elohim,5 the King of ages, the merciful and gracious
God,6 the Exalted One, the Dweller in eternity, most high and holy-engrave
his name by the three Sepharim7 -Numbers, Letters, and Sounds. s
2. Ten are the ineffable Sephiroth. 9 Twenty-two are the Letters, the Foundation
of all things; there are Three Mothers, Seven Double and Twelve lO Simple
letters.
3. The ineffable Sephiroth are Ten, as are the Numbers; and as there are in
man five fingers over against five, so over them is established a covenant of
strength, by word of mouth, and by the circumcision of the flesh. 11
4. Ten is the number of the ineffable Sephiroth, ten and not nine, ten and not
eleven. Understand this wisdom, and be wise by the perception. Search out
concerning it, restore the Word to its creator, and replace Him who formed it
upon his throne. 12
5. The Ten ineffable Sephiroth have ten vast regions bound unto them; boundless
in origin and having no ending; an abyss 13 of good and of ill; measureless height
and depth; boundless to the East and the West; boundless to the North and
South; 14 and the Lord the only God, 15 the Faithful King rules all these from his
holy seat,16 for ever and ever.
6. The Ten ineffable Sephiroth have the appearance of the Lightning flash,17
their origin is unseen and no end is perceived. The Word is in them as they
rush forth and as they return, they speak as from the whirl-wind, and returning
fall prostrate in adoration before the Throne.
7. The Ten ineffable Sephiroth, whose ending is even as their origin, are like as
a flame arising from a burning coal. For God 1s is superlative in his Unity, there
is none equal unto Him: what number canst thou place before One.
S. Ten are the ineffable Sephiroth; seal up thy lips lest thou speak of them, and
guard thy heart as thou considerest them; and if thy mind escape from thee
bring it back to thy control; even as it was said, "running and returning" (the
living creatures ran and returned)l9 and hence was the Covenant made.
9. The ineffable Sephiroth give forth the Ten numbers. First; the Spirit of the

17

God of the living;ZO Blessed and more than blessed be the Living Godzl of ages.
The Voice, the Spirit, and the Word,22 these are the Holy Spirit.
10. Second; from the Spirit He produced Air, and formed in it twenty-two
sounds - the letters; three are mothers, seven are double, and twelve are simple;
but the Spirit is first and above these. Third; from the Air He formed the
Waters, and from the formless and voidz3 made mire and clay, and designed
surfaces upon them, and hewed recesses in them, and formed the strong material
foundation. Fourth; from the Water He formed Fire Z4 and made for Himself a
Throne of Glory with Auphanim, Seraphim and Kerubim,25 as his ministering
angels; and with these three 26 he completed his dwelling, as it is written, "Who
maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire. "27
11. He selected three letters from among the simple ones and sealed them and
formed them into a Great Name, I H V,z8 and with this He sealed the universe
in six directions.
Fifth-He looked above, and sealed the Height with I H V.
Sixth-He looked below, and sealed the Depth with I V H.
Seventh-He looked forward, and sealed the East with H IV.
Eighth-He looked backward, and sealed the West with H V 1.
Ninth-He looked to the right, and sealed the South with V I H.
Tenth-He looked to the left, and sealed the North with V H 1.

12. Behold! From the Ten ineffable Sephiroth do, proceed-the One Spirit of
the Gods of the living, Air, Water, Fire; and also Height, Depth, East, West,
South and North. Z9
CHAPTER

II

THE TWENTY-TWO LETTERS

1. The twenty-two sounds and letters are the Foundation of all things. Three
mothers, seven doubles and twelve simples. The Three Mothers are Aleph, Mem
and Shin, they are Air, Water and Fire. Water is silent, Fire is sibilant, and Air
derived from the Spirit is as the tongue of a balance standing between these contraries
which are in equilibrium, reconciling and mediating between them.
2. He hath formed, weighed, and composed with these twenty-two letters every
created thing, and the form of everything which shall hereafter be. 30
3. These twenty-two sounds or letters are formed by the voice, impressed on the
air, and audibly modified in five places; in the throat, in the mouth, by the
tongue, through the teeth, and by the lips.31
4. These twenty-two letters, which are the foundation of all things, He arranged
as upon a sphere with two hundred and thirty-one gates, and the sphere may be
rotated forward or backward, whether for good or for evil; from the good comes
true pleasure, from evil nought but torment.
5. For He shewed the combination of these letters, each with the other; Aleph
18

with all, and all with Aleph; Beth with all, and all with Beth. Thus in combining
all together in pairs are produced the two hundred and thirty-one gates of
knowledge. 32
6. And from the non-existent33 He made Something; and all forms of speech and
everything that has been produced; from the empty void He made the material
world, and from the inert earth He brought forth everything that hath life. He
hewed, as it were, vast columns out of the intangible air, and by the power of His
Name made every creature and everything that is; and the production of all things from
the twenty-two letters is the proof that they are all but parts of one living body.34

CHAPTER

III

THE TRIAD

1. The Foundation of all the other sounds and letters is provided by the Three
Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin; they resemble a Balance, on the one hand the
guilty, on the other hand the purified, and Aleph the Air is like the Tongue of
a Balance standing between them. 35

2. The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, are a great Mystery, very admirable
and most recondite, and sealed as with six rings; and from them proceed Air,
Fire, and Water, which divide into active and passive forces. The Three Mothers,
Aleph, Mem and Shin, are the Foundation, from them spring three Fathers,
and from these have proceeded all things that are in the world.
3. The Three Mothers in the world are Aleph, Mem and Shin: the heavens 36
were produced37 from Fire; the earth from the Water; and the Air from the
Spirit is as a reconciler between the Fire and the Water.
4. The Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, Fire, Water and Air, are shown
in the Year: from the fire came heat, from the waters came cold, and from the
air was produced the temperate state, again a mediator between them. The
Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, Fire, Water and Air, are found in Man:
from the fire was formed the head; from the water the belly; and from the air
was formed the chest, again placed as a mediator between the others.
S. These Three Mothers did He produce and design, and combined them; and
He sealed them as the three mothers in the Universe, in the Year and in Manboth male and female. He caused the letter Aleph to reign in Air and crowned
it, and combining it with the others He sealed it, as Air in the World, as the
temperate (climate) of the Year, and as the breath in the chest (the lungs for
breathing air) in Man: the male with Aleph, Mem, Shin, the female with Shin,
Mem, Aleph. He caused the letter Mem to reign in Water, crowned it, and
combining it with the others formed the earth in the world, cold in the year,
and the belly in man, male and female, the former with Mem, Aleph, Shin, the
latter with Mem, Shin, Aleph. He caused Shin to reign in Fire, and crowned it,
and combining it with the others sealed with it the heavens in the universe,
heat in the year and the head in man, male and female. 38
19

CHAPTER

IV

THE HEPTAD

1. The Seven double letters, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph, Peh, Resh, and Tau
have each two sounds associated with them. They are referred to Ufe, Peace,
Wisdom, Riches, Grace, Fertility and Power. The two sounds of each letter are
the hard and the soft-the aspirated and the softened. They are called Double,
because each letter presents a contrast or permutation; thus Ufe and Death;
Peace and War; Wisdom and Folly; Riches and Poverty; Grace and Indignation;
Fertility and Solitude; Power and Servitude.
2. These Seven Double Letters point out seven localities; Above, Below, East,
West, North, South, and the Palace of Holiness in the midst of them sustaining
all things.
3. These Seven Double Letters He designed, produced, and combined, and
formed with them the Planets of this World, the Days of the Week, and the Gates
of the soul (the orifices of perception) in Man. From these Seven He hath produced
the Seven Heavens, the Seven Earths, the Seven Sabbaths: for this cause He has
loved and blessed the number Seven more than all things under Heaven (His
Throne).
4. Two Letters produce two houses; three form six; four form twenty-four; five
form one hundred and twenty; six form seven hundred and twenty;39 seven
form five thousand and forty; and beyond this their numbers increase so that
the mouth can hardly utter them, nor the ear hear the number of them. So
now, behold the Stars of our World, the Planets which are Seven; the Sun,
Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.40 The Seven are also the
Seven Days of Creation; and the Seven Gateways of the Soul of Man - the two
eyes, the two ears, the mouth and the two nostrils. So with the Seven are
formed the seven heavens,41 the seven earths, and the seven periods of time;
and so has He preferred the number Seven above all things under His HeavenY
CHAPTER

THE DODECAD

1. The Twelve Simple Letters are Heh, Vau, Zain, Cheth, Teth, Yod, Lamed,
Nun, Samech, Oin, Tzaddi and Qoph;43 they are the foundations of these twelve
properties: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Speech, Taste, Sexual Love, Work,
Movement, Anger, Mirth, Imagination,44 and Sleep. These Twelve are also
allotted to the directions in space: North-east, South-east, the East above, the
East below, the North above, the North below, the South-west, the Northwest, the West above, the West below, the South above, and the South below;
these diverge to infinity, and are as the arms of the Universe.
2. These Twelve Simple Letters He designed, and combined, and formed with
them the Twelve celestial constellations of the Zodiac, whose signs are Teth,

20

Shin, Tau, Samech, Aleph, Beth, Mem, Oin, Qoph, Gimel, Daleth, and
DalethY The Twelve are also the Months of the Year: Nisan,46 Yiar, Sivan,
Tamuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Hesvan, Kislev, Tebet, Sabat and Adar. The Twelve
are also the Twelve organs of living creatures: 47 the two hands, the two feet, the
two kidneys, the spleen, the liver, the gall, private parts, stomach and intestines.
He made these, as it were provinces, and arranged them as in order of battle for
warfare. And also the Elohim45 made one from the region of the other.
Three Mothers and Three Fathers; and thence issue Fire, Air and Water. Three
Mothers, Seven Doubles and Twelve Simple letters and sounds.
3. Behold now these are the Twenty and Two Letters from which Jah, Jehovah
Tzabaoth, the Living Elohim, the God ofIsrael, exalted and sublime, the Dweller
in eternity, formed and established all things; High and Holy is His Name.

CHAPTER

VI

CONCLUSION

1. Three Fathers and their generations, Seven conquerors and their armies, and
Twelve bounds of the Universe. See now, of these words, the faithful witnesses are
the Universe, the Year and Man. The dodecad, the heptad, and the triad with
their provinces; above is the Celestial Dragon, T L 1,49 and below is the World,
and lastly the heart of Man. The Three are Water, Air and Fire; Fire above, Water
below, and Air conciliating between them; and the sign of these things is that the
Fire sustains (volatilises) the waters; Mem is mute, Shin is sibilant, and Aleph is
the Mediator and as it were a friend placed between them.
2. The Celestial Dragon, T L I, is placed over the universe like a king upon the
throne; the revolution of the year is as a king over his dominion; the heart of man
is as a king in warfare. Moreover, He made all things one from the other; and the
Elohim set good over against evil, and made good things from good, and evil
things from evil: with the good tested He the evil, and with the evil did He try the
good. Happiness 50 is reserved for the good, and misery5l is kept for the wicked.
3. The Three are One, and that One stands above. The Seven are divided;
three are over against three, and one stands between the triads. The Twelve
stand as in warfare; three are friends, three are enemies; three are life givers;
three are destroyers. The three friends are the heart, the ears, and the mouth;
the three enemies are the liver, the gall, and the tongue;5Z while God 53 the
faithful king rules over all. One above Three, Three above Seven, and Seven
above Twelve: and all are connected the one with the other. 54
4. And after that our father Abraham had perceived and understood, and had
taken down and engraved all these things, the Lord most high 55 revealed Himself,
and called him His beloved, and made a ~ovenant with him and his seed; and
Abraham believed on Him 56 and iLwa imputed unto him for righteousness.
And He made this Covenant as between the ten toes of the feet-this is that of
circumcision; and as between the ten fingers of the hands and this is that of the
21

tongueY And He formed the twenty-two letters into speech58 and shewed him
all the mysteries of them. 59 He drew them through the Waters; He burned them
in the Fire; He vibrated them in the Air; Seven planets in the heavens, and
Twelve celestial constellations of the stars of the Zodiac.

The End of "The Book of Formation. "

2Z

THE FIFTY GATES OF INTELLIGENCE

ATTACHED to some editions of the" Sepher Yetzirah" is found this scheme of

Kabalistic classification of knowledge emanating from the Second Sephira Binah,
Understanding, and descending by stages through the angels, heavens, humanity, animal and vegetable and mineral kingdoms to Hyle and the chaos. The
Kabalists said that one must enter and pass up through the Gates to attain to
the Thirty-two Paths ofWisdomj and that even Moses only passed through the
forty-ninth Gate, and never entered the fiftieth. See the CEdipus IEgyptiacus of
Athanasius Kircher, vol. II. p. 319.

First Order: Elementary.

Chaos, Hyle, The first matter.
Formless, void, lifeless.
The Abyss.
4. Origin of the Elements.
5. Earth (no seed germs).
6. Water.
7. Air.
8. Fire.
9. Differentiation of qualities.
10. Mixture and combination.
1.

2.
3.

Second Order: Decad of Evolution.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Minerals differentiate.
Vegetable principles appear.
Seeds germinate in moisture.
Herbs and Trees.
Fructification in vegetable life.
Origin of low forms of animal life.
Insects and Reptiles appear.
Fishes, vertebrate life in the waters.
Birds, vertebrate life in the air.
Quadrupeds, vertebrate earth animals.

23

Third Order: Decad of Humanity.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Appearance of Man.
Material human body.
Human Soul conferred.
Mystery of Adam and Eve.
Complete Man as the Microcosm.
Gift of five human faces acting exteriorly.
Gift of five powers to the soul.
Adam Kadmon, the Heavenly Man.
Angelic beings.
Man in the image of God.

Fourth Order: World of Spheres.

31. The Moon.
32. Mercury.
33. Venus.
34. Sol.
35. Mars.
36. Jupiter.
37. Saturn.
38. The Firmament.
39. The Primum Mobile.
40. The Empyrean Heaven.

Fifth Order: The Angelic World.

41. Ishim-Sons of Fire.
42. Auphanim-Cherubim.
43. Aralim-Thrones.
44., Chashmalim-Dominions.
45. Seraphim-Virtues.
46. Malakim-Powers.
47. Elohim-Principalities.
48. Beni Elohim-Angels.
49. Cherubim-Arch-angels.

Sixth Order: The Archetype.

50. God. Ain Suph. He Whom no mortal eye hath seen, and Who has
been known to Jesus the Messiah alone.
NOTE.-The Angels of the Fifth or Angelic World are arranged in very different
order by various Kabalistic Rabbis.

24

THE THIRTy-TWO PATHS OF WISDOM

Translated from the Hebrew Text of }oannes Stephanus

Rittangelius, 1642: which is also to be found in the
"CEdipus IEgyptiacus" of Athanasius Kircher, 1653.
(These paragraphs are very obscure in meaning, and the Hebrew text is probably very corrupt.)

THE First Path is called the Admirable or the Hidden Intelligence (the Highest
Crown): for it is the Light giving the power of comprehension of that First
Principle which has no beginningj and it is the Primal Glory, for no created
being can attain to its essence.
The Second Path is that of the Illuminating Intelligence: it is the Crown of
Creation, the Splendour of the Unity, equalling it, and it is exalted above
every head, and named by the Kabalists the Second Glory.
The Third Path is the Sanctifying Intelligence, and is the foundation of
Primordial Wisdom, which is called the Creator of Faith, and its roots are
AMNj and it is the parent of Faith, from which doth Faith emanate.
The Fourth Path is named the Cohesive or Receptacular Intelligencej and is so
called because it contains all the holy powers, and from it emanate all the
spiritual virtues with the most exalted essences: they emanate one from the
other by the power of the Primordial Emanation. (The Highest Crown.)l
The Fifth Path is called the Radical Intelligence, because it resembles the Unity,
uniting itself to the Binah,2 or Intelligence which emanates from the Primordial
depths of Wisdom or Chokmah. 3
The Sixth Path is called the Mediating Intelligence, because in it are multiplied
the influxes of the emanations, for it causes that influence to flow into all the
reservoirs of the Blessings, with which these themselves are united.
The Seventh Path is the Occult Intelligence, because it is the Refulgent
Splendour of all the Intellectual virtues which are perceived by the eyes of
intellect, and by the contemplation of faith.
The Eighth Path is called the Absolute or Perfect Intelligence, because it is the
means of the primordial, which has no root by which it can cleave, nor rest,
except in the hidden places of Gedulah,4 Magnificence, from which emanates
its own proper essence.

25

The Ninth Path is the Pure Intelligence, so called because it purifies the
Numerations, it proves and corrects the designing of their representation, and
disposes their unity with which they are combined without diminution or
division.
The Tenth Path is the Resplendent Intelligence, because it is exalted above
every head, and sits on the throne of Binah (the Intelligence spoken of in the Third
Path). It illuminates the splendour of all the lights, and causes an influence to
emanate from the Prince of countenances. 5
The Eleventh Path is the Scintillating Intelligence, because it is the essence of
that curtain which is placed close to the order of the disposition, and this is a
special dignity given to it that it may be able to stand before the Face of the
Cause of Causes.
The Twelfth Path is the Intelligence of Transparency, because it is that species
of Magnificence called Chazchazit,6 the place whence issues the vision of those
seeing in apparitions. (That is the prophecies by seers in a vision.)
The Thirteenth Path is named the Uniting Intelligence, and is so called because
it is itself the Essence of Glory. It is the Consummation of the Truth of individual
spiritual things.
The Fourteenth Path is the Illuminating Intelligence and is so called because it
is that Chashmal 7 which is the founder of the concealed and fundamental ideas
of holiness and of their stages of preparation.
The Fifteenth Path is the Constituting Intelligence, so called because it
constitutes the substance of creation in pure darkness, and men have spoken of
these contemplations; it is that darkness spoken of in Scripture, Job XXXVIII. 9,
"and thick darkness a swaddling band for it."
The Sixteenth Path is the Triumphal or EtemalIntelligence, so called because
it is the pleasure of the Glory, beyond which is no other Glory like to it, and it
is called also the Paradise prepared for the Righteous.
The Seventeenth Path is the Disposing Intelligence, which provides Faith to
the Righteous, and they are clothed with the Holy Spirit by it, and it is called
the Foundation of Excellence in the state of higher things.
The Eighteenth Path is called the Intelligence or House of Influence (by the
greatness of whose abundance the influx of good things upon created beings is
increased), and from its midst the arcana and hidden senses are drawn forth,
which dwell in its shade and which cling to it, from the Cause of all causes.
The Nineteenth Path is the Intelligence of the Secret of all the activities of the
spiritual beings, and is so called because of the influence diffused by it from the
most high and exalted sublime glory.
The Twentieth Path is the Intelligence of Will, and is so called because it is the
means of preparation of all and each created being, and by this intelligence the
existence of the Primordial Wisdom becomes known.
26

The Twenty-first Path is the Intelligence of Conciliation and Reward, and is so

called because it receives the divine influence which flows into it from its
benediction upon all and each existence.
The Twenty-second Path is the Faithful Intelligence, and is so called because
by it spiritual virtues are increased, and all dwellers on earth are nearly under its
shadow.
The Twenty-third Path is the Stable Intelligence, and it is so called because it
has the virtue of consistency among all numerations.
The Twenty-fourth Path is the Imaginative Intelligence, and it is so called
because it gives a likeness to all the similitudes which are created in like manner
similar to its harmonious elegancies.
The Twenty-fifth Path is the Intelligence of Probation, or Temptation, and is
so called because it is the primary temptation, by which the Creator trieth all
righteous persons.
The Twenty-sixth Path is called the Renewing Intelligence, because the Holy
God renews by it all the changing things which are renewed by the creation of
the world.
The Twenty-seventh Path is the Active or Exciting Intelligence, and it is so
called because through it every existent being receives its spirit and motion.
The Twenty-eighth Path is called the Natural Intelligencej by it is completed
and perfected the nature of all that exists beneath the Sun.

(This Path is omitted by Rittangelius: I presume by inadvertence.)

The Twenty-ninth Path is the Corporeal Intelligence, so called because it forms
every body which is formed in all the worlds, and the reproduction of them.
The Thirtieth Path is the Collective Intelligence, and Astrologers deduce from
it the judgment of the Stars and celestial signs, and perfect their science,
according to the rules of the motions of the stars.
The Thirty-first Path is the Perpetual Intelligencej but why is it so called? Because
it regulates the motions of the Sun and Moon in their proper order, each in an
orbit convenient for it.
The Thirty-second Path is the Administrative Intelligence, and it is so called
because it directs and associates the motions of the seven planets, directing all
of them in their own proper courses.

27

NOTES TO THE SEPHER YETZIRAH

IT is of considerable importance to a clear understanding of this Occult treatise that

the whole work be read through before comment is made, so that the general idea of the
several chapters may become in the mind one concrete whole. A separate consideration
of the several parts should follow this general grasp of the subject, else much confusion
may result.
This book may be considered to be an Allegorical Parallel between the Idealism of
Numbers and Letters and the various parts of the Universe, and it sheds much light on
many mystic forms and ceremonies yet extant, notably upon Freemasonry, the Tarot,
and the later Kabalah, and is a great aid to the comprehension of the Astro-Theosophic
schemes of the Rosicrucians. To obtain the full value of this Treatise, it should be
studied hand in hand with Hermetic attributions, the "Isiac Tablet," and with a complete
set of the designs, symbols and allocation of the Trump cards of the Tarot pack, for
which see my translation of The Sanctum Regnum of the Tarot, by Eliphas Levi.
Note that the oldest MSS. copies of the "Sepher Yetzirah" have no vowel points:
the latest editions have them. The system of points in writing Hebrew was not perfected
until the seventh century, and even then was not in constant use. Ginsburg asserts that
the system of vowel pointing was invented by a Rabbi Mocha in Palestine about A.D.
570, who designed it to assist his pupils. But Isaac Myer states that there are undoubted
traces of pointing in Hebrew MSS. of the second century. According to A.E. Waite
there is no extant Hebrew MSS. with the vowel points older than the tenth century.
The words "Sepher Yetzirah" are written in Hebrew from right to left, SPR YTzYRH,
Samech Peh Resh, Yod Tzaddi Yod Resh Heh; modes of transliteration vary with different
authors. Yod is variously written in English letters as I, Y, or 1, or sometimes Ie. Tzaddi
is, property Tz; but some write Z only, which is misleading because the Hebrew has also
a true Z, Zaino

CHAPTER

The twelve sections of this chapter introduce this philosophic disquisition upon the
Formation and Development of the Universe. Having specified the subdivision of the
letters into three classes, the Triad, the Heptad, and the Dodecad, these are put aside for
the time; and the Decad mainly considered as specially associated with the idea of
Number, and as obviously composed of the Tetrad and the Hexad.
1. Thirty-two. This is the number of the Paths or Ways of Wisdom, which are added as a
supplement. 32 is written in Hebrew by LB, Lamed and Beth, and these are the last and
first letters of the Pentateuch. The number 32 is obtained thus-2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 32.
Laib, LB as a Hebrew word, means the Heart of Man.
Paths. The word here is NTIBUT, netibuth; NTIB meant primarily a pathway, or footmade track; but is here used symbolically in the same sense as the Christian uses the

28

word, way - the way of life: other meanings are .- stage, power, form, effect; and later,
a doctrinal formula, in Kabalistic writings.
2. Jah. This divine name is found in Psalm LXVlII. 4; it is translated into Greek as kurios,
and into Latin as dominus, and commonly into the English word, Lord: it is really the
first half of the word IHVH or Jehovah, or the Yahveh of modern scholars.
3. Jehovah Tzabaoth. This divine name is printed in English Bibles as Jehovah Sabaoth,
or as "Lord of hosts" as in Psalm XXIV. 10. TzBA is an army.
4. God of Israel. Here the word God is ALHI, which in unpainted Hebrew might be God,
or Gods, or My God.
5. The Elohim of the Living. The words are ALHIM CHIIM. Alhim, often written in
English letters as Elohim, or by Godfrey Higgins as Aleim, seems to be a masculine
plural of the feminine form Eloah, ALH, of the divine masculine name EL, AL; this is
commonly translated God, and means strong, mighty, supreme. Chiim is the plural of
Chi-living, or life. CHIH is a living animal, and so is OlIVA. CHII is also life. Frey in his
dictionary gives CHUM as the plural word lives, or vitre. The true adjective for living is
CHIA. Elohim Chiim, then, apart from Jewish or Christian preconception, is "the living
Gods," or "the Gods of the lives, i.e., living ones." Rittangelius gives Dii viventes, "The
living Gods," both words in the plural. Pistorius omits both words. Postellus, the orthodox,
gives Deus Vivus. The Elohim are the Seven Forces, proceeding from the One Divine,
which control the "terra viventium," the manifested world of life.
6. God. In this case we have the simple form AL, EL.
7. Sepharim. SPRIM, the plural masculine of SPR, commonly translated book or letter: the
meaning here is plainly "forms of expression."
8. Numbers, Letters and Sounds. The three Hebrew words here given are, in unpointed
Hebrew, SPR, SPR and SIPUR. Some late editors, to cover the difficulty of this passage,
have given SPR, SPUR, SIPR, pointing them to read Separ, Seepur, Saypar. [In Kaplan's
translation of the Sepher Yetzirah (Samuel Weiser, 1990) he gives the three Hebrew words as
Sepher (text), Sephar (number) and Sippur (communication). p. 5.)
The sense of the whole volume appears to need their translation as Numbers, Letters
and Sounds. Pistorius gave "Scriptis, numeratis, pronunciatis." Postellus gave "Numerans,
numerus, numeratus," thus losing the contrasted meanings; and so did Rittangelius,
who gave "Numero, numerante, numerato."
9. The Ineffable Sephiroth. The words are SPIRUT BLIMH, Sephiruth Belimah. The
simplest translation is "the voices from nothing." The Ten Sephiruth of the Kabalah are
the "Ten Primary Emanations from the Divine Source," which are the primal forces
leading to all manifestation upon every plane in succession. Buxtorf gives for Scphiruthpredicationes logicre. The word seems to me clearly allied to the Latin spiritus-spirit,
soul, wind; and is used by Quintilian as a sound, or noise. The meaning of Belimah is
more doubtful. Rittangelius always gives "prreter illud ineffabile." Pistorius gives "prreter
ineffabile." Postellus evades the difficulty and simply puts the word Belimah into his
Latin translation. In Frey's Hebrew Dictionary BLIMH is translated as nothing, without
any other suggestion; BLI is "not," MH is "anything." In Kabalistic writings the Sephiruth,
the Divine Voices and Powers, are called "ineffbilis," not to be spoken of, from their
sacred nature.
10. The classification of the Hebrew letters into a Triad, Heptad and Dodecad, runs
through the whole philosophy of the Kabalah. Many ancient authors added intentional
blinds, such as forming the Triad of A.M.T., Ameth, truth; and of AMN, Amen.
11. The Two Covenants, by the Word or Spirit, and by the Flesh, made by Jehovah
with Abraham, Genesis XVII. The Covenant of Circumcision was to be an outward and

29

visible sign of the Divine promise made to Abraham and his offspring. The Hebrew
word for circumcision is Mulah, MULH: note that MLH is also synonymous with DBR,
dabar,-verbum or word.
12. Rittangelius gives "replace the formative power upon his throne." Postellus gives
"restore the device to its place."
13. Abyss; the word is OUMQ for OMQ, a depth, vastness, or valley.
14. My Hermetic [Golden Dawn] rituals explained this Yetziratic attribution.
15. The Lord the only God. The words are ADUN ICHID AL, or "Adonai (as commonly
written) the only El."
16. Seat. The word is MOUN, dwelling, habitation, or throne.
17. Lightning flash. In the early edition the words "like scintillating flame" are used: the
Hebrew word is BRQ. Many Kabalists have shown how the Ten Sephiroth are symbolised
by the zig-zag lightning flash.
18. God; the Divine name here is Jehovah.
19. The text gives only RTzUAV SHUB-"currendo et redeundo, " but the commentators
have generally considered this to be a quotation from Ezekiel I. 14, referred to H CHIVT,
the living creatures. kerubic forms.
20. The Spirit of the Gods of the Living. RUCH ALHIM O-rIIM; or as Rittangelius gives it,
"spiritus Deorum Viventium." Orthodoxy would translate these words "The spirit of
the living God."
21. AL CHI H OULMIM; "the Living God of Ages"; here the word God really is in the singular.
22. The Voice, Spirit and Word are QUL, RUCH, DBR. A very notable Hebrew expression
of Divinatory intuition was BATH QUL, the Daughter of the Voice.
23. Formless and Void. THU and BHU; these two words occur in Genesis I. 2, and are
translated "waste and void."
24. Note the order in which the primordial elements were produced. First, Spirit (query
Akasa, Ether); then Air, Vayu; then Water, Apas, which condenses into solid elementary
Earth, Prithivi; and lastly from the Water He formed Fire.
25. The first name is often written Ophanim, the letters are AUPNIM; in the Vision of
Ezekiel I. 16, the word occurs and is translated "Wheels." SHRPIM are the mysterious
beings ofIsaiah VI. 2; the word otherwise is translated Serpent, and in Numbers XXI. 6, as
"fiery serpents": also in verse 8 as "fiery serpent" when Jehovah said "Make thee a fiery
serpent and set it upon a pole." Kerubim. The Hebrew words are CI-IIVTH H QDSH,
holy animals: I have ventured to put Kerubim, as the title of the other Biblical form of
Holy mysterious animal, as given in 1 Kings VI. 23 and Exodus xxv. 18, and indeed
Genesis III. 24. Bible dictionaries generally give the word as Cherubim, but in Hebrew
the initial letter is always K and not Ch.
26. Three. In the first edition I overlooked this word three; and putting and for as, made
four classes of serving beings.
27. This is verse 4 of Psalm eIV.
28. Here follow the permutations of the name IHV, which is the TetragrammatonJehovah, without the second or final Heh: IHV is a Tri-grammaton. and is more suitable
to the third or Yetziratic plane. HVI is the imperative form of the verb to be, meaning be
thou; HIV is the infinitive; and VIH is future. In IHV note that Yod corresponds to the
Father; Heh to Binah, the Supernal Mother; and Vau to the Microprosopus - Son. [This
section is referring to the formation of the Cube of Space which the description of the
Altar in the Neophyte Ceremony is based on.-D.K.J
29. Note the subdivision of the Decad into the Tetrad-four elements; and the Hexadsix dimensions of space.

30

CHAPTER

II

This chapter consists of philosophic remarks on the twenty-two sounds and letters
of the Hebrew alphabet, and hence connected with the air by speech, and it points out
the uses of those letters to form words - the signs of ideas, and the symbols of material
substances.
30. [In Westcott's second edition he originally translated this section as "He hath formed,
weighed, and composed with these twenty-two letters every soul, and the soul of
everything. which shall hereafter be. "30] Soul; the word is NPSH, which is commonly
translated soul, meaning the living personality of man, animal or existing thing: it
corresponds almost to the Theosophic Prana [Life-Pinciple; the breath of Life) plus the
stimulus of Kama [desire or lust].
31. This is the modern classification of the letters into guttural, palatal, lingual, dental
and labial sounds.
32. The 231 Gates. The number 242 is obtained by adding together all the numbers from
1 to 22. The Hebrew letters can be placed in pairs in 242 different positions: thus ab, ag,
ad, up to at; then ba, bb, bg, bd, up to bt, and so on to ts, tt: this is in direct order only,
without reversal. For the reason why eleven are deducted, and the number 231 specified,
see the Table and Note 15 in the edition of Postellus. [Kaplan discusses The 231 Gates
in great detail in his translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, see pp. 108-124.)
33. Nan-existent; the word is AIN, nothingness. Ain precedes Ain Suph, boundlessness;
and Ain Suph Aur, Boundless Light.
34. Body; the word is GUP, usually applied to the animal material body, but here means
"one whole."

CHAPTER

III

This chapter is especially concerned with the essence of the Triad, as represented by
the Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem, and Shin. Their development in three directions is
pointed out, namely in the Macrocosm or Universe; in the Year or in Time; and in the
Microcosm or Man.
35. The importance of equilibrium is constantly reiterated in the Kabalah. The "Siphra
Dtzeniouta," or "Book of Mystery," opens with a reference to this Equilibrium as a
fundamental necessity of stable existence.
....
36. Heavens. The Hebrew word Heshamaim HSHMIM, has in it the element of Aesh,
fire, and Mim, water; and also Shem, name; The Name is IHVH, attributed to the
elements. SHMA is in Chaldee a name for the Trinity (Parkhurst). SHMSH is the Sun,
and Light, and a type of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Malachi IV. 2.
37. Were produced. The Hebrew word BRA, is the root. Three Hebrew words are used in
the Bible to represent the idea of making, producing or creating.
BRIAH, Briah, giving shape, Genesis I. 1.
OSHIH, Ashiah, completing, Genesis 1. 31.
ITzIRH, Yetzirah, forming, Genesis 11. 7.
To these the Kabalists add the word A TzLH. with the meaning of "producing something
manifest from the unmanifested."

31

38. These several formations then appear in a table thus:-

Emanation.

Shin.

Aleph.

Mem.

Macrocosm.
Universe.
Elements.
Man.
Year.

Primal Fire.
Heavens.
Terrestrial Fire.
Head.
Heat.

Spirit.
Atmosphere.
Air.
Chest.
Temperate.

Primal Water.
The Earth.
Water.
Belly.
Cold.

CHAPTER

IV

This is the special chapter of the Heptad, the powers and properties of the Seven.
Here again we have the threefold attribution of the numbers and letters to the Universe,
to the Year, and to Man. The supplemental paragraphs have been printed in modern
form by Kalisch; they identify the several letters of the Heptad more definitely with the
planets, days of the week, human attributes and organs of the senses. [This chapter was
partly covered in the description of the Seven-branched Candlestick in the Zelator
Ceremony.-D.K.]
39. These numbers have been a source of difference between the editors and copyists,
hardly any two editors concurring. I have given the numbers arising from continual
multiplication of the product by each succeeding unit from one to seven. 2 x 1 = 2,2 x
3 = 6, 6 x 4 = 24, 24 x 5 = 120, 120 x 6 =
x 7 = 5040.
40. In associating the particular letters to each planet the learned Jesuit Athanasius Kircher
allots Beth to the Sun, Gimel to Venus, Daleth to Mercury, Kaph to Luna, Peh to Saturn,
Resh to Jupiter, and Tau to Mars. Kalisch in the supplementary paragraphs gives a different
attribution; both are wrong, according to clairvoyant investigation. Consult the Tarot
symbolism given by Court de Gebelin, Eliphas Levi, and my notes to the Isiac Tablet of
Bembo. The true attribution is probably not anywhere printed. The planet names here
given are Chaldee words. [In May 1910, the true attributions were printed in the Occult
Review by V.lolo] N.[oscere. i.e., G.C. Jones] in the article 'The Truth About the Tarot
Trumps'. This article will appear in The Golden Dawn Tarot by A.E. Waite.]
41. The Seven Heavens and the Seven Earths are printed with errors, and I believe
intentional mistakes, in many occult ancient books. Some Hermetic [Golden Dawn]
MSS. have the correct names and spelling.
42. On the further attribution of these Seven letters, note that Postellus gives: Vita-mors, Paxaffiictio, Sapientia-stultitia, Diviti; (Opus)-paupertas, Gratia-opprobrium, Proles-sterilitas,
Imperium-servirus. Pistorius gives: Vita-mors, Pax-bellum, Scientia-ignorantia, Diviti;-paupettas,
Gratia-abominatio, Semen (proles)-sterilitas, Imperium (Dominatio)-servirus.

no, no

CHAPTER

This chapter is specially concerned with the Dodecad; the number twelve is itself
pointed out, and the characters of its component units, once more in the three zones of the
universe, year and man; the last paragraph gives a recapitulation of the whole number of
letters: the Supplement gives a form of allotment of the several letters. [This chapter was
covered in the description of the Table of Shewbread in the Ze!ator Ceremony.-D.K.]

32

43. It is necessary to avoid confusion between these letters; different authors translate
them in different manners. Heh or He, H, must not be confused with Cheth, or Heth,
CH. Teth, TH also must be kept distinct from the final letter Tau, T, which is one of the
double letters; the semi-English pronunciation of these two letters is much confused,
each is at times both t and th; Yod is either I, Y, or J; Samech is simple S, and must not
be confused with Shin, SH, one of the mother letters; Oin is often written in English
Hebrew grammars as Ayin, and sometimes as Gnain; Tzaddi must not be confused with
Zain, Z; and lastly Qoph, Q, is very often replaced by K, which is hardly defensible as
there is a true K in addition.
44. Postellus gives suspicion, and Pistorius, mind.
45. These letters are the initials of the 12 Zodiacal signs in Hebrew nomenclature. They are:
Teth
Shin
Tau
Samech
Aleph
Beth

Telah
Shor
Thaumim
Sartan
Aryeh
Bethuleh

Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo

Mem
Oin
Qoph
Gime!
Daleth
Daleth

Maznim
Oqereb
Qesheth
Gedi
Dali
Dagim

libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricornus
Aquarius
Pisces

46. The month Nisan begins about March 29th. Yiar is also written Iyar, and Aiar: the
Hebrew letters are AIIR.
47. The list of organs varies. All agree in two hands, two feet, two kidneys, liver, gall and
spleen. Postellus then gives, "intestina, vesica, arteri~," the intestines, bladder, and arteries;
Rittangelius gives the same. Pistorius gives, "colon, coagulum (spleen) et ventticulus,"
colon-the large intestine, coagulum and stomach. The chief difficulty is with the Hebrew
word MSS., which is allied to two different roots, one meaning private, concealed, hidden;
and the other meaning liquefied.
48. The Elohim-Divine powers-not IHVH the Tetragrammaton.

CHAPTER

VI

This chapter is a resume of the preceding five; it calls the universe and mankind to
witness to the truth of the scheme of clistribution of the powers of the numbers among
created forms, and concludes with the narration that this philosophy was revealed by
the Divine to Abraham, who received and faithfully accepted it, as a form of Wisdom
under a Covenant. [This chapter was source of the Golden Dawn's Enochian paper
titled 'The Book of the Concourse of the Forces.'-D.K.]
49. The Celestial Dragon, TLI, Theli. The Hebrew letters amount in numeration to 440,
that is 400, 30 and 10. The best opinion is that Tali or Theli refers to the 12 Zodiacal
constellations along the great circle of the Ecliptic; where it ends there it begins again,
and so the ancient occultists drew the Dragon with its tail in its mouth. Some have
thought that Tali referred to the constellation Draco, which meanders across the Northern
polar sky; others have referred it to the Milky Way; others to an imaginary line
joining Caput to Cauda Draconis, the upper and lower nodes of the Moon. Adolphe
Franck says that The!i is an Arabic word. [Theli in Arabic is Al Jaz'her.}

33

Theli: The Celestial Dragon

50. Happiness, or a good end, or simply good, TUBH.

51. Misery, or an evil end, or simply evil, ROH.
52. This Hebrew version omits the allotment of the remaining six. Mayer gives the
paragraph thus:-The triad of amity is the heart and the two ears; the triad of enmity is
the liver, gall, and the tongue; the three life-givers are the two nostrils and the spleen;
the three death-dealing ones are the mouth and the two lower openings of the body.
53. God. In this case the name is AL, EL.
54. This last paragraph is generally considered to be less ancient than the remainder of
the treatise, and by another author.
55. The Lord most high. OLIU ADUN. Adunor Adon, or Adonai, ADNI, are commonly
translated Lord; Eliun, OLIUN, is the more usual form of "the most high one."
56. Him. Rittangelius gives "credidit in Tetragrammaton," but this word is not in the
Hebrew.
57. Tongue. The verbal covenant.
58. Speech. The Hebrew has "upon his tongue."
59. The Hebrew version of Rabbi Judah Ha Levi concludes with the phrase, "and said of
him, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee." Rabbi Luria gives the Hebrew
version which I have translated. Postellus gives: "He drew him into the water, He rose
up in spirit, He inflamed him in seven suitable forms with twelve signs." Mayer gives:
"Er zog sie mit Wasser, zundet sie an mit Feuer; erregte sie mit Geist; verbannte sie mit
sieben, goss sie aus mit den zwolf Gestirnen." "He drew them with water, He kindled
them with fire, He moved them with spirit, distributed them with seven, and sent them
forth with twelve."

34

NOTES TO THE THIRTY-TWO PATHS OF WISDOM

1. The Highest Crown is Kether, the First Sephira, the first emanation from the Ain
Suph Aur, the Limit-less Light.
2. Binah, or Understanding, is the Third Sephira.
3. Chokmah, Wisdom, is the Second Sephira.
4. Gedulah is a synonym of Chesed, Mercy, the Fourth Sephira.
5. Metatron, the Intelligence of the First Sephira, and the reputed guide of Moses.
6. This word is from CHZCH, a seer, seership. Chazuth is a vision.
7. This word means "scintillating flame."
The "Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom" refer to the Ten Sephiroth and the Twenty-two
letters, each supplying a type of divine power and attributes. In my Introduction to the
Kabalah will be found a diagram showing how the Paths from Eleven to Thirty-two
connect the several Sephiroth, and are deemed to transmit the divine influence. 1 Some
teachers of Occult Science also allot the Twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot Cards to the
twenty-two Paths.

l. Westcott's diagram has been reprinted on page 6 in this book.

35

The Hebrew Text of the Sepher Yetzirah

From Dr. Isidor Kalisch's, Sepher Yetzirah, 1877

.,., ., , l:' .,
+

l'rllNi i'iij
~

1:1.

;'::l

'I%) ~

PRl? n~~1;1

n1N~~~ ni::l"r}t C:tJ~~ C'l~'rp~

"I1~ ~~ 131 '1?~~ C'l~tl C'l~~~ niN~ Mji1; H;
10;' ~ii.R] Ciir? i31 l~iilJ NW~l 01 PJr.:)) o,n'1

i1~C'
i~C~*
C'li~O
\\rtJ'ilJ::l
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nN
Ni::l~
.:
T:
T :
T:
T
"
TT
C"~~~ C'lirtl31' "O'c,~ n;i"~C it117 : i~O'
-

..

....

....

T " ..

. . . . . .

C'l~~~ n;'1~~ 31::l~;' ni~N ~c,~

:

.....

:i10" n;~niN
:

: niro1t&J~ n.,.f~'~
.::l "::l

1:2.

"

'I%) ~

".

ni31~YN
"O"'~
nii'l[jC
it117
T:'".'" iro17
...... i~CO:J
-:-:
T'":
-:

17~7?~? n~~~~

'''l:1; n'\!~1 ilJP'r:'

: i;17tf~

." ""

'J~~ ro~r:t

n2t?1l1 l;rtJ~6 n~Q?

m~
~" ifol1 l1ilJ~ ~" iro31 no~,~ I1ii"~C irol1
cv~ liM~ M~'~t o;ql n~~Q=? l~~ nl~~ nfj~
j~;" :l~"J ;'li:l c,ll. i~l 'P~:~l Cij~ iiPOl
'l

1:3.

......

M::l

......

T'":

-:

: iJi~rt-r,l1

36

1:4.

.,

n::l m ~

cv~ l"~~ .,~~ l\,l~ M~"?fl nii"~~ .,~l!.

P~i171 :Jiro p~i17 n"",o~ p~i17J n"~N"J p~i17 ~iO
Pt?i171 M!lQ Pt:ii17 t"ilJI.:\ P~i171 Oii Pt?il1 111
1?~ ,~ i""~ lii~ Cii1 P7?;1711;~ p~i17 :l'1ll.~
: ill "j.ll.: i~ ir01R li177f~ C?~:P ,~o J~~~
1:5.

M:l

t.:I

't%)

p~~ M~"l~:P lQ";~ M~"'7f ni~"~9 i~~

:J;~ NiY1t Ifj~ ii~i Yi? lr:)~ r~ lQ"?=?t:"l
:c""n~tDo en iNO:J "J~" 1~;ii"' i1~10::::> 'i~N~'1
-: - : .

:... : :

1:6.

.,

n::l

T -: - :

'I:D t.:I

It:'7r}t;'11t;'~r:'1t;'~ l~;o Y!]17 ~ n7t"'7f nii"'~9 i~~.

r~l i"~~ lii~~ n~O:1:p n1,rOj? n~ij7Wf IFtio~
: i!:)iO n~N no inN
T.- ".:ltl"
.. :-: "'.:ltD
... i;

T-

n ~ m t.:I
i=?~1 i~'j~~ 9"~ 0;'=1 n~"~f nii"~9 i~~
:l~rtJ iiJlC17 ~?~1 i~17 9"~ 1'1 c~1 ir11ij7~
.,~, '1I1 :JirtJl NiY1 n;~lJij] i~~~ 1~~~ c;p~~
: n",,~ n~~ M.J
1:7.

.T

37

.M

1:8.

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c"~n
C"iit,N
Mii
I'"'MN
i\O"~::l
n1i"ljC
iro17

...:
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111.-

';p

J:lii1

C"Q?i~i1 'r::t '-?~ iOr{ ~1i::lt.?i ~lif

PRr:t t:t~,~ ljI' c~e~ : ttJl;pu

n1WN rzJ~rtJ iic" ni~niN c"n~;

.-:

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c",fo17
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nr::t~ t1iil. ni~irtJ~

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C"!ff!~P iry~ ::ll!~1 Pi20 ,=,ii~ C:~ .rtJ~~ : lv~

l"Qf lRRr:'

to.,tQ~ ttJ~~. iM::ll iri~ (n;~t:'iN C~1J~

M~"lll~

l'7;.)iJ tC~~~ n~in l"~f i~"!:fij "~;i~

J,?~? "~ i~~~~ i~lt n~lttJ: J~rt!. CV"7.lt: P'!~
H~ ::lVl?1 Pj2y C:~r? rtJ~ l7~1~ : (Y~.~ N,O i~t-t'
"~~?Q-' rzJ-:!;pU I'"';~'='1 t;l"~~iNl c"~l~ ,.t:l~ij N~~
M~17 i~~~~ i.:1i179 .,~; i~~7rr;>' n!~;:1
nrJ~~ ii'::l ~n;~ tON '''I'"'irtJO ninii '''~N~O
T:

..

T:T:

T T: -

IIftJjj~"~ niw~ rzj~~ .,iO=? n;toirtJtpt:' l~ n;~t:';N

: niufi?

rtJrtj Cij1 CtJ~,: ~;i~iJ iOif':? C17T~Rl

: l~~ : NJ',MN
:~~ "111J1
n~'
-z T

38

NMOU (.

: 1;1'1? NUJ (:I:

enn
: 'E)'cin rd' (U
T

1onn, n~17r.h MJD' 01' cnn ~cn

10nn, nwo~ MJ~~ nn~ cnn ~~

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T-:

TT

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MJD'
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cnn
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TT :
T T
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MJ'C~
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1:9.

't)

n::> to

c"r6N ni nnN MO'~::l ni.,,:)o .,fttl7

e.- .' ~'N
..

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T' :

.:

mn,
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--...
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.: Cii111lclJ :liJl~' "1~

'Jro i""
~

2:1.

n::>

'CD

17:l~ ni~N rJ,rtJ ';0"' ni~niN C.,~rtil C""~17

-

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tj"O"N
ni~N. rtJ'rJ
nit)~rJ): mttl1
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ni'~~~:
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:

C~~1:i} ll"!:r.~ Pr:' li~~l n~in 'l~1 nl:)l 'P- l1iC~

""1~ IN nR:'1:ttD'~ n~~i' '0 rJ"~"~ niw~ ~~rt(
: C;~~~ It.,~~ 111'
2:2.

l~'"

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n~

'CD ~

l~" lRi?~ "0": ni~I)~'t C".t:'~ C""ff'~

39

.j1 ., ,

!I'

""I!)

,~ n~l .,ur~;:1 'i' n~ 0v~ '1 Jl"QIj117i?~

: i~V'
,'n17M
T
T
e
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'l

2:3.

n:J

'Q) ):I

~t'

,1P? lRi?~ -nO; n'~t:'1N C:t:'tfJ~ c,.,fpll.

17'l:Iwtt n;~t:\;~ n1o;prt eJ~"il n~f llt~R r:t~"~
c;~~1 Y'1tt~1. litJ7t n" ~?rp1 ~'lj~ p"~'~ l'''~:P
: c~~~tp~ '1"~:;S
2:4.

n~

'Q) ):I

P~f 'J?Jil llZ~R. 'iO~ ni~ni~ c~~~ c,..,~~.

"in~'
C'Je
C'~ll~.;la"
inn,
C'i17~
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n~'1~ P~1 ~17~ M7ll~7 n~irof p~ i~17 lrt'~1

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Clll~~11~~. Cll N rrQr.-11~R~ l~'l~ 'V'~

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N

NVi'
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,:"T NVQJ'
C'i17~
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2:6.

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nv: c~t;'~ iJ'~t9 i.,,~p' 0'7"1 C'i10~

40

"f

Y'

j!:l

n~ nrq~1 "~'Q-' n~'Y

"~l?

l?1"Ql

ell 1~~1 l~~ ell N

'r:'~ C~ "~:l1ij ,~ t"i~1 i~Y;;:j
: N '1t'~ c'~~q C:e~1 C"tp~
N

'ro'~ro
3:1.

i'jij

~ 'tl:) ~

;-,~'n '1~J n1;:'~ f:')~ il'O~ rtI"~"~ n'~~ rtJ'rti

eJllt?," ~ n'~tt rtJ~~ c:~~; It''=?9 Pr:' lirtJ?1

"0

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rtJltJ:;)
CinM'1
nOi::;)Ol
NC,EJiO
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T :
T:
T
:
T:

nt:lNOi
r"\tJN
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rtJN'
T
T
:
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: C.,O,
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T

: ni,,;r-t
;

n ~ 'CD ~
17i-?~ 1~: l~~ lRRI! rtJ"~"~ r"\i~~ rtJt-,~
rO'~1 C~i:t7~ rO"~"~ r"\i~~ eJ"~ CVf "11"1'~L11
.:l

3:2.

eJEJJ:l
ro"O/IN
t"i;~N rtJ'e*,
MJrtJ:;)
e*"O"N
n;~N"
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T:
'T T :
"." -.":

n ~ 'Q) ~
c"ortJ rtJN' 0"0' "'iN cC,il1::l rtJ"O"N ni~N rtJ,rtJ
'1

3:3.

_. :

-..

1J1"~ .,'~!tl C:~~ n~'1?~ Y!.~1 rtJ~~ iNl~

: c:t:)~~
nimN
~~
M.:lj?-"
"
T
T ,

.,:1,

TT

: ~11~

11_"i~~

c'j:I~,"nc~
c'c~
~H-. C'N'lri'
uo~~
N", (" : - :
:
.....

N~~? ~J~t?~ ni:lD$ ~'?iJ l\!t?~ rtJc~ ~'?"~

41

3:4.

n, 'rD

..,

Cin M;1:'

M~wJ~ rtJ"~'l~ ni~~ rlJt,~

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53

T-

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54

Limited edition of 100 copies. Bath: Robert H. Fryar, 1887. 29 pp.; Second Revised
edition. London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1893.43 pp.; Third Revised edition,
re-titled-The Sepher Yetzirah. The Book of Formation with The Fifty Gates of Intelligence
and The Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom. London: J.M. Watkins, 1911. 50 pp.; New York:
Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1980. 50 pp.; Revised and re-titled-Sepher Yetzirah or Book
Formation and additional notes !ram H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine. Notes to the Wizard
Edition [by Richard Robb]. With a reprint of the 'Kabbalah' from Encyclopaedia
Britannica. Secret Doctrine Reference Series. San Diego, CA: Wizards Bookshelf, 1990.
[vi], 43 pp.
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Qabal1lh: Semt Tradition of the West. New York: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1977. pp. 203-

236.
Mayer Lambert. (French). Cammentaire sur Ie Sefer Yesirah: Our Livre Creation par Ie
Gaon Saadja de Fayyoum. Paris, 1891.
Lazarus (Eliezer) Goldschmidt. (German). Das Buch der Schopfung. Frankfort am Mein,
1894.92 pp.
Peter Davidson. (English). With 'The Fifty Gates of Intelligence' and 'The Thirty-two
Paths of Wisdom.' 1896.
Knut Stenring, (English). The Book of Formation: Sepher Yetzirah. Edited and Introduction
by A.E. Waite. London: William Rider and Son, Ltd., 1923.67 pp.; New York: Ktav
Publishing House, 1970. 64 pp.; Philadelphia: David McKay Co., no date. 67 pp.;
Without Waite's Introduction. Edmonds, WA: Holmes Publishing Group, 1988.52
pp.
Aryeh Kaplan. (English with Hebrew text). Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Creation: In
Theory and Practice. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1990. xxvi, 388 pp.
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Cellerio, Bartoloccio de. Bibliotheca magna Rabbinica. Rome, 1768-1692.
Franck, Adolphe. La Kabbale, ou la philosophie religieuse des Hebreux. Paris: L. Hachette,
1843.412 pp.; Translated as-The Kabbalah: The Religious Philosophy of the Hebrews
by I. Sossnitz. New York, 1926; New translation. Introduction by John C. Wilson
[Felix Morrow). New York: Bell Publishing Co., 1960. 224 pp.
Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn and the Esoteric Seeton. London: Theosophical History
Centre, 1987.26 pp.
Ginsburg, Christian D. The Kabbal1lh. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1863.; London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1955.241 pp.
Kircher, Athanasius. Werke CEdipus /Egyptiacus. 3 vols. Rome, 1652-54.
Levi, Eliphas [Alphonse Louis Constant]. Histoire de la Magie, avec une exposition claire et
precise de sec procedes, de ses Rites et de ses Mysteres, avec 18 planches (90 figures). Paris:
Germer Bailliere, 1860. ~vi, 560 pp.; Paris: F. Alcan, 1892.; Translated as-The
History of Magic: Including a Clear and Precise Exposition of its Procedure, its Rites and its
Mysteries. Translated, with a preface and notes by A.E. Waite. London: William
Rider and Son, Ltd., 1913. xxxvi, 536 pp.; New York: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1971.
384 pp.
_. The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum, interpreted by the Tarot Trumps. Translated
from the MSS. of Eliphaz [sic] Levi and edited by W.W. Westcott, M.B., with 8
finely coloured plates. London: Redway, 1896. x, 108 pp.; London: Crispin Press/
Thorsons Publishers Ltd., 1970.; Revised and edited by Joseph Bouleur. With three
plates from the early Levi French editions. Edmonds, W A: Holmes Publishing Group,
1992.52 pp.
55

Mathers, S.L. MacGregor. The Qabalah. A lecture given to the Hermetic Society of
London on 3 June 1886.; A brief abstract was printed in the magazine Light (19 June
1886).
_. The Physical or Lower Alchemy. A lecture given to the Hermetic Society of London
on 8 July 1886.
Moses de Leon, Rabbi I?]. The Sepher 2000r or The Book of Splendour.
Mantua, 1558; Cremona, 1560; Lublin, 1623.
Knorr von Rosenroth. (Latin). Kabbala Denudata, seu, Doctrina Hebraeorum

transcendentalis et metaphysica atque theologica. Opus antiquissimae philosophiae barbaricae

variis speciminibus refertissimum. ... in quo ante ipsam translationem libri ... cui nomen
SoOOr tam veteris, quam recentis, ejusque Tikkunim ... praemittitur apparatus. Sulzbachi:
Typis Abrahami Lichtenthaleri, 1677-84.
S.L. MacGregor Mathers. (English). The Kabbalah Unveiled [Kabbala Denudatal:

Containing the following Books of the ZoOOr. The Book of Concealed Mystery, The Greater.
Holy Assembly and The Lesser Holy Assembly. Translated into English from the Latin
version of Knorr von Rosenroth, and collated with the original Chaldee and Hebrew text.
London: George Redway, 1887. viii, 360 + [16] pp.; Revised, with a preface by Mrs.
Moina Mathers. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1926. xiv, 360 pp.; New York:
Sapluel Weiser, Inc., 1968.
Nurho de Manhar [William Williams]. (English). '2oOOr (Bereshith - Genesis),' in The
Word, edited by H.W. Percival. New York: Theosophical Publishing Co., 1900-14.;
Complete revision with three hundred paragraphs of footnotes extracted from The
Secret Doctrine, exordium, and copious notes assembled and compiled by John Dral.s
and two articles appended to the text: 'The Kabalah and the Kabalism' and
'Tetragrammaton' by H.P. Blavatsky. With a reprint of the 'Kabbalah' from
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Secret Doctrine Reference Series. San Diego, CA: Wizards
Bookshelf, 1985. [3] + vi, 424 + [1] pp.
Myer, Isaac. Quabbalah: The Philosophical Writtings of Soloman Ben Yehudah Lim Gebirol or
Avicebron .. Philadelphia: Privately printed, 1888. xxiv, 497 pp.; New Introduction
by Sibyl F. New York: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1970. xxiv, [4] + 500 pp.
Nehunia ben haKana, Rabbi I?]. The Sepher Bahir or The Book of Brilliance,
Manuscript: Province school of Kabbalists, 117.6; Amsterdam, 1651. 12 pp.; Berlin,
1706. 13 pp.; Sklav, 1784. 25 pp.; Lvov, 1865. 32 pp.; Vilna, 1883. 42 pp.
William Wynn Westcott. (English). The Book of Brilliance. Privately printed, 1896.
[Pat Zalewski refers to this book in Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn (p. 37). I have been
unable to track down a copy of this book or any previous reference to this book.]
Aryeh Kaplan. (English with Hebrew text). The Bahir: Illumination. Yorke Beach, ME:
Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1979. xxvi, 244 pp.
Waite, A.E. The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah. London: Theosophical Publishing
Soviety, 1902. xx, 508 pp.
Westcott, William Wynn. An Introduction to The Study of The Kabalah, with eight diagrams.
London: J.M. Watkins, 1910. iv, 66 + [2] pp.; Second edition. London: J.M. Watkins,
1926. iv, 72 pp.; New York: Allied Publications, no date.

_ . Tabula Bembina sive Mensa Isiaca: The Lsiac Tablet of Cardinal Bembo, Its History and
Occult Significance. Bath: Robert Fryar, 1887. [viii], 19 + [1] pp.; Re-titled-The Isiac
Tablet or The Bembine Table of Isis. Enlarged with Introductory Preface by Manly P.
Hall. Los Angeles, CA: Philosophical Research Society, 1976. [xiv], 19 + [1] pp.
Zalewski, Pat. Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn. Foreword by Sr. M.A.A.E.M. St. Paul, MN:
Llewellyn Publications, 1993. xvi, 223 + [1] pp.

THE GOLDEN DAWNSTUDIES SERIES

Darcy Kiintz-General Editor
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Complete Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript
Volume 2
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Volume 3
Sepher Yetzirah with Hebrew Text
Volume 4
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A Bibliography
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Volume 6
The Magic of a Symbol-Florence Farr
Volume 7
Enochian Experiments
of the Golden Dawn
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Volume 9
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Volume 10
The Astrology of the Golden Dawn
Brodie-Innes
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Mary Greer & Darcy Kuntz
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Fringe Masonry in England, 1870-1885
Ellic Howe

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Eliphas Levi
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Darcy KUntz
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The Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn
W.W. Westcott
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The Sacred Book ofHenoch
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Aspects ofOccultisIh
Edward Langford-Garstin
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