Qabala for Beginners

9. Kether

Kether is typically seen as the "beginning," or the "source" from which everything else springs. Numerologically, it is associated with the number one. It's considered the first stage in the process of manifestation, or creation, or emanation. For a basic view of Kether, it's possible to stop right here. But we can look more closely at Kether and see some interesting subtleties.

name
of the
sefira
Let's start with the name of the sefira; kether, which translates in English to "crown." This establishes a link to the idea of higher authority or supreme power and is consistent with idea of divinity or Godliness. Indeed, some see Kether as actually representing God, or at least as close to God as we can get on the tree of Life. But think back to the framework I previously presented in which the sefirot are seen as filters that enable us to perceive aspect of God and/or tools used by God to create. In that context, we'd have to say that no individual sefira, even Kether, is any more or less divine than any other. So we really wouldn't want to point to Kether and say that this particular sefira is God, or even the closest approximation we can get to God.

name
of God
Let's agree that we will, indeed, regard all ten sefirot as filters through which we can perceive aspects of God. What characteristics do we see when we work with Kether? Let's start with the name of God that corresponds to this sefira. When we identify God as AHYH AshR AHYH (phonetically: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh), we are tuned into Kether. If you recall from section 3, AHYH AshR AHYH has been translated in the King James Bible as "I am that I am." But nowadays, scholars translate the phrase as "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be." This is a huge change. The King James translation presented us with an absolute static being. I am now. Presumably God always was this (at all times in the past, God would have still been identified as I am. Presumably, God will always be just this way, since even a thousand years hence, God will still be identifying himself in terms of "I am." This is static. But the modern translations are very dynamic. "I will be." Now, we're talking about potential.

Kether helps us to perceive the fundamental dynamism that is the true essence of divinity. No matter where we are in the course of history, no matter what stage of evolution has been achieved, we always identify God in terms of what God "will be." There's always room for something new. One can never say I'm here. I've arrived. I'm finished. I've nothing left to accomplish." If God never reaches such a static stage, so too is the case with us, as fragments of divinity. We can always evolve, grow, create, etc. Kether, where we refer to God as "I will be what/who I will be" drives this point home to us.

"sayings"
of
creation,
the Ten
Command-
ments
Now that we know we're part of a perpetual process of evolution, which part of that process does Kether represent? Here are a few clues. Remember that the word Kether translates to "crown." Crown isn't part of the King's head. It's something worn on top of the head; something that stands apart from the King himself. Before analyzing this, let's look at some more correspondences. Kether corresponds to the first of the divine "sayings" of creation from Genesis 1:1. There is room for debate regarding the exact method of counting, but one noted authority, Aryeh Kaplan, equates Kether to the very first sentence of the Torah, commonly translated as "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (The point I'm making here holds up even under alternative translations presented earlier.) Kether also corresponds to the first of the "Ten Commandments." Again, there's room to debate methods of counting, but it is reasonable to relate Kether to "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage." If we look at these three things together, what we see is something in the nature of a preamble, or a prologue; an overall introduction; something that sets the stage for everything else.

The crown is an identifier; it tells us who/what the king is and what the king can do; what he's all about. The first creative saying from Genesis and the first Commandment likewise tell us who God is and suggest what he can do. So we can start by saying that Kether introduces the idea of creative potential the way an overture introduces us to a musical performance, or the way a preface introduces us to a book.

gematria
Let's go further and look at some gematria (as discussed earlier). The word Kether (KThR using equivalents to Hebrew letters) adds up to 620. Another word tat adds to 620 is RVChVTh, which means spirits; not spirit (singular), but spirits (plural). The number 620 also matches ShAyRYM, which can mean beliefs, imaginings, or suppositions; again, plural, not singular. Remember that Kether is often associated with the number one. This has led many to see Kether as the ultimate in singularity or unity. But these associations with the gematria of 620 provide food for thought on that issue. Is Kether ONE thing? Or is Kether ALL things (or to be more precise, the potential for ALL things)? So instead of seeing Kether as the ultimate ONE, we could see it as the ultimate ALL; the penultimate plurality. This is an interesting question that runs along the lines of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Note, too, the idea of ShAyRYM; beliefs, imaginings, or suppositions. Does this sound familiar? It should to many modern new-agers, who may have heard such statements as "beliefs create reality" or "thoughts create things."

We're now starting to get some idea of what aspects of divinity we are dealing with when we work with Kether. In a nutshell, we are dealing with unlimited creative potential; the idea that all things are possible. No probability has yet been omitted, or even diminished. The idea of unlimited potential can be very empowering. It can also be a bit scary because it implies the responsibility to actualize sooner or later at least some of those potentials.

Indeed, this need to actualize potential is built very much into Kether itself. Let's go back to the God name: AHYH AshR AHYH ("I will be who/what I will be.") That already expresses some leaning toward bringing potentiality into actuality. But there's more. Let's work a bit more with qabalistic numerology. The entire name/sentence, AHYH AshR AHYH, adds up to 1023. If we reduce that number, we arrive at 6. Later on in this series (much later), we'll see that 6 has a very deep association with the idea of doing, or implementing. We have the 6 days of creation (that precede the Seventh, Sabbath, day of rest). We have the 6 sefirot of the "world of formation" (chesed through yesod). The middle word of this god name/sentence, AshR, adds up to 501 which also reduces to 6. AHYH adds up to 21, which reduces to 3; the two of them combine add to 6. The bottom line, here, is that the phrase AHYH AshR AHYH resonates strongly with 6, which in turn resonates strongly with the idea of implementation.

Another thing we'll see later on in this series is that he number 6 (which is the number for the Hebrew letter "vav") also resonates with the idea of connectedness; reconciling seemingly irreconcilable things. (In fact, the Hebrew letter "vav" attached as a prefix to the beginning of another word translates in English to "and".) This, too, can enhance our understanding of Kether. As mentioned above, some see Kether as actually representing God. But many qabalistic scholars see Kether as merely representing a veil that conceals the true unfathomable, unknowable God. Some Tree of Life diagrams will show arcs drawn above Kether to represent nothing, infinity, and infinite light. God, whoever or whatever it is (it can't truly be grasped by the human mind or communicated using human language), is somehow bound up in those arcs beyond Kether. The idea of six/connectedness comes into play here. Kether, the imminent actualization of the potential for all things, is the point of connection between the complete unknowable wholeness of God, and those aspects of God that we are able to perceive via the sefirot.

"depths" of
Sefer
Yetzirah
By definition, God (whatever unimaginable thing that may be) is considered "good." So not surprisingly, among the ten directions or "depths" discussed in Sefer Yetzirah (the "Book of Formation"), Kether is widely viewed as corresponding to "a depth of Good." (See section 8.) Its opposite sefira is Malkuth (the 10th), which is said to represent "a depth of Evil." Malkuth will be discussed later on, but as a quick preview, evil as used in this context doesn't mean doing things we typically regard as bad. It simply means being something other than being Godlike; i.e., something other than pure good (or put another way, the freedom to choose to be unlike God.)

So how can we actually cultivate this Godly concept of unlimited potential and the will to bring potentialities into being? Do we go into a meditative state and see ourselves as powerful beings siting on thrones? Should we visualize ourselves barking orders to armies of subordinates directing them to implement that which we wish to will into being? Or, perhaps, do we visualize ourselves as having the strength, the drive, the talent, etc. to act on our own to implement whatever we choose from the unlimited pool of potentialities? According to Cordovero's Tomer Devorah treatise, the answer is: none of the above.

Cordovero:
Tomer
Devorah
Cordovero lists humility first in among a list of qualities one should cultivate in order to emulate Kether. After all, Kether is elevated above all other sefirot on the Tree, yet its focus is downward; towards the later stages of emanation. It always looks down (not up beyond the veil toward the ultimate creator). Other qualities that should be developed by one aspiring toward Kether are freedom from ugly thoughts; a willingness to please all; a tendency to hear only that which is good; taking pity on those who are unfortunate; a willingness to receive everyone with a pleasant countenance, and a tendency to speak only of good things.

At first glance, this may seem an odd collection of generally nice qualities. But if there is any sort of common thread running throughout, one might be able to say that all these qualities would seem to flow comfortably from one who is truly and sincerely aware of his/her own connection with everything and everyone else in the world; one who is in tune with the common spiritual core shared by all there is. So in a sense, this could be seen as relating back to what we talked about when we suggested that Kether could be seen as the ultimate in plurality; all things. More importantly, these qualities, taken together, paint a picture of a person who is definitely not wrapped up in his/her ego. We see a person who is quick to put his/her own desires, urges, abilities, etc. on the back burner to make room for a sense of connection to all else in the universe. Does this sound familiar? It should. You've encountered such concepts if you read such Eastern scripture as the Tao Teh Ching. Closer to home, you also saw it before in the discussion of tzimtzum (section 4), which describes how God creates by voluntarily restricting the scope of his own being in order to make room for something else (that which he creates) to take on a life of its own.

Cordovero is not naīve about the realities of the physical world in which we live:
"We know that man cannot always be guided by these qualities, for there are also other qualities in which man must perfect himself, and those qualities flow from the lower Powers as will be explained in due course. However," he adds, "there are days when those powers are not active, and man need not resort to them."

Dion Fortune, in describing qabala as the yoga of the west, pointed out that
"The dharma of the West differs from that of the East; is it therefore desirable to try and implant Eastern ideals in a Westerner? Withdrawal from the earth-plane is not his line of progress. The normal, healthy Westerner has no desire to escape from life, his urge is to conquer it and reduce it to order and harmony."

I have no idea if Fortune was thinking about Tomer Devorah when she wrote this, or even if she ever heard of Cordovero or Tomer Devorah. But in any case, Cordovero's remarks are consistent with the point Fortune was making.

So Cordovero rejected the idea that one must be an ascetic or saint-like person to hope to aspire to Kether. Even the "highest" power on the Tree of Life can be accessible to those who bear the slings and arrows of everyday life and who, like most of us, have our share of not-so-noble days or moments. This is not to suggest that Cordovero would sanction a moral, ethical, or spiritual anything-goes free-for-all attitude. As we'll see later on, even the other sefirot/powers involve development of traits that are themselves quite worthy and evolved. But it is still interesting to note that Cordovero recognizes that human should be expected to be all-Kether, all-the-time.

summary
This completes the discussion of Kether. I know it can be awkward to summarize concepts like this in a few key words/phrases. But recognizing the value such a summary might have for beginners, I offer the following:
The aspect of God that is perceived through this filter - Unlimited potential; the underlying core that unites and contains all possibilities; all that is and all that may ever be.
The tool of creation; the will to create; the desire to perpetually evolve or create, the drive to bring possibilities into being; a willingness to accomplish this by subordinating one's own ego.

E-mail Marc H. Gerstein

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Copyright © Marc H. Gerstein 1998. Posted on May 31st, 1998.
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	Kether is typically seen as the "beginning," or the "source" from which everything else springs. Numerologically, it is associated with the number one. It's considered the first stage in the process of manifestation, or creation, or emanation. For a basic view of Kether, it's possible to stop right here. But we can look more closely at Kether and see some interesting subtleties.
name of the sefira	Let's start with the name of the sefira; kether, which translates in English to "crown." This establishes a link to the idea of higher authority or supreme power and is consistent with idea of divinity or Godliness. Indeed, some see Kether as actually representing God, or at least as close to God as we can get on the tree of Life. But think back to the framework I previously presented in which the sefirot are seen as filters that enable us to perceive aspect of God and/or tools used by God to create. In that context, we'd have to say that no individual sefira, even Kether, is any more or less divine than any other. So we really wouldn't want to point to Kether and say that this particular sefira is God, or even the closest approximation we can get to God.
name of God	Let's agree that we will, indeed, regard all ten sefirot as filters through which we can perceive aspects of God. What characteristics do we see when we work with Kether? Let's start with the name of God that corresponds to this sefira. When we identify God as AHYH AshR AHYH (phonetically: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh), we are tuned into Kether. If you recall from section 3, AHYH AshR AHYH has been translated in the King James Bible as "I am that I am." But nowadays, scholars translate the phrase as "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be." This is a huge change. The King James translation presented us with an absolute static being. I am now. Presumably God always was this (at all times in the past, God would have still been identified as I am. Presumably, God will always be just this way, since even a thousand years hence, God will still be identifying himself in terms of "I am." This is static. But the modern translations are very dynamic. "I will be." Now, we're talking about potential.
	Kether helps us to perceive the fundamental dynamism that is the true essence of divinity. No matter where we are in the course of history, no matter what stage of evolution has been achieved, we always identify God in terms of what God "will be." There's always room for something new. One can never say I'm here. I've arrived. I'm finished. I've nothing left to accomplish." If God never reaches such a static stage, so too is the case with us, as fragments of divinity. We can always evolve, grow, create, etc. Kether, where we refer to God as "I will be what/who I will be" drives this point home to us.
"sayings" of creation, the Ten Command- ments	Now that we know we're part of a perpetual process of evolution, which part of that process does Kether represent? Here are a few clues. Remember that the word Kether translates to "crown." Crown isn't part of the King's head. It's something worn on top of the head; something that stands apart from the King himself. Before analyzing this, let's look at some more correspondences. Kether corresponds to the first of the divine "sayings" of creation from Genesis 1:1. There is room for debate regarding the exact method of counting, but one noted authority, Aryeh Kaplan, equates Kether to the very first sentence of the Torah, commonly translated as "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (The point I'm making here holds up even under alternative translations presented earlier.) Kether also corresponds to the first of the "Ten Commandments." Again, there's room to debate methods of counting, but it is reasonable to relate Kether to "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage." If we look at these three things together, what we see is something in the nature of a preamble, or a prologue; an overall introduction; something that sets the stage for everything else.
	The crown is an identifier; it tells us who/what the king is and what the king can do; what he's all about. The first creative saying from Genesis and the first Commandment likewise tell us who God is and suggest what he can do. So we can start by saying that Kether introduces the idea of creative potential the way an overture introduces us to a musical performance, or the way a preface introduces us to a book.
gematria	Let's go further and look at some gematria (as discussed earlier). The word Kether (KThR using equivalents to Hebrew letters) adds up to 620. Another word tat adds to 620 is RVChVTh, which means spirits; not spirit (singular), but spirits (plural). The number 620 also matches ShAyRYM, which can mean beliefs, imaginings, or suppositions; again, plural, not singular. Remember that Kether is often associated with the number one. This has led many to see Kether as the ultimate in singularity or unity. But these associations with the gematria of 620 provide food for thought on that issue. Is Kether ONE thing? Or is Kether ALL things (or to be more precise, the potential for ALL things)? So instead of seeing Kether as the ultimate ONE, we could see it as the ultimate ALL; the penultimate plurality. This is an interesting question that runs along the lines of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Note, too, the idea of ShAyRYM; beliefs, imaginings, or suppositions. Does this sound familiar? It should to many modern new-agers, who may have heard such statements as "beliefs create reality" or "thoughts create things."
	We're now starting to get some idea of what aspects of divinity we are dealing with when we work with Kether. In a nutshell, we are dealing with unlimited creative potential; the idea that all things are possible. No probability has yet been omitted, or even diminished. The idea of unlimited potential can be very empowering. It can also be a bit scary because it implies the responsibility to actualize sooner or later at least some of those potentials.
	Indeed, this need to actualize potential is built very much into Kether itself. Let's go back to the God name: AHYH AshR AHYH ("I will be who/what I will be.") That already expresses some leaning toward bringing potentiality into actuality. But there's more. Let's work a bit more with qabalistic numerology. The entire name/sentence, AHYH AshR AHYH, adds up to 1023. If we reduce that number, we arrive at 6. Later on in this series (much later), we'll see that 6 has a very deep association with the idea of doing, or implementing. We have the 6 days of creation (that precede the Seventh, Sabbath, day of rest). We have the 6 sefirot of the "world of formation" (chesed through yesod). The middle word of this god name/sentence, AshR, adds up to 501 which also reduces to 6. AHYH adds up to 21, which reduces to 3; the two of them combine add to 6. The bottom line, here, is that the phrase AHYH AshR AHYH resonates strongly with 6, which in turn resonates strongly with the idea of implementation.
	Another thing we'll see later on in this series is that he number 6 (which is the number for the Hebrew letter "vav") also resonates with the idea of connectedness; reconciling seemingly irreconcilable things. (In fact, the Hebrew letter "vav" attached as a prefix to the beginning of another word translates in English to "and".) This, too, can enhance our understanding of Kether. As mentioned above, some see Kether as actually representing God. But many qabalistic scholars see Kether as merely representing a veil that conceals the true unfathomable, unknowable God. Some Tree of Life diagrams will show arcs drawn above Kether to represent nothing, infinity, and infinite light. God, whoever or whatever it is (it can't truly be grasped by the human mind or communicated using human language), is somehow bound up in those arcs beyond Kether. The idea of six/connectedness comes into play here. Kether, the imminent actualization of the potential for all things, is the point of connection between the complete unknowable wholeness of God, and those aspects of God that we are able to perceive via the sefirot.
"depths" of Sefer Yetzirah	By definition, God (whatever unimaginable thing that may be) is considered "good." So not surprisingly, among the ten directions or "depths" discussed in Sefer Yetzirah (the "Book of Formation"), Kether is widely viewed as corresponding to "a depth of Good." (See section 8.) Its opposite sefira is Malkuth (the 10th), which is said to represent "a depth of Evil." Malkuth will be discussed later on, but as a quick preview, evil as used in this context doesn't mean doing things we typically regard as bad. It simply means being something other than being Godlike; i.e., something other than pure good (or put another way, the freedom to choose to be unlike God.)
	So how can we actually cultivate this Godly concept of unlimited potential and the will to bring potentialities into being? Do we go into a meditative state and see ourselves as powerful beings siting on thrones? Should we visualize ourselves barking orders to armies of subordinates directing them to implement that which we wish to will into being? Or, perhaps, do we visualize ourselves as having the strength, the drive, the talent, etc. to act on our own to implement whatever we choose from the unlimited pool of potentialities? According to Cordovero's Tomer Devorah treatise, the answer is: none of the above.
Cordovero: Tomer Devorah	Cordovero lists humility first in among a list of qualities one should cultivate in order to emulate Kether. After all, Kether is elevated above all other sefirot on the Tree, yet its focus is downward; towards the later stages of emanation. It always looks down (not up beyond the veil toward the ultimate creator). Other qualities that should be developed by one aspiring toward Kether are freedom from ugly thoughts; a willingness to please all; a tendency to hear only that which is good; taking pity on those who are unfortunate; a willingness to receive everyone with a pleasant countenance, and a tendency to speak only of good things.
	At first glance, this may seem an odd collection of generally nice qualities. But if there is any sort of common thread running throughout, one might be able to say that all these qualities would seem to flow comfortably from one who is truly and sincerely aware of his/her own connection with everything and everyone else in the world; one who is in tune with the common spiritual core shared by all there is. So in a sense, this could be seen as relating back to what we talked about when we suggested that Kether could be seen as the ultimate in plurality; all things. More importantly, these qualities, taken together, paint a picture of a person who is definitely not wrapped up in his/her ego. We see a person who is quick to put his/her own desires, urges, abilities, etc. on the back burner to make room for a sense of connection to all else in the universe. Does this sound familiar? It should. You've encountered such concepts if you read such Eastern scripture as the Tao Teh Ching. Closer to home, you also saw it before in the discussion of tzimtzum (section 4), which describes how God creates by voluntarily restricting the scope of his own being in order to make room for something else (that which he creates) to take on a life of its own.
	Cordovero is not naīve about the realities of the physical world in which we live: "We know that man cannot always be guided by these qualities, for there are also other qualities in which man must perfect himself, and those qualities flow from the lower Powers as will be explained in due course. However," he adds, "there are days when those powers are not active, and man need not resort to them." Dion Fortune, in describing qabala as the yoga of the west, pointed out that "The dharma of the West differs from that of the East; is it therefore desirable to try and implant Eastern ideals in a Westerner? Withdrawal from the earth-plane is not his line of progress. The normal, healthy Westerner has no desire to escape from life, his urge is to conquer it and reduce it to order and harmony." I have no idea if Fortune was thinking about Tomer Devorah when she wrote this, or even if she ever heard of Cordovero or Tomer Devorah. But in any case, Cordovero's remarks are consistent with the point Fortune was making.
	So Cordovero rejected the idea that one must be an ascetic or saint-like person to hope to aspire to Kether. Even the "highest" power on the Tree of Life can be accessible to those who bear the slings and arrows of everyday life and who, like most of us, have our share of not-so-noble days or moments. This is not to suggest that Cordovero would sanction a moral, ethical, or spiritual anything-goes free-for-all attitude. As we'll see later on, even the other sefirot/powers involve development of traits that are themselves quite worthy and evolved. But it is still interesting to note that Cordovero recognizes that human should be expected to be all-Kether, all-the-time.
summary	This completes the discussion of Kether. I know it can be awkward to summarize concepts like this in a few key words/phrases. But recognizing the value such a summary might have for beginners, I offer the following: The aspect of God that is perceived through this filter - Unlimited potential; the underlying core that unites and contains all possibilities; all that is and all that may ever be. The tool of creation; the will to create; the desire to perpetually evolve or create, the drive to bring possibilities into being; a willingness to accomplish this by subordinating one's own ego.