The Zohar and the year 1839

One of the many readers of my blog, David Littlefield made an observation to me that I simply have to share.

In Daniel Matt's Zohar Vol. 2, p. 180, in the Va-Yera, the rabbis are discussing the various Milleniums of history and the Hebrew letters they are associated with. In the 6th millenium, the Zohar reads:

"Every sixty years of that sixth millenium, he is invigorated, scaling its rungs. In the six hundreth year of the sixth, springs of wisdom will open above, springs of wisdom below, and the world will prepare to enter the seventh..." (p. 180).

Matt's note #501 says that the six hundreth year of the sixth corresponds to the year 1839. What happened in 1839?

This is the year that the first revelation of the Doctrine & Covenants records a revelation of the year 1839, as section 121, and another section, 122. Joseph Smith's prayer or rather plea of desperation while languishing in the cold, filthy Liberty Jail... Read those sections in line with what the Zohar said. A most interesting exercise!

Comments

[Brett Noel]

That is VERY interesting. I found section 121 especially interesting in light of that comment from the Zohar. Just one question. Who is it referring to when it says "...he is invigorated, scaling its rungs...."

[Kerry Shirts]

A little background is necessary here. The Kabbalah Tree of Life is sometimes referred to as a ladder. The higher sephiroth (the spheres) are more powerful energy centers, and we are in the lowest one the one called "Malkhut." (Kingdom).

To gain our ascents to heaven, we tap into the higher energy centers of the universe, or in God's Spirit, etc. It is like climbing on a ladder.

The letter Vav is the letter associated with the 6th Millenium, and it is Vav ascending up the ladder (the Tree of Life)

I know all this gets complicated to one who has never seen the diagram of the Tree of Life, nor read much in the Kabbalah. I need to do some podcasts and DVD's on the Kabbalah and its symbolisms don't I........

[Kerry Shirts]

Um, let me also just say for an interesting thing to keep in mind, the Hebrew letter vav is the great binder, the connector, or to put it another way the nail that holds all things into place. It is a sure thing, this nail is, if you get my drift.......

The vav denoted the Divine Son begotten of the Father which was signified by the yod. and the Mother signified by the Hebrew letter Heh.

It is a conjunction which ties together all opposites in heaven and one earth. It is, in this repspect the great letter of the AT-ONE-MENT, uniting ALL things into One.

The Vav is the peg that is thought to be near the North Star Polaris, and so it holds the universe together.

It is the Divine decrees which issue forth from the Father, whose words and laws cannot be broken. It is the nails which Isaiah spoke of holding the "Eliakim" Messiah Servant in Isaiah 22:21-25.

Most interesting scriptures! (See also Joe Sampson, "Written By the Finger of God," Wellsprng Publishing, 1993: 186-188)

[Brett Noel]

That helps a whole lot. Thank you. I don't have a solid grasp on the diagram of the Tree of Life yet, but it is coming little by little. I too have enjoyed "Written by the Finger of God" from Sampson.

[Kerry Shirts]

Hey, I know what you mean. In every one of Matt's texts there in the front there is a diagram of the Tree of Life that I have found quite helpful.

I am in the process of puttng together my own drawing of the Tree of Life and putting absolutely every correspondence I know of with the sephiroth and I will post it on my blog when I finish....say in about 2012 - GRIN! (the time of the Galactic Alignment following John Major Jenkins)

His (Matt's) diagrams aren't exactly on the first page, but its within the first ten pages, although they aren't numbered.

They are referenced to how the Zohar describes the various attributes of the sephiroth, and so the diagram is really quite helpful. I refer to it when I read Matt's notes at the bottom of the pages. WHAT GREAT NOTES!, eh?

[Bill Hamblin]

Athansius Kircher made a sefirotic tree with his perceived correspondences with the Israelite Tabernacle. (Oedipus Aegyptiacus [1654] 2.1:289)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/img/12300.jpg

It appears, translated in Manly Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages p 123

[Joe Steve Swick III]

Of course, the thread goes back much earlier than Kircher. In Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia I.74, we find discussion of the number/ letter mysticism of the Hebrews, familiar to anyone who has read the Sefer Yetzirah; he then describes Greek number/ letter mysticism. In III.10, a system of sephiroth and correspondences is presented to the reader (circa 1509). Agrippa speaks of early mystery schools. His references to Kabbalah occur together with discussions of a confidential tradition in Christianity:

"Christ also himself, while he lived on Earth, spoke after that manner and fashion that only the more intimate disciples should understand the mystery of the word of God, but the other should perceive parable only: commanding moreover that holy things should not be given to dogs, nor pearls cast to swine: therefore the prophet saith, I have hid my words in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Therefore it is not fit that those secrets which are amongst a few wise men, and communicated BY MOUTH ONLY, should be publicly written" (Freake, trans. Three Books of Occult Philosophy, III.2, p. 444).

And Agrippa wasn't the first, either. Before him there was Marsilio Ficino (1433~1499), and Reuchlin (1455~1522) who published De Verbo Mirifico and De Arte Cabalistica, which provided some very significant discussion that continues to be relevent to many mystical traditions today. And then there was Pico della Mirandola (1463~1494), and a various assortment of lesser-known folk, both famous and infamous.

As we have discussed elsewhere, the real irony in this late borrowing from the Medieval Jewish Kabbalism is that Christianity itself can be seen as a stream of an earlier Jewish mystical tradition. This borrowing isn't inherently bad, of course, as long as it doesn't replace the confidental teaching of early Christianity. Unfortunately, it seems that this happened in some instances. That is to say, over time, Christianity seems to have largely "lost" its own oral teaching, "back of" the written word. This is similar to what Latter-day Saints have persuasively argued for many years.

[Joe Steve Swick III]

Kerry, since you aren't going to have it all together before 2012, why don't you consider putting all those kabbalistic correspondences together in an interactive multimedia presentation that allows you to actually navigate through the Tree of Life, hearing the sounds and seeing the various colors and visualizations associated with each Sphere and Path? Since we are dreaming about "what would be cool," you could also make your interactive program use biofeedback to assist with meditations, etc., sort of like the "Wild Divine" project (http://www.wilddivine.com/ ). LOL. What fun. If you'd like volunteers to help create the meditations or track correspondences, I'd sure enjoy it.

[Kerry Shirts]

Bill and Joe........ excellent ideas. I am aware of Kircher's work and it seems to be a pretty good base to start. However.....we all know that......well......its Kircher! GRIN! (Can I trust him? - lol!)

Anyway, on the idea of making an interactive Tree of Life, hmmmmmmmm, my problem is I don't know if I am techno-savvy enough to do it. I shall check into doing something like that.

[Joe Steve Swick III]

"I am aware of Kircher's work and it seems to be a pretty good base to start. However.....we all know that......well......its Kircher! GRIN! (Can I trust him? - lol!)"

Excellent question! Do you suppose Kircher originated the assignment of letters to paths, and the Sefirotic attributes he gives? If not, then where do you suppose this comes from? It is certainly at variance with the more "traditional" assignment of letters -- and perhaps placement of paths-- although we must admit that there are also significant variations in these things even amongst the several schools of Jewish Kabbalism.

I have been privately assured that Kircher's arrangement has its basis in a specific esoteric tradition -- i.e., that it wasn't Kircher's own fabrication. However, I've not yet satisfied myself that this is so; I've not yet taken time to investigate the evidence regarding the Kircher arrangement.

Not that this is necessarily important. I suppose the significance of the variations depends upon your specific use of the Tree of Life glyph.

I do like Bill's point about the relationship between the Kircher version of the Tree and the Tabernacle. I don't believe that this aspect originated with Kircher.

[Littlefield]

For the less fluent in Cabalistic teaching, I have made a Tree of Life in Mormonized terms. Take if for what it’s worth. It is only an introduction to the topic. http://66.120.63.108/mormontree.pdf

[David Littlefield]

This might tree of life might be a little more helpful. http://66.120.63.108/tree.jpg

[David Littlefield]

OK, one last one, since a love putting these together. Here is a Tree of Life next to the Temple: http://66.120.63.108/tree.temple.pdf

[Kerry Shirts]

Drats Dave! Your link won't work. I would love to see that thing.

[David Littlefield]

Kerry: Sorry, my server is giving me trouble. It's working now (on and off situation), but I will email it to you.

[David Littlefield]

Kerry, Thanks for the link to KingdomsThatClash.com ! I just now saw the link, I guess its been thre at least a little while. My last book "Mormon Myticism" is just a very simple inrtoduction to a few topics, not at the level you and many others in your blog discuss things. But for the average LDS guy trying to put his mind around Cabala, I think its helpful. Thanks!
-David

[Joe Steve Swick III]

"For the less fluent in Cabalistic teaching, I have made a Tree of Life in Mormonized terms. Take if for what it’s worth."

Hmmm. Of course, traditionally, "knowledge" is associated with the "hidden" Sephira, Da'ath, and "atonement" (if by that we mean "yichud," or unification), is a result of ascending the Tree. Ultimate unification happens at Keter.

I suppose that there is no difficulty listing "Exaltation" at Keter, as long as we remember that Keter is also Reshith Ha-Galgalim, or the BEGINNING of the Whirlings.

My own inclination is to place "Exaltation" either at Tifareth or at Chokmah. I'd place it at Tifraret, because this is where we encounter Deity in His Personal aspect, and because Tifaret represents the central Sun in manifestation -- and it seems to me that Mormon exaltation is located centrally in the manifest world.

Of course, the concept of Kolob suggests the beginning of the whirlings, but Kabbalistically, I'm not at all certain that we are talking about the world in manifestation at that point (i.e., at Keter).

The argument for placing "Exaltation" at Chokmah (where I might pair it with "Eternal Lives" at Binah), is that Chokmah is the Eternal Father, and Binah the Eternal Mother, whose union (Yichud/Keter) "gives birth" to Zeir Anpin -- the Elohim/Sefiroth below Her.

Just a thought.

[David Littlefield]

Joe opened: “I suppose that there is no difficulty listing "Exaltation" at Keter, as long as we remember that Keter is also Reshith Ha-Galgalim, or the BEGINNING of the whirlings.”

And If I understand Joe correctly, I think we agree, imagine that! 8-) . My boiled down understanding is that the Tree of Life and the Temple are both representative of the same thing, the sanctification and ascension of man, rung by rung, all within the three major rungs of salvation.

I would submit that Keter or the crown is a sign that whoever wears the crown is associated with whoever else is wearing the crown. It is a sign of the rung we fittingly receive. Now it could be argued that whoever obtains any rung fittingly, receives a crown for that rung or degree of glory. But, in regards to Keter, is sits atop the Tree of Life as the symbol of the obtaining of all rungs of ascension, all powers, dimensions, glories, kingdoms etc. being obtained. And obtaining the crown may only be the “beginning of the whirlwinds” you spoke of.

“ [At the resurrection of the dead] …they shall come forth—yea, even the dead which died in me, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed upon, even as I am, to be with me, that we may be one.” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:13)

Speaking in the negative form “These [inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom] are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:79)

“…[T]he crown of sanctification… is added (the round linen cap was to act as a cushion for a metal crown during a long ceremony). Later the cap alone would suffice, since it showed that the owner was qualified to wear the ‘crown of justification.”

I consider Tifareth as the Atonement, the reconciliation of Justice and Mercy, the atonement is required for a telestial existence.

Did you look at my http://66.120.63.108/tree.temple.pdf ? It better describes how I see the Tree of Life and how it corresponds to the temple. Both of which correspond to the ascension of man (and women).

- David

[David Littlefield]

We know that Boaz and Jachin are in the telestial kingdom, because they are in the outside, or earthly location in Solomon’s Temple. I take the pillars as a representation of Justice and Mercy. When one entered the temple of Solomon, he walked the “strait and narrow path,” (1 Nephi) the path of Tifareth, atonement, or reconciliation, between the pillars, powers, influences, or emanations of justice and mercy, on the path or pillar of Tifareth. (See Zohar, Matt. Vol. II pg. 55)

[David Littlefield]

“One ascends to one side, one descends to the other, one enters between two. Two crown themselves in three, three enter into one.” (Zohar, Matt. Vol. II, Pg. 3)

And then in Matt’s note #17 “ The sefirah of Hesed emanates to the right, and Gevurah to the left, Tiferet mediates between them.”

Tiferet is the mediator, the at-one-er. It is Vav.

[David Littlefield]

Kerry Shirts wrote: "The vav denoted the Divine Son begotten of the Father which was signified by the yod. and the Mother signified by the Hebrew letter Heh."

"It is a conjunction which ties together all opposites in heaven and one earth. It is, in this repspect the great letter of the AT-ONE-MENT, uniting ALL things into One."

The Vav is Tiferet.

[Kerry Shirts]

And Tiferet is "Beauty," which is a rather cozy fit eh?

[Volgadon]

"It is a conjunction which ties together all opposites in heaven and one earth. It is, in this repspect the great letter of the AT-ONE-MENT, uniting ALL things into One."

Before we get carried away, it is worth recalling that at-one-ment is and English term, with no neat equivalents in Hebrew. The closest you can get is sacrifice, which has the root meaning of closeness.

Anyway, I think you'll find that you are off by a year. 1839 was 5599.

[David Littlefield]

Volgdon said : “Anyway, I think you'll find that you are off by a year. 1839 was 5599.”

I appreciate Kerry’s linkage to the 121st. section of the Doctrine and Covenants, that being the stricter application of the Zoharic time periods. But frankly, even if that it off by a few years, the greater point is still made, they knew some marvelous work was going to take place let’s say between 1830 and 1840 in preparation for the seventh millenium.

Whether it was referring to Liberty Jail, or the First Vision, it impacts me and the rest of the world in a very similar way. I am willing to take the larger meaning, and to the degree I can grasp and discern it, the stricter application too.

-Littlefield