The primal Four and the 360 Aeons
Certainly! I will organize the provided content into two detailed documents. The first document will cover the mystical aspects of Gnostic texts, the Kabbalistic concepts related to the Tetragrammaton, and the mystical significance of the 72 names of God. The second document will delve into the interpretation of the Divine Name in Exodus and its relationship with Kabbalistic and mystical traditions.
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**Document 1: Mystical Aspects of Gnostic Texts and Kabbalistic Concepts**
**1. Introduction to Gnostic Texts and the Pleroma**
The Gnostic tradition, particularly the Valentinian exposition from the Nag Hammadi Library, offers a rich tapestry of mystical cosmology. Central to this tradition is the concept of the Pleroma, the fullness of the divine realm.
**1.1 The Root of the All**
The Root of the All, also known as the Father, represents the ultimate, ineffable source of all existence. This principle exists in a state of profound oneness, transcending all dualities. According to Gnostic texts, this Root initially exists in a state of silence and tranquility, reflecting its nature as Oneness. This divine principle eventually manifests as both Twoness and a Pair, with Silence being the partner of this emanation. The Root of the All contains the potential for all that exists within itself, encompassing Intention, Persistence, Love, and Permanence.
**1.2 Emanations and the Expansion of the Pleroma**
From this Root, divine emanations proceed. The Gnostic texts describe a process where the divine expands from the primal One into Two, then into Four, and eventually into the Three Hundred Sixty. This progression symbolizes the gradual unfolding of the divine attributes and the ultimate reach of the Pleroma. The number 360, representing the full circle or cosmic completeness, is a significant mystical number in this tradition.
**1.3 The Concept of the Tetrad and Beyond**
The Tetrad, consisting of Word, Life, Man, and Church, is a critical construct in Gnostic cosmology. These emanations correspond to different aspects of the divine. The Uncreated One projects this Tetrad, which then gives rise to further structures like the Decad and the Dodecad. The Decad, stemming from Word and Life, signifies a totality of ten, while the Dodecad, derived from Man and Church, represents twelve. Together, these structures contribute to the complexity and depth of the Pleroma.
**2. Kabbalistic Interpretation of the Tetragrammaton**
**2.1 The Tetragrammaton (YHWH)**
In Kabbalah, the divine name YHWH (Tetragrammaton) holds immense significance. It consists of four letters, each symbolizing different aspects of divinity and creation. The name is related to the Hebrew verb "hayah," meaning "to be" or "to become." This verb forms the basis of the divine name and reflects God's nature as the ultimate creator and sustainer of existence.
**2.2 The Seventy-Two Names of God**
The Tetragrammaton is believed to generate 72 divine names, which are significant in Kabbalistic thought. These names are derived from three verses in Exodus 14:19-21, each containing 72 letters. Together, they form the Shemhamphorasch, a sacred series of names used to access different divine aspects and angelic realms.
**2.3 The Role of the 72 Names in Kabbalah**
The 72 names are seen as key to understanding and invoking various attributes of the divine. Each name corresponds to different angelic forces and aspects of God's presence. These names are believed to hold the power to influence and interact with the divine realm.
**3. The 3rd Book of Enoch and Divine Names**
**3.1 The Flaming Style and the Divine Names**
The 3rd Book of Enoch describes how God inscribed divine names on Metatron’s crown using a flaming style. These names encompass the cosmic letters by which the universe was created. They include aspects of God's power and presence, such as righteousness, holiness, and kingship.
**3.2 The Function of Divine Names**
According to Enochic traditions, these divine names are instrumental in the creation and maintenance of the universe. They represent various facets of divine influence and control, from cosmic order to natural phenomena.
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**Document 2: The Divine Name in Exodus and Its Mystical Interpretations**
**1. The Divine Name in Exodus**
**1.1 The Significance of “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh”**
In Exodus 3:14, God reveals His name to Moses as "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh," commonly translated as "I Am That I Am." This name emphasizes the self-existence and unchanging nature of God. It signifies that God’s essence transcends human understanding and is independent of external factors.
**1.2 The Kabbalistic Interpretation of the Divine Name**
In Kabbalah, the divine name is not only a statement of existence but also a reflection of God’s dynamic and multifaceted nature. The name is both singular and plural, masculine and feminine, suggesting an all-encompassing presence. It is also associated with the concept of ten thousand times ten thousand, representing a vast and infinite aspect of the divine.
**2. The Tetragrammaton and Its Mystical Dimensions**
**2.1 The Tetragrammaton as a Causal Force**
The Tetragrammaton, or YHWH, is seen as a causative force in creation. The Hebrew root "hayah" (to be) suggests that God is the ultimate cause of all existence. This name reflects God's role as the life-giver and creator, as illustrated in Genesis 1:3, where God commands light into existence.
**2.2 The Use of the Divine Name in Mystical Traditions**
In mystical traditions, the divine name is used for invoking divine attributes and accessing spiritual truths. It represents the fundamental essence of God and serves as a powerful tool in rituals and spiritual practices.
**3. The Role of the Urim and Thummim**
**3.1 The Urim and Thummim in Biblical Tradition**
Exodus 28:30 mentions the Urim and Thummim, objects used by the high priest to discern divine will. According to Kabbalistic and mystical interpretations, these objects are associated with the divine name and the creation of the universe.
**3.2 Mystical Interpretations of the Urim and Thummim**
The Urim and Thummim are believed to embody the divine name by which the 310 worlds were created. This name is seen as a key to understanding cosmic order and accessing divine wisdom.
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Feel free to let me know if you need any more details or further refinement on specific sections!
I will speak my mystery to those who are mine and to those who will be mine. Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who exists as Oneness. He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was in fact One and nothing existed before him. He also exists as Twoness and as a Pair, and his partner is Silence. And he possessed the All dwelling within him. And as for Intention and Persistence, Love and Permanence, they are indeed unbegotten. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition
God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. For on behalf of the All, he received an alien Thought since there were nothing before him. From that place it is he who moved [...] a gushing spring. Now this is the Root of the All and Oneness without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone. And the Fourth accordingly is he who restricted himself in the Fourth: while dwelling in the Three-hundred-sixtieth, he first brought himself (forth), and in the Second he revealed his will, and in the Fourth he spread himself out. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/valex.html
The (First) Apocalypse of James
"Nothing existed except Him-who-is. He is unnameable and ineffable. I myself am also unnameable, from Him-who-is, just as I have been given a number of names - two from Him-who-is
James said, "Rabbi, behold then, I have received their number. There are seventy-two measures!" The Lord said, "These are the seventy-two heavens, which are their subordinates. These are the powers of all their might; and they were established by them; and these are they who were distributed everywhere, existing under the authority of the twelve archons.
Eugnostos the Blessed
Then the twelve powers, whom I have just discussed, consented with each other. <Six> males (and) females (each) were revealed, so that there are seventy-two powers. Each one of the seventy-two revealed five spiritual (powers), which (together) are the three hundred and sixty powers. The union of them all is the will
And when those whom I have discussed appeared, All-Begetter, their father, very soon created twelve aeons for retinue for the twelve angels. And in each aeon there were six (heavens), so there are seventy-two heavens of the seventy-two powers who appeared from him. And in each of the heavens there were five firmaments, so there are (altogether) three hundred sixty firmaments of the three hundred sixty powers that appeared from them. When the firmaments were complete, they were called 'The Three Hundred Sixty Heavens', according to the name of the heavens that were before them. And all these are perfect and good. And in this way the defect of femaleness appeared.
This passage is taken to mean that the root of the All the Father first spreads himself out into Two and than Four. From Four he also extends himself as far as Three Hundred Sixty, representing the ultimate edge of the Pleroma although in a distinct dimension of his transcendent essence he keeps himself restricted to the primal Four.
The Four primal emanations maybe a symbol for the four worlds (Olam) in Kabbalah they could also stand as a symbol for 4 letters of the divine name YHWH or Tetragrammaton (meaning "consisting of four letters"). The Tetragrammaton was mutated into 72 angelic names by simply taking the yo da valve and mutating them
The 3rd book of Enoch:
CHAPTER XIII God writes with a flaming style on Metatron's crown the cosmic letters by which heaven and earth were created R. Ishmael said : Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, the Glory of all heavens, said to me : (1) Because of the great love and mercy with which the Holy One, blessed be He, loved and cherished me more than all the children of heaven. He wrote with his ringer with a flaming style upon the crown on my head the letters by which were created heaven and earth, the seas and rivers, the mountains and hills, the planets and constellations, the Ughtnings, winds, earthquakes and voices (thunders), the snow and hail, the storm-wind and the tempest ; the letters by which were created all the needs of the world and all the orders of Creation. (2) And every single letter sent forth time after time as it were lightnings, time after time as it were torches, time after time as it were flames of fire, time after time (rays) like [as] the rising of the sun and the moon and the planets.
ex 3:14 At this God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.”+ And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU.’”
The memorial, in its simplest form, is ehyeh asher ehyeh, I will be who I will be.' Asher 'who', the relative pronoun in this memorial, is both singular and plural, masculine and feminine. It will therefore, stand for 'ten thousand times ten thousand,'
The other two words of the memorial are the first person singular, future tense of the verb hay ah, 'to be.'
“Yahweh” (Heb., חַוָּה, YHWH), God’s personal name, first occurs in Ge 2:4. The divine name is a verb, the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb 01961 היה hayah haw-yaw (ha·wah´, “to become”).
the one bringing into being, life-giver (compare Genesis 3:20) Schr HSch; giver of existence, creator, Kue Tiele; he who brings to pass (so already Le Clerc), performer of his promises,
01961 היה hayah
A primitive root (compare hava'); to exist, i.e. Be or become, come to pass
Come into being, become: — יְהִי אוֺר וַיְהִי אוֺר Genesis 1:3 let light appear, and light appeared, compare Genesis 1:5; Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:13; Genesis 1:19; Genesis 1:23; Genesis 1:31
Ge 1:3 And God said, Let there be <01961> light: and there was light.
Ge 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be <01961> for meat.
Here we can see that the verb 01961 היה hayah which makes up the divine name is used in Genesis chapter 1
The Tripartite Tractate
Whomever he wishes, he makes into a father, of whom he in fact is Father, and a god, of whom he in fact is God, and he makes them the Totalities, whose entirety he is. In the proper sense all the names which are great are kept there, these (names) which the angels share, who have come into being in the cosmos along with the archons, although they do not have any resemblance to the eternal beings.
Each one of the aeons is a name, <that is>, each of the properties and powers of the Father, since he exists in many names, which are intermingled and harmonious with one another. It is possible to speak of him because of the wealth of speech, just as the Father is a single name, because he is a unity, yet is innumerable in his properties and names.
The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition That Tetrad projected the Tetrad which is the one consisting of Word and Life and Man and Church. Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence, and Man is for his own glory, while Church is for the glory of Truth. This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad. Moreover, it is the one from the Triacontad of the Aeons who bear fruit from the Triacontrad. They enter jointly, but they come forth singly, fleeing from the Aeons and the Uncontainable Ones. And the Uncontainable Ones, once they had looked at him, glorified Mind since he is an Uncontainable One that exists in the Pleroma.
But the Decad from Word and Life brought forth decads so as to make the Pleroma become a hundred, and the Dodecad from Man and Church brought forth and made the Triacontad so as to make the three hundred sixty become the Pleroma of the year. And the year of the Lord [...perfect...] perfect [...] according to [...] Limit and [...] Limit [...] the greatness which [...] the goodness [...] him. Life [...] suffer [...] by the face [...] in the presence of the Pleroma [...] which he wanted [...]. And he wanted to leave the Thirtieth - being a szygy of Man and Church
God has 72 names and that each of those names is also an angel.
These 72 names of God and they're very prevalent in cabbalistic thought so you can use these names to access different aspects of deity
"And the angel of God who had been going ahead of the camp of Israel now moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from in front of them and stood behind them. Thus [the pillar of cloud] came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, making it cloud and darkness [to the Egyptians], but it gave light by night [to the Jews], so that the one came not near the other all the night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and G‑d drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land; thus the waters were divided." (Ex. 14:14)
The seventy-two-lettered name is derived from three verses in Exodus (14:19–21) beginning with "Vayyissa", "Vayyabo" and "Vayyet" respectively. Each of the verses contains 72 letters, and when combined they form 72 names, known collectively as the Shemhamphorasch.
The kabbalistic book Sefer Yetzirah explains that the creation of the world was achieved by the manipulation of these sacred letters that form the names of God.
This teaching abut the 72 names of God comes from the The 3rd book of Enoch
The 3rd book of Enoch:
CHAPTER XLVIII (cont.) (B)
The Divine Names that go forth from the Throne of Glory,
crowned and escorted by numerous angelic hosts through the
heavens and back again to the Throne the angels sing the
'Holy' and the 'Blessed'
These are the seventy-two names written on the heart of the
Holy One, Blessed be He: Righteousness, - , Righteous (one)-,
Lord of Host, God Almighty, God, YHWH - - - Living (one) -
Riding upon the Araboth (highest heaven), - Life Giver - King
of Kings, Holy One - - Holy, Holy, Holy, - - - Blessed be the
Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, - - Complete,
King of the Universe, - - The beginning of Wisdom for the
children of men, - - {blessed be He who gives strength to the weary and increaseth strength to them that have no
might. Is. xl. 29}that go forth (adorned) with numerous crowns of fire with numerous crowns of
flame, with numerous crowns of chashmal, with numerous crowns of lightning from before the
Throne of Glory. And with them (there are) thousand hundreds of power (i.e. powerful angels) who
escort them like a king with trembling and dread, with awe and shivering, with honour and majesty
andfear, with terror, with greatness and dignity, with glory and strength, with understanding and
knowledge and with a pillar of fire and a pillar of flame and lightning and their light is as lightnings
of light and with the likeness of the chashmal.
(2) And they give glory unto them and they answer and cry before them: Holy, Holy, Holy.
And they roll (convoy) them through every heaven as mighty and honoured princes. And when they
bring them all back to the place of the Throne of Glory, then all the Chayyoth by the Merkaba open
their mouth in praise of His glorious name, saying: "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom
for ever and ever".
On Exod. 28:30 Jer. Targ. speaks of "the NAME by which were created the 310 aeons," where 310 refers to the words of Wisdom in Prov, 8:21 "that I may cause them that love me to inherit SUBSTANCE (lit. that which is )," the word "substance" being interpreted numerically as "310" (see Sanhedr. looa and Tehill. i. 52) and meaning "310 worlds (Olam), or aeons"
Pr 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance (03426 ישׁ yesh yaysh ); and I will fill their treasures.
To cause those who love me to inherit substance.” Yesh, Yud-Shin, is the numerical value of 310,
03426 ישׁ yesh yaysh
perhaps from an unused root meaning to stand out, or exist; subst; [BDB-441a] {See TWOT on 921 }
AV-is 54, be 28, have 22, there 13, misc 16; 133
1) being, existence, substance, there is or are
1a) substance
1b) existence
1c) there is or are
Exod. 28:30 Jer. Targ:
JPS 28:30
And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
ONK 28:30
And thou shalt put in (or upon) the breastplate of judgment the Uraia and the Thummaia;(55) and they shall be upon Aharon's heart when he entereth before the Lord; and Aharon shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually.
PAL 28:30
And thou shalt put upon the breastplate of judgment the Uraia, which illuminate their words, and manifest the hidden things of the house of Israel, and the Tumaia, which fulfil (or perfect) their work to the high priest, who seeketh instruction by them before the Lord; because in them is engraven and expressed the Great and Holy Name by which were created the three hundred and ten worlds (Olam), and which was engraven and expressed in the foundation stone wherewith the Lord of the world sealed up the mouth of the great deep at the beginning. Whosoever remembereth that holy name in the hour of necessity shall be delivered. And they shall be upon Aharon's heart in the time that he entereth before the Lord; and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel before the Lord continually.
https://juchre.org/targums/comp/exo28.htm
in this mystic tradition that God emanated himself in stages to create a universe which later became in Kabbalah the four worlds (Olam) and there were ten vessels 10 containers ten hearts they call the Sephirot that were manifested and they were powers and virtues wisdom knowledge justice mercy and so on these are still referenced in attributions to the seven lights of the Jewish synagogue which you will find on the altar in a synagogue with seven lights this seven lights will reference 10 cefiro and this is not to be confused with the the Hanukkah menorah which has eight lights and there are 22 paths that connect these ten Sephirot and that makes 32 names of God the root attributes of the powers and virtues of God were understood as a kind of tree like the tree of life
