The Kabbalah: its doctrines, development, and literatureGinsburg, Christian D. (Christian David)
Religion
The Kabbalah: its doctrines, development, and literature
Ginsburg, Christian D. (Christian David)
Cabala
But even in the present form, the righteous are above the angels, [14]
and every man is still the microcosm, and every member of his body
corresponds to a constituent part of the visible universe. “What is
man? Is he simply skin, flesh, bones, and veins? No! That which
constitutes the real man is the soul, and those things which are called
the skin, the flesh, the bones, and the veins, all these are merely a
garment, they are simply the clothes of the man, but not the man
himself. When man departs, he puts off these garments wherewith the son
of man is clothed. Yet are all these bones and sinews formed in the
secret of the highest wisdom, after the heavenly image. The skin
represents the firmament, which extends everywhere, and covers
everything like a garment—as it is written, ‘Who stretchest out the
heavens like a curtain.’ (Ps. clv, 2) ... The flesh represents the
deteriorated part of the world;... the bones and the veins represent
the heavenly chariot, the inner powers, the servants of God.... But
these are the outer garments, for in the inward part is the deep
mystery of the heavenly man. Everything here below, as above, is
mysterious. Therefore it is written—‘God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him’ (Gen. i, 27); repeating the word
God twice, one for the man and the other for the woman. The mystery of
the earthly man is after the mystery of the Heavenly Man. And just as
we see in the firmament above, covering all things, different signs
which are formed of the stars and planets, and which contain secret
things and profound mysteries, studied by those who are wise and expert
in these signs; so there are in the skin, which is the cover of the
body of the son of man, and which is like the sky that covers all
things, signs and features which are the stars and planets of the skin,
indicating secret things and profound mysteries, whereby the wise are
attracted, who understand to read the mysteries in the human face.”
(Sohar, ii, 76 a.) He is still the presence of God upon earth (שכינתא
תתאה), and the very form of the body depicts the Tetragrammaton, the
most sacred name Jehovah (יהוה). Thus the head is the form of the
י, the arms and the shoulders are like the ה, the breast represents
the form of the ו, whilst the two legs with the back represent the
form of the second ה. (Sohar, ii, 42 a.) [15]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account