Tiferet (Kabbalah)

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Tiferet ("Adornment", Hebrew: תפארת ti'feʔɾɛθ) or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiphereth - also known as Rakhamim ("Mercy", Hebrew: רחמים ɾaħăm'im) or Shalom ("Peace", Hebrew: שלום ʃɔ'lom) - is the sixth sfira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", "Compassion", and "Masculinity".

Tiferet is the force that integrates the sfira of Khesed ("Compassion") and Gvura ("Overpowering"). These two forces are, respectively, expansive (giving) and restrictive (receiving). Either of them without the other could not manifest the flow of Divine energy; they must be balanced in perfect proportion (by sharing), and this is the role of Tiferet, wherein the conflicting forces are harmonized, and creation flowers forth.

Tiferet is the middle of the tree. Five Sfirot surround it: above are Khesed at the right (south) and Gvura at the left (north), and below are Netsakh at the right, Hod at the left, and Ysod directly below. Together these six comprise a single entity, Zer Anpin, which is the masculine counterpart of the feminine sfira Malkhut. In certain contexts, Tiferet alone represents all the sfirot of Zer Anpin, so that the entire tree appears with only five sfirot: Keter, Khokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut.

In the standard tree, Tiferet has eight paths, leading (counterclockwise) to Keter (through Daat), Bina, Gvura, Hod, Ysod, Netsakh, Khesed, and Khokhma.

1 Non-Jewish associations
2 References
- 2.1 Jewish
- 2.2 Non-Jewish

[edit] Non-Jewish associations

In Christian Cabala, Tiphereth is especially associated with Jesus Christ, 'God the Son' (as opposed to Kether, which is God the father, and Yesod, the Holy Spirit). This is because this is the Sephirah in which the divine force 'sacrifices' itself, transmutating into the forces of energy and matter, in order that creation might come to be. It is the sephirah in which 'God becomes a mortal man'. A Christian mystic, in relating to Jesus, repeats the process in the other direction, by transmutating that which is lower, in order to achieve the divine.

Tiphereth is associated with divine love, with healing, balance and harmony. In comparing with Eastern traditions, Tiphereth is usually associated with the central Anahata chakra in tantric tradition, which contains many of the same archetypal ideas.

777 attributes Tiphereth as the four sixes of the tarot as well as the Princes and Emperors cards, Ra, Rama, Buddha, Apollo, Adonis, God the Son (Jesus), Phoenix, Lion, Bay, Laurel, Topaz, Lamen of he Rosy Cross, Abracadabra, Coffee, and Alcohol.