Aleph

The red Shin ש represents Fire אש (aiSh) in Hebrew, thus, it rises up like fire;  the blue Mem מ represents Water מים (MahyiM) in Hebrew, thus, it flows downward like water.  The sounds of these 2 Letters are also opposites -  the outward hissing of Shhh.... and the inward humming of Mmmm...

The yellow  between them also surrounds them both.  It represents the first Hebrew letter Aleph א - which represents a Breath of Air אויר (Aveer) in Hebrew.  I made Aleph yellow because it also represents Light אור (Ohr).  Both words start with Aleph and are almost identical.  This can be… more

In the Passover song ‘Who Knows One?’, when we answer “God is One in Heaven and Earth” we mean that God is both transcendent (unknowable and so far beyond us) and  immanent (right here within us) at the same time.  Really, these are not two different things.  Transcendent God (in Heaven) and Immanent God (in Earth) is One.  A good word for this is non-dual.  The red ש Shin (symbolizing Fire) in this picture is open upward towards 'Heaven'; while the blue מ Mem (symbolizing Water) is open downward towards 'Earth'.  The yellow diagonal between them hints at the Letter ו  Vav (which means '… more

"3 Mothers א Aleph, מ Mem and ש Shin are Air אויר (avir), Water מים (mahyim) and Fire אש (aish). Fire is above, Water is below, and the Breath of Air balances between them. 

Mem hums, Shin hisses, and Aleph is the Breath of Air between them. (Sefer Yetzirah)

This picture can be used as a focus for meditation.  Sit comfortably and become aware of your chest rising and falling with the Air of your Breath.  Breathe in through your nose down into your belly with your lips closed.  This is the Mem.  Open your lips and breathe out through your teeth.  This is the Shin.  Repeat… more

“3 Mothers ש מ א Shin, Mem, and Aleph in the Soul dimension are the head, the belly, and the chest.  The head is created from Fire, the belly is created from Water and in the chest is the Breath of Air that is between them." (Sefer Yetzirah 3:6)

The 3 Mothers can also hint at the 3 primary shapes in Geometry - the triangle, the circle, and the rectangle.  ש Shin is Gematria 300, or in Simple Gematria, 3.  Geometric shapes are Numbers in Space.  We see these with our eyes, and you can see that 3 is a triangle which has 3 angles and 3 sides.   Musical rhythms are Numbers in Time.  We… more

Although our bodies are made up of many parts - represented by the Sefirot - all of our parts interact with each other in a dynamic way, and together comprise one person.  Kabbalists see the entire Universe in this same way.  In fact, the word Universe means 'one verse'.  In this Tree of Life Diagram, the network of lines that connect the circles represent how the Sefirot are ‘One Together’ - they process Life by working together as One.  That's why some Tree of Life Diagrams I make have 11 Sefirot or 13 instead of the usual 10.  It is more important to understand that they are One… more

The Letter Aleph א (which is hidden in this picture) - the figure 8 - the symbol for Infinity - and the 4 Letters of the Holy Name YHVH are all related to each other.  Traditionally, א Aleph is said to be comprised of 3 smaller Hebrew Letters - 2 Yods and a Vav.  The large yellow section that divides this picture diagonally is the Vav (Gematria 6).  Emerging from the middle of this Vav are the 2 Yods - 1 in red and 1 in blue (Gematria 10 each). 2 x10 plus 6 equals 26, the Gematria of YHVH (10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26).  And by adding the 2 and the 6 of 26 together gives you 8.

Waves… more

The first Hebrew letter - א Aleph - represents the unification of opposites.  

Its shape is comprised of an upper red part (actually a Hebrew letter י Yod); a lower blue part (an upside-down י Yod); balanced by a yellow diagonal part (a ו Vav which is a prefix that means ‘and’).  It can also be seen as the numeral 1.  The two are united into One by the Vav.  The Gematria of the sum of the 3 letters that comprise this Aleph equals 26 (2 Yods are 20 plus the Vav which is 6). 

In a sense, Aleph is a One-Letter Name of God, because the sum of the 4 letters of… more

I made this Tree of Life Diagram diagonal to hint at the shape of the first Letter א Aleph.  The 11th Sefirah, Daat, has a black dot to make it stand out, because it is the interface between the 3 higher Sefirot associated with the mind, and the 7 lower ones associated with the body.

The Sefirot are spoken of as emanations of God's Light.  א Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew word for 'light'.  Modern Science tells us that physical light is non-dual - it paradoxically acts as both waves (which spread out in all directions from any Light source at the mind-boggling speed of 300… more

The idea non-duality is found in many spiritual traditions.  In this picture I fused the Hebrew letter א Aleph with the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol.  Both symbols represent non-duality or the unification of opposites:  Heaven and Earth, Hot and Cold, Masculine and Feminine, Outside and Inside, etc.

The small circles inside both halves represent how there is Feminine is the Masculine; and Masculine in the Feminine.

Some people see two fish here (one upside-down) the symbol for Pisces.   In Kabbalistic astrology, Pisces is the month of Adar אדר - a word that begins with Aleph. … more

"10 Sefirot of Nothingness:
Their end is embedded in their beginning
and their beginning is embedded in their end
like a flame tied to a burning coal
For the Master is Singular, He has no second
and before One what do you count?" (Sefer Yetzirah)

 
A common meditative technique in the Kabbalah is to contemplate the flame of a burning lamp.  Our soul is likened to the energy of the flame whereas our body is like the material candle or the oil being consumed by the flame.  In this picture a blue lamp contains fuel that is being drawn up its wick. … more