77. We will now explain the partzuf of the brains. After the partzuf receives the two aspects, gestation and infancy, it ascends as feminine waters238As explained previously, “feminine waters” refers to the “yearning” of lower levels for the light of higher levels. These lower levels are said to ascend to higher levels as “feminine waters,” flowing from below to above.
In contrast, “masculine waters” refers to the flow of the supernal light from above to below. to the upper partzuf and brings Ḥokhma and Bina of the upper partzuf back to the state of “face-to-face.”239The ascent of feminine waters drives Bina to “turn toward” Ḥokhma. This means that Bina can now receive the light of Ḥokhma through itself and pass that light to the level of Ze'er Anpin, the partzuf that was developed through the gestation and infancy phases here.
This change in Bina, allowing it to transmit the light of Ḥokhma was discussed in many previous sections of this work. Ḥokhma and Bina then give the illumination to the lower partzuf, which lowers the Malkhut from the apertures of the eyes to its own place, i.e., to the mouth.240This descent of Malkhut effectively “undoes” the effects of the second constriction, allowing the lower vessels to ascend and return to their place.
Since all five vessels are then in the level, all five lights are able to be enclothed in the level as well. The addition of the higher lights of neshama, ḥaya, and yeḥida means the partzuf now has “brains,” as the author of the Sulam proceeds to explain. At this point, the three vessels, Bina, Tiferet and Malkhut, which fell due to the ascent of Malkhut to Bina, once again ascend to their level, and the partzuf is completed with the five vessels Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet and Malkhut, and with the five lights, nefesh, ruaḥ, neshama, ḥaya, and yeḥida.