Sefer Yetzirah Reader

With thirty-two wondrous paths of wisdom, Y"H YHW"H Tzevaot, God of Israel, Living God and King of the World, El Shaddai, Merciful and Compassionate, High and Lofty One Dwelling Eternally Above, Holy is His Name [Isaiah 57:15]—[God] engraved and created [God's] world with three ס-פ-ר: with סְפֹר (enumeration), סֵפֶר (scroll), and סִפּוּר (telling).

[God] clarified three letters from the simple ones with the secret of the three mothers—א-מ-ש—and [God] inserted them in [God's] great name, and sealed with them six directions. Five – [God] sealed Above, and turned upwards and sealed it in YH"W. Six – [God] sealed Below, and turned downwards and sealed it in YW"H. Seven – [God] sealed East, and turned forwards and sealed it in HY"W. Eight – [God] sealed West, and turned backwards and sealed it in HW"Y. Nine – [God] sealed South, and turned to the right and sealed it in WY"H. Ten – [God] sealed North, and turned to the left and sealed it in WH"Y.

These are the ten matterless Sefirot. The first is the Spirit of the Living God; air from spirit and water from air and fire from water, and above and below, east and west, north and south.

Twenty-two letters of foundation: three mothers, seven pairs, and twelve simple ones. The three mothers are ש,מ,א. Their foundation is the palm of innocence and the palm of guilt, and the tongue of decree decides between the two.

Twenty-two letters: He engraves them, carves them, weighs and transmutes them, combines them and forms with them the soul of all—of all created, and soul of all He has yet to form.

Twenty-two letters of foundation: engraved with voice, carved with spirit, inserted into the mouth in five places: ק-כ-י-ג,פ-מ-ו-ב,ע-ה-ח-א צ-ר-ש-ס-ז,ת-נ-ל-ט-ד. [Dividing the consonants into five articulations -- the gutturals (אחה״ע), labials (בומ״ף), dorsals (גיכ״ק), laminals (דטלנ״ת), and apicals (זסשר״ץ).]

Twenty-two letters of foundation: inserted into a wheel with 231 gates. The wheel turns forwards and back. This is a cipher for the word: if for goodness above, it pleases, and if for evil below, it afflicts.

How does one weigh and transmute them? א with all of them and all of them with ב,א with all of them and all of them with ב, turning round. All which is formed and spoken is found, emerging in one name.

He created from תֹּהוּ—substance—and made nonexistence existent. He carved great columns from the imperceptible ether. This is a cipher, overseeing and transmuting, making all formed things and all words into one name. A cipher for the word: twenty-two objects in one essence. [These last three verses may refer to a kind of mystical diagram. In one interpretation of this 'wheel', the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are arranged as 22 points along the outer edge of a circle, and straight lines are drawn between each possible combination of letters, totaling 231. In such a diagram, 11 lines converge through a single point in the center, one of which connects the letters א׳ and ל׳, spelling אל, God, as the center point of the wheel. By contemplating such a diagram and 'transmuting' (ממיר) words according to it, one can eventually return all combinations of letters back to this central point labeled אל, the "one name" alluded to here and above.]

The three mother [letters] ש,מ, א, their foundation is a pan (of a scale) of culpability and a pan of merit, and the tongue of decree decides between them.

The three mothers - ש,מ,א - a mighty mystery, most occult and most marvelous, sealed as with six rings, and from them proceed Fire, Water, [and Air]; these are subsequently differentiated into male and female. Three mothers - ש,מ,א - their foundation. And from them were born fathers and all was created from them.

The three mother letters - ש,מ,א - are air, water, and fire in the world. Heaven [שָׁמַיִם] is created from Fire; the Earth from Water [מַיִם]; and the Air [אֲוִיר] which decides between the fire and the water.

He caused א to reign in the air, and crowned it, and combined one with the other, and with these He sealed the Air in the world, the warmth of the year, and the chest (the lungs) in man; the male with ש-מ-א, the female with מ-ש-א.

He caused מ to predominate in Water, and crowned it, and combined it with others, and formed Earth in the world, cold in the year, and the belly in the soul, male and female, male with ש-א-מ and female with א-ש-מ.

He caused ש to reign in Fire and crowned it, and He combined one with the other, and sealed them, as heaven in the universe, as heat in the year, and as the head of Man and Woman. [Male with מ-א-ש and female with א-מ-ש.]

There were formed seven 'double' letters: ת,ר,פ, כ;ד,ג,ב. Each has two voices, either soft or hard (spirantized or unspirantized). These are the foundations of Life, Peace, Riches, Beauty or Reputation, Wisdom, Fruitfulness, and Power. These are double, because their opposites take part in life, opposed to Life is Death; to Peace, War; to Riches, Poverty; to Beauty or Reputation, Deformity or Disrepute; to Wisdom, Ignorance; to Fruitfulness, Sterility; to Power, Slavery.

Seven double letters – ת,ר,פ, כ;ד,ג,ב – seven, and not six; seven, and not eight. Examine them and glean from them. Render the matter unto one's Creator, and return the Maker to His site.

Seven double letters – ת,ר,פ, כ;ד,ג,ב – corresponding to seven dimensions: of these, six dimensions - above and below, East and West, North and South, and the Holy Chamber is oriented to the center and it carries them all.

These seven double letters – ת,ר,פ, כ;ד,ג,ב – He formed, designed, created, and combined into the Stars of the Universe, the days of the week, the orifices of perception in man; and from them he made seven heavens, and seven planets, and seven Sabbaths; accordingly, the seventh is preferred under all the heavens.

He caused and produced ב, predominant in wisdom, crowned, combined, and formed the Saturn in the Universe, the first day of the week [Heb: the year?], and the right eye, of man.

ג, predominant in health, crowned, combined and formed Jupiter in the Universe, the second day of the week, and the left eye in man.

ד, predominant in fertility, crowned, combined, and formed Mars in the Universe, the third day of the week, and the right ear in man.

כ, predominant in life, crowned, combined, and formed the Sun in the Universe, the fourth day of the week, and the left ear of man.

פ, predominant in power, crowned, combined, and formed Venus in the Universe, the fifth day of the week, and the right nostril in man.

ר, predominant in peace, crowned, combined, and formed Mercury in the Universe, the sixth day of the week, and the left nostril in man.

ת, predominant in beauty, crowned, combined and formed the Moon in the Universe, the seventh day in the week, and the mouth of man.

Seven doubles - how are they combined? Two "stones" produce two houses; three form six; four form twenty-four; five form one hundred and twenty; six form seven hundred and twenty; seven form five thousand and forty; and beyond this their numbers increase so that the mouth can hardly utter them, nor the ear hear the number of them. So now, behold the Stars of our World, the Planets which are Seven; the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. The Seven are also the Seven Days of Creation; and the Seven Gateways of the Soul of Man—the two eyes, the two ears, the mouth and the two nostrils. So with the Seven are formed the seven heavens, the seven earths, and the seven periods of time; and so has He preferred the number Seven above all things under His Heaven.

The simple letters are twelve, namely: ק,צ,ע,ס,נ,ל,י,ט,ח,ז,ו,ה; they represent the fundamental properties, sight, hearing, smell, speech, desire for food, the sexual appetite, movement, anger, mirth, thought, sleep, and work. These symbolize also the twelve directions in space: northeast, southeast, the east above, the east below, northwest, southwest, the west above, the west below, the upper south, the lower south, the upper north, the lower north. These diverge to all eternity, and are as the arms of the universe.

These twelve letters, He designed, formed, combined, weighed, and changed, and created with them the twelve divisions of the heavens (namely, the zodiacal constellations), the twelve months of the year, and the twelve important organs of the frame of the human, namely the right and left hands, the right and left feet, the two kidneys, the liver, the gall, the spleen, the intestines, the gullet, and the stomach.

God produced ה, predominant in Speech, crowned, combined, and formed Aries in the world, Nisan in the year, and the right hand of man and woman. God produced ו, predominant in Mind, crowned, combined, and formed Taurus in the world, Iyar in the year, and the left hand of the human. God produced ז, predominant in movement, crowned, combined, and formed Gemini in the world, Sivan in the year, and the right foot of the human.

He produced ח, predominant in Sight, crowned, combined, and formed Cancer in the world, Tammuz in the year, and the left foot of the human. He produced ט, predominant in Hearing, crowned, combined, and formed Leo in the world, Av in the year, and the right kidney in the human. He produced י, predominant in Labor, crowned, combined, and formed Virgo in the world, Elul in the year, and the left kidney of the human.

He produced ל, predominant in Sexual Desire, crowned, combined, and formed Libra in the world, Tishrei in the year, and the gall in the human. He produced נ, predominant in smell, crowned, combined, and formed Scorpio in the world, Marchesvan in the year, and the intestines in the human. He produced ס, predominant in Sleep, crowned, combined, and formed Sagittarius in the world, Kislev in the year, and the stomach of the human.

He produced ע, predominant in Anger, crowned, combined, and formed Capricornus in the world, Tevet in the year, and the liver in the human. He produced צ, predominant in Taste, crowned, combined, and formed Aquarius in the world, Shevat in the year, and the gullet in the human. He produced ק, predominant in Mirth, crowned, combined, and formed Pisces in the world, Adar in the year, and the spleen in the human.

Three 'mothers', seven 'double' and twelve 'simple', these are the twenty-two letters.

ה–ו–ה–י, Tetragrammaton, that is our Lord of Hosts, exalted, and existed in the ages, whose Name is Holy, created three 'fathers', fire and spirit and water, progressing beyond them, seven heavens with their armies of angels; and twelve limits of the universe.

In proof of these things, and witnessing faithfully are the Universe, the Year of time, and Man himself, the Microcosm. He fixed these as testimonies of the Triad, the Heptad, and the Dodecad; the twelve constellations, rulers of the world, the Dragon Tali which environs the universe, and the microcosm, man. The triad, fire, water, and air; the fire above, the water below, and the air in the midst. The proof of which is that air is a participator with both.