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The 32 Paths of Wisdom
© 2002 By Rawn Clark
Originally published in the Autumn 2002 Issue of the online
Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition, Vol.2, No.3.
At the heart of the Western understanding of the Tree of Life, is the little document titled "The 32 Paths of Wisdom". Usually, this document accompanies the English editions of the "Sepher Yetzirah" and is seen as an explanation or clarification of the S.Y. However, the concept of 32 Paths of Wisdom stems, not from the S.Y., but from the Torah, Genesis, Chapter One. Furthermore, the document "32 Paths of Wisdom" comes to us from the late 13th Century, C.E. -- centuries before the advent of the Western image of the Tree.
According to the Jewish tradition, the 32 Paths of Wisdom concept is derived from the 32 times that the name "Elohim" is mentioned in Genesis, Chapter One.
Sephiroth: "Elohim said:" *
Kether -- "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth." 1:1*
Chokmah -- "Let there be light" 1:3
Binah -- "Let there be a firmament . . . let it divide . . ." 1:6
Gedulah -- "Let the waters be gathered . . . let dry land appear . . ." 1:9
Geburah -- "Let the earth put forth grass . . . etc." 1:11
Tiphareth -- "Let there be lights in the firmament . . ." 1:14
Netzach -- "Let the waters swarm . . . let fowl fly . . ." 1:20
Hod -- "Let the earth bring forth living creatures . . ." 1:24
Yesod -- "Let us make man . . ." 1:26
Malkuth -- "Be fruitful and multiply . . ." 1:28
Mothers: "Elohim made:"
Aleph -- "the Firmament and divided the waters . . ." 1:7
Mem -- "the two great lights . . . and the stars." 1:16
Shin -- "the beast of the earth after its kind . . ." 1:25
Doubles: "Elohim saw:"
Beth -- "the light, that it was good." 1:4
Gimel -- "that it was good." (the separation of dry land and waters) 1:10
Daleth -- "that it was good" (the earth bringing forth grass, etc.) 1:12
Kaph -- that it was good" (the two lights in the firmament) 1:18
Peh -- "that it was good" (swarming of waters with creatures; of air with fowl) 1:21
Resh -- "that it was good" (the beasts of the earth) 1:25
Tav -- "every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." 1:31
Elementals: "Elohim --"
Heh -- "hovered over the face of the waters." 1:2
Vav -- "divided the light from the darkness." 1:4
Zayin -- "called the light Day, and darkness Night." 1:5
Cheth -- "called the firmament Heaven." 1:8
Teth -- "called the dry land, Earth . . . and the waters, Seas." 1:10
Yod -- "set them [the two lights] in the firmament of the heaven" 1:17
Lamed -- "created the sea-monsters, creatures that creep, and fowl." 1:21
Nun -- "blessed them [sea-monsters, creepers, and fowl] . . ." 1:22
Samekh -- "created man in His own image." 1:27
Ayin -- "created He him; male and female created He them." 1:27
Tzaddi -- "blessed them [male and female]." 1:28
Qooph -- "said: I have given you all . . ." 1:29*
*There are two exceptions to this: The first is Gen1:1, and Sephirah 1/Kether, wherein "Elohim said" is assumed. The second is Gen1:29, and Elemental 12/Qooph, wherein the focus is shifted from the "Elohim said", to the "I have given you all . . ."
The Sepher Yetzirah (circa 1st Century, B.C.E.) incorporates and seeks to explain these 32 Paths of Genesis. The "32 Paths of Wisdom"document however, was written about 1,400 years after the S.Y. and speaks of these 32 Paths in the context of the S.Y.'s Tree of Life.
At the time that the "32 Paths" document was written, the Tree of Life looked a bit different than the Western Hermetic Tree. It was an ostensibly Jewish Tree that followed the strict rules laid down in the Sepher Yetzirah, whereas the Western Tree follows a different set of rules. Yet modern Western kabbalists have interpreted the "32 Paths" document based upon the Western Tree and not upon the 13th Century Jewish Tree. Which, of course, generates a significantly different understanding of the 32 Paths than is held by Jewish kabbalah.
This becomes an important issue when it comes to a reverse investigation and interpretation of the S.Y. and the "32 Paths" document using the Western Tree as the basis for one's reasoning. Instead of trying to understand the Tree by first understanding its roots, many Western writers have sought to understand the roots by comparing them to the Western Tree. The problem is that the Western Tree has grown too far from its root for this to net an accurate understanding.
So let's do a little back tracking and take a look at how the "32 Paths of Wisdom" document looks when it's applied to the Tree that was prevalent when it was originally written.
According to recent scholarship, the author of the "32 Paths" document was a member of the 13th Century Castilian conclave of kabbalistic writers known as the "Circle of Contemplation". Their primary influences were the Torah, S.Y. and Bahir, and the image of the Tree they would have employed was what I call the "Hebrew Tree".
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In the Jewish tradition of the 32 Paths of Wisdom, the Paths and their correspondences are established by the sequence of Genesis, Chapter One. Naturally, this was the sequence used by the author of the "32 Paths" document and results in the following set of relationships:
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Jewish Tradition
Path #1 = Kether 1:1
Path #2 = Heh 1:2
Path #3 = Chokmah 1:3 (= Binah)
Path #4 = Beth 1:4
Path #5 = Vav 1:4
Path #6 = Zayin 1:5
Path #7 = Binah 1:6
Path #8 = Aleph 1:7
Path #9 = Cheth 1:8
Path #10 = Gedulah 1:9
Path #11 = Teth 1:10
Path #12 = Gimel 1:10
Path #13 = Geburah 1:11
Path #14 = Daleth 1:12
Path #15 = Tiphareth 1:14
Path #16 = Mem 1:16
Path #17 = Yod 1:17
Path #18 = Kaph 1:18
Path #19 = Netzach 1:20
Path #20 = Lamed 1:21
Path #21 = Peh 1:21
Path #22 = Nun 1:22
Path #23 = Hod 1:24
Path #24 = Shin 1:25
Path #25 = Resh 1:25
Path #26 = Yesod 1:26
Path #27 = Samekh 1:27
Path #28 = Ayin 1:27
Path #29 = Tzaddi 1:28
Path #30 = Malkuth 1:28
Path #31 = Qooph 1:29
Path #32 = Tav 1:31
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(Western Tradition)
(= Kether)
(= Chokmah)
(= Binah)
(= Gedulah)
(= Geburah)
(= Tiphareth)
(= Netzach)
(= Hod)
(= Yesod)
(= Malkuth)
(= Aleph)
(= Beth)
(= Gimel)
(= Daleth)
(= Heh)
(= Vav)
(= Zayin)
(= Cheth)
(= Teth)
(= Yod)
(= Kaph)
(= Lamed)
(= Mem)
(= Nun)
(= Samekh)
(= Ayin)
(= Peh)
(= Tzaddi)
(= Qooph)
(= Resh)
(= Shin)
(= Tav)
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As you can see, at this level there are only three points of similarity (Paths #1, #14 and #32) out of 32. However, this is only at the level of Paths-to-Letters/Sephirot. When we add in the differences in the image of the Tree of Life, these dissimilarities are magnified even more:
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Hebrew Tree
Path #1 = Kether, Sephirah 1
Path #2 = Heh, 1>2
Path #3 = Chokmah, Sephirah 2
Path #4 = Beth , 1>6
Path #5 = Vav, 1>3
Path #6 = Zayin, 2>6
Path #7 = Binah, Sephirah 3
Path #8 = Aleph, 4>5
Path #9 = Cheth, 3>6
Path #10 = Gedulah, Sephirah 4
Path #11 = Teth, 4>6
Path #12 = Gimel, 2>4
Path #13 = Geburah, Sephirah 5
Path #14 = Daleth, 3>5
Path #15 = Tiphareth, Sephirah 6
Path #16 = Mem, 7>8
Path #17 = Yod, 5>6
Path #18 = Kaph, 4>7
Path #19 = Netzach, Sephirah 7
Path #20 = Lamed, 6>7
Path #21 = Peh, 5>8
Path #22 = Nun, 6>8
Path #23 = Hod, Sephirah 8
Path #24 = Shin, 2>3
Path #25 = Resh, 6>9
Path #26 = Yesod, Sephirah 9
Path #27 = Samekh, 7>9
Path #28 = Ayin, 8>9
Path #29 = Tzaddi, 7>10
Path #30 = Malkuth, Sephirah 10
Path #31 = Qooph, 8>10
Path #32 = Tav, 9>10
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(Western Tree)
(= Kether, Sephirah 1)
(= Chokmah, Sephirah 2)
(= Binah, Sephirah 3)
(= Gedulah, Sephirah 4)
(= Geburah, Sephirah 5)
(= Tiphareth, Sephirah 6)
(= Netzach, Sephirah 7)
(= Hod, Sephirah 8)
(= Yesod, Sephirah 9)
(= Malkuth, Sephirah 10)
(= Aleph, 1>2)
(= Beth, 1>3)
(= Gimel, 1>6)
(= Daleth, 2>3)
(= Heh, 2>6)
(= Vav, 2>4)
(= Zayin, 3>6)
(= Cheth, 3>5)
(= Teth, 4>5)
(= Yod, 4>6)
(= Kaph, 4>7)
(= Lamed, 5>6)
(= Mem, 5>8)
(= Nun, 6>7)
(= Samekh, 6>9)
(= Ayin, 6>8)
(= Peh, 7>8)
(= Tzaddi, 7>9)
(= Qooph, 7>10)
(= Resh, 8>9)
(= Shin, 8>10)
(= Tav, 9>10)
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From this perspective, there are only two points of complete agreement: Path #1 = Kether and Path #32 = Tav, 9>10. There are also four points of partial agreement. Three of these four are Path #25 = 6>9, Path #29 = 7>10, and Path #31 = 8>10, but these three points do not agree upon which Letter belongs to these connections between Sephirot. The fourth point of partial agreement is the attribution of Daleth to Path #14, but here there is disagreement as to which two Sephirot Daleth connects (3>5 vs. 2>3).
The practical significance of these differences and their implication so far as kabbalistic understanding doesn't become truly apparent until we factor in the text of the "32 Paths" document itself. To illustrate briefly, here's the same list but with the addition of the "intelligences" or "consciousnesses" of each Path:
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Hebrew Tree
Path #1 = Kether, Sephirah 1
Path #2 = Heh, 1>2
Path #3 = Chokmah, Sephirah 2
Path #4 = Beth , 1>6
Path #5 = Vav, 1>3
Path #6 = Zayin, 2>6
Path #7 = Binah, Sephirah 3
Path #8 = Aleph, 4>5
Path #9 = Cheth, 3>6
Path #10 = Gedulah, Sephirah 4
Path #11 = Teth, 4>6
Path #12 = Gimel, 2>4
Path #13 = Geburah, Sephirah 5
Path #14 = Daleth, 3>5
Path #15 = Tiphareth, Sephirah 6
Path #16 = Mem, 7>8
Path #17 = Yod, 5>6
Path #18 = Kaph, 4>7
Path #19 = Netzach, Sephirah 7
Path #20 = Lamed, 6>7
Path #21 = Peh, 5>8
Path #22 = Nun, 6>8
Path #23 = Hod, Sephirah 8
Path #24 = Shin, 2>3
Path #25 = Resh, 6>9
Path #26 = Yesod, Sephirah 9
Path #27 = Samekh, 7>9
Path #28 = Ayin, 8>9
Path #29 = Tzaddi, 7>10
Path #30 = Malkuth, Sephirah 10
Path #31 = Qooph, 8>10
Path #32 = Tav, 9>10
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Intelligence
Mystical
Illuminating
Sanctifying
Overflowing
Root
Mediating
Hidden
Perfect
Pure
Resplendent
Scintillating
Transparent
Unifying
Luminous
Constituting
Eternal
Disposition
Influence
Secret of all
Spiritual Activity
Will
Fulfilled Desire
Faithful
Stable
Imaginative
Trial
Renewing
Exciting
Natural
Corporealizing
Universal
Perpetual
Serving
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(Western Tree)
(= Kether, Sephirah 1)
(= Chokmah, Sephirah 2)
(= Binah, Sephirah 3)
(= Gedulah, Sephirah 4)
(= Geburah, Sephirah 5)
(= Tiphareth, Sephirah 6)
(= Netzach, Sephirah 7)
(= Hod, Sephirah 8)
(= Yesod, Sephirah 9)
(= Malkuth, Sephirah 10)
(= Aleph, 1>2)
(= Beth, 1>3)
(= Gimel, 1>6)
(= Daleth, 2>3)
(= Heh, 2>6)
(= Vav, 2>4)
(= Zayin, 3>6)
(= Cheth, 3>5)
(= Teth, 4>5)
(= Yod, 4>6)
(= Kaph, 4>7)
(= Lamed, 5>6)
(= Mem, 5>8)
(= Nun, 6>7)
(= Samekh, 6>9)
(= Ayin, 6>8)
(= Peh, 7>8)
(= Tzaddi, 7>9)
(= Qooph, 7>10)
(= Resh, 8>9)
(= Shin, 8>10)
(= Tav, 9>10)
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In my experience, the differences between the Jewish and Western understandings of the Tree of Life are too vast to bridge except through the imagery of the Tarot major arcana. By using these images, along with their Western tradition of Hebrew Letter correspondences, and fitting them to the Hebrew Tree, a Western practitioner can come to a better understanding of the Hebrew Tree and by extension, the Jewish kabbalah.
To that end, I invite you to experiment with the following correspondences in your sphere- and pathworking. Below, you will find the text of the "32 Paths of Wisdom" document, juxtaposed with their Hebrew Tree correspondences and their Tarot Arcanum (where appropriate). I've also included Paul Case's "Pattern on the Trestleboard" statements for each Sephira; and for the planetary Sephirot, I've included the Temple images from my own "Eight Temples Meditation Project". Along side all of this, you will find my own personal commentary.
I've arranged the Paths in what I call an "initiatory sequence". Initiation is a process of the ascent, expansion and integration of consciousness. It begins at the basest personal level of consciousness (Malkuth) and spans the gamut to the Unity of All consciousness (Kether). The Tree of Life expresses this essential process and defines ten stages or levels of initiation, corresponding to the Sephirot. It also defines a sequential path of ascent that integrates all ten of these levels.
By applying the purely Western techniques of sphere- and pathworking to the Hebrew Tree, and using the "32 Paths of Wisdom" document combined with the Tarot major arcana as our illustrated tour guide, a cogent system of self-initiation emerges.
Sphereworking (i.e., experiencing the Sephirot) should precede pathworking. This bias is reflected in the sequence I present here. We begin with Malkuth, followed by Yesod - as sphereworkings. Only then do we pursue the first initiatory path, Tav 9>10 - as a pathworking beginning in Yesod and ending in Malkuth.
In this form of initiatory working upon the Tree, pathworking is reserved for integration of the newly attained level of consciousness and not as a means of ascent proper. However, working the paths that depend from a newly attained sphere is part of the process that enables the initiate to ascend to the next higher level. In other words, the integration of the new level into the old level(s), through pathworking, is what transforms the initiate and empowers their next ascent.
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