Tree of Life - Da'at(h)

jmd

Qabalah - Tree of Life - Da'at(h)

Da'at(h) is not a Sefirah from a traditional Kabbalistic perspective (the Sefer Yezirah is clear on this). Yet it is considered such even by some modern Hebrew Kabbalists.

Da'at(h) means 'knowledge', and is located, significantly, below the spheres of Understanding (Binah) and Wisdom (Hockmah).

It is sometimes said to be over the Abyss which separates the seven lower emanations from the three supernals (for which we have already begun discussion).
 

Laurel

I have never studied Da'ath to any great extent, being a believer in the Neitzsche maxim "If you stare long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss will stare back into you."

It exists. Its not a sephira in my opinion. There are ten. Da'ath is something else. Perhaps psychologically, it represents the deepest darkest place we hold are most personal fears which the magus and the mystic must confront in order to move Beyond. I liken Da'ath to the Hall of Two Truths in Egyptian mythology where Ma'at presides over the weighing of the heart.

I often contemplate the Lurianic Tree of Life http://choccult.8m.com/etzluria.htm which very clearly points out where Da'ath is and does not equate it with a sephiroth. Ultimately, I see Da'ath as a crossroads that I will someday face.

Laurel
 

AmounrA

interesting thread this:)

Is there not a 'creature' residing in the abyss called Choronzon? For some reason I associate this creature with Daath.

The negative side of Knowledge , the rating of knowledge above all, and being on a quest for it ,would render the seeker to never cross the abyss. They would wear the false crown of Daath. To me seekers on the left path stop here and can not go further. This is the folly of the Black Magician, they never see the true glory, and the sublime beauty inherent in the system.

Daath in my mind is a valid sphere, a hidden sphere, a hidden star.......the black sun.........an internal star? To me it is a sphere we see from its absense, like a hole, you can see a hole....but only by its absense.

For me it is given the expression knowledge, because its the place where knowledge can go no further[going up], and its the place where knowledge started to apply[going down].
 

Laurel

Yup. Choronzon is a Thelemic demon. The conquest of Da'ath and Choronzon as symbolized by the conquest of the ego and subsequent reaching of enlightenment is part of that particular tradition. Crowley's 'Black Brothers' are magicians who in his opinion fail to conquer their ego in Da'ath and instead worship Choronzon as the guardian of the portal.

I remember reading somewhere a very interesting discussion of Choronzon equating to the "Dweller On The Threshold" in Genesis when God was trying to open discourse with Cain right before the murder of Abel. The metaphysical interpretation was that Cain, unable to conquer his ego at a time of spiritual crisis, replayed out Adam & Eve's earlier failure in indulgance of lowly emotion at the cost of higher consciousness and suffered a second "exile" subsequently.

Likewise, souls who fail the weighing of the heart in the Hall of Judgement in Egyptian mythology are cast to the demon Ammut, the Destroyer.

Laurel
 

AmounrA

I did a bit of reading in 'the eye in the triangle', particulary the bits concerning Crowleys travels to North Africa with the ill fated Victor Neuburg. It was in the North African desert that Crowley went into 'battle' with Choronzon.

Heres an interesting quote from 'Eye in the triangle pg 410', which I think adds to the ego links/chain..."..And though Choronzon be easily beaten in argument, yet,by disturbing the attention of he who would command him,doth he gain victory. For Choronzon feareth of all things concentration and silence ; he therefore who would command him should will in silence; thus he is brought to obey".

To me the above quote makes a lot of sense when applied to the mind set 'needed/envoked' for the crossing of the abyss, where the Choronzon almost seems to be the ego, it also reminds me of some of the higher/outer aspects of buddist belief...budda mind, perhaps the eye in the triangle is a symbol which can be placed on daath.
 

lupo138

sorry, nothing about Choronozon. But my opinion on some things: Daath is the sephirah that is hidden, and so it is a sephirah. It would be the eleventh, but it doesn´t change the fact that they are ten. Daath is the only Sephirah that has four colours in all worlds and not only one at least in one world. Daath is - hm - the power of knowledge to me. It is the force that attracts us to the tree as such ;)
 

Laurel

Lupo, calling Da'ath the power of Knowledge is most certainly an excellent way to look at it, especially if you enscribe Wisdom and Understanding to Chokmah and Binah.

~(Heretical and potentially outraging comments forthcoming. Treat my comments as play with an analogy and not any belief on my part of this being a literal as opposed to mythical truth. They aren't offered as objective truth, only my opinions and personal insights.)~

Of course, it was from eating the fruit of Knowledge that Man and Woman had their eyes opened... and lost their personalized relationship as sheep of God the Shepherd. My personal belief is that what damned them wasn't eating the fruit- it was running away fearfully from the True Gifts that Knowledge gave them. If they'd not let fear master them, they would have immediately reached for the fruit of the Tree of Life and become, as nachash the serpent told them, as God itself.

Instead, they remained in a subjected to its Will and Wrath through supersticion and an unwillingness to allow Knowledge to lead them beyond this Da'ath to the Understanding and Wisdom and Divinity beyond. They fell straight to Malkuth and toiled there, disconnected from the upper eight or nine sephiroth and upper two or three worlds.

As individual children, we always have our work cut out for us making our way back up, and Da'ath remains the "make or break" crossroads that we must move fearlessly and shamelessly through-- and very few humans even humans who are mystics, magicians, or shamans, ever achieve the necessary inner harmony and self-understanding to move through Da'ath successfully.

In Empire Strikes Back, when Luke Skywalker was faced with his own personalized Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he reacted out of fear and while he obtained some Knowledge, he didn't complete the journey to become a Yoda-like being because he was too young and unready for the task at hand. Magicians make the same damn mistake- Crowley did, imo. We think we're ready for Da'ath when we're not, because of hubris or some need for achievement or glory or hunger for power. The Abyss is bigger than us, however.


Laurel
 

Laurel

A Postscript....

Looking at the fifth sephiroth Geburah as Pachad, fear, is an excellent way of appreciate what has to be mastered before tackling the Abyss.

Laurel
 

TheFoolofChaos

The fall.

Some say that Da'ath is the hole left by the fall of Malkuth.

Some say that this hole is the Abyss.

Some say it is the entrance to the dark side of the Tree.

Some say there you face your Demon Choronzon.

Some say it is Knowledge forgotten.

The Fool says Individuality is a Lie!

In Chaos

The Fool
 

AmounrA

Hello , fool of Chaos.

Great post :)

I wonder if there really is such a thing a chaos. The standard image for Chaos is the butterflies wings setting off a storm. This is said to be unpredictable and therefore Chaotic. I see it more as a lack of information leading to faliure to predict. ...a lack of knowledge?, which seems most apt for Daath.

Is chaos the same as radomness?, if so, its interesting to see a seemly random nature appearing deep inside predictable physical systems. Could the turbulence of water down as steep section of river be discribed as Chaotic? If we had enough information [impossible I would say for man] , and programmed it into a super computer...could it model the real flow of a section of river?

Does nature choose when given a 50/50 situation?