the yhvh
Yod - Fire is a symbol of forces that set the creative proces into motion, the alchemical principle of the male or the father, his will, ideas and creative attention. With the project pushing spirit of the choleric temperament he is motivated by challenge and resistance. Fire is represented in tarot by the fiery suit of wands and the kings or knights. In the angelic world, fire is represented by the salamanders and salamandrines. In alchemy, fire refers to the initial process of calcination.
The fiery spark is adopted by Heh, alchemical Water, the female, receptive principle of the mother, her nurturing love, imagination and knowledge that develop the impulse of the father. The watery stage of creation has the qualities of the phlegmatic temperament with its quiet flow and resting inner happiness. The suit of cups and the queens of the tarot pack play exactly this role of carrying forth and developing the creative energy. Alchemy has as its second stage the watery process of dissolution. Nymphs and undines are the devas of the water element. The Eagle, Scorpio is the kerubim of Water, symbolizing the gospel of St. John.*
As in the triangles of the Tree, the marriage between Fire and Water is fruitful and Water gives birth to Vau, alchemical Air, the formative principle of intellect, their son. He has the easily distracted enthusiasm of the sanguine temperament. Like our intellect, he has no moving power of his own. He's formative action only results from the dynamics of their relationship, and their love is can only be manifested through him. Air is symbolized by the rushing princes and the dispersing suit of swords in tarot. In the alchemical process, air is represented as the third stage of separation. The airy angels of nature are the sylphs and sylphides. The kerubim of Air is Man, Aquarius, a symbol of St. Matthew's gospel.*
The airy impulse of the prince cannot find any rest until it is employed through the final Heh, alchemical Earth, the manifesting, material principle of the daughter, the final, combined product, result or value of the whole creative process. Being a true melancholic, she is focused on what there is, the actual or the past, even in details, accepting and therefore maintaining a binding relationship with her environment. Similarly, alchemy has as its fourth phase the process of conjunction. Earth is represented in tarot though the princesses and the suit of disks, money, the physical trial of the metaphysics. It's a basic rule of magic that unless the magician somehow manifests the result physically, the value of his efforts is doubtful at most. In nature, the gnomes are the devas of the earth element. The Ox, Taurus is of course the kerubim of Earth, symbolizing the gospel according to St. Luke.*
the four worlds of the qabalists
These four elements representing a fourfold creative process can be applied with the Tree in a number of ways. The application of the court cards: Fire (Kings) to Chokmah, Water
The most important application is the socalled primal elements, where the whole process of creation from spirit through matter is described in four stages, each corresponding with one of the elements. This interpretation is also called the four worlds of
the qabalists.
However, in the most common usage of the four world model, each is subdivided into a full Tree of Life with ten Sephiroth. In this 40-Sephiroth model of the cosmos, the Malkuth of Atziluth gives rise to the Kether of Briah and so on: The divine energy emanates through four Trees of Life, one by one.*
The ten Sephiroth manifest quite differently in each of the four worlds. In Atziluth, God acts directly, and the Sephiroth are represented by ten godnames.
The Sephiroth's abstract powers in Atziluth are illustrated by wands in the tarot. In Briah, God acts through His ten archangels, their forces being illustrated as cups of tarot. Yetziratic forces are the choirs or hosts of angels, their energies represented in tarot by the swords. And finally, in Assiah, the material world, God acts through the socalled Ten Mundane Chakras, illustrated by the disks: Kether manifests as the first movements of our physical universe, Chokmah as the Zodiac being manifested, Binah through Yesod as the seven traditional planets, and Malkuth manifests through our four elemental physical planet earth.
Also the Paths between the Sephiroth, illustrated by the tarot trumps, can be understood as manifesting through each of the four worlds.*
the colours of the four worlds
The names are one way of meeting the Sephiroth in the four worlds, their colours are another. Names are related to Hod and the intellect, while colours are related to Netzach and the arts. Brought together in a ritual they form a powerful constellation. The following are Aleister Crowley's suggested colours for the Sephiroth and the Paths in the four worlds:*
| Path | in Atziluth | in Briah | in Yetzirah | in Assiah |
| 1st | Brilliance | White brilliance | White brilliance | White, flecked gold |
| 2nd | Pure soft blue | Grey | Blue pearl grey, like mother-of-pearl | White, flecked red, blue, and yellow |
| 3rd | Crimson | Black | Dark brown | Grey, flecked pink |
| 4th | Deep violet | Blue | Deep purple | Deep azure, flecked yellow |
| 5th | Orange | Scarlet red | Bright scarlet | Red, flecked black |
| 6th | Clear pink rose | Yellow (gold) | Rich salmon | Gold amber |
| 7th | Amber | Emerald | Bright yellow green | Olive, flecked gold |
| 8th | Violet purple | Orange | Red-russet | Yellowish brown, flecked white |
| 9th | Indigo | Violet | Very dark purple | Citrine, flecked azure |
| 10th | Yellow | Citrine, olive, russet and black | Citrine, olive, russet and black, all flecked with gold | Black, rayed with yellow |
| 11th | Bright pale yellow | Sky blue | Blue emerald green | Emerald, flecked gold |
| 12th | Yellow | Purple | Grey | Indigo, rayed violet |
| 13th | Blue | Silver | Cold pale blue | Silver, rayed sky blue |
| 14th | Emerald green | Sky blue | Early spring green | Bright rose or cerise, rayed pale green |
| 15th | Scarlet | Red | Brilliant flame | Glowing red |
| 16th | Red orange | Deep indigo | Deep warm olive | Rich brown |
| 17th | Orange | Pale mauve | New yellow leather | Reddish grey inclined to mauve |
| 18th | Amber | Maroon | Rich bright russet | Dark greenish brown |
| 19th | Yellow, greenish | Deep purple | Grey | Reddish amber |
| 20th | Green, yellowish | Slate grey | Green grey | Plum colour |
| 21st | Violet | Blue | Rich purple | Bright blue, rayed yellow |
| 22nd | Emerald green | Blue | Deep blue-green | Pale Green |
| 23rd | Deep blue | Sea green | Deep olive-green | White, flecked purple, like mother-of-pearl |
| 24th | Green blue | Dull brown | Very dark brown | Livid indigo brown (like a black beetle) |
| 25th | Blue | Yellow | Green | Dark vivid blue |
| 26th | Indigo | Black | Blue black | Cold, dark grey, approaching black |
| 27th | Scarlet | Red | Venetian red | Bright red, rayed azure or emerald |
| 28th | Violet | Sky blue | Bluish mauve | White, tinged purple |
| 29th | Crimson (ultra violet) | Buff, flecked silver-white | Light translucent pinkish brown | Stone colour |
| 30th | Orange | Gold yellow | Rich amber | Amber, rayed red |
| 31st | Glowing orange scarlet | Vermilion | Scarlet, flecked gold | Vermilion, flecked crimson and emerald |
| 32nd | Indigo | Black | Blue black | Black, rayed blue |