Psalm 23 and the Qabalah
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1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.This might be a little strange, but while reading Psalm 23 occured to me that there are some interesting references to the path of return that is layed-out on the tree of life...
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Want:2 a : to have a strong desire for <wanted a chance to rest> b : to have an inclination to.
-That's the webster definition of the word "want". It might refer to the soul and its separation of the Beloved. The Beloved is represented by the HGA which resides or is represented by Tiphareth or the solar sephirah.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
-Green pastures refers to the beauty of Netzach and the still waters are a reference to Hod.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
-The paths of righteousness refer to the path of samekh that shoots upwards from yesod to tiphareth on the middle pillar. Again, the idea of union: "to restore" by websters definition: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
-The path of Ayin the Eye, represented by the Devil and the path of Nun or Death come from Netzach and Hod. They reach to Tiphareth and they are forbidden.
... thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
-The reference to staff and rod refer to the phallic symbolism of the HGA and also to the middle pillar and the path of samekh
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
-I found this part a little interesting. The table is the altar. It is the same altar that is used in the Catholic Mass and the Gnostic Mass. It represents the sarcophagus and the tomb of the God that is being transmuted into the stone of the wise. The resurected god.
The enemies are mentioned here because they also partake of the sacrament. By webster definition, enemy is: one that is antagonistic to another; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent.
Without the pressure of the earth's mantle, a diamond cannot be created....thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
-After the K&C of the HGA, the union of opposites are manifested in the individual. Oil is a reference to fire, the cup is to water. Also, the two points are the head and the genitals, which point to the mysteries of mars. The Scorpio (water) enegies are brought up to the head. Aries (fire) rules the head, and these two signs are ruled by Mars.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
-Consider goodness as a result of discriminating the bad. The very act of discrimination is an act pertaining to the pillar of severity and Geburah.
Mercy is obviously Chesed.
The Lord here is YHVH, not Adonai. The house is the manifested universe with its limitations. I think that is like the cube of space which is a representation of the universe and the house of the Lord. Whithout the structure of the laws of Nature, manifestation would be impossible. They refer to Chokmah and Binah.Thoughts?
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@Metzareph said
"This might be a little strange, but while reading Psalm 23 occured to me that there are some interesting references to the path of return that is layed-out on the tree of life..."
I love seeing this kind of exploration, this digging into familiar things to harvest deeper understanding of the real spiritual Way.
I'd like to add some notes from the actual Hebrew. Where this leads to a different route than you've taken, please don't see this as disputing the fruits of your meditation, k?
"1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
YHVH ROY LA ACHSR. It is Y.H.V.H. that is here called the good shepherd. (Phrasing chosen to trigger a recognition on another discussing in another part of these forums.)
"Want:2 a : to have a strong desire for <wanted a chance to rest> b : to have an inclination to.
-That's the webster definition of the word "want". It might refer to the soul and its separation of the Beloved. The Beloved is represented by the HGA which resides or is represented by Tiphareth or the solar sephirah."
I very much like the direction you have taken this. It is an important projection that should say something important to you about your own inner work.
But, FWIW, that's not the meaning of "want" here - at least, not directly. ChSR means to lack, to do without - another meaning of the English "want." The sentence here is pretty similar to the traditional aphorism of Chesed, "From the exhaustless riches of its Limitless Substance, I draw all things needful both spiritual and material."
BTW, at root I think that means the same thing as you got
"2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
-Green pastures refers to the beauty of Netzach and the still waters are a reference to Hod."
Yes, DShA means a "sprout," hence "grass," hence the color of grass. I agree with the Netzach idea, and add there there is also here an idea of new birth, sprouting, freshness of spring, Aleph-energy, etc.
And oh, if only the waters of Hod were still! That takes a while - but it's a fruit of the Path, and I think you have a correct Qabalistic interpretation. (I also see a transition between the Worlds in this particular verse.)
"3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
-The paths of righteousness refer to the path of samekh that shoots upwards from yesod to tiphareth on the middle pillar. Again, the idea of union: "to restore" by websters definition: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state."
Very good. There are other ways this could go - in particular, "righteousness" (TzDQ) is the name of Jupiter, and you've incorporated this into the Samekh-Sagittarius theme. You have captured the "restoration" or renewal aspect of that path splendidly.
You probably don't know that the first word in the Hebew is NPhShI - "my Nephesh" - this is the specific aspect of the mind, the "soul," which is restored.
IShVBB, translated "restore," is a form of ShB, shub, meaning "to turn back the way you came" - so it specifically points to a Path of Return.
MVGL, "path," isn't the usual word in Qabalah for the Paths of the Tree of Life, so should be seen more as a poetic than technical term I think. As BMVGL here it is 81 (9 x 9), which might be worth noting.
"4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
-The path of Ayin the Eye, represented by the Devil and the path of Nun or Death come from Netzach and Hod. They reach to Tiphareth"
Exactly!
"and they are forbidden."
Not at all! In fact, in the Psalm it is clear that one is walking them.
"... thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
-The reference to staff and rod refer to the phallic symbolism of the HGA and also to the middle pillar and the path of samekh"
Yes. Definitely. - I might emphasize that it is here the True Will within the aspirant.
I suspect "staff" here means "shepherd's crook." In other words, these are two items, not one, and they are balanced like the crook and scourge of Osiris. "Rod" here is ShBT, a stick or branch of a tree, hence the idea of a cut and finished rod. "Staff" is MShONH, literally a walking stick (from a root meaning "to support" - nice Samekh equivalence), but I still think it has a shepherd's crook implication.
"5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:"
The feast for you is laid our by the Angel - represented here by the Divine Name of Tiphereth, Y.H.V.H. - even in the presence of all those things which exist to restrict or hinder you. (TzRRY, "mine enemies," comes from a more basic meaning of "to cramp.")
"...thou anointest [2] my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
... Oil is a reference to fire"I would have said to spirit, especially with the anointing of the head.
"Also, the two points are the head and the genitals, which point to the mysteries of mars."
A good analysis except that only the head is anointed in this instance. BTW, this is an old ritual of kingship, another token of Tiphereth. In fact, every instinct says that "cup" in this case means "heart" in the language of symbolism.
"6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
-Consider goodness as a result of discriminating the bad. The very act of discrimination is an act pertaining to the pillar of severity and Geburah.
Mercy is obviously Chesed."Yes, "goodness" here is a form of tob, the same kind of "good" that Elohim recognized in each day's creation in Genesis. And the word translated "mercy" is chesed.
"The Lord here is YHVH, not Adonai."
Literally, by the text. However, a Jew reading this usually would pronounce it "Adonai," the 4-lettered Name in the field of manifestation standing in for the 4-lettered Unpronounceable Name in the heart.
"The house is the manifested universe with its limitations. I think that is like the cube of space which is a representation of the universe and the house of the Lord. Whithout the structure of the laws of Nature, manifestation would be impossible. They refer to Chokmah and Binah."
"House" is literally beth in this passage - BYTh-YHVH is the Hebrew original. 412 + 26 = 438 for those interested - and you should be interested! For the same number as "the house of the Lord" in which you shall dwell forever after the transmutation is YDOShChVM, Yadashchom, usually translated "Gates of the Shadow of Death." even though it is a very different word than the GIA TzLVTh used for the nearly identical English phrase in the present psalm.