Four Worlds

The Four Worlds (Hebrew: עולמותʿOlāmot, singular: ʿOlāmעולם), sometimes counted with a primordial world, Adam Kadmon, and called the Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in LurianicKabbalah in a descending chain of existence.

The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of creative lifeforce from the Ein Sof or Godhead through progressive, innumerable tzimtzumim or concealments. Kabbalists identified the names of these worlds from Isaiah 43:7, "All who are linked to My name, Whom I have created, Formed, and made for My glory (Biblical Hebrew: כֹּ֚ל הַנִּקְרָ֣א בִשְׁמִ֔י וְלִכְבוֹדִ֖י בְּרָאתִ֑יו יְצַרְתִּ֖יו אַף־עֲשִׂיתִֽיו׃, romanized: Kol hanniqrā b̲išmi wəlik̲b̲od̲i bərāt̲iw yəṣartiw ʾap̲-ʿăśit̲iw.)". In order of descent, the names of the worlds are Atziluth ("Emanation"), Beri'ah ("Creation"), Yetzirah ("Formation"), and Assiah ("Action"). Below the lowest spiritual world, Assiah, is the Assiah gashmi ("Physical Assiah"), or the physical universe which enclothes the last two sefirot, Yesod and Malkuth.^[1] Collectively, the Four Worlds are referred to as אבי״עAviyaʿ after their initial letters. In addition to the functional role each world has in the process of creation, they also embody dimensions of consciousness within human experience.

The Worlds are formed by the Light (ohr) that fills all worlds that is the immanence. The ten sefirot "attributes" and their associated twelve partzufim or "personas" reflect this light in the Four Worlds, as do more specific Divine manifestations. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the partzufim interact dynamically, and sublime levels are clothed within lower existences, a concealed soul. Nonetheless, in each world, sefirot and partzufim predominate. The Five Worlds are, in descending order:

1. Adam Qadmon (Hebrew: אָדָם קַדְמוֹן, romanized: āḏām qaḏmon), the Cosmic Man. The anthropomorphic metaphor of Adam Qadmon denotes the Yosher "Upright" arrangement of the sefirot as the tree of life, which is then personified in the form of man, though not yet manifest. The pristine emanation of Adam Qadmon is still united with the Ein Sof. Adam Kadmon is the realm of Keter ʿElyon "Supernal Crown", lucid and luminous lights (צַחְצָחוֹתṣaḥsaḥoṯ), the pure but concealed sefirot. Adam Qadmon is the divine light without vessels, the manifestation of the Divine plan for existence within Creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the chain of lights from Adam Qadmon precipitates the World of Chaos and The World of Rectification. As Keter is elevated above the sefirot, Adam Qadmon is supreme above the Worlds; therefore, it is generally not enumerated in the list of spiritual worlds.
2. Atziluth "Emanation" (אֲצִילוּת): The light of the Ein Sof radiates but is still united with its source. This supreme revelation precludes the souls and emanations in Atziluth from sensing or perceiving their existence. In Atziluth, the ten sefirot emerge in revelation, with Hokhma "Wisdom" dominating. In the context of Atziluth, the last sefira, Malkuth "Kingdom" represents the divine speech through which God created the universe in the first part of the Genesis creation narrative. It is through Malkuth that the lower worlds are sustained.
3. Beri'ah "Creation" (בְּרִיאָה^[a] On this level is the first concept of creatio ex nihilo (Ayin and Yesh), but without yet shape or form. Beriah is the realm of the "Divine Throne", denoting the sefirot configuration of Atziluth descending into Beriah like a King on a Throne. The sefira Binah "Understanding" predominates.
4. Yetzirah , «Formación» ( יְצִירָה ). En este nivel, los seres creados asumen forma y estructura. Predominan las sefirot emocionales, desde Chesed hasta Yesod . Las almas y los ángeles dentro de Yetzirah adoran mediante la emoción y el esfuerzo divinos, al percibir su distancia de la Comprensión de Beriah. Este ascenso y descenso canaliza la vitalidad divina a través de los Mundos, impulsando el propósito divino. Por lo tanto, los ángeles principales, como los serafines , se encuentran en Yetzirah, lo que denota su ardiente consumación en la emoción divina.
5. Assiah "Acción" ( עֲשִׂיָּה ): En este nivel, la Creación es completa, diferenciada y particular, ya que para este punto la vitalidad divina ha sufrido mucha ocultación y disminución. Sin embargo, todavía se encuentra en un nivel espiritual. Los ángeles de Assiah funcionan en el nivel activo, ya que predomina la sefirá Malkuth (realización en la Realeza). Debajo de Assiah espiritual está Assiah Gashmi ( עֲשִׂיָה גַשׁמִי ʿăśiyā g̲ašmi "Asiyah Física"), el reino final y más bajo de la existencia, nuestro universo material con todas sus creaciones. Al igual que la sefirá Malkuth dentro de Atziluth es el conducto por el cual emanan los mundos posteriores, las sefirot finales de Assiah son el punto por el cual se deriva el universo físico.

The Four Worlds are spiritual, heavenly realms in a descending chain, although the lowest world of Assiah has both a spiritual and a physical aspect. The physical level of Assiah is our physical finite realm, including the cosmological Universe studied by science. Consequently, as Kabbalah becomes more of a metaphysical study, the terms "higher" and "lower" are used as metaphors for being closer or further from Divine consciousness, revelation, and emanance. The 16th-century systemisation of Kabbalah by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero brought the preceding interpretations and schools into their first complete rational synthesis. Subsequent doctrines of Kabbalah from Isaac Luria, describe an initial tzimtzum (withdrawal of the universal Divine consciousness that preceded Creation) to "allow room" for created beings on lower levels of consciousness. Lower levels of consciousness require the self-perception of independent existence, by the created beings on each level, to prevent their loss of identity before the magnificence of God. This illusion increases with more force in each subsequent descending realm. The number of graduations between the Infinite and the finite, is likewise infinite, and arises from innumerable, progressively strong concealments of the Divine light. Nonetheless, the four worlds represent fundamental categories of Divine consciousness from each other, which delineates their four descriptions. Consequently, each world also psychologically represents a spiritual rung of ascent in human consciousness, as it approaches the Divine.

La Cábala distingue entre dos tipos de luz divina que emanan a través de las 10 sefirot (emanaciones divinas) del Infinito ( Ein Sof ), para crear o afectar la realidad. Existe un flujo continuo de una luz "inferior", la Mimalei Kol Olmin , la luz de la eminencia que "llena todos los mundos" es la fuerza creadora en cada mundo descendente, que a su vez trae continuamente todo a la existencia en ese nivel desde la nada. Es esta luz la que experimenta los diversos ocultamientos y contracciones divinas a medida que desciende para crear el siguiente nivel, y se adapta a la capacidad de cada ser creado en cada nivel. Una luz superior trascendente , Sovev Kol Olmin , la luz que "rodea todos los mundos", sería la manifestación en un nivel particular de una luz superior que está más allá de la capacidad de ese reino para contener. Esto se fundamenta, en última instancia, en la luz infinita ("Ohr Ein Sof") que precedió a la Creación, el Tzimtzum y las Sefirot, en lugar de la fuente de la luz inmanente en el "Kav" (primera emanación de la creación después del Tzimtzum), según las enseñanzas de Isaac Luria. En consecuencia, todos los mundos dependen, para su existencia continua, del flujo de la Divinidad que reciben constantemente de la Voluntad Divina para crearlos. La Creación es continua. La facultad de la Voluntad Divina está representada en las sefirot (diez emanaciones divinas) por la primera Sefirá supraconsciente de "Keter" (Corona), que trasciende las nueve Sefirot inferiores del intelecto y la emoción conscientes. Una vez que la Voluntad Divina se manifiesta, actualiza la Creación a través del Intelecto Divino y, posteriormente, de la Emoción Divina, hasta que se materializa en acción. La referencia a la causa y el efecto temporales es en sí misma una metáfora. La psicología humana también refleja la «psicología divina» de las sefirot, pues «el hombre fue creado a imagen de Dios» (Génesis 1:27). En el ser humano, la activación de la voluntad mediante el intelecto y la emoción, hasta la acción, requiere tiempo y una relación de causa y efecto. En las Sefirot Divinas y su activación de la Creación, esto no se aplica, ya que las limitaciones solo rigen la Creación.

The Book of Job states that "from my flesh I see God". In Kabbalah and Hasidism this is understood to refer to the correspondence between the "Divine psychology" of the Four Worlds and the Sephirot, with human psychology and the Sephirot in the soul of man. From understanding the Kabbalistic description of the human soul, we can grasp the meaning of the Divine scheme. Ultimately, this is seen as the reason that God chose to emanate His Divinity through the 10 Sephirot, and chose to create the corresponding chain of four Worlds (called the "Seder hishtalshelus"-"order of development"). He could have chosen to bridge the infinite gap between the Ein Sof and our World by a leap of Divine decree. Instead the Sephirot and Four Worlds allow man to understand Divinity through Divine manifestation, by understanding himself. The verse in Genesis of this correspondence also describes the feminine half of Creation: (Genesis 1:27) "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them". Consequently, some of the sefirot are feminine, and the Shechina (immanent Divine presence) is seen as feminine. It is the intimate relationship between the Divine scheme of Four Worlds and man, that allows man's ascent more easily to Divine consciousness (see Dveikus).

Rudolf Steiner was one of first occultists who managed to write and describe higher worlds due to his exact clairvoyance; however was not the only one who brought that to public eye.

He borrowed the terms from East, because such terms were never developed in western culture. ^[4]

He spoke of

• etheric (elementary) world
• astral world

• Lower and Higher Devachan

There are even higher worlds but are not explained by Steiner, since either people aren't ready, and leaders of humanity and evolution have not let that happen.

Steiner explained how the evolution works both from macro,meso and microcosmical perspective, and how these are interlaped.^[5]

Beinsa Douno mentions causal world.

• Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
• Hopi mythology § Four Worlds
• Masseket Azilut
• Mind–body problem
• Popper's three worlds

• Klein, Eliahu, ed. (2005). Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1556435423.

• The Worlds: The Stages of the Creative Process from God's Infinite Light to Our Physical World - Describes the many levels and Partzufim between Adam Kadmon and Atzilut, as well as prior stages, and then the subsequent Four Worlds
• 4/Four Worlds: Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah