Sefer Yetzira (cont.)
4. Twelve simples: He, Vav, Zayin; Het, Tet, Yod; Lamed, Nun, Samech; Ayin, Tsadeh, Qof.
Twelve and not eleven, twelve and not thirteen. Twelve diagonal boundaries divide the directions
and separate the different sides: the extremity of the northeast, the extremity of the eastern
height, the extremity of the eastern depth, the extremity of the northwest, the extremity of the
northern height, the extremity of the northern depth, the extremity of the southwest, the
extremity of the western height, the extremity of the western depth, the extremity of the
southeast, the extremity of the southern height, the extremity of the southern depth.
5. By these means, Yah, Eternal of Hosts, God of Israel, Living Elohim, Almighty God, High and
Extolled, Dwelling in Eternity, Holy Be His Name traced twenty-two letters and fixed them upon a
wheel. He turns the wheel forwards and backwards, and as a sign of this, nothing is better than to
ascend in delight [Ayin-Nun-Gimel,], and nothing is worse than to descend with the plague
[,Nun-Gimel-Ayin].
6. The proof of this is revealed in the universe, the year and the soul. The universe is calculated
according to ten: the three are fire, air, and water; the seven are the seven planets; the twelve are
the twelve signs of the zodiac. the year is computated by ten: the three are winter, summer and
the seasons between; the seven are the seven days of creation; the twelve are the twelve months;
the living soul is calculated according to ten: three are the head, chest and stomach; seven are the
seven apertures of the body; the twelve are the twelve leading organs.
III. Chapter Three.
1. Ten Sefirot out of nothing. Stop your mouth from speaking, stop your heart from thinking, and
if your heart runs (to think) return to a place of which it is said "they ran and returned"; and
concerning this thing the covenant was made; and they are ten in extent beyond limit. Their end is
infused with their beginning, and their beginning with their end like a flame attached to a glowing
ember. Know, think [reflect, meditate] and imagine that the Creator is One and there is nothing
apart from Him, and before One what do you count?
2. Twenty-two foundation letters: three mothers, seven doubles, and twelve simples. Three
mothers: Alef, Mem, Shin are fire, wind [air] and water. The nature of the heavens is fire, the
nature of air is wind [ruach], the nature of earth is water. Fire ascends and water descends and
wind balances between the two. Mem is silent, Shin is sibilant, and Alef balances between the two.
Alef, Mem, Shin are signed in six rings and enveloped in male and female. Know, meditate and
imagine that the fire supports water.
3. Seven doubles: Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh, Tav which are to be pronounced in two
tongues: Bet, Vet, Gimel, Ghimel, Dalet, Dhalet, Kaf, Khaf, Peh, Feh, Resh, Rhesh, Tav, Thav, a
pattern of hard and soft, strong and weak. The doubles represent the contraries. The opposite of
life is death, the opposite of peace is evil, the opposite of wisdom is foolishness, the opposite of
wealth is poverty, the opposite of fruitfulness is barrenness, the opposite of grace is ugliness, the
opposite of dominion is slavery.
4. Twelve simples: He, Vav, Zayin; Het, Tet, Yod; Lamed, Nun, Samech; Ayin, Tsadeh, Qof. He
engraved them, hewed them, tested them, weighed them, and exchanged them. How did He
combine them? Two stones build two houses. Three stones build six houses. Four stones build
twenty-four houses. Five stones build one hundred twenty houses. Six stones build seven hundred
twenty houses. Seven stones build five thousand forty houses. Thenceforth, go out and calculate
what the mouth is unable to say and what the ear is unable to hear.