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I would like to discuss with you two short excerpts from the Zohar...
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...Further, the river "shall part from thence and become four heads" (Gen,II, 10).
The first of these is Hesed (Kindness), which is the right arm. From this shall drink the camp of Michael, and with it the tribe of Judah and his two accompanying tribes.
The second is Geburah (Force), and from it shall drink the camp of Gabriel, and with it the tribe of Dan and his two accompanying tribes.
The third is Netzah (Victory), the right leg, and from it shall drink the camp of Nuriel, and with it the tribe of Reuben and his two accompanying tribes.
The fourth is Hod (Majesty), the "left leg" (referred to in what was said of Jacob, that "he halted on his left thigh"), and from it shall drink the camp of Raphael, whose mission is to heal the ills of the captivity, and with it the tribe of Ephraim and his two accompanying tribes.
[Soncino Zohar: Berashith 26b (Vol I, pp 102-3)]
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The twelve tribes are the adornment of the Matron [Binah/Malkut]. When Jacob was about to depart from the world, and saw that he was perfected on every side, with Abraham at his right [Hesed], Isaac at his left [Geburah], himself in the centre [Tifaret], and the Shekinah [Binah/Malkut] in front of him, he called his sons round him in order that both the lower and the upper might be fitly adorned... [241a] The twelve tribes correspond to the twelve oxen which were under the sea [Binah] of bronze made by Solomon (I Kings vii, 23 sqq.), three for each of the cardinal points. Three of them representing the right Arm [Hesed], three the left Arm [Geburah], three the right Thigh [Netzah], and three the left Thigh [Hod]. There were three tribes for each, because in each of these limbs there are three joints [pathways]...
[Soncino Zohar: Berashith 240b-241a (Vol II, pp 366-7)]
[In this excerpt the bracketed [] notes are my own.]
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These fascinating excerpts associate the twelve tribes of Israel with the four sefirot Hesed, Geburah, Netzah, and Hod. This is precisely the same principle that I have used in my allocation of the twelve Simple letters to those same four sefirot (i.e. in my book: Formation of the Tree of Life).
As you may know there is great debate (and uncertainty) concerning the true allocation of the twelve tribes to the twelve zodiacal signs.
The Book of Numbers (chapter II) gives us the following information...
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East
[Camp of Judah]
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
South
[Camp of Reuben]
Reuben
Simeon
Gad
West
[Camp of Ephraim]
Ephraim
Manasseh
Benjamin
North
[Camp of Dan]
Dan
Asher
Naphtali
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Using all the above information we can deduce the following:
North = Geburah
South = Netzah
East = Hesed
West = Hod
This is interesting because these allocations superimpose the cardinal points of a compass on the four sefirot: Hesed, Geburah, Netzah, and Hod. This is precisely what the Sefer Yetzirah does when it assigns the twelve "diagonal boundaries" to the twelve Simple letter pathways of the Tree of Life (as I have explained in my book).
In my book, I describe how these twelve pathways are adjoined to the four 'directional' sefirot (i.e. three pathways attached to each sefirah). My particular assignment of each of the twelve zodiacal signs to the twelve pathways is only one of several possible arrangements however. The key point that I make in my book though, is that the twelve Simple letter pathways are attached to the four 'directional' sefirot (for example, as discussed in my previous post involving the Zohar's and the Sefer Yetzirah's anatomical correspondences).
In the debate concerning the twelve tribes and the twelve zodiacal signs it is often put forward that the four camps represent the four Cherubic (or Fixed) signs. If this is the case, then the tribe of Judah would be positioned in the East and represent the sign Leo. As it is written in the Book of Numbers... "And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies..." [Numbers, II:3] (In astrology the Sun 'rules' Leo.)
The association of Judah with the "rising Sun" also suggests a possible association with the Cardinal sign Aries.
Let's look at the Cherubic arrangement...
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Cherubic Signs
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North = Geburah = Dan (Scorpio)
South = Netzah = Reuben (Taurus)
East = Hesed = Judah (Leo)
West = Hod = Ephraim (Aquarius)
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[Note that these correspondences follow the Sun's 'precessional' direction of movement through the twelve zodiacal constellations.] The full list of assignments would then be as follows:
East (Hesed/Judah):
Judah : Leo (Teth)
Issachar : Cancer (Heth)
Zebulun : Gemini (Zayn)
South (Netzah/Reuben):
Reuben : Taurus (Vav)
Simeon : Aries (Heh)
Gad : Pisces (Qof)
West (Hod/Ephraim):
Ephraim : Aquarius (Tzaddie)
Manasseh : Capricorn (Ayin)
Benjamin : Sagittarius (Sameck)
North (Geburah/Dan):
Dan : Scorpio (Nun)
Asher : Libra (Lamed)
Naphtali : Virgo (Yod)
[Note: The associated Hebrew letters are in brackets.]
It is interesting that the "camp of Raphael" (the healer "of the ills of the captivity" - see Zohar quote above) is associated in the above list of correspondences with Ephraim and the sign Aquarius--the sign of 'freedom' and of 'the establishment of community'. It is the constellation into which the precessed Sun is now passing.
There are other passages in the Zohar that seem to support this particular list of correspondences, but because this post is getting a little long I will reserve those references for a future post.
I have attached an image that shows how these correspondences might be applied to the twelve Simple letter pathways of the Tree of Life (as I have determined them). As I mentioned above, this is but one of several possible zodiacal sign-to-path arrangements.
Blessings,
Patrick.
Gemini-Pisces [2/1]
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