Path 4
Chesed
Title(s)
Spiritual experience(s)
Gematria
Yetziratic text
The Fourth Path is named The Settled Consciousness. (Sekhel Kavua) It is called this because all the spiritual powers emanate from it as the [most] ethereal of emanations. One emanates from the other through the power of the original Emanator, may He be blessed.
Description
This Sephirah is symbolized by a four-sided geometric solid, the tetrahedron. As it is the first Sephirah to have a solid symbol in the numeric progression from one to ten, it is considered to be the first non-abstract principle on the Tree. Chesed receives its being from the triad above it (the "supernals" of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah) and distributes their force to the rest of the tree. It is therefore associated with the planet Jupiter as the royal provider of gifts to all life. It is the principle of growth and expansion.
In the human being, the principle of anabolism is represented here. All bodily and psychic processes which tend toward increase may be influenced by addressing this Sephirah. This includes all digestive processes as well as respiration. If there is a deficiency in Chesed (poor digestion, weight loss, inability to cope with stress, etc) then it should be strengthened. Conversely, excess weight, cancer (out-of-control growth) and the like require that it be managed. There may be need for invocation of its opposite number, Geburah, if its excess results from a deficiency in that principle.
