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The supernal Mother. The Womb.
Binah's planet is Saturn.
Binah is the the realm of pure understanding. It is the feminine component of deity, the home of 'peak' experiences. It is the first sphere of the transpersonal realm, after crossing the abyss. Binah is restrictive - the hand of 'God' that takes away.
BINAH, or "Understanding," is the first sphere after the abyss; It is the beginning of the spiritual realm, on the same level as KOCHMA, balancing the highest energies in readiness for KETER.
Binah, forming a triad with Kochma and Keter, balances three forces: Spiritual love and awareness (Binah), Spiritual will and purpose (Kochma), and the infinite realized self (Keter). These three spheres could be compared to the 'Father, Son, and Holy Ghost' in the Christian pantheon.
Potentials of Binah: Developing self control, silence, secrecy, impersonal understanding, and objective love.
Binah is Understanding, and comes from the Hebrew root beyn, which means "between." This is where differentiation begins, where 'good' and 'evil' start to matter. Wisdom (Kochma), which is formless, is differentiated through the power of Understanding (Binah) into the 32 paths.
Blessed art thou, Creator of the Infinite, for giving the rooster the understanding to tell the difference between day and night.
from the Siddur
The above prayer is part of the "Birchat ha shachar," the dawn prayers in the Jewish liturgy. In Hebrew its: "binah l'havcheen beyn yom u beyn laila." [lit. "knowledge to discern between day and between night"] We see these concepts of "between," "discernment," and "understanding," coming together. The word for "rooster," "sechkvee," also translates as "heart," another hint at our own capacities for understanding.
Binah is the Above aspect of the Shekinah.
Balance, always a core concept in Qabala, manifests itself in the transpersonal triad as a synthesis of our highest thinking, feeling and awareness.
Binah is rational intelligence, manifested in scientists, rational philosophers, and writers who use language to explore understanding of the universe.
Binah is Divine intelligence in which the hidden pattern achieves concreteness and form.
Transpersonal Triad "colors" are light, the absence of light (dark), and half-light.
The fragrance ascribed to Binah is Myrrh. The characters associated with Binah are Shakti, Maya, Anima Mundi, Juno, and the Madonna.
Commandment: Do not take the name of YHVH your God in vain.
