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| The Fourth Path | |||
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Mercy / Loving-kindness / sharing / Abraham / Cooperation
Chesed's planet is Jupiter.
Chesed is a drink of fresh, pure water, a reward and refreshment.
Chesed, also called Gedullah, is the comforter, the restorative, the silver lining.
Chesed is the "Right Hand of God."
CHESED, or "Mercy," is the reward when we survive GEVURAH; It is where we can drink deep of the joy in life, and show appreciation. TIPHARET is justified through GEVURAH into the bounty of CHESED. CHESED, on the same level as GEVURAH, has the same authority.
The Zohar associates Chesed with Abraham, because his love for God was so great that he was prepared to sacrifice his own son at the Holy command. Isaac is associated with Gevurah, perhaps partly because of his anger for what had almost been done to him.
Chesed, forming a triad with Tipharet and Gevurah, balances three forces:
The Heart (Tipharet), Judgement (Gevurah), and Generosity (Chesed).
Chesed is from the same root as the word "Hassid," as in "Hassidic Jews." A Hassid is someone who is fervently religious, who goes above and beyond the call of duty out of devotion and love of God.
From Chesed flows the merciful qualities of the Divine intelligence.
Potentials of Chesed: Deep love, bliss, tenderness, abundance, achievement, preservation, respect, enthusiasm, leadership, optimism, caring, safety, protection, trust, success, well-earned rewards, generosity, gratitude, realized interpersonal love and union, insight, knowledge, understanding, and learning.
Chesed - Gevurah
- Quick to judge and criticize,
or
- Restraint and reflection before
judgement
- A giver or a taker in relationships
- Ethical honesty; knowing when an action is selfish
Chesed/Gevurah is a check-and-balance system; is has a form of parallax, and depth perception, discussed in Key 6.
Balance, always a core concept in Qabala, manifests itself in the soul triad as a synthesis of our more developed thinking, feeling and sensing functions. Imbalance with too much Chesed brings emotional weakness, gullibility, melancholia, victimhood, masochism, and helplessness.
A person who lives on the beneficence of someone else and loses their identity has a Chesed imbalance. This person becomes a vessel of the benefactor.
Chesed is the giving nature, and is balanced by Gevurah, which is restraint. Chesed is the boundless outpouring of divine desire to give. Gevurah, or 'might,' is the energy of constriction or withdrawal, also called Tzimtzum, which contains or circumscribes the rush of life force. The divine attribute of Gevurah condenses the Chesed flow of light and life force, concealing it within materiality, so that creatures can live and matter exist screened from the intensity of the very forces providing the source of their existence.
Chesed is the male force, emitting energy, while Gevurah, the female force, is the container that channels that energy. Men DO, Women BE. Woman is the "akeret habayit" - the essence of the home - the Temple of the Family, while Man simply lives in the house.
The Soul Triad is comprised of the Primary colors.
The fragrance ascribed to Sepher Chesed is Cedar. Chesed is associated with Zeus; it is the sphere of the philosopher king. Chesed symbolizes our spiritual and religious needs, and the tendency to expansion.
Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
