Malchut (The Tenth Path)

Malchut the tenth path

Sepher Malchus' planet is Earth. | King David
Throne symbolism

Malchut (or Malchus) is the Earthly Dominion, while Keter is the Eternal Dominion. Within each is the seed of the other.

The End is Embedded in the Beginning
Zohar

Sepher Malchut is also called "Kingdom," and is the realm of the earth, of the body, and immediate physical sensations. Malchut is primary thought. It is in the "Assiah" world, the precinct of human embodiment. (MAL-koot or MAL-koos)

This is the realm of the Thinking Function and Projection, two Jungian Concepts.

Qabalistic meditation and pathwork should always be firmly grounded in Malchut. Floating free in the upper realms with no grip on terra firma is to be dis-embodied. The many ideas and provocative psychological influences in this study can be dis-orienting. Invoke Malchus regularly, giving thanks for your opportunity to have a body, and to connect with your own personal "terra firma," your own viewpoint of the universe. This idea for a such a meditative reading is called the Invocation of the Orchard.

MALCHUT - the beginning of personality; the physical body. YESOD, or "Foundation" the next sphere up, is the realm of the sub-conscious. It is where repressed energies are channeled up into the next appropriate sephirot, either HOD (thoughts) or NETZACH (feelings). TIPHARET is the personality's first foray into the realm of Soul.

Potentials of Malchut: Discovering the mystery of the physical world, learning discrimination, patience, physical healing and vitality, overcoming sloth, taking care of the body.

This is the beginning, where the soul is united with source. This is the beginning of separating desire, the urge to individuate. The realm of separating desire is among the middle sephirot, with desire for source bringing reunion in KETER.

Malchut is formed from the Hebrew letters Mem, Lamed, and Kaph.

Mem is water - "maim" is water in Hebrew, as "Eym" is mother, and "yam" is ocean. These are the "mother waters," the waters of birth, and point to the maternal aspect of the creator, showing Source as the "womb of creation." The depths of the ocean remain calm, while the surface can rage in storm. Mem is 40, which is also the gematria for the word "cHalav," in Hebrew, which means "milk."

Lamed is the "camel whip," the discipline of learning. "Lmd" is the root for both learn and teach in Hebrew, it is a letter of guidance. The letter lamed is a crooked letter - a winding path. Lamed is the guide along the not-straight path.

Kaph is the cupped hand, ready to recieve the water-source of creativity, channeled and guided to the hand/vessel that is open to recieve and give

Malchus is associated with King David. It is sometimes called "Kingdom." It receives its crown from above, and bestows it below. Crowns appear in Keys 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 16, Keter, and Malchut.

"Malchut takes us from source through channel to ourselves as receivers and givers. "Mem, Lamed, Kaph," is also the root of Melekh, the word for "King." Malchut is the connection point between our world and the world of the Eternal One, providing a link to the infinite. This conduit is the interface, the threshold, between our humble selves and the Divine Shekinah. When we open ourselves to the higher force, and invite the Creator to come down to our world, Malchus is the "Throne" in our hearts. Through meditation and prayer we draw the Divine energy into our kaph, our soul vessel. When we "become the throne," our ego is dissolved by the presence of the Creator Before Time. We release our judgements and are filled with divine radiance. We exchange self-satisfied cleverness for a taste of true wisdom." [Rabbi Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing] The Throne is also part of the symbolism in Key 4.

Kaph, soul vessel, and Throne are related, in that koss, which also means "cup," and Throne are both Gematria 86, the same as Elohim, a Divine Name.

Beriekh Shemei, and K'Gavna (Sefard), Zohar excerpts used in the Jewish prayer liturgy, both address the feminine aspect of the deity, the Shekhina, and speak of the mystical union of Tipheret and Malchus, through Yesod, which occurs Shabbat eve. Like the Cherubim on the Ark, the feminine and masculine aspects of the deity achieve union by a spiritually infused interchange of energies.

Malchut is also the realm of "machshava" or personal thought processes. Being "sovereign" or "king" of our own thoughts is one of the keys to personal/spiritual development.

Malchut is the Persona, an idea concieved of by Carl Jung.

Malchus is the Persona or mask, concealing the inner personality, the Anima (inner female Key 2), or Animus (inner male Key 1). The persona is the public face (mask) one presents to the world for everyone else to see. It is in opposition to the shadow and is mostly conscious as a part of personality. Sometimes the persona is referred to as the "social archetype" since it involves all the compromises appropriate to living in a community.

The Shadow is both a part of the personality and an archetype. The shadow is the dark side of your personality that contains the animal (and sexual) instincts. It is the opposite of the Persona (mask) and is the part of personality that is repressed from the ego ideal. As an archetype, the shadow is seen in its symbolic representation as devils, demons, evil spirits, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Darth Vader ("The dark side of the force"), etc. We meet our Shadow in dreams, fantasies, repressions - slips of the tongue, when caught off guard. Repressing the Shadow creates denial, hiding something all the time, and blocked energy expressed as anger, depression, etc. Repression causes "Projection," that is, seeing your own faults in everyone around you, while ignoring them in yourself. Projection is assuming that others are thinking a particular thing, with no proof. Our own attitudes are "projected" onto someone else - without them knowing at all.[More below] Re-integrating the Shadow is a key part of Individuation, or integration. Embracing the Shadow taps new energy and vitality that was blocked, gives a sense of humor, spontenaiety, creativity, and strong emotion. The Shadow is Key 15.

Archetypes are the primary structures of the collective unconscious. An archetype is an inherited predisposition to respond to certain aspects of the world. Just as the ear and eye have evolved to be maximally sensitive to certain stimuli, we have evolved psychologically to be maximally sensitive to certain categories of experience, categories that all human beings have experienced. These would include birth, death, sun, mothers, fathers, heroes, demons, wise men, etc. The most obvious Archetypes are the Signs of the Zodiac, the Hebrew letters, and the psychological complexes people are prone to.

Archetypes do not have content in and of themselves, only form. They are not unconscious ideas, rather predispositions to perceive. Archetypes are autonomous, patterns that emerge naturally, fractally. [Key 3]

Functions of thought: How the person deals with information from the world:

1. Thinking: Tells what a thing is, gives names, categories to things (true, false), defines alternatives, and reasons objectively. Air Signs.

2. Feeling: Is basically evaluative; tells whether something is good/bad; acceptable/unacceptable; like/dislike. Do not confuse with emotion. Essential notion: Is the object of value? Water Signs.

3. Sensing: Tells you what exists; detects the presence of things. Does not evaluate. Is interested in facts and objects in the objective world; focus is on the trees. Earth Signs.

4. Intuition: Uses hunches, sees possibilities, sees around corners and goes beyond the facts; sees the forest and the trees. Fire Signs.

The four functions are grouped together as two opposing pairs. Thinking and feeling are called "Rational Functions," because they make judgements and evaluations - use reason and logic - in the evaluation of the external world. Sensing and Intuition are called "Irrational Functions," because they seem to go beyond reason and logic and represent a direct linkage to the external world.

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