Kabbalah-of-the-Golden-Dawn-Pat-Zalewski - D Ank Unlimited

124 The Kabbalah ofthe Golden Dawn
relates to Exodus. The first separation of the Shekinah occurred during
the Deluge. The Lesser Hecaloth text tells us that the first generation
denied the Lord and went to idol-worshipping, and the only man worthy
of being saved was Enoch,112who was taken up into the heavens with the
Shekinah. Once removed from the earth, rhen the destruction began,
and man had to begin all over again. The Shekinah in man in the second
generation was a separate entity in itself and divided. The Four Kerubs
are the Throne on which the Shekinah rests.
This notion of the cleaving of the Spirit associated with the Shekinah
is not confined to its active part in guiding the Tribes ofIsrael. It can
also be found in the association of the Shekinah and the Torah which was
was written under her influence. Once the Torah is truly understood then
one is in direct contact with the Shekinah.
At this point we have the Shekinah manifesting on two levels. The
first is the higher echelon or upper level of Eden, and the second is the
influence of the Law. The experience of the Shekinah manifesting as
guide during Exodus actually comes through the understanding of the
Torah. At this point there is not really a separation from the masculine
concept of deity, for God is Elohim, both masculine and feminine, and
the Shekinah shone through and led them through the Torah.
There are some early references to the Shekinah in Kabbalistic texts
but the first one of any substantial importance is in the Bahir where the
analogy is with the Matrona in the King's chamber, who could not be
seen by her children, for she was hidden. The analogy here is considered
by some to be the development of the Sephiroth, with the Shekinah
being allotted to Binah, while the children are the seven lower Sephiroth,
who are cut off from the Mother by the Abyss. We are told in the
Zohar 114 that the Lord God Jehovah is plural, for he is also called Elohim,
showing up the feminine source within. On a more personal level, the
Shekinah is often referred to as an angel. She was the angel that appeared
to Moses,115 although to Jacob 1l 6 she appeared as Rachael,117 and to
Abraham she was Adonai. 1l 8 The Zobar states 119 that the Shekinah
abides in all women, and man can come to know the Shekinah through
a wife, but fails if he has none. For in all true matrimonial unions the
112 Genesis 3:8.
113Both Enoch and Meratron art: considered the same in some texts.
114Pan 2, folio 161 b-162a.