Since I'm about to step aside from the Law of One and use Kabbalistic terminology, let me first point out the similarities that does exist. In the Law of One, Ra speaks about 22 archetypes. In Kabbalah, there is 32 paths of Widsom. 10 being Sefirot/quantity and 22 being Netivot/quality. A Netivot is a path/route, and are symbolized by the 22 Hebrew letters. The Sefirot are made out of combinations of letters. Sefirot are like states/conditions whereas Netivot are like paths/processes; combine them together and you get models like the Tree of Life, the Cube of Space, the five Platonic Solids or even the 64 Hexagrams of I-Ching.
In Kabbalah there is a further division of these 22 letters, into 3, 7 and 12, which in turn matches up with astrology: 12 signs in the Zodiac, 7 classical planets (including the Moon and Sun,) together with 3 elements (in Kabbalah the fourth element, earth, is a combination, or the effect of, the first three.)
Now, with this in mind, this is what Kabbalah has to say about Yod Heh Shin Vav Heh. Bear in mind that proper Jewish Kabbalists don't necessarily view Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah.
So, to understand the difference between YHVH and YHShVH, I believe it makes sense to further separate the parts into Yod, Heh, Vav and Heh separately. I'm going to quote straight out of Aryeh Kaplan's commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah.
The initial Yod and Heh corresponds to Sefirot/quantity Chakhmah/2 and Binah/3. Now, to get to the Vav, Sefirot Keter/1 and Malkhut/10 needs to go into the mix.
One important point to note here is that Keter is not the same as the Creator. The Creator is infinite, Keter is the part of that infinity which also exists in the creation. Behind Keter is the concept of Ain Sof, "Infinite," "that which has no end." Ain Sof can be split into Ain (No-thing, Creatio ex Nihilo) Ain Sof (Limitless Space, Cause of All Causes) and Ain Sof Aur (Limitless Light.) I think you can see how this fits into the focus from infinity to infinite light in the Law of One.
So, the first part, YH, is the Creator expressing itself in creation; the latter part, VH, is the created space in which creation takes place. Together, these four letters signify the god-name of Binah. Whereas Binah is the letter combination for the archetype as it exists already before creation takes place, YHVH is the letter combination for the archetype as it exists within creation. As a triplet, Keter represents consciousness, Chakhmah represents force and Binah represents form -- Malkhut represents their effect.
If I add all this up, I get to this.
YHVH was created by the Creator, or a Sub-Logos of the Creator, as a formula of how this particular creation is configured. This entity, YHVH, a sub-sub-Logos on its own, eventually became self-conscious. It would seem that this self-conscious YHVH later started believing that it was the Creator, or at the very least got a bit megalomaniac in its behaviour towards creation. According to Ra, negative Orion entities have not been helpful as regards to YHVH's public relations campaign/s.
Further along, YHVH morphs into YHShVH and tries a few different tricks to get humanity on the right path again. When fornication doesn't do it, incarnation is the next attempt. I wouldn't be surprised if Ra is partly around to help clean this mess up, or if YHVH pushed the somewhat naive Ra into "helping" entities at Earth just a little bit too much.
Now to get back to the start of my first quote:
Shaddai is the god-name of Sefirot Yesod/9, which translates to consciousness-of-self. This being the first instance of indirect consciousness of the Creator. YHVH is also the god-name of the Sefirot Tiferet/6, which translates to consciousness-of-consciousness. The first instance of direct consciousness of the Creator. YHShVH then, would be consciousness-of-consciousness infused with Spirit.
This far down this line of reasoning, it could actually be that all this is part of the original plan of the Creator. The effects aren't planned, but it would seem like the archetypes are set up for this potentiality matrix to be possible.
P.S. I intended to use a quote or two from http://www.yhwh.com/Cross/cross22.htm but never got to it, but since it digs into a lot of the things discussed in this thread I want to at least point it out.
D.S.
In Kabbalah there is a further division of these 22 letters, into 3, 7 and 12, which in turn matches up with astrology: 12 signs in the Zodiac, 7 classical planets (including the Moon and Sun,) together with 3 elements (in Kabbalah the fourth element, earth, is a combination, or the effect of, the first three.)
Now, with this in mind, this is what Kabbalah has to say about Yod Heh Shin Vav Heh. Bear in mind that proper Jewish Kabbalists don't necessarily view Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah.
Quote:Human history [...] could be divided into three periods. In the first or natural period, God revealed Himself to the patriarchs through the three-lettered name of Shaddai (Shin-Dalet-Yod). In the period of the Torah/Law He revealed Himself to Moses through the four-lettered name of the Tetragrammaton (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh). But in the period of grace and redemption He revealed Himself through five letters, namely, the Tetragrammaton with the addition of the letter Shin, signifiying the Logos, thus spelling Yehoshua (Yod-Heh-Shin-Vav-Heh) or Jesus. In the name of Jesus, which is the true Miraculous Name, the formerly forbidden name of God now became pronounceable.
-- Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah
Quote:One of the divine names by which the Jews conceived the universal creative force was YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh), which, denominated the Tetragrammaton, came to be considered as the equivalent of the Four Elements in the Cosmos. It was also conceived to represent the ordinary unenlightened man in whom the light of spirit had not yet made its appearance; the unregenerate being of earth, air, fire and water, given up to the things of the unredeemed self. By means of Magic it was considered that into these four elements on which the flesh is based, the Holy Spirit amidst fire and glory and flame descended. In Hebrew the element Spirit is typified by the letter Shin, with its three darting prongs of spiritual fire united under the form on one principle. Bursting asunder the fleshy being, and carrying with it the germs of enlightenment and inspiration and revalation, the Holy Spirit forms by its presence in the heart a new species of being, the Adept or Master Yod-Heh-Shin-Vav-Heh. This word, in Hebrew, is the name of Jesus, the symbol of God-Man, a new type-species of spiritual being, greater than Whom there is nothing in all the heavens and planes of nature.
-- Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life
So, to understand the difference between YHVH and YHShVH, I believe it makes sense to further separate the parts into Yod, Heh, Vav and Heh separately. I'm going to quote straight out of Aryeh Kaplan's commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah.
Quote:The Kabbalists normatively associate the name Yah (Yod-Heh) with Wisdom (Chakhmah). Actually, however, only the first letter of this name, the Yud, designates Wisdom. The second letter, Heh, designates Understanding (Binah), the feminine principle. The reason why this name as a whole is used to designate Wisdom is because Wisdom cannot be grasped except when it is clothed in Understanding. For this reason, the Yud alone is not used as the name for Wisdom, but rather, the Yud combined with the Heh.
There are a number of reasons why these two letters represent Wisdom and Understanding respectively. Yud has the primary form of a simple point. This alludes to the fact that Wisdom is simple and undifferentiated. The numerical value of Yud is 10, indicating that all Ten Sefirot are included in the simple nature of Wisdom. [...]
Heh has a numerical value of 5, alluding to the five fingers of the hand. As such, it represents Understanding, the hand that holds Wisdom, distributing and channeling it.
-- Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah 1:1
The initial Yod and Heh corresponds to Sefirot/quantity Chakhmah/2 and Binah/3. Now, to get to the Vav, Sefirot Keter/1 and Malkhut/10 needs to go into the mix.
Quote:The most primary relationship possible is that which exists between Creator and creation. This is the cause effect relationship. Cause is Keter, while Effect is Malkhut. Once the concept of Cause and Effect exists, another concept comes into being, namely that of opposites. If opposites exists, similarities must also exist. Two new concepts therefor comes into being. These are Similarity and Oppositeness. In the languauge of philosophy these are thesis and antithesis. In our terminology, Similarity is Chakhmah, while Oppositeness is Binah. These are the Yud and initial Heh of the Tetragrammaton.
Once Similarity and Oppositeness exist, another concept comes into being, namely, Relationship. In philosophical terms, this is the synthesis between thesis and antithesis. In our present terminology, this is the Vav of the Tetragrammaton. The word Vav means a "hook," and the letter Vav as a prefix means "and." In both senses, it denotes connection and relationship. At this point in the logical sequence, we have five concepts: Cause and Effect, Similarity and Oppositeness, and Relationship. These, respectively are Keter and Malkuth, and Chakhmah and Binah, and the Vav.
Until the concept of Relationship was introduced, only four abstract points existed. Keter and Malkhut, and Chakhmah and Binah. It is with the concept of Relationship that a three-dimensional conceptual continuum comes into existance. This defines six directions, and hence, the numerical value of Vav is 6.
-- Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah 1:13
One important point to note here is that Keter is not the same as the Creator. The Creator is infinite, Keter is the part of that infinity which also exists in the creation. Behind Keter is the concept of Ain Sof, "Infinite," "that which has no end." Ain Sof can be split into Ain (No-thing, Creatio ex Nihilo) Ain Sof (Limitless Space, Cause of All Causes) and Ain Sof Aur (Limitless Light.) I think you can see how this fits into the focus from infinity to infinite light in the Law of One.
Quote:Another way in which the Sefirot are unified is through the Divine Names. This is espescially true for the Tetragrammaton, YHVH. According to the Kabbalists, the apex of the Yud represents Keter; the Yud itself, Chakhmah; the initial Heh, Binah; the Vav, which has a numerical value of 6, the next six Sefirot; and the final Heh, Malkhut.
-- Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
So, the first part, YH, is the Creator expressing itself in creation; the latter part, VH, is the created space in which creation takes place. Together, these four letters signify the god-name of Binah. Whereas Binah is the letter combination for the archetype as it exists already before creation takes place, YHVH is the letter combination for the archetype as it exists within creation. As a triplet, Keter represents consciousness, Chakhmah represents force and Binah represents form -- Malkhut represents their effect.
If I add all this up, I get to this.
YHVH was created by the Creator, or a Sub-Logos of the Creator, as a formula of how this particular creation is configured. This entity, YHVH, a sub-sub-Logos on its own, eventually became self-conscious. It would seem that this self-conscious YHVH later started believing that it was the Creator, or at the very least got a bit megalomaniac in its behaviour towards creation. According to Ra, negative Orion entities have not been helpful as regards to YHVH's public relations campaign/s.
Further along, YHVH morphs into YHShVH and tries a few different tricks to get humanity on the right path again. When fornication doesn't do it, incarnation is the next attempt. I wouldn't be surprised if Ra is partly around to help clean this mess up, or if YHVH pushed the somewhat naive Ra into "helping" entities at Earth just a little bit too much.
Now to get back to the start of my first quote:
Quote:In the first or natural period, God revealed Himself to the patriarchs through the three-lettered name of Shaddai (Shin-Dalet-Yod).
Shaddai is the god-name of Sefirot Yesod/9, which translates to consciousness-of-self. This being the first instance of indirect consciousness of the Creator. YHVH is also the god-name of the Sefirot Tiferet/6, which translates to consciousness-of-consciousness. The first instance of direct consciousness of the Creator. YHShVH then, would be consciousness-of-consciousness infused with Spirit.
This far down this line of reasoning, it could actually be that all this is part of the original plan of the Creator. The effects aren't planned, but it would seem like the archetypes are set up for this potentiality matrix to be possible.
P.S. I intended to use a quote or two from http://www.yhwh.com/Cross/cross22.htm but never got to it, but since it digs into a lot of the things discussed in this thread I want to at least point it out.
D.S.