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Tiphareth or Christ Center |
by David Bowman
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A special position on the Tree of Life occupies the sixth sephira called Beauty, or in Hebrew: תפארת, Tiphareth. In Christian analogy it would fit the office of a Christ, and on cosmic level it is Shemesh, the sphere of Sun. Notably, it is the sphere below the abyss that has paths connecting it directly to the influence of three supernal spheres, and is placed in symbolic center of the Tree of Life diagram. It is the center of Microprosopus (Microcosmos), which embraces the five Sephiroth around Tiphareth: Geburah, Chesed (Gedulah), Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, which are together called Adam Qadmon or Adam Primus. The connection between Adam Qadmon and the Divine Triad is cut, for there is no path leading from Chesed to Binah. The missing point of the hexagram around Tiphareth is the most upper point which is in Daath, Knowledge, the false sephirah in the Abyss. From the position of Kether Tiphareth is Son, and from Malkuth it is King. Tiphareth is commonly called the Christ-center and generally all Sacrificed Gods are related to it. It is the sphere of Son, whereas God the Father is assigned to Chokmah and more metaphysically to Kether. But Christ may be considered as a messenger, which is by analogy Mercury, and the sphere of Mercury is pertaining to Hod, the eight Sephira, with the octagram as a symbol. This is why the composition of the base of the dome is derived from hexagram and octagram, Tiphareth and Hod. In case of the dome of St. Paul's, christian and kabbalistic dogma are combined in a perfect conglomerate.
As "One" is the origin of the mental world, so "Two" is the beginning of the corporeal world. It would not be corporeal if it did not consist of these four things - point, line, area and volume. Take for example the cube that one, two, three and four make up. One, when put in a fixed spot, makes a point. A line drawn from one point to another is made of two. Areas comes from three lines. Volume is born with four: in front, behind, above, below. So, just as duality multiplying itself ("twice two") makes four, so duality folding back and twisting on itself "twice two twice" makes the first cube.
After the "Four" which is the tetragonal pyramid, the beginning of the intelligible world, comes the six-sided cube with eight corners which we appoint the architect of the sensible world. We have no mention of a seven in these bases of nature, for seven is a virgin and does not give birth, and is called Pallas for that reason. So we turn to the first cube, clearly a fecund number, the basis of various abundance, as it is made up of two and four. In a similar way to Zaratas, the teacher of Pythagoras, who called two "mother", we call the cube that is derived from two "matter", the foundation of all in nature, and the ground and seat of substantial forms.
The Pythagorean Timaeus of Locri wrote in his book "On the Soul of the World": "From the four-sided figure is born a solid cube, a completely stable body, with six sides and eight corners" If any impressed form leans on this, falls onto this solid refuge or rests on this seat of matter, its reception is not at all indefinite. It is made stable, particular, individual and specific; it is as if it had been tied to the soil, subjected to time and space, forbidden freedom and assigned to the slavery of matter. So we see that these twin foundations of temporality come from one source; the pyramid and the cube, that is form and matter. They are derived from the same four-sided figure whose Idea is, as we have already shown, the Tetractys, Pythagoras' divine exemplar. I have explained the primordial symbols as briefly as I could. In reality they simply stand for matter and form. - Johann Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, 1983 Abaris Books
The octangular base of the dome is on the position of Tiphareth if we consider the Tree of Life as the symbolic under-layer of the composition of the floor plan. Tiphareth means Beauty, and it is the heart of Sephiroth, the kabbalistic internal Sun that rises over the waters of creation. The planar figure related to Tiphareth is hexagram instead of octagram, but another figure of Tiphareth is the cross, which is a central part of the octagram. If we examine the base of the dome geometrically, we find that the supporting pillars are positioned according to the geometry of a hexagram.
The side of the central octagon that carries the dome is 44'-4" or number 444, which is a gematrical value of Hebrew word מקדש, The Sanctuary, the word used in Torah in connection with the Temple of Solomon (2 Ch 3617, Ez 4821). The number 444 is also a synonym for Jesus in Greek gematria:
ΙΗΣΟΥΣ = 888 = 2 x 444
The dome projected on the floor plan is inscribed in the octagram, previously mentioned, with the perimeter of 107 feet, or 1712 fingers. A rather unusual method of encoding was used by Wren to transmit the desired idea: if the number 1712 is calculated in octa-decimal system (analogy with an octagram), we find another Hebrew transcription of Jesus, namely יהשוה, Yeheshua:
1712 = 3260(base of 8) HB: 326 = יהשוה, Yeheshua.
יהשוה, Yeheshua is the most often Hebrew name for Jesus. It represents the Four Elements (IHVH) fertilized with Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God, which has the same gematrical value as the letter ש, Shin (= 300), the triple fire according to the shape of the letter. Another symbol of Jesus are four letters INRI, inscribed on the cross on which Christ died. Hebrew anagram INRI spelt in full equals 656, which is represented by the dimension 41 ft transformed into fingers:
ינרי = 20+106+510+20 = 656 = 41 x 16
Number 656 is also ΜΕΣΣΙΑΣ, Messiah in Greek kabbalah.
Five sephiroth with central Tiphareth are called רוח, Ruach, a part of spiritual constitution of human mind that corresponds to intellect, the reasoning mind. It seems that Wren encrypted this in the diameter of the dome, which is 107 ft.:
רוח = 214 = 2 x 107 = Air, Spirit
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