Tzinoroth – Channels of Light

Kabbalistic tradition describes the cosmos as both a process and a result of the successive self-manifestation of an absolute self-aware creative force, referred to as the “divine Light”, “Or“. From the standpoint of the human mind this self-manifestation can be understood from ten different positions, and can be understood as ten basic, interrelated and interdependent states Or. Each of these states is self-sufficient and stable, possessing its own characteristics, thereby revealing different qualities of the light — in other words, “filtering” Or through a particular filter. In its primordial nature Or is inaccessible to manifestation (Ain Sof — unknowable), and therefore cannot, strictly speaking, even be described as light, and can equally be called “darkness” (“Choshekh“). Accordingly, for Or to manifest the nature of light, it must “lose” part of its absoluteness, or, to put it another way, manifest only part of its potential — which is described as “filtering”, or “enumeration” (that is — cognition) of the light. It is well known that these “particular” states of Or are traditionally called the “enumerations” of the light — the sephirot, and their totality is described as the “Tree of Life” (“Etz Chaim“).

At the same time the transition of Or from one “particular” stable state to another occurs through a dynamic stage that is essentially vortical in nature, yet is described as a “channel” of light — tzinor.

Since one can move from any state to several others, several channels extend from each sefirah (pl. — tzinoroth). Traditionally twenty-two tzinoroth are described, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the ancient Hebrew alphabet. Accordingly, considering being as a process of becoming, Kabbalah says:

Behold twenty-two letters: … by them He created the entire world, fashioned with them all that is formed and all that will be formed. (“Sefer Yetzirah”, 10.6)

To understand any dynamic process of becoming in a holistic object (a particular “cosmos”, a “parzuf”), a description of the stages of that process (its sephirot) and the transitions from one stage to the next (its tzinoroth) can be very useful both for awareness and for practical influence on the process.

For example, when examining a cross-section of your life (as mental development), it is useful to try to understand which position on the Tree corresponds to that stage. Firstly, such understanding can clarify the characteristics of that stage (since each sefirah has numerous chains of correspondences — planetary, functional, chromatic, plant, mineral, etc.). For instance, identifying your current stage (this may be a stage of development in general, a stage of career growth, or a stage in personal life) as Netzach, “Victory”, the state of Practice, we find ourselves in the Venus’s planetary influence, and therefore, on the one hand, are drawn into its unifying current, and on the other — become vulnerable to desire in the broadest sense. Moreover, we discover the supportive influence of the Venusian colors — green, light blue, pink — at this stage, as well as the conflicting influence of red. We also understand the importance of the emotional, sensuous, and sexual spheres at this stage. Secondly, we find that we can move further along one of the following paths — to Chesed via Kof, or to Tiferet via Nun, and also return to Hod via Pe or to Yesod by the channel Tzade, or to Malkuth via Kaf. In other words, further evolution is possible through fortunate karma (luck) or through death and rebirth. At the same time, the dangers leading to degradation become clear — collapse of illusions, becoming stuck in emotions, false friends, or misconceptions. Thus, by identifying our state as a position on the Tree, we obtain a powerful toolkit to increase the effectiveness of our progress.