Qliphoth, kliffoth or klippot, Heb. קליפות (singular: qliphah, Heb. קלף) refer to the representation of evil forces in the mystical teachings of Judaism (such as in the Kabbalah.) The term klippot means peels in Hebrew. Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, or wicked. ... Mysticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, with around 14 million followers (as of 2005 [1]). It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths, second only to Zoroasterism, and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. ... Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, soul of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Look up Peel and peel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 7 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ...

Like nearly all kabbalistic concepts, the qliphoth have been described in numerous ways often very much different from each other. They are also a decidedly obscure area of Kabbalah, which may have fueled speculation. Thus, the following is to be taken as an incomprehensive list of conflicting views, not as various aspects of the same concept.

Judaic views

All Judaic interpretations of the qliphoth agree they are the cause of evil and suffering (see theodicy). There are kabbalistic worldviews that seek to explain evil without use of the qliphoth concept, as aspects of the sephiroth (singular: sephirah) Binah, Gevurah and Hod. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sephiroth may mean: Sephiroth or Sfirot is a Hebrew word meaning counting, or number, or statistics, (ספירות, Standard Hebrew Səfirot, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄îrôṯ). Sephiroth are the ten Divine enumerations, or emanations in the Kabbalah of Judaism. ... Binah, (meaning Understanding; בינה), in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the second intellectual Sephirah on the tree of life. ... Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Hod in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the eighth sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ...

The Zohar describes the qliphoth as the result of separation necessary in the act of creation. Between two things, there must be a gap or barrier, and that is a qliphah. The Zohar (Hebrew זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... Separation may refer to a several different subjects: In chemistry, separation refers to the separation process. ... Creation is a doctrinal position in many religions which maintains that one or a group of gods or deities is responsible for creating the universe. ...

In what may be the most widely-accepted teaching, they are the "[empty] husks" of "[holy] sparks" (nitzotzot) that were cast down after Adam and Eve defied God's command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden as told in the Book of Genesis. According to the Book of Genesis in Judaisms Torah and the Christian Bible, and Islams Quran, Adam was the first man created by God. ... Tree of Knowledge may refer to: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Book of Genesis The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment according to Buddhism The metaphysical Tree of Jiva and Atman in Vedic mythology The Axis mundi, or world axis, which takes... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew Gan Eden, גַּן עֵדֶן) is described by the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man - Adam - and woman - Eve - lived after they were created by God. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ...

A Hasidic view states that in the process of creation, ten sephiroth were created, each encapsuled by a qliphah. The ten sephiroth are thought to be ten divine "enumerations" or "emanations" of God into the universe. The first set of ten qliphoth proved too weak to hold the emanating force, and the lower seven of them broke. They were replaced, but the broken former set, animated by a residue of the creative power of God, remained and conflicts with those aspects of the world corresponding to the lower seven sephiroth. Hasidic Judaism (from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning pious, from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Sephiroth may mean: Sephiroth or Sfirot is a Hebrew word meaning counting, or number, or statistics, (ספירות, Standard Hebrew Səfirot, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄îrôṯ). Sephiroth are the ten Divine enumerations, or emanations in the Kabbalah of Judaism. ... The word capsule (from the Latin capsula, a small box), has many similar meanings in English: In botany, a capsule is a type of dry fruit as in the poppy, iris, foxglove, etc. ... At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHVH), the name of God. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... A residue, broadly, is anything left behind by a reaction or event. ...

A more modern interpretation attributes the creation of the qliphoth to an inherent imbalance towards the Severity aspects of creation, which occurred either in Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge but not the Tree of Life, or before that, in creation itself. The latter view is sometimes elaborated to state severity had to lose power to produce a balanced creation, and the excess power formed the qliphoth. In Judaism Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah), and is the second of the emotive attributes of the Sefirot. ... Tree of Knowledge may refer to: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Book of Genesis The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment according to Buddhism The metaphysical Tree of Jiva and Atman in Vedic mythology The Axis mundi, or world axis, which takes... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ...

In a similar but less mystical interpretation, qliphoth come into existence whenever the powers of the sephiroth are used wrongly, and may manifest in any form, ranging from hurricanes to car wrecks to demons and other supernatural creatures. This article is about weather phenomena. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... St. ... For creatures that are wholly fictional creations, see Category:Fictional species. ...

Hermetic views

Kabbalah as interpreted in Hermeticism is related to the original, but Hermetics ignore many of its concepts in favor of ones taken from other sources or originally created. Here, God is sometimes thought to shine with his pure, divine light into a chaotic darkness, Tohu va-Bohu, that did not cease to exist when God created light and order (the contrasting view in Judaic Kabbalah supports that the act of creation by God required retraction of the divine essence or tzimtzum; the notion of void or matter external to God is antithetical to Judaic Kabbalah, which leans toward panentheism). This darkness is equated to the qliphoth and also represents evil, because it is thought to be opposite or antagonistic to God's creation. Hermes Trismegistus depicted as Caucasian in a medieval rendering. ... In Greek mythology, Chaos or Khaos is the primeval state of existence from which the first gods appeared. ... Tzimtzum ( Hebrew צמצום - contraction or constriction) refers to the understanding in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God had to contract his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ... Panentheism (Greek words: pan=all, en=in and Theos=God; all-in-God) is the view that God is immanent within all Creation or that God is the animating force behind the universe. ...

In one of the founding texts of Hermetic Kabbalah, 'The Kabbalah Unveiled', MacGregor Mathers equals these forces to the Kings of Edom. He also offers the suggestion they are the result of an imbalance towards a merciful aspect of God and have since been destroyed. [1] Samuel Liddel MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian costume, performs a ritual of Isis in the rites of the Golden Dawn. ... Edom (אֱדוֹם, Standard Hebrew Edom, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔḏôm, Assyrian Udumi, Syriac ܐܕܘܡ), a Hebrew word meaning red, is a name given to Esau in the Hebrew Bible, as well as to the nation that purportedly traced their ancestry to him. ... Chesed (Mercy; חסד) is the fourth Sephirah on the tree of life in the Kabbalah of Judaism. ...

In Hermetic teachings following this one, the qliphoth have tended, much like the sephiroth, to be interpreted as metaphysical worlds or entities, and merged with demonological ideas. One such concept lists the qliphoth as follows: Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) Hell is, according to many religious beliefs, a place or a state of painful suffering. ... St. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ...

• Thaumiel (Governed by Satan and Moloch)
• Ghagiel (Governed by Beelzebuth)
• Sathariel (Governed by Lucifuge)
• Gha'agsheblah (Governed by Astaroth)
• Golachab (Governed by Asmodeus)
• Thagirion (Governed by Belfegor)
• A'arab Zaraq (Governed by Baal)
• Samael (Governed by Adramelech)
• Gamaliel (Governed by Lilith)
• Nahemoth or Lilith (Governed by Naamah)

In addition to this, there are also "The Seven Infernal Habitations" or seven hells (Tehom, Abaddon, Titahion, Barshacheth, Tzelmoth, Shaarimoth and Gehinnom), twelve qliphotic orders of demons, three powers before Satan and twenty-two demons corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Thaumiel (twins of God) is the name of one of the Qliphoth on the Tree of Death, the shadow of the kabbalistic tree of life. ... Gustave Dores depiction of Satan from John Miltons Paradise Lost Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Greek and Latin Sátanas (Σατανάς), Tiberian Hebrew Śāṭān; Aramaic שִׂטְנָא Śaṭanâ; Arabic شيطان Shaitan: both words mean Adversary; accuser; derived from the Semitic root šṭn, which carries the semantics of opposing, obstructing, and of being... Moloch or Molech or Molekh representing Hebrew מלך mlk is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated historically with Phoenician and related cultures in north Africa and the Levant. ... Ghagiel ( or Zogiel, or Oghiel ) is reportedly the Qliphoth corresponding to the Sephirot Chokmah in the Tree of Life. ... Beelzebub (also known as Belzebud, Belzaboul, Beelzeboul, Baalsebul, Baalzebubg, Beelzebuth, Beelzebus; more accurately Ba‘al Zebûb or Ba‘al Zəbûb, Hebrew בעל זבוב), appears as the name of a deity worshipped in the Philistine city of Ekron. ... Sathariel is one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirot Binah on the kabbalistic tree of life. ... According to the Grimoire of Pope Honorius, a demon king named Lucifuge Rofocale is in charge of Hells government by order of Lucifer The name Lucifuge come from two Latin words; lux (light; genitive lucis), and fugio (to flee), which either means [he who] flees the light or he... Ghaagsheblah is the Qliphoth corresponding to the sephirot Chesed, Lovingkindness. ... -1... Golachab is the Qliphoth corresponding to the Sephirot Geburah on the kabbalistic tree of life. ... Although Asmodai is mostly known thanks to the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, he is also mentioned in some Talmudic legends and in demonology. ... Thagirion is the Qliphoth associated with the Sephirot Tipheret in the Kabbalistic tree of life. ... In demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor) is a demon who helps people to make discoveries. ... Aarab Zaraq is the Qliphah corresponding to the Sephirah Netzach on the Kabbalahs tree of life. ... Baal is a Semitic title and honorific meaning lord that is used for various gods, spirits and demons particularly of the Levant. ... Samael is the Qliphoth in Jewish mysticism corresponding to the sephirah Hod. ... from Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal In Assyrian mythology Adramelech (also called Adrammelech, Adramelek or Adar-malik) was a form of the Baal, a god very similar to Moloch. ... Gamaliel is the Qliphoth associated with the Sephirah Yesod on the kabbalistic tree of life. ... Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed to harm male children. ... Lilith is reportedly the name of one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirah Malkuth in the kabbalistic tree of life. ... Naamah or Naamah (Hebrew: נעמה, meaning pleasant) may refer to: Naamah, the daughter of Lamech, descendant of Cain. ... Abaddon is a Biblical Hebrew word meaning destruction. In Biblical poetry (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11) it comes to mean place of destruction, or the realm of the dead, and is associated with Sheol. ... Note: Tanach quotes are from the Judaica press Tanach. ...

Luciferian view

The qliphoth gained further independence in the writings of Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis. Here, they comprise a Tree of death opposite or behind the Tree of Life. This concept is a central tenet of the magical order Dragon Rouge. This article is about the British occultist. ... The Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis is an occult society in the United Kingdom interested in magick and typhonian concepts. ... Dragon Rouge is a society whose members believe in the occult and aim to explore dark magic. ...

The qliphoth are thought of as the opposites to the sephiroth. It is thought that the qliphoth are the ten (or eleven) manifestations of darkness, into which God's divine light cannot reach. The qliphoth are the personifications of an "anti-God" condition. The assumption that such a condition can even exist spotlights how distant this view is from Judaic Qabalah, and how much it is informed by Luciferianism. Luciferianism can be understood best as a belief system that venerates the essential characteristics that are affixed to Lucifer. ...

This interpretation is very much a recent and marginal one, and even inside occultism it is probably shared only by a small minority. It is notable however, in first treating the qliphoth not as a disdained and unimportant topic but as a central concept described in much detail. For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ... The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less...

External links

• Notes on Kabbalah: The Qliphoth by Colin Low
• Newsnet post outlining some history and contents of the qliphoth concept

For further links and references see Kabbalah. Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, soul of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature. ...