The Sefer Yetzirah, Section by Section
A working reading of the Book of Formation, one section at a time. The numbering follows Peter Hayman's critical edition, the same source this system treats as its textual authority. Each page gathers what the manuscripts actually say, what the scholars make of it, and how it lands in the Lucian Kabbalah current — always keeping the reading of the text separate from the interpretation of it.
The ten sefirot given as five pairs of extremities — beginning/end, good/evil, and the three spatial axes. Load-bearing for the cube geometry.
The first of the four generative phrases (ruach elohim chayyim). Load-bearing for the Open "32 letters" reading.
A summary restatement of the generative phrases. Deliberately excluded from the 32-letter reading because the witnesses disagree on its wording.
Second generative phrase (ruach me-ruach). Seven letters in the standard text.
Third generative phrase (mayim me-ruach). Seven letters.
Fourth generative phrase (esh mi-mayim). Six letters; the §14 variant esh me-ruach (MSS C, F) is also six, so the 32-count survives.
Sealing of the six spatial extremities. Carries the §15 orientation problem ("turned to his right/left" — figure vs viewer perspective).
The sealing of the six spatial extremities with permutations of the divine name. Sits in tension with §7 over where the paired opposites belong.
Part of the §§25–26 vertical-triad material — the axis of the three mothers (fire above, water below, breath between).
Completes the §§25–26 vertical-triad material.
Aleph, Mem, and Shin as the elemental roots. Their element attributions are unchanged across every recension and system.
The three mothers read into world, year, and body (heaven/air/earth; hot/cold/temperate; the parts of the frame).
Closes the mother-letter table begun at §32.
Each double letter carries a binary polarity. In this system the polarity belongs to the LETTER; the planet rides on it and its dignity sets the lean.
Assigns the seven doubles to the six directions plus centre. The seam where the Cube model meets the Tree.
The seven double letters read into world, year, and soul — one of the sources for the three-sphere correspondence tables.
Assigns the planets to the doubles in the Chaldean order this system follows, alongside the days of the week and the gates.
The planetary attributions of the seven doubles in Chaldean order — the earlier, cosmologically prior form this system follows against the Golden Dawn.
Which simple letter sits on which diagonal of the cube — the point of maximum variation across recensions (Short, Long, Saadia, Gra, Bahir, GD).
The doubles and simples read across three domains (world / time / body). Basis for the three-sphere correspondence tables.
Sources: Peter Hayman, Sefer Yesira (Mohr Siebeck, 2004); Aryeh Kaplan; Ithamar Gruenwald; Ronit Meroz. The architecture of this reading is our own; none of the prose or tables of any other site is reproduced here.