Parsufim - The Many Faces of God

Partzufim / Partsufim (Hebrew: פרצופים, singular partzuf, Hebrew: פרצוף), meaning "Divine Personas", are particular reconfigured arrangements of the ten sefirot, divine attributes/emanations of Kabbalah.

Each partzuf is thus a configuration of disparate entities into a harmonious unit. The names of the partzufim are derived from the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah. There, they are synonymous terms for the sefirot.

Their full doctrinal significance emerged in 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah with reference to the cosmic processes of Tohu and Tikun, "Chaos and Rectification."

In Lurianic Kabbalah, the four realms of our created existence are arranged in a stable form, through the reconfiguration of the original sephirot into partzufim. The first realm to exhibit this new arrangement is the mature form of Atzilut (the World of "Emanation"), therefore also called the "World of Tikun" (Rectification). This follows on from the Shevirah ("Shattering") of the sefirot vessels in the "World of Tohu" (Chaos), the initial, unstable form of Atzilut.

In Tikun, the Sefirot evolve into the harmonised partzufim new arrangements, where they can unite. The realm of Tohu is characterised by abundant light (Ohr) and weak vessels, as the 10 sefirot act independently as absolute forces, causing it to collapse. Tikkun is characterised by lower lights in strong vessels, as through the partzufim the sefirot inter-relate to absorb the illumination from Tohu.

The 6 primary and 12 secondary partzufim are the basic harmonised Divine manifestations in the Four Worlds of created existence. More specifically however, within their interaction are numerous more particular aspects of Divinity, each denoting a differentiated expression. In the Idrot narratives of the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai discusses profound manifestations of the partzufim. The Idra Zuta, traditionally ascribed to his day of passing from this world, his Yom Hillula "wedding day", is considered the deepest teachings of the Zohar.

Parsufim (Partzufim) is a plural Hebrew word that means “faces.” Partzuf is the singular word for face, image, or countenance.

Parsufim is plural and refers to the different symbols of the Tree of Life - the way in which we can understand the different triangles and the different aspects of the ten Sephiroth that are the basis of the science of Kabbalah. In Kabbalah, we study five Parsufim, five faces, or five symbols, images, countenances. We are going to talk about these five Parsufim and to see how they are related not only with Judaism and Christianity, but also with other religions.

#gnosis #gnosticism #esotericism #mysticism #esotericknowledge #alchemy #knowthyself