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The 72-Letter Name of God

The 72 Names are each 3-letter sequences that act like an index to specific, spiritual frequencies.
By simply looking at the letters, as well as closing your eyes and visualizing them, you can
connect with these frequencies.
To use a physical metaphor to describe what takes place when using the 72 Names, think of a
tuning fork, a tool used to establish a precise pitch. When you bring a vibrating tuning fork close
to another tuning fork that is not vibrating, the second fork starts to vibrate by the phenomena
called 'sympathetic transference'.
The 72 Names work as tuning forks to repair you on the soul level. It means, practically
speaking, that you don't have to go through some of the more physically demanding tests in life;
you can tune your body and soul with the spiritual frequencies your eyes do not perceive.
The "72-fold name" is highly important to Sefer Raziel,
[5][7]
and a key (but often missing)
component to the magical practices in The Lesser Key of Solomon.
[8]
It is derived from Exodus
14:19-21,
[2][4][5][6]
read boustrophedonically
[3][8]
to produce 72 names of three letters. This
method was expounded with no difficulty by Rashi, apparently widely known throughout the
Geonic period.
[5]
Kabbalist and occultist legends state that the 72-fold name was used by Moses
to cross the Red Sea, and that it can grant later holymen the power to control demons, heal the
sick, prevent natural disasters, and even kill enemies.
[6]

The 72-fold name is mentioned in Roger Bacon, who complained about a book titled Liber
semamphoras, more specifically the linguistic corruption that occured in translating Hebrew to
Latin.
[9]
The angels of the Shemhamphorash factored heavily into the cosmology of J ohann
Reuchlin
[10]
influencing Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
[3]
and Athanasius Kircher.
[10]
Thomas Rudd
featured the 72 angels in his magic,
[2]
as a balancing force against the evil spirits of the Ars
Goetia
[8]
or in isolation.
[11]
Rudd's material on the Shemhamphorash was later copied and
expanded by Blaise de Vigenre, whose manuscripts were in turn used by Samuel Liddell
MacGregor Mathers in his works for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
[8]

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The Etz ha Chaim (Tree of Life)
The Tree of Life, called the Etz Chaim in Hebrew, is a common visual depiction of the ten
sephirot of Kabbalah. Each sephirot represents an attribute of God through which he manifests
his will.
The Tree of Life does not represent a single, cleanly definable system. It can be applied to the
formation and existence of both the physical world and metaphysical worlds, as well as to one's
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own soul, state of being, or understanding. In addition, different schools of thought such as
Kabbalistic J udaism and modern Western occultism, also offer different interpretations.
Ein Soph
The divine essence from which all creation springs, known as the Ein Soph, remains outside of
the Tree of Life, utterly beyond definition or comprehension. God's unfolding will then descends
through the tree from left to right.
Read more: Robert Fludd's Spiral Cosmology - Intermediary Steps Between Matter and Spirit,
for another occult model of the unfolding of God's will into physical creation.
Vertical Groupings
Each vertical column, or pillar, has its own associations. The left-hand column is the Pillar of
Severity. It is also related to femininity and receptivity. The right-hand column is the Pillar of
Mercy and is related to masculinity and activity. The central column is the Pillar of Mildness, a
balance between the extremes on either side of it.
Horizontal Groupings
The top three sephirot (Keter, Chokmah, Binah) are linked to the intellect, ideas without form.
Da'at might be included here, but as the invisible sephirot and reflection of Keter, it generally is
not counted at all. Keter may also form its own subgroup, being the unconscious intellect and
will rather than the conscious.
The next three sephirot (Hesed, Gevurah, Tiferet) are the primary emotions. They are the spark
of action and are goals until themselves.
The final three (Netzah, Hod, Yesod) are the secondary emotions. They have a more tangible
manifestation and are means to other ends rather than being the ends themselves.
Malkuth stands alone, the physical manifestation of the other nine sephirot.