Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
Zohar: Bereshith to Lekh Lekha
By Nurho de Manhar
Rabbi Simeon on Mysteries and the Higher Life
"AND the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were72b Shem, Ham and Japhet" (Gen. IX. 18). Said Rabbi Eleazer: Why are these names only mentioned? Had Noah other sons who did not go with him on his exit from the ark?
In reply Rabbi Abba said: "Noah had other children than the three mentioned in scripture, who likewise had children of their own, and the reason this is not explicitly stated is, that grandchildren are in scripture classed and referred to as sons."
Said Rabbi Simeon: "Had I been incarnated and lived on earth at the time when the Holy One entrusted the Book of Mysteries containing the secret doctrine to Enoch and Adam, I would have strongly urged that the contents of it should never be divulged save to those who by their upright and unselfish lives had rendered themselves worthy to receive and understand them; for such only are able to appreciate their value and importance that distinguish it from all other books. The truly wise in this world are they who attain to a comprehension and understanding of its esoteric teachings that under the veil of symbols, emblems, allegories and enigmas, are concealed from esoteric students whose thoughts and labors are concentrated and directed merely towards what is phenomenal and ephemeral. Known only to sages and initiates are the grand mysteries of the hidden wisdom, the knowledge of which they never impart to the 'profanum vulgum' and use only in ministering to the welfare of humanity. Of these great mysteries, one of the most abstruse and profound is contained in the above cited verse of scripture. When the divine life or in other words, the consciousness of the Divine, the cause of all cause, the life of all life, the pleroma of all joy and happiness rises and dawns within the human soul or man's lower nature, like the great orb of day sending forth its effulgent rays of light and warmth, it diffuses within it and makes itself recognized by a feeling, a sensation of enjoyment and delight greater than that which rich and generous wine causes the heart of man to pulsate with an ecstasy of delight not to be expressed. This effluence of the divine life is intermediate between the joy and pleasure that reaches and flows into human nature from the celestial and terrestrial planes of existence. There are within us two souls or natures, the higher and the lower, blended and united together by the mysterious72b-73a Augoides, that corresponds to the upper triad of Sephiroth in the decenary of the human constitution. These three souls, or rather natures, manifest themselves in their differing modes and direction, the Higher Self attaching itself and approximating towards its superior principle produces three offspring, symbolized by Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet, who came forth from the ark; Shem corresponding to the principle on the right of the Sephirotic tree, Ham to that on the left, whilst Japhet is the medium of connection that like the color of purple is a combination and a reflection of the other two. Ham was the father of Canaan.Gen. 9:18 He symbolizes the lower or animal nature of man susceptive of all material and gross influences that trend to the excitation of animal instincts, desires and passions. He was also the father of him who caused the world along with himself to be cursed and the human face to become blanched and pale through sorrow and suffering; therefore it is not stated of Shem or Japhet that they were the father of this or that one. This is also wherefore it is written, 'And Abram passed through the land,' (Gen. XII. 9)12:6 neither abode in it because the patriarchs through their merits and works had not purified it, neither had Israel made known the sacred name so that it was still suffering under the primal curse pronounced upon the earth and the serpent, 'Cursed he the ground because of thee, cursed art thou above all the beasts of the field.'Gen. 3:14, 3:17 And of the land of Canaan it is written, cursed is Canaan, a servant of servants, shall he be unto his brothers. Furthermore we read, 'These are the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japhet, and of them was the whole earth overspread' (Gen. IX. 19). These words also include within them a great mystery of the heavenly or superior colors, teaching us that though refracted throughout the universe, the divine glory remains ever the same both in heaven above and on earth below."
