I continue the exploration of the sefirot by examining the sefirah of Hohmah, of Wisdom. Ayn Sof and Keter, the two concepts we have examined until now, are too amorphous for us to have a true grasp of what they are and how they function. The closest aspect of the Divine that we can experience is Hohmah.
Hohmah, Wisdom, is the second sefirah in the Tree of Life. It is the point from where things begin, where everything is a possibility, the source of our insight and creativity. The operative word here is source—in Hohmah the potential for major ideas exists, like a fertile ground where the seeds for major ideas can be sown, and from where they may develop.
Let’s examine a concept of the creation of the Universe that can help us understand the sefirah of Hohmah. According to Jewish mysticism the absolute Torah is black fire engraved in white fire. Although Torah in this state is not readable, it has the potential to create. It is through this holy Torah that the Universe was formed, through the interactions of the different letters. Hohmah, Wisdom, is like this aspect of the Torah. All potentiality is there, present. The stage where creative potential exists but has yet to be channeled one way or another is the space of Hohmah.
Indeed, the Sefer Tmunah teaches that the current combination which we call “The Hebrew Bible” is just one of several potential combinations of the black and the white fires. This book, whose title can be understood to mean both “Book of Configuration” (of the Hebrew Letters) or “Book of the Image” (of God), with unknown authorship, first appeared around the year 1250 in Catalonia, then a major center of Jewish mysticism. Much of this book develops the idea that there are different configurations of the Hebrew letters of the Torah, which are combined in different ways, in different eons (cycles of 7000 years). The letters of the Torah are, were, and will be combined in different ways in different eras, and although they are combined in this way for us at this stage of the universe, they don’t necessarily have to be that way. In other words, just because they are like this right now does not mean they will always be like that. This combination of white fire and black fire that can form different texts are what we understand as Hohmah, the capacity and potential of ideas and matter.
In our lives when we say, “I knew it,” we are in the realm of Wisdom. Something inside of us had an idea, was connected with a certain energy, at the edge of our consciousness. Hohmah, Wisdom, is the matter from which the matrix of thought is formed, the originating point of all ideas resulting from the interactions we have with the world. True Hohmah is the understanding that what allows and what impedes us from moving forward is a product of our own making, of the intersection between our way of perceiving the things that happen in the world and the conclusions to which we come based on those perceptions.
To be in touch with the energy of Hohmah is to have the wisdom to know that while we do not have control over what happens to us, we have control over the interpretation of what happens to us, and most of all, the actions that we take based on that interpretation.
We probably do not have control over the actions of others or the trials of history. In true Hohmah we are aware of our experience, and do not allow others to have control over our minds and over our souls. We access Hohmah when we are present in the moment, with pure awareness of what is happening. To experience Hohmah is to know that we are not reacting to situations, that we are acting with full consciousness and presence in our lives. In living with the energy of Hohmah we refuse the role of victim, having agency in the world and directing our perceptions and our actions. As human beings, there are situations in which we do better than others. The more we practice awareness and mindfulness, the better our chances are that we will connect with the energy of Hohmah and live a better life.