Keter

The 10 Sefirot in the Tree of Life connected by the Path of the Flaming Sword (yellow), which indicates the order of their creation from 1 - 10.

Keter, also Kether (Hebrew: כתר "crown") represents the highest Sefira in the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah. Kabbalists regard Keter as the goal of the spiritual quest. Keter is understood as pure divine being, as the direct expression of the divine will. The sefira Keter is imagined to be so sublime that it is dubbed the Zohar, "the hidden of all hidden", which is completely beyond human comprehension.

In the Tree of Life, Keter stands at the top of a triad with the two sefirot Chokmah and Binah that follow her. This triad in its entirety is called Atziluth (Hebrew: אֲצִילוּת "nobility, sublimity, goodness, fire"). Keter represents the highest element of Aziluth, the 1st Kabbalistic and completely spiritual world conception of three other Kabbalistic worlds (Beriah, Jezirah, Assiah).

Keter is the first path of the 32 paths of wisdom, the admirable or wonderful cosmic intelligence, the light of the primordial intelligence and as such the first and highest glory.

Rabbi Moses Cordovero (1522 - 1570) of Safed, describes Keter in his book Pardes Rimmonim (Garden of Pomegranates, 1548) as the source of the 13 highest springs of mercy.

Literature

• Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan: Sefer: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice, 2nd edition, Red Wheel/Weiser 1997, ISBN 978-0877286905; eBook ASIN B007HNFBXE
• Chaim Wirszubski: Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989
• Walter Andreas Euler: "Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, München 1998
• Rudolf Steiner, Anna R. Meuss: From Beetroot to Buddhism: Answers to Questions. CW 353. 16 lectures, Dornach, March 1 to June 25, 1924. Rudolf Steiner Press 1999. ISBN 978-1855840621; eBook ASIN B07N9MBW26 (2013) rsarchive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Geschichte der Menschheit und die Weltanschauungen der Kulturvölker, GA 353 (1988), ISBN 3-7274-3532-1 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.