KAPH

PAUL

I guess it's about that time again, to try to bring everything
together. If you guys haven't taken notice yet (or if I haven't said
it enough), I have a tendency to put things into my own paradigm and
an inability to understand things outside of said worldview. I feel
my summary is incomplete, and there's a lot I still don't
understand.

I hope that as many people as possible (maybe some of the new faces?)
will be willing to put their own conceptions into a summary so that
we can all get a broader and better view of Kaph, as well as all the
other letters in our study.

KAPH

In the beginning of our study of Kaph, Logan quoted the following
from

http://www.inner.org/HEBLETER/kaf.htm

and added his own commentary in **'s.

"The two letters of the full spelling of the kaf, are
the initial letters of the two Hebrew words: koach
("potential") and poel ("actual"). Thus, the kaf hints
at the power latent within the spiritual realm of the
potential to fully manifest itself in the physical
realm of the actual.

G-d must create the world continuously; otherwise
Creation would instantaneously vanish. His potential
is therefore actualized at each moment. This concept
is referred to as `the power to actualize potential
ever-present within the actualized.' In Chassidut we
are taught that this should be one's initial awareness
upon awakening. Since the literal meaning of the
letter kaf is `palm' - the place in the body where
potential is actualized - this awareness is reflected
in the custom of placing one palm on the other upon
awakening, before reciting the Modeh Ani prayer: `I
thank You, living and eternal King, for you have
mercifully restored my soul within me; Your
faithfulness is great.'"

*This makes sense considering we were talking about
energy storage during Yod. It makes sense that it
would be released during Kaf…."

In the first 10 letters, we saw the process by which a potentiality
travels from infinity down to compressed infinite potential in the
form of Yod, a seed. After this involution, this seed now has the
ability to be planted into soil (people) and have its potential
actualized in proportion to the quality of the ground (receptivity
and willingness on the part of the people in question). With Kaph,
we see the beginning stages of this manifestation.

I explained earlier how the energy body in man works through small
energy exchange centers in the palms of the hands and mouth in order
to attract and repulse the energies that create the situations that
make up our subjective worlds. One palm has a negative polarity and
the other has a positive polarity – I liken this to the basis of the
forces of wealth and poverty that we experience, and to the way in
which we mirror God's creative ability by continuously creating our
own world around us.

It was pointed out that the form of Kaph is generally thought to be
that of a crown on the head of a prostrating monarch. Kwaw pulled
this concept together with that of the Wheel of Fortune Tarot card,
which is attributed to Kaph.

"The wheel of fortune as a medieval icon and in some early tarot
decks is associated with the celestial sphere, the zodiac and hence the
Sun. It represent both the trial and tribulations and the hopes,
aspirations and victories of life.

It is frequently matched with four phrases in latin:

I shall reign
I reign
I have reigned
I don't reign

The significance of 4 on Atu 10 relates to the Holy Tetractys

The significance of 'reign' relates to the concept of 'crown': 'the
king is dead, long live the king', the crown signifying the eternal
office of divine rule, the hand [cap - kaph] of God is on their head;
the officers are temperal, the office [signified by kaph-the crown as
hand of God], eternal." -- Kwaw

Kaph is generally located as the path leading from Chesed to Netzach,
the process by which mercy turns into something tactile, that we can
experience.

"I don't master Kaph very well yet, but from what I do understand I'd
much rather attribute Kaph to a path leaving Hesed! There isn't much
balance in Kaph, but there's a whole shitload of Mercy in it! Mercy,
giving, receiving, protecting, loving, Netzach..." -- Jaron

This point was illustrated to me very clearly and personally when my
palms became bloody messes in a freak (drunken BMX) accident at a
birthday party (hold the laughter to a minimum please). When working
directly and purposely with the forces of creation, it's important to
show restraint and discipline (qualities of "having faith") in order
to let the waters of Chesed gently shape circumstances in our lives.
Once the skin of ignorance is removed from our ability to create
through our hands – once we can take note of and consciously change
the forces that create our world – too much forcefulness from Gevurah
can bring about direct and painful consequences.

Kaph, in my understanding, is the point at which the infinite
potential that's been compressed into the seed of Yod, decides what
kind of tree it's going to be – nourished by the soil of the
personality in which it's been implanted, and by the light that the
said personality allows it to see, the seed sprouts and takes root,
in order to bring itself into manifestation.