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[discussion] Book of Ezekiel's sights in Chapter 1

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Lubab:
Thank you.

The Merkaba is such a fascinating topic. Its secrets apply to every aspect of life!

For instance here on the JTF forum we have a lot of lion angels.
On a liberal forum you'll find a lot of ox angels.

But everyone needs to look up and try to emulate the "man on the throne" i.e. the Torah so we know when to be a lion and when to be an ox (or a bird, or a man for that matter).

For everyone else whose not looking to the Torah, life is just a big game or rock paper scissors.

Any questions?


 

decimos:
too many im afraid :-\

Kananga:

--- Quote from: lubab on September 06, 2007, 11:28:10 PM ---Here guys check this out.

This was my contribution a while back to the wikipedia entry for the Merkaba which is what these verses are talking about.

The first part is based on the verses and the major commentaries. The second part is based on the hasidic texts which deal with this at length as explained by my Rabbi, Rabbi Benyomin Walters. It's short but should shed some light on the situation.  Enjoy!

The Biblical Merkaba

According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, the analogy of the Merkaba image consists of a chariot made of many angels being driven by the "Likeness of a Man." Four angels form the basic structure of the chariot. These angels are called the "Chayot" חיות (lit. living creatures). The bodies of the "Chayot" are like that of a human being, but each of them has four faces, corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (north, east south and west). The faces are that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a child or cherub) and an eagle. Since there are four angels and each has four faces, there are a total of 16 faces. Each Chayot angel also has four wings.

Two of these wings spread across the length of the chariot and connected with the wings of the angel on the other side. This created a sort of 'box' of wings that formed the perimeter of the chariot. With the remaining two wings, each angel covered its own body. Below, but not attached to the feet of the "Chayot" angels are other angels that are shaped like wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called "Ophannim" אופנים (lit. wheels, cycles or ways). These wheels are not directly under the chariot, but are nearby and along its perimeter much like the wheels of a car. The angel with the face of the man is always on the east side and looks up at the "Likeness of a Man" that drives the chariot. The "Likeness of a Man" sits on a throne made of sapphire.

The Bible later makes mention of a third type of angel found in the Merkaba called "Seraphim" (lit. burning) angels. These angels appear like flashes of fire continuously ascending and descending. These "Seraphim" angels functioned somewhat like pistons in that they powered the movement of the chariot. In the hierarchy of these angels, "Seraphim" are the highest, that is, closest to G-d, followed by the "Chayot", which are followed by the "Ophanim." The chariot is in a constant state of motion, and the energy behind this movement runs according to this hierarchy. The movement of the "Ofanim" is controlled by the "Chayot" while the movement of the "Chayot" is controlled by the "Seraphim". The movement of all the angels of the chariot are controlled by the "Likeness of a Man" on the Throne.

[edit] An Hasidic explanation

Hasidic philosophy explains that the Merkaba is a multi-layered analogy that offers insight into the nature of man, the ecosystem, the world, and teaches us how to become better people.

The four Chayot angels represent the basic archetypes that G-d used to create the current nature of the world. Ofannim, which means "ways", are the ways these archetypes combine to create actual entities that exist in the world. For instance, in the basic elements of the world, the lion represents fire, the ox/earth, the eagle/air, and the man/water. However, in practice, everything in the world is some combination of all four, and the particular combination of each element that exist in each thing are its particular Ofannim or ways. In another example, the four Chayot represent spring, summer, winter and fall. These four types of weather are the archetypal forms. The Ofannim would be the combination of weather that exists on a particular day, which may be a winter-like day within the summer or a summer like day within the winter or whatever.

The Man on the throne represents G-d, who is controlling everything that goes on in the world, and how all of the archetypes He set up should interact. The Man on the throne, however, can only drive when the four angels connect their wings. This means that G-d will not be revealed to us by us looking at all four elements (for instance) as separate and independent entities. However, when one looks at the way that earth, wind, fire and water (for instance) which all oppose each other are able to work together and coexist in complete harmony in the world, this shows that there is really a higher power (G-d) telling these elements how to act.

This very lesson carries over to explain how the four basic groups of animals and the four basic archetypal philosophies and personalities reveal a higher, godly source when one is able to read between the lines and see how these opposing forces can and do interact in harmony. A person should strive to be like a Merkaba, that is to say, he should realize all the different qualities, talents and inclinations he has (his angels). They may seem to contradict, but when one directs his life to a higher goal such as doing G-d's will (the man on the chair driving the chariot) he will see how they all can work together and even complement each other. Ultimately, we should strive to realize how all of the forces in the world, though they may seem to conflict can unite when one knows how to use them all to fulfill a higher purpose, namely to serve G-d.

--- End quote ---


This is good.  Thanks for posting this.

I do have one question.  Do these four angels correspond specifically to any of the G-d archangels, namely Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael?  I've read in different text that reference Kabbalah and other forms of mysticism where correspondecies were made between the  archangels and the four poles, elemets, seasons, etc as it relates to creation, redemption, revalation and other stuff.  For example, in Bereshit an "east wind" is mentioned at least two times that I can remember where G-d was to have working in cooperation with the Jewish people against Pharaoh.

mord:
It also sounds a little Le Havdil like chinnese astrology

Lubab:
Hey where do you think they got it from?

The chinese got their hands on some kabbalah.

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