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Definition:
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סְפִירָה means 'counting', 'numbering', 'era',
or 'sphere' in Hebrew. In the context of Qabalah, it refers to the ten progressive emanations
of the Godhead by which all that exists is created. The doctrine of creation by emanation of
Deity (i.e. creation out of God, rather than creation ex nihilo) is a fundamental tenet
of Neoplatonism and of the philosophical currents (including both Qabalah and Hermeticism) which
were significantly influenced thereby. These emanations were called Sephiroth (pl. of Sephirah)
in Jewish mysticism. Qabalah ultimately developed in part as a systematisation of these Sephiroth
into a highly complex and organised system of cosmology and correspondences.
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