Kelippot (Kabbalah)

Kelippot are levels of reality that do not contain any will to give, only the will to receive. Since their essence is one of receiving or “taking,” they are constantly trying to pull all of reality into themselves – in essence, to swallow everything in existence. Since the essence of life is the divine light, which is composed entirely of the energy of giving, they and all that is connected to them are considered to be “dead.” The kelippot are therefore compared to the husks or shells of a fruit, which are detached from the life that is inside the fruit. Since these entities are wholly receiving, unable to give, they have no true connection with the life force of creation, like the dead.

Sources

However, after Cain sinned and caused the letters alef-lamed-heh of holiness in his soul to fall to the kelippot in arka, his letters alef-lamed-heh, which were also blocked from the light of giving, became enclothed in the light of the Nukba of alef-lamed-heh of the kelippa. [Through this enclothing] small sparks of the aspect of Ḥokhma that remained in Cain’s vessels of alef-lamed-heh were thereby revived…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:10

“Therefore they have two heads, like two serpents.” Since the [offspring] emerged from the bonding of the male and female of alef-lamed-heh of the kelippa, who are opposites from their roots, as stated, therefore the offspring that Cain bore with the help [of the kelippa] have the same two heads as those two kelippot: One leans toward the darkness of vessels of Ḥokhma, while the other leans toward the light in the vessels of impurity of the Nukba of the kelippa.

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:12

The female of the kelippa is called lies, for after that man has become ensnared in the net of the male, who is called false, that male [kelippa] has the power to mate with his female. She is an evil and bitter kelippa, which forges the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and utters lies with it. She subsequently descends and incites, and then ascends and accuses, and takes [the person's] soul from him.

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 68:5

This is why [Rabbi Shimon] states that “when Cain descended there they joined with each other and were completed as one,” since the sparks of Ḥokhma that remained in the alef-lamed-heh of Cain became enclothed in the light of the female of the kelippa. As a result, the male of the kelippa also desired her, in order to receive and enjoy Cain’s sparks of Ḥokhma of alef-lamed-heh. They mated with each other, that is, they joined with each other as one, and were completed through one another as one…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:11

Now, through the power of the head of the Nukba of the kelippa, they “fly inside the deep,” where the root of the kelippot is found, which is called “deep.” This is referring to the lowest descent of all, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “They ascended to the heavens; they descended to the deeps” [Psalms 107:26]. Meanwhile, through the power of the head of the male of the kelippa they “bathe in the great sea,” which is the Ḥokhma of the kelippa, since “sea” is the name of the Ḥokhma…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 156:3

This is the male of alef-lamed-heh of the kelippa, for its vessels are vessels of Ḥokhma, which are alef-lamed-heh, but [these vessels] are devoid of Ḥokhma on account of the lack of the light of giving of Mi, such that [this male aspect] is entirely dark, from both the light of Ḥokhma and the light of giving. Nevertheless, [this male aspect] is of a high caliber in terms of the power of its vessels, for [these vessels] would be fit for Ḥokhma…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:7

[The Zohar] continues: “A duplicitous man who speaks lies, from the female of the great deep.” There are male and female in the kelippot as well. The male is called “false,” and the female is called “lies.” The explanation of this is that the male kelippa is not as evil as the female. Left to himself, [the male kelippa] would not trick people into lying in the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. On the contrary, it would appear that he speaks well, or so it seems…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 68:4

Thus, this unification is alluded to in the verse: “And let them be for lights [me’orot],” which is the letters of or-mot. “Or is [spelled out] in the connected letters”: By drawing forth the six extremities and the first three [sefirot] to the Nukba in one connection with the Ze’er Anpin in the place of [Abba and Imma Ila’in], just as the force of judgment was transformed in the Nukba into actual light so too all the forces of the Sitra Aḥara and the kelippot that are drawn from…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 212:3

[The male kelippa] is therefore called “a duplicitous man,” since at first “eat and drink, he says to you,” that is, so that [the person] will raise the feminine waters to the Holy One, blessed be He, and draw forth shefa for the needs of the Most High, and [the male kelippa] seems to [the person] as though he is from the side of holiness. Subsequently, through the power of his falsehood, [the male kelippa] mates with the “female of the great deep,” and with her lies he takes [the person's] soul and kills him…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 68:6

Now, Adam the first [man] was born circumcised, because the three impure kelippot had no purchase on him, and he had only the noga kelippa in him, which is the skin of uncovering. [That kelippa] was also entirely good, since it was separated from the three impure kelippot and cleaved to the holiness. However, due to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, through the seduction of the snake which is formed from the three impure kelippot, [Adam] pulled over himself the second skin, which is the foreskin…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 225:9

Explanation: There are four kelippot: “A stormy wind”; “a great cloud” “a fire flashing”; and “a brightness surrounding it” [Ezekiel 1:4]. The first three are all impure kelippot, but the kelippa of the “brightness [noga]” is half good and half evil. When the three kelippot are attached to [this fourth kelippa], it becomes entirely evil, but when it separates from [the other three kelippot] and cleaves to holiness, [this fourth kelippa] becomes entirely good…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 225:8

The world of Atzilut of the kelippa grasps in its hands that small amount of evil that is not discernible and that exists in Beria, deriving from the power of the third aspect of love. This love is true love from the power of the One Who is good and does good to the bad and to the good, which is the aspect of Atzilut of holiness. Nevertheless, since the person of that level did not merit to reach the love that would also tilt the balance of the entire world to the side of merit…

Talmud Eser HaSefirot, Introduction 419

This is why [Rabbi Shimon] says here that this Kastimon is the aspect of damager [and that he] has the form of an ox. It is to indicate that he is the root of all damagers that are called “ox of the kelippa.” [This damager category] is of the aspect of dross of the supernal brains of the holy name Elohim. As stated above, this is the aspect of alef-lamed-heh of the kelippa, which corresponds to alef-lamed-heh of the name Elohim and exists as the dross and sediments that stand below them…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 155:6

153. We have fully explained the four worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira and Asiya of holiness. We have also explained the kelippot, which are the aspect that corresponds to each of the worlds of holiness. Each world of the kelippa is the aspect of lack that corresponds to one of the worlds of holiness. These latter are called the four worlds of Atzilut, Beria…

Talmud Eser HaSefirot, Introduction 422

This is not the case for the Nukba of the kelippa, for she does not need her male at all, since he does not give her anything, because he is all darkness, as stated. Therefore, when the Nukba governs and wishes to win with her impurity, she has complete control and leaves nothing of the aspect of the male. Then the two heads of Cain’s offspring also return to be one [since there is no aspect of the male].

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:15

151. With this, you can also understand the aspect of the four worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira and Asiya of the kelippa, which are arranged corresponding to Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira and Asiya of holiness, in the mystical meaning of “this corresponding to that did God make” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). The chariot of the kelippot of Asiya comes from the aspect of…

Talmud Eser HaSefirot, Introduction 416

However, this occurs only in the holy partzufim of Atzilut (Emanation), Beria (Creation), Yetzira (Formation), and Asiya (Actualization), but not in the partzufim of the kelippot nor in this world, in which the fourth level itself serves as the receiving vessel. Therefore, they are separated from the supernal light, as the difference in form of the fourth level from that of the Emanator, which is the attribute of giving…

Petichah LeChokhmat HaKabbalah 16:2

The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to her, to the shin: “Although your attribute is great, as you claim, it is for this very reason that your opposite in the kelippa is very strong. Falsehood could not exist in the world had the two letters of forgery and falsehood of the kelippot not taken you, i.e., kof and resh.” In other words, there are two sources [of lifeforce] for the Sitra Aḥara and all of the kelippot. One is a very small luminescence, which the [the side of] holiness itself shines for [the Sitra Aḥara and the kelippot]…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 24:5

Know that these male and female [aspects] of alef-lamed-heh of the kelippa are the two appointed [angels] in the land of arka: The male is appointed over the darkness, while the female is appointed over the light there. Therefore, they are hostile to one another because they are the opposites of each other. The male, because he contains the empty vessels of Ḥokhma from the letters of alef-lamed-heh, hates the power of falsification and separation in the vessels of his Nukba and prefers the darkness within himself…

Sulam on Zohar, Introduction 154:8

The four worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira and Asiya of holiness and of the kelippa in the path of divine service
149. Now that we have reached this point, it is possible to present some concept and provide discerning insight regarding the four worlds known in the wisdom of Kabbala by the names Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Asiya of holiness…

Talmud Eser HaSefirot, Introduction 409

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