IN> Daath, the Hidden Sephirah

[William Keith]

Some time ago I posted to the list a description of the Kabbalistic 
Tree of Life, with options for integrating its levels -- its sephiroth 
-- into an In Nomine game.  You could, for example, make it a structure 
underlying the Choir/Band system, and have its primary use be driving 
certain mystical occurrences, or you could make it an alternative 
Sorcery system for humans, or introduce a full-blown new setting 
element, Tempering, that evokes real-world kabbalistic practice.  I 
then did the same for the qlippoth, their infernal reflections.  (These 
posts were on January 11th and 14th of 2006, and you may wish to refer 
to those for the terminology used here.)  There is one sephira that 
didn't make that list, though: it is called Daath, the sephira of 
knowledge, the hidden sephira, and many other names.  But whether it 
exists is another question entirely.

You see, the sephiroth are numbered, from 1 (Malkuth, representing 
humans, at the root of the Tree of Life) to 10 (Kether, representing 
God, at the top).  There are channels between them, connecting 1 to 2, 
2 to 3, and so forth.  The shape of this path is vaguely reminiscent of 
a lightning flash, and is said to be the spark of inspiration that 
travels from God throughout Creation to illuminate.  The problem is, 
there is no direct channel between the 7th Sephira (Chesed, Mercy) and 
the 8th (Binah, Judgment); the spark is broken, leaving an chasm in the 
middle of the Tree and blocking the progress of the spark.  How to 
cross this abyss symbolically and achieve Kether -- union with the 
divine -- is one of the great mysteries of Kabbalah.  Some Kabbalists 
posit the existence of an 11th sephira hidden within this Abyss: Daath, 
the sephira of knowledge, which must be understood to pass the Abyss.  
Others reject this claim, and say it is a demonic trap to lead seekers 
into the infernal realms; that the Abyss can only be crossed through 
divine inspiration.

Since canon doesn't know, neither do your players, and you can choose 
which option is true, *possibly* allowing intrepid investigators to 
determine its true nature.  This post consists, in the main, of options 
upon options for playing Daath:

* Daath doesn't exist.  It's a kabbalistic myth, or insane rambling by 
Crowley and his pupils.

* Daath doesn't exist.  It's a red herring planted or at least 
encouraged by Kronos and Hatiphas to lead promising kabbalists away 
from the highest achievements.  Or maybe even planted by Heaven.

* Daath used to exist, but no longer does.  It disappeared with the 
death of Raphael.  Accompanying this disappearance was a shift in the 
fabric of history and the nature of reality itself: where once there 
had been room on the Tree for the Grigori, and their arrival a great 
achievement of "second creation" by the Seraphim Council, in the new 
reality they were a hubristic attempt to occupy Malkuth and were 
rejected and Outcast.  The rest of the Choirs and Bands reorganized 
along different natures according to their new sephiroth.  Very few 
beings, even those alive at the time, remember reality as it once was.  
(This may also have happened with the Malakim; was Netzach added at the 
Fall?)

* Daath used to exist, but no longer does.  Like Netzach before the 
Fall, it had no associated Choir.  Its ruler, Raphael, thus regarded 
herself as the most dispensible Archangel when she saw that one had to 
die to defeat Legion and save the Symphony.  Her death removed it 
entirely from the Tree.

* Daath exists, but is hollow.  It is associated to no Choir and has no 
ruling Archangel or associated Words.  It grants no abilities or 
restrictions.  If one has achieved the previous sephiroth, it is 
sufficient to know of Daath's existence to achieve Daath itself.

* Daath exists as a kind of Remnant sephirah left over from previous 
phases of Creation.  It channels the energies of Songs that can no 
longer be used, such as Corporeal Life.  While it is no longer 
necessary to achieve Daath for further advancement up the Tree (and may 
not be possible), someone who did manage to achieve Daath could learn 
many powerful Songs thought lost or impossible to use these days.

* Daath exists, but only as a qlippa into which unwise Sorcerers or 
Kabbalists can be initiated by helpful demons.  Sorcery may even be 
entirely a function of achievement of Daath.  Alternately or 
concurrently, it is the only qlippa achievable by Undead and powers 
many of their abilities.

* Daath exists, but only as an academic curiosity made of the mingling 
of energies between Binah and Chokmah as they flow down the Pillar of 
Balance to Geburah and Chesed.  There being no real sephirah here, 
Daath exists as a "hidden sephirah," rather like an overtone between 
two musical notes.  Achievement of Binah and Chokmah automatically 
grants "achievement" of Daath, which may or may not come with any 
additional abilities.

* Daath exists, but not as a sephirah; it is the sought-after channel 
between Binah and Chesed that allows a kabbalist to progress further up 
the Tree.

* Daath exists, is a very real sephirah, and sits between Binah and 
Chokmah.  Not only must it be achieved to progress further up the Tree 
past Binah, the sephirah of the Seraphim, it is guarded by the 
Archangel Azrael, who frowns on such studies (and possibly an 
associated Heavenly Choir, one of whose purposes is to prevent further 
exploration up the Tree of Life).

* Daath exists, is a real sephirah, and sits between Binah and either 
Chesed or Chokmah; it is associated to no Archangel or Choir.  Is is an 
entirely human sephirah, which must be achieved in a unique way by each 
Kabbalist progressing up the Tree.  Its Temper grants a +2 to acts of 
knowing (attempts to recall information, use of Knowledge skills, 
meditations), while the acts it penalizes are entirely unclear.  
Attempts to forget? to alter memories?  Or something much broader, like 
any attempt to act without at least firm information?

William