The Fourth Week
נצח
ִNetzach
Victory; Enduring, Continuation, Everlasting
Transformation through Endurance
Endurance and ambition is a combination of determination and tenacity. It is a balance of patience, persistence and guts. Endurance is also being reliable and accountable, which establishes security and commitment. Without endurance, any good endeavour or intention has no chance of success.
Effective endurance needs to encompass the following seven ingredients: love, discipline, compassion, endurance, humility, bonding and dignity. Without endurance, any good endeavour or intention has no chance of success.
Without endurance, any good endeavour or intention has no chance of success.
Perseverance of Physical Energy
I allow myself special time this week to relax into the moment and seek the not-yet-limited vibration behind all sensation. I become more aware of the pulsing energy which flows through me. I am surrounded and supported in this field of abundant Energy.
The Sefirah on the Tree of Life
Whenever we work with the image of the Tree, we need to sense and appreciate the function represented by the right and the left side. The right side is seen as the side of expression and of force, the left as the side of receptivity (not passivity) and form. One cannot exist without the other, and therefore neither can, in any real sense, be superior. But we learn more deeply about each by paying attention to the other.[1]
The two sides of the Tree call us to remember the difference between the container and that which it contains. Form provides the vehicle through which the force can actualise. The side of force provides the ‘juice’ for the side of form.
Netzach, like the other two sefirot on the right side of the Tree of Life, represents Energy as force, which will take particular shape and form at the corresponding sefirah on the left side of the Tree. Hod, Netzach’s partner, provides the forms for perception and sensation; Netzach symbolises the energy yearning to be held in such forms.
Through remaining aware of these two polarities, we can appreciate more deeply the vital energy that vibrates behind all unique perceptions, and is independent of any specific perception. This is the very energy that flow into the sensations that we experience, and it is both through the situation in which they arose, and our manner of expressing them that we will experience them as positive or negative.
Chesed and Gevurah express emotional energy and particular feelings. Netzach and Hod express vibrational energy and particular perception or sensation. Netzach is the vibrational continuum that will be understood, will be received, in particular sensory modalities. Some part of that vibrational spectrum will be experienced as visual perception, another will be auditory, a third will be tactile.
Netzach is a place of Power and Force, providing us with energy necessary for our experiences in the world. Netzach is the energy that causes the drum to vibrate before it is hit, the light before it is reflected as colour, the sense of the smell before it becomes a scent.
This is our journey on the right side of the tree, to become aware of the flow of Energy before it is composed into a particular form. Each week that focuses on a sefirah on the right side of the Tree provides us this opportunity to reach behind form to experience the living Essence of each of the limited forms that we experience as real.
Here, at Netzach, the flow already contains feelings, and the influences of Tiferet, not yet associated with any recognisable sensations or perceptions.
at Netzach
is Adonai Tzeva'ot,
יהוה צבאות
The Name of G-d at Netzach is Adonai Tzeva’ot, translated as “Eternal One of Hosts”, though written as Yod-Kay-Vav-Kay Tzeva’ot. In this context, “hosts” refers to the vibrational level—the sensations and perceptions—shared between the sefirot of Netzach and Hod . The Elohim of Hod present an apparent multiplicity; at Netzach, the “hosts” are Adonai, the unformed, undifferentiated aspect of the One. The Name Yod-Kay-Vav-Kay Tzeva'ot refers to the energetic level prior to the manifestation of specific sensations.
Meditation for the Fourth Week at NETZACH.
יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ מִשְׂגָּֽב־לָ֝נוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י יַעֲקֹ֣ב סֶֽלָהAdonai Tzeva’ot is with us, the G-d of Jacob is our haven.
-- (Psalm 46:12)
This week become more sensitive to the flow of the endless energy of life itself. Take time to breathe it in, to experience the vibrational shifts as we inhale and exhale fully. Whatever your experience is, notice the energy of the moment rather than the moment itself. As we become more aware of the process through which the energy becomes named, it becomes easier to suspend that function, to taste the Eternal flow itself.
Life is offered us every moment. Open your awareness to celebrate that offering. Release the security of the known forms of your perceptions and taste the reverberation that all forms carry behind them.
In a deepening silence, allow yourself to open to the flow of energy, the force that causes a particular sensation. Before defining the sensation, bask in the blessing of that outpouring. After it becomes defined, a felt sensation, as it always shall, remain with that which is not yet named in the sensation itself.
Focus on the letter and on the sound of the Name of G-d. Let Adonai Tzva’ot provide the daily mantra for the week, reminding you of that which lies beyond all sensation, all experience.
Reflections
Footnotes
It is similar to the process of understanding the I’Ching, the interplay between the masculine and the feminine, dark and light, represented by the Yin and the Yang—both of which are essential for the wheel to continue turning. ↩︎