Researched and Written By:
Joseph D. Dismore

Section VI. Nephesch

The next Principle is the Nephesch, the Gross Side of the Spirit, the Vital Element which is in rapport with Guph, the Body, and the mainspring of all the Insticts and cravings of the Physical Life. It is the Animal Side of the Soul, the Element of it which comes most of all into contact with the Material Forces of the External Actual Universe.

Nephesch, in reality, is a Dual Principle, its two aspects consisting of:
A. What is called by the Hindus Prana, The Electrical Dynamic and Vivifying Element which is Life, and
B. The Astral Body (Tselem) - The Tselem is Hebrew for "Image".

They are considered together in the Qabalah under the title of Nephesch, because the action of Prana is unknown and impossible without the Medium of the Astral Body. There is a Zoharic Section dealing with Garments with which the Soul or the Incorporeal is Clothed, and it speaks of the Astral Body in very peculiar terms:
"One outside Garment which exists and does not exist; is seen and not seen. In that Garment, the Nephesch is Clothed and she goes and flies in it, to and fro in the World."

In another place there are unmistakable postulates of the Astral Body: in the Book of King Solomon is to be found:
"That at the time of the accomplishment below, the Holy One, blessed be he, sends a Deyooknah, a Phantom or Shadow Image, like the likeness of a Man. It is designed in the Divine Image (Tselem)… And in the Tselem the Child of Man is Created… In this Tselem he develops, as he grows, and it is with this Tselem, again, that he departs from this Life."

The Postulate of the Astral Body grows out of the consideration that in the Physical Body we find a "Something" besides matter; something changing it is true, but undoubtedly one and the same thing from Birth to Death.

The Nephesch is located in the Sephirah of Yesod, the Planetary Correspondent is Luna, the Foundation whose attribute is Stability in Change. This "Something" that is referred to is the Nephesch, on which the Physical Body is Moulded, for the Qabalah regards the Body as Impermanent and in a condition of perpetual flux. Despite this change there is something persisting from Birth to Death, changing its aspect a little, but remaining the same, giving the Body a more or less consistent appearance during its Life. This Astral Double or Body of light, as it is also called, is composed of Matter in an altogether different state from the Physical Body, being Subtle, Magnetic, and Electric. The Nephesch forms a link between the Body and the Ruach, and if we try to picture in our minds the "Image" of a Man from Birth to Death, the "Image" Incorporating all the Traits and Peculiarities of Childhood, Maturity, and Senility, all extend in time, that concept will convey the idea of an Astral Body or the "Pranamayakosa" - The Sheath of Breath in the Vedanta.
"A Garden of Pomegranates"
By Israel Regardie
Pg. 103-105

The Ninth Sphere or Sephirah on the Tree of Life is that of Yesod attributed to the Nephesch of the Soul, which means the Animal Soul. It is the Sphere Proper of the Animal Instincts and Urges, what may in truth be called the Freudian "Unconscious"-that which was Conscious at one time or at another Stage of development but which has since been lost to Below the Threshold of Consciousness. It is regarded as comprising these Psychic Faculties which are not Conscious. All the various Automatic, Habitual, and Routine Actions; all the things that we say and do "Without Thinking and all the thousand things we never really "Do" at all, these processes are assigned to the Unconscious Realm, to the Principle of the Nephesch. To it is related the Cerebellum, the Hind Section of the Brain, and it is intimately connected with the Glandular and Sympathetic Nervous Systems. As such it is that part of our being which Regulates the Circulation of Blood, the Pulsation of the Heart, our Digestion and respiration. All the promptings of desire and the Urges of Passion that spring up unbidden within us, have their Seat in Nephesch. This is the Underworld of the Psyche through which we get comparitavely close to Nature, to the Elemental Side of Life. It is the Undermind in which Function the Primary Instincts of Self Preservation and Reproduction. It is the Seat of Sex itself. The Jungian concept of the Unconscious might be the appropriate term for this side of Life. As is held by the Freudian School, whereas the much abused word Superconscious would be distinctly descriptive of the Supernal Sephiroth of the Yechidah, Chiah and Neschamah corresponding to the Jungian Unconscious.

Section VII. (Guph)

The Principle of Guph, the Physical Body, is attributed to Malkuth, the Kingdom, the Sphere of the Four Elements and the Material Realm of the Tree of Life in Qabalah. The predominate influence of the Soul over the Body, the Body being Interpenetrated and over-flown in all its parts by the Real Man, and dependent upon it for the Source of Its Life, are the implications of the Zoharic Ideals of the Soul.

It is said in the Sepher Yetzirah:
"In order to reach the Highest Levels of Holiness, Man must therefore become part of the Physical World." When he obeys God's Commandments, he attaches himself to the same Physical Objects as the one who gave the Commandments. In obeying these Commandments, Man therefore attaches himself to God to the greatest possible degree. He is thus able to scale the Highest Spiritual Heights. Even the Sephirot of the Tree of Life were Created before the Physical World, they exist in a Domain above Time, where Past, Present, and Future are One. The very fact that they would have Physical Counterparts in the Future provided them with a link with the Physical World. This allowed the Sephirot to interact, even before the Creation of the Physical Universe. From all this, we see that there is an important link between the Physical and the Spiritual.

**Malkuth is the Material Realm and Man in his Physical Form exists in the Realm of Matter, yet it is the Realm of Spirit when United with Matter, that gives us the ability to Transcend in Spiritual and Higher Levels of Consciousness.

The Zohar states:
"if one wishes to know the Wisdom of the Holy Unification, let him look at the Flame rising from a Burning Coal or from a Kindled Lamp. The Flame cannot rise unless it is United with something Physical."
"The Book of Creation"
By: Aryeh Kaplan
Pg. 62-63

Thus the Unification of all the constituent parts from Guph or the Physical Man, up through the various Levels of Consciousness and Will, even to the Spiritual Higher or true Self of Yechidah, gives us the ability to Realize and Attain a Greater Spirituality and Wholeness, through Realization and Experience of the Whole of Life. As in Alchemy the Pure Gold or Symbolically as the Perfected Self we break each Aspect of our being down in the "Solve et Coagula," Formula, breaking down the Constituent Parts, Purifying them and recombining them to the Purest State of Perfection possible. Therefore each Stage is important, the Physical Self should not be thought of as Lesser or Evil, then the Spiritual True Self, for, together, through Union are we equilibrated and Balanced as Divine Beings, never neglect the Physical Body is a statement that should be observed, for only through our Material nature can the Essence of Spirit be Measured and Seen, and only in the Body can we Interact with Life to a degree for which brings us Knowledge gained by Experience.

Researched and Written by:
Joseph D. Dismore
H.P. Helel