THREE VEILS OF THE NEGATIVE PRECEDING KETHER
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Inspired insight with regard to metaphysical and spiritual matters is a capricious thing. Here's some I have managed to capture regarding the Three Veils of Negative preceding Kether, the crown, the beginning of manifestation of existence found in Malkuth, AL I, 2: "The unveiling of the company of heaven."
Ain Soph Aur: Limitless Light In the physical world, light is a phenomenon only vaguely related to matter. AL II, 51: "Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight." Pure energy is described by the equation E=MCsquared wherein energy can be understood as equal to the value of a given mass times a very large constant. Always tossing in a large number- how us humans try to get a grip on the nature of existence in this, our universe. Since light energy is measurable, it must have existence. Boundless implies two separate meanings: infinite numerically, as well as not having boundaries. "Unbounded" seems too similiar to "Without Limit", the translation of the title of the veil Ain Soph, so "infinite numerically" is more appropriate. Outside of theoretical hard science, an infinite quantity is beyond human perception, and there fore also appropriate in attmpting to describe something off the Tree of Life. So, there is a connection, if very tenuous, that is the nature of Ain Soph Aur, tenuously glimpsed past the glory of the crowing of our existence in Kether.
Ain Soph: Without Limit With each remove beyond the Tree of Life, the veils become less complex or differentiated, compared the clear distinctions between the ten Sephiroth. This title is just a description of a state of being, not involving a thing being that way. It implies more than infinity; it implies the on-going act of blowing away any defined limitations. Ain Soph is a state of being greater than. Such as an object accelerating forever, never encountering the speed limit of Einstein's constant of C. Such as persisting into the future and the past and all other metophorical directions. Ain Soph apparently defies having any description hung upon it, as that would limit it. AL II, 15: "For I am perfect, being Not.." Yet there is a definite force at work- pushing, stretching, expanding, continuing, escaping- the great insistence to move.
Ain: No-Thing What can you say about void? Even a void is a hole. Ain must the non-state, the absence, that provoked a universal True Will to coalesce and begin the process of formation. The etymology of the word absence provokes some insight into Ain. 'Ab-' means 'not' or 'away from', and '-sense' is similar to sense or perception. Together , absence is the perception of being away while still being missed, such as an empty seat in a classroom. The adjective form, absent, means close to not sent or sent away or did not go, depending on passive or active voice. Since Hadit is the one who goes, if Ain is absence, there is no one to go, therefore no Hadit. AL II, 23: "I am alone: there is no God where I am." Consequently, with no Hadit, Nuit would not be in existence, as they are mates and always found together. AL II, 2: "Come! all ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed. I, Hadit, am the complement of Nu, my bride." Therefore Ain, being No-Thing is a placeholder for before the existence of the physical universe and even before the existence of the gods. Only a universal longing.
That covers the three Veils of Negative: Ain, No-Thing, absent at roll-call: Ain Soph, Without Limit, the great insistence, Ain Soph Aur, Boundless Light, the omnipresence, pure energy. Kether could be the physicist's Big Bang and the rest of the Tree, especially below the abyss, the pains of birth resulting in physical manifestation in Malkuth. So then, Ain could be a first noticeable lack, Ain Soph the restless stirrings, Ain Soph Aur the first universal awareness and consciousness.
All this falls within the assumption that man, along with the pursuit of the Great Work of perfecting the species by perfecting the individual, is the big and exciting conclusion to the whole exercise in this, our physical real universe. AL II 19: "Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us." AL II, 78: "Lift up thyself, o my prophet, thy stature shall surpass the stars."
