One of the most important concepts in Cabbalah is that of the ten sephira, (singular sephiroth). There is no direct translation for this word-"emanation,” “ray” “demiurgic entity” and “process” are all perfectly acceptable terms that capture different connotations of the word. The Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar maintain that God created the universe by manifesting these ten divine sephira, each one corresponding to a different partition of creation, a different divine attribute, and a different level of consciousness. The sephira are linked to each other by 32 paths, each of which corresponds to a letter or a number in Hebrew.
The Torah states that mankind was created in God’s image, and for the Cabbalist this is literally true: the ten sephira and the 32 paths between them are mirrored by ten energy centers and 32 mystical connective meridians in the human body. Learning how to manipulate these energy centers and meridians is the key to unlocking higher levels of consciousness and the secrets of spell casting. By gaining mastery over the sephira, a sorcerer can in fact control the very ontological building blocks God used to create the universe.
The ten sephira are, in descending order: Keter (Crown, Will, Good); Chakhmah (Wisdom, Male); Binah (Understanding, Female); Chesed (Love, Greatness, South); Gevurah (Strength, North); Tiferet (Beauty, East); Netzach (Victory, Up); Hod (Splendor, Down); Yesod (Foundation, West) and Malkhut (Kingship, Evil).