Samael (Qliphoth)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samael is the Qliphoth in Jewish mysticism corresponding to the sephirah Hod. It means the poison of God, the liar and the jugglers, and the demons associated with it are described as dull-yellow, demon-headed dog-like monsters.

The Qliphoth is the unbalanced aspect of a particular sephirah. Hod is the sephirah concerned with rationalisation, intellectualism and the occult, that gives form to ideas, as opposed to Netzach, that is raw energy, the ability of passion to transcend form. Hod must be balanced with Qliphoth to prevent dullness that follows from complete rationalization of the world, such as that of the sceptic who believes he knows everything and dismisses many potentially joyous experiences out of hand. For this reason, Hod becomes Samael, the Liar, the Juggler, who through clever words and rationalisations denies the existence of anything higher or greater.