Session I Keter Chapter 4 of Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ Keter is the "Holy Crown".

The beginning of the Tree of Life. Keter can be des cribed as the unknowable face of God. That which can not be spoke of directly because it is beyond human understanding while in incarnation. Keter has been identified as the moment of the "big bang" of creation. Keter is eternity with no start or end. The devine manifestation of Keter is called Atik Yomin (A ncient of Days) or Arik Anpin (the Big Face of God). The divine name is Eheieh - "I am". This is the name that is spoken to Moses at the burning bush. Keter can be linked to the term no-thing. Not that God in Keter is nothing, but he/she is no thing that we have ever experienced. A good way to think about this is the natu re of thought. When you think, the thought arises from your mind from nowhere and returns to no where. It is definately something, but at the same time it is no-thing. This is the natur e of Keter. The idea of free will and divine will. "The relationship can be made to a chess master playing a novice chess player. There are certain rules of the game that both players agree to follow - and thus there is a game. However, how both players will apply those rules is uncertain. Hence, it remain s to be seen at the ouset of the game. The master and the novice play by the same rules. Yet the chess master can manipulate the play of the novice, responding to each move of the nov ice to direct the game as he or she desires. In the case of a master playing a novice, the outcome of the game is pretty much certain. The master chess player will win, but exact ly how the master play will win is uncertain; no one can predict what the moves of the novi ce will be." Keter is the first and highest of the Sefirot (Nodes on the Tree of Life), repre senting the source of all beginnings and the sovereignty and authority of God over all force s of creation. Kabbalah says that God restrains Godself in order to reveal Godself. So, God ha s two aspects in relation to creation. On one hand, we can't understand God because h e/she is totally beyond our linear logic. This is Atik Yomin (God's will that cannot be understood). On the other hand there is an aspect of God's will that is linear. This is Arik Anpin. These two aspects of God are like a door. Atik Yomin is the otherside of the do or - the side

we can't see. Arik Anpin is this side of the door and the face of God that we c an behond and understand. Arik Anpin is called the "face of light" because he is represen ted by the 10 Sefirot of the Tree of Life. So, the tree represents the face of God we can com prehend. Keter is that interface between the knowable and unknowable. THe practice for Keter can be performed to help understand this mystery.