Sphere of understanding (Kabbalah)

This sphere of awareness is associated with passive intellect, with the ability to reason, and thus with the development of contemplative ability. It corresponds to the developmental phase of old age and the cultivation of philosophy. This state is represented as the concealed world, or the mystery of the supreme world. It is characterized as the intelligence which applies wisdom (chokmah). Various names for it include, the Mother (Aima) and the Assembly (ekklesia) of Israel. It is the source of all images and forms, the womb of creation producing the archetypes in the manifest universe. It is symbolized by the positive and negative archetypes of the anima and the witch, and by the planet Saturn, as well as by Eve in the Jewish tradition.

This sphere is the third of ten described in the Kabbalistic system of sephiroth.