Appendix P

The Ninth Gate is a film by the well known director, Roman Polanski. Appendix P -- this webpage -- is Laurel Whitney's continuing analysis of the movie and the book on which the movie was based. This is the ninth section of nine, in which Ms. Whitney relates the contents of the movie and book to the Qabala and The Tree of Life. The nine sections include:

The Big Picture

Deciphering the Engravings

The First Three Gates

Qabalistic Background

The Second Three Gates

The Final Three Gates

John's Apocalyspe

The Polanski Code

Appendix P

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Engravings from the book, The Dumas Club, and the movie, The Ninth Gate, can be found at An Eclectic Historian.

(6/20/9) Make that Apocalyptic Productions, for the movie version (but you will have to buy the book for the novel's version). (An Eclectic Historian is not currently on the web.)

It is strongly recommended that you print out these pages (all 18) and use them in the process of reading Ms. Whitney's essay. In addition, version of the Tree of Life used by Ms. Whitney can be viewed at: http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Image:Tree_simple.gif.

A WARNING -- other than "abandon hope all ye who enter here" -- is that you might want to see the movie before reading the essay, inasmuch as the analysis pretty much gives away the plot, like who gets killed and who doesn't.

This is the section which you probably should have read first, in that it provides the means to assist one in pronouncing many of the words in the text -- assuming you're the type who reads aloud -- even inadvertently.

IX. APPENDIX P

Pronunciation Guide

Following is a pronunciation guide for the names of the sephiroth adapted from one prepared by Bill Heidrick, http://www.billheidrick.com/works/qbl1.htm#p40, whose online articles on the Tree of Life are a great resource to explore.

Beginning at the bottom of the Tree:

MALKUTH - Sephira #10, meaning 'Kingdom' (Central Pillar of Equilibrium)

Mal-KOOT --- a as in bard. oo as in moon. Accent the last syllable.

YESOD - Sephira #9, meaning 'Foundation' (Central Pillar of Equilibrium)

Ye-SOD --- e like the first e in believe. o like in bore (half-way between 'oh' and 'aw'). Accent the last syllable.

HOD - Sephira #8, meaning 'Glory' (Left-hand Pillar of Form)

Hod --- o like in bore.

NETZACH - Sephira #7, meaning 'Victory' (Right-hand Pillar of Force)

NET-zach --- e as in met. a as in bard. ch is pronounced like a 'k' that is not completely closed off and has some air (and phlegm) blowing through it. If you've ever heard a Jewish person pronounce the word 'chutzpah', that "ch" is the sound. Accent the first syllable.

TIPHERETH - Sephira #6, meaning 'Beauty' (Central Pillar of Equilibrium)

Tip-E-ret --- i like in bit. Both e's like in met. Accent the middle syllable.

GEBURAH - Sephira #5, meaning 'Judgment' (Left-hand Pillar of Form)

Ge-boo-RA --- e as the first in believe. oo as in moon. a as in father. Accent the last syllable.

CHESED - Sephira #4, meaning 'Mercy' (Right-hand Pillar of Force)

CHE-sed --- Ch is as described in Netzach. Both e's are like in met. Accent the first syllable.

DA'AT - 'non-sephira', no number, meaning 'Knowledge' (Central Pillar)

Da-at --- a double "a" sound like that in bard. These two "a" sounds are separated by a "glottal stop", a sudden interruption of breath by very brief closing of the epiglottis (as when saying 'nuh-uh' to mean 'no'). Accent the first syllable.

BINAH - Sephira #3, meaning 'Understanding' (Left-hand Pillar of Form)

Bi-NA --- i like in police. a like in father. Accent the last syllable.

CHOKMAH - Sephira #2, meaning 'Wisdom' (Right-hand Pillar of Force)

Chok-MA --- ch as in Netzach and Chesed, o like in born. a like in father. Accent the last syllable.

KETHER - Sephira #1, meaning 'Crown' (Central Pillar of Equilibrium)

KE-ter --- e as in met. Accent the first syllable.

Note: In addition to making comments and suggestions via the Feedback mechanism for this website, one can also make comments directly to the author, Laurel Whitney, at hesper79@uneedspeed.net. Comments worth sharing with others may be included in The Ninth Gate Commentaries.

Ha Qabala

The Polanski Code

The Ninth Gate Commentaries