Tiphareth and the Western Correspondences

Tiphareth is assigned the Sun, and the pairing is central to the symbolism of the whole Tree: as the sun stands at the centre of the planetary spheres and gives light to all, so Tiphareth stands at the heart of the sefirot and harmonises them, the solar centre of balance and beauty. In the Golden Dawn system of 1888 and in Liber 777, Tiphareth's colour is golden yellow, and it corresponds to the four Sixes of the tarot suits, the sixes being cards of harmony and equilibrium in keeping with the sphere.

The solar attribution makes Tiphareth the seat of the harmonising, life-giving and sacrificial-kingly principle, and Western esotericists have connected it with the figures of dying-and-rising solar saviours. As always, the sefirah Tiphareth, its divine name, and its theological role as the reconciling centre are Jewish Kabbalah, while the cross-referencing to the Sun, to a tarot rank and to a magical colour scale is the Hermetic Qabalah formalised by the Golden Dawn. The centrality of Tiphareth is a shared feature of the diagram, read devotionally in the one tradition and magically in the other.