The Path of Lamed: Geburah to Tiphareth

The twenty-second path joins Geburah, Severity, to Tiphareth, Beauty, descending the left side of the Tree from the sphere of judgement to the harmonising centre. It carries the letter Lamed, the tallest of the Hebrew letters, rising above the line, whose name means "ox-goad", the pointed staff used to drive and direct the ox, an image of teaching, correction and the guidance of force toward its proper end; the same root gives the Hebrew words for teaching and learning.

In the Sefer Yetzirah Lamed is one of the twelve simple letters assigned to the twelve zodiac signs, and it is given to Libra, the scales, the cardinal air sign of balance, justice and equilibrium. The attribution of the letter to Libra belongs to the ancient Jewish scheme in which the twelve single letters correspond to the signs and months; the scales of Libra and the correcting goad of Lamed together make this the path of justice and the righting of the balance on the pillar of severity.