Spiritual concepts
Intelligences and their synonyms

One of the perhaps hugely confusing aspects about the spiritual plane is that different spiritual systems have named each Intelligence in the Intelligence Hierarchy differently.
There are actually only a limited number of higher Intelligences in the spirit world, but they have hundreds of names. There are thousands and thousands of lower Intelligences simply because each one has to correspond with a species or a sub-system of the universe, but at higher levels – the realms of very very high functionality, there are not that many.
There are not male and female Intelligences, they are, as it were, dual sexed [though this is meaningless in this context], but in order to name the Intelligences they were often given a male and a female persona and name which make it even more confusing. It is worth noting that the Greeks, Hindus, Babylonians, Egyptians, Australian Aborigines, Siberians all have or had ‘gods’ and were quite right when they said that powerful beings that were the ‘gods’ of each species or ‘class’ or ‘entity’ created the universe.
There were.
The problem with saying this is that the spiritual realm became for them a morass of Spirit Entities with no clear pattern of correspondences. Which is why the Jews said ‘Enough – there is only one God’– and made things a lot simpler [though perhaps less comprehensive] for people.
It is worth emphasising I think that the physical planets were named after the Intelligences. We are still naming stars and planets, moons and suns with the names of mythological characters, so the process continues. We have to think of each 'planet' name as a storage level rather than as a physical form.....
Alphonse Toussenel – L’Esprit des Betes
Analogy had proclaimed the telescopic planets before the invention of the telescope, and the planet Leverrier [now Neptune] before the birth of the astronomer
Many people trying to explain this refer to these symbolic planets as ‘spheres’ rather than planets because it makes it clear there is a difference. I supposed we could imagine them to be like computer packages which group the functions.
In the 1600s Angelo Berardi attempted to draw up a table showing the synonyms. He used the work of the Kabbalists as well as Francesco Giorgi and produced a synthesis of others' work. The following was the result [I have added some extras using Cirlot and Wikipedia]. I have no idea whether it is right or wrong, but it should help to show the problems faced when dealing with this area. There are only one set of Intelligences shared by us all, but they have a lot of names!
Table one correspondences
Planet name |
Esoteric
|
Jewish Sephirot |
Christian |
Chaldeans Sumerian |
Greeks |
Romans |
Hindu |
Primum mobile |
Crown |
Kether |
Seraphim |
|
|
|
Ketu [south lunar node] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rahu [north lunar node |
Firmament |
Wisdom |
Chokmah |
Cherubim |
|
|
|
|
Saturn |
Intelligence |
Binah |
Thrones |
Ninib? |
Cronos |
Saturn |
Shani |
Jupiter |
Mercy |
Chesed |
Dominions |
Iškur / Adad |
Zeus |
Jupiter |
Brhaspati * |
Mars |
Fortitude |
Gevurah |
Virtues |
Ninurta? |
Ares |
Mars |
Mangala |
Sun |
Beauty |
Tiphereth |
Powers |
Shamash |
Apollo |
Helios |
Surya |
Venus |
Eternal victory |
Netzach |
Principalities |
Ishtar |
Aphrodite |
Venus |
Shukra |
Mercury |
Glory |
Hod |
Archangels |
Enki/Nabu |
Hermes |
Mercury |
Budha |
Moon |
Foundation |
Yesod |
Angels |
Sin |
Artemis |
Diana |
Chandra |
[5 levels] |
Kingdom |
Malkuth |
Blessed souls |
|
|
|
|
Ceres |
|
|
|
|
Demeter |
Ceres |
Shakti |
Uranus |
|
|
|
|
Uranos |
Caelus |
Vasuki |
Neptune |
|
|
|
|
Poseidon |
Neptune |
Varuna |
Pluto |
|
|
|
Nergal |
Hades |
Pluto |
Kubera |
* Although Berardi favours Brhaspati, most of the evidence seems to point to Indra as being the more obvious choice for this correspondence, as he is a god of thunder as is Zeus and the Nordic god Thor [not shown]
One of the abiding expressions we use even today is that of ‘being in seventh heaven’. So where is seventh heaven? The seven heavens correspond to the planets, Saturn being the seventh heaven and the Moon being the first heaven. The different nomenclature was used within Judeo, Islamic and Christian cosmology to avoid the use of the Greek names – which were regarded as being ‘pagan’. The levels are, however, identical.
Apart from this known naming, the following tables may be incorrect for which I apologise, but no sources seem to agree on the correspondences here
Table two correspondences
Planetary system |
Alchemical metal |
Colour |
Bird |
Musical system |
No |
Elements |
- |
|
|
Parhypate meson |
|
Moon |
Silver |
Silver or white |
Owl
|
Lichanos Meson |
1st heaven |
Mercury |
Mercury |
Purple |
Storm petrol |
Mese |
2nd heaven |
Venus |
Copper [or bronze] |
Green |
Dove or swan |
Trite synemmenon |
3rd heaven |
Sun |
Gold |
Gold or yellow |
Pea cock |
Trite diezeugmenon |
4th heaven |
Mars |
Iron |
Red |
Falcon |
Paranete diezeugmenon |
5th heaven |
Jupiter |
Tin |
Azure blue |
Eagle |
Nete diezeugmenon |
6th heaven |
Saturn |
Lead |
Sable or black |
Crow or raven |
Trite hyperbolaion |
7th heaven |
Firmament |
- |
|
|
Paranete hyperbolaion |
|
Primum mobile |
- |
|
|
Nete hyperbolaion |
According to Jewish teachings in the Talmud, the names of the seven heavens are as shown below:
- Vilon (וילון), also Isaiah 40:22
- Raki'a (רקיע), also Genesis. 1:17
- Shehaqim (שחקים), also Psalm. 78:23
- Zebul (זבול), also Isaiah 63:15, I Kings, 8:13
- Ma'on (מעון), also Deuteronomy. 26:15, Psalm. 42:9
- Machon (מכון), also 1 Kings 7:30, Deuteronomy. 28:12)
- Araboth (ערבות), The seventh Heaven
The name of the seven heavens in Islam, derived from a Hadith from Ali, are as shown below.
- Rafi' (رفیع) the least heaven (سماء الدنیا)
- Qaydum (قیدوم)
- Marum (ماروم)
- Arfalun (أرفلون)
- Hay'oun (هيعون)
- Arous (عروس)
- Ajma' (عجماء)
For the ext table, there is again no agreement on these names, one source can contradict other sources, so it may be better to view the names as a list of synonymous names.
Table four correspondences
Planetary system |
Jewel |
Norse |
Indo European |
Hebrew letter |
Feudal rank |
Names |
Elements |
Jasper |
|
|
|
Peasant |
|
Moon |
Sapphire |
Moon |
|
Gimmel |
Citizen |
Sadai, Elhai, Adinia, Melec |
Mercury |
Agate |
Woden |
|
Beth |
Knight |
Ihvh Zevaoth |
Venus |
Emerald |
Freya |
|
Daleth |
Baron |
Elohim Zervaoth |
Sun |
Onyx |
Sun |
|
Resh |
Viscount |
Ihvh |
Mars |
Carnelian |
TIW or TYW [Tue] |
|
Peh |
Earl |
Elohim |
Jupiter |
Chrysolate |
Thor |
Dyaus |
Kaph |
Marquis |
El |
Saturn |
Beryl |
Saturn |
|
Tau |
Duke |
Hihvh |
Firmament |
Topaz |
|
|
|
King |
Sem mephoras |
Primum mobile |
Chrysopase |
|
|
|
Emperor |
Ehieh asher ehieh |
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the 5th onyx, the 6th carnelian, the 7th chrysolate, the 8th beryl, the 9th topaz, the 10th chrysoprase, the 11th jainth, the 12th amethyst.
The Ultimate origin of the names
Louis Jacolliot made a study into the Sanskrit names for various Hindu deities of extremely ancient times and believed that the origins of all the Intelligence names, plus a great many others found in legend and myth, could be found in Sanskrit. He surmised that it is a possibility that most of fables, myths and even Biblical stories have their ultimate origin in India. This table is derived from his book ‘The Bible in India’.
Source: The Bible in India - Louis Jacolliot
Intelligence/god/hero/mystic |
Sanskrit |
Jupiter/Zeus |
In Sanskrit Zu-pitri, meaning Father in Heaven or Zeus-pitri |
Pallas – in Greece the goddess of wisdom |
In Sanskrit Pala-sa – meaning protecting wisdom |
Athenia – in Greece goddess of chastity |
In Sanskrit, A-tanaia – without children |
Minerva |
In Sanskrit, Ma-nara-va – who supports the strong |
Bellona – a goddess of war |
In Sanskrit Bala-na – warlike strength |
Neptune |
In Sanskrit, Na-pata-na – who governs the furious waves |
Poseidon – an alternative name for Neptune |
In Sanskrit Pasa-uda – who calms the waters |
Mars – god of war |
In Sanskrit, Mri – who gives death |
Pluto – god of the underworld |
In Sanskrit Plushta – who strikes with fire |
Centaur – half man half horse |
In Sanskrit Ken-tura a man-horse |
Hercules |
In Sanskrit Hara-kala, hero of battles |
Theseus |
In Sanskrit, Tha-saha, the associate or companion of Siva |
Ariadne – the princess abandoned by Theseus who gave herself up to the enemy |
In Sanskrit Ari-ana – seduced by an enemy |
Andromeda – sacrificed to Nepune |
In Sanskrit Andha-ra-medha – sacrificed to the passion of the Water god |
Perseus |
In Sanskrit Para-saha – timely succour |
Pythagoras |
In Sanskrit Pitha-guru – the school master |
Anaxagoras |
In Sanskrit Ananga-guru – the spirit master |
Protagoras |
In Sanskrit Prata-guru – the master of all sciences |
Spartans |
In Sanskrit Spardha-ta – the rivals |
Hellenes |
In Sanskrit Hela-na – worshippers of the Moon |
Christ |
In Sanskrit Christna or Krishna meaning created by God; the son of the Virgin Devanagny |
The implications of this of course, are that ultimately, all the understanding of the Intelligences and their hierarchy and functions, and the myths and fables that were built up to demonstrate the characteristics of each, can be traced back literally thousands and thousands of years to the ancient Vedas, and possibly the civilisation and mystic system that was found in the Indus valley – Shaivism.
Observations
For iPad/iPhone users: tap letter twice to get list of items.
- Ahmad Ahsai, Shaykh - Kitab Sharh al-Ziyara - On alchemical metals
- Al-Ghazzali - The Alchemy of Happiness - 10 The Intelligence hierarchy
- Anacreon - And Now With All Thy Pencil's Truth
- Ancient Egyptian - The Creation Myth of Heliopolis
- Asclepius - The Egg
- Athanasius Kircher – Musurgia Universalis - Jupiter
- Athanasius Kircher – Musurgia Universalis - Saturn
- Babylon - The Ishtar Gate 01
- Babylon - The Ishtar Gate 02
- Babylon - The Ishtar Gate 03
- Boehme, Jacob - Aurora - Intelligences
- Boehme, Jacob - Aurora - The Planets
- Boehme, Jacob - Father and Son
- Book of Enoch-18
- Brewster, Sir David - More Worlds than One (book 1854)
- Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad – The Creation myth – 02 Verses 1.4.4 to 1.4.6
- Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad – The Creation myth – 05 Verse 1.4.11
- Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad – The Creation myth – 06 Verse 1.4.12 to 1.4.17
- Clement of Alexandria - Excerpta - On the Planets
- Concept - Korean mystic shamanism – god
- Corbin, Henry - On the stars
- Corbin, Henry - The Earth of the Emerald Cities
- Corinthians 12:2
- Dava Sobel on the Planets
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume – System and order as an indicator of the Nature of ‘God’, but not necessarily proof of one Being
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume – Arguments for the Great Work, Configurations and versions within the Work and an Intelligence hierarchy
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume – The Intelligent hierarchy is both male and female, as is God
- Dr Jordan Peterson – The Mesopotamian gods and the Creation story
- Eriugena, Johannes Scotus - Periphyseon - Intelligence hierarchy
- Ezekiel - Ezekiel 1 - Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year
- Ezekiel - Ezekiel 40 - The New Temple Area
- Father Bernabe Cobo - Inca Religion and Customs - The stars and constellations
- Fechner, Gustav Theodor - A revelation
- Ficino, Marsilio - Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus - On the intervals of the spheres
- Gaudi - Professional work - 04 The Sagrada Família
- Godwin, Joscelyn - Harmonies of Heaven and Earth - The Planets
- Hadewijch - I saw standing before me a cross like crystal
- Hafez of Shiraz - Thirty Poems - O royal keen eyed falcon
- Hegel - Philosophy of Mind – Pantheism, Krishna , and the Bhagavad Gita
- Homer - The Odyssey - Vulcan
- Intelligences - ELEMENTS AIR Sud
- Intelligences - ELEMENTS Nergal and Ereshkigal
- Intelligences - INTELLIGENCE HIERARCHY The Annunaki
- Intelligences - PLANETS JUPITER Adad [or Hadad] and Šala
- Intelligences - PLANETS MARS Ninurta
- Intelligences - PLANETS MERCURY Enki
- Intelligences - PLANETS SATURN Nirig and Ugallu
- Jili, Abd al-Karim - Al-Kahf wa al-raqim - 080 Section 7
- Jili, Abd al-Karim - Al-Kahf wa al-raqim - 090 Section 8
- Jili, Abd al-Karim - Al-Kahf wa al-raqim - 100 Section 9
- Jili, Abd al-Karim - Al-Kahf wa al-raqim - 130 Section 12
- Joscelyn Godwin - On Plutarch, Ptolemy and Canobus
- Kabir - The woman who is separated from her lover
- Kish
- Lowell, James Russell - O Land of promise, from what Pisgah’s height
- Maier, Michael - The Secrets of Alchemy - The Tincture and Gold
- Marad - The Exploits of Ninurta
- Mayan - Popol Vuh - 03 And then the Earth arose because of them
- Mesopotamian - Means of achieving spiritual experience 07 Sex
- Mircea Eliade - On the number of levels and layers
- Mircea Eliade - The Mithraic Mysteries
- Moses de Leon – Sefer ha-Rimmon - Tree of life
- Motoyama, Dr Hiroshi – The many layers and beings of the spirit world
- Mudang spiritual experiences – A Dream of Holy things
- Mudang spiritual experiences – A Vision of the Sun and the Moon
- Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo - And the jackal story
- Nizami – Makhzanol Asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries) – from On the Ascension
- Norse - Gamla Uppsala - Adam of Bremen
- Omar Khayyam - The Rubaiyat - And on the Throne of Saturn sate
- Ovid - Metamorphoses - The Giant's War 1
- Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace on Intelligent Design
- Planck, Max - There is no such thing as Matter
- Plato - Critias - Atlantis and Athens
- Plato - Republic X - 03 Tale of Er
- Plato - Timaeus - Putting the leaves on the tree of life
- Pordage, John - On the Planets
- Professor Pierre Janet - Below God there is an infinite chain from seraph to grain of sand, from highest self-consciousness to most absolute unconsciousness
- Reichel-Dolmatoff – The Tukano Indians - The Milky Way
- Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday
- Sacred geography – Picts – Stone circles 01
- Samavedas – 01 Book 01 Chapter 01, DECADE V Agni
- Samavedas – 01 Book 04 Chapter 01, DECADE I Indra and others
- Samavedas – 01 Book 04 Chapter 01, DECADE III [extract verses 7-8]
- Samavedas – Book 02 Chapter 02, X Soma Pavamana
- Samavedas – Book 02 Chapter 02, XVI Soma Pavamana
- Samavedas – Book 03 Chapter 01, VIII Indra
- Samavedas – Book 03 Chapter 02, VI Soma Pavamana
- Samavedas – Book 06 Chapter 01, IX Soma Pavamana
- Schuré - The Great Initiates – Hermes-Thoth
- Sefer ha-bahir – Para 21 - Order of Creation and Tree of Life
- Sefer ha-bahir – Para 85 - The Egg and Intelligence hierarchy
- Sefer Yetzirah
- Shaikh Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani - Irshad al-‘awamm - The Planets
- Sikhism – Japji 09
- Sikhism – Japji 35
- Suhrawardi - Hikmat al-ishriq - The Music of the Spheres
- Tarot - 10 Minor Arcana - 00 The Court Cards introduction
- The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
- Through the Looking Glass - Ch 08 - 2 The White Knight and the beehive
- Through the Looking Glass - Ch 08 - 3 Falling off
- Urantia Book - Paper 16 - The Seven Master Spirits - Intelligence hierarchy
- Vaughan Williams - Job, a Masque for dancing (1931)
- Watson, Lyall - Wind and heaven's breath
- Yasna - The Divine Heptad
- Zachariah 6
- Zohar - Bamidbar 159A - What did G-d want from man in this world?
- Zohar - I 134b - The Torah
- Zohar - III 202a - Tree of Life
- Zosimos of Panopolis - The Letter Omega - 07
- Zosimos of Panopolis - The Vision of Zosimos - 05