Different theories of how Creation happens
Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the first reality, or principle. All things are derived from the first reality or perfect God by steps of degradation to lesser degrees of the first reality or God, and at every step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine. Emanationism is a transcendent principle from which everything is derived, and is opposed to both creationism (wherein the universe is created by a sentient God who is separate from creation) and materialism (which posits no underlying subjective and/or ontological nature behind phenomena being immanent).
- Emanation - All things are derived from the first reality or perfect God by steps of degradation to lesser degrees of the first reality or God, and at every step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine.
- Creation - the universe is created by a sentient God who is separate from creation
- Materialsim - big bang….
creation ex nihilo
The primary classical exponent of emanationism was the neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus, who in his Enneads described all things phenomenal and otherwise as an emanation (Greek: ἀπορροή aporrhoe (Ennead ΙΙ.3.2) or ἀπόρροια aporrhoia (II.3.11)) from the One (ἕν, hen). In 5.1.6, emanationism is compared to a diffusion from the One, of which there are three primary hypostases, the One, the Intellect (νοῦς, nous), and the Soul (ψυχή, psyche).
Emanator & Emanations
Kabbalah involves itself with the different, more radical proposition that God becomes known through His emanations of Sephirot, and spiritual Realms, Emanator ("Ma'ohr") and emanations ("Ohr") comprising the two aspects of Divinity.
The Godhead And its Aeons
The 10 Sephirot describe the emanations, or attributes of God in Kabbalah. The Ein Sof ("Limitless") is the unknowable, undifferentiated, infinite Divine essence. The 10 emanations of the Sephirot enable the Creation to know God, and become God's attributes that reveal Divinity. They are also the channels through which all of Creation is continuously sustained from nothing, as in the Kabbalistic scheme, Creation is continuous and God is the only true existence. A "Chain of Progression" (Seder hishtalshelus) of descending "Worlds", including the Four Worlds, links the Ein Sof with our physical realm.
According to Gershom Scholem, the Ein Sof is the emanator of the ten sefirot. Sefirot are energy emanations found on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.4 Ein Sof, the Atik Yomin ("Ancient of Days"), emanates the sefirot into the cosmic womb of the Ayin in a manner that results in the created universe. The three letters composing the word "Ayin" (אי״ן), indicate the first three purely intellectual sefirot, which precede any emotion or action.5 The order of devolution can be described as:citation needed
- 000. Ayin (Nothing; אין)
- Ein Sof (Limitlessness; אין סוף)
- 0. Ohr Ein Sof (Endless Light; אור אין סוף)
- .Tzimtzum (Contraction; צמצום)
- 1. Keter (Crown; כתר)
- 2. Chokhmah (Wisdom; חכמה)
- 3. Binah (Understanding; בינה)
- 4. Chesed or Gedulah (Loving Kindness or Mercy; חסד)
- 5. Gevurah or Din (Power or Judgement; גבורה)
- 6. Tiferet (Beauty or Compassion; תפארת)
- 7. Netzach (Triumph or Endurance; נצח)
- 8. Hod (Majesty or Splendor; הוד)
- 9. Yesod (Foundation; יסוד)
- 10. Malkuth (Realm; מלכות)
In this radical concept of the "Ari", at the beginning of Creation the Divine "withdrew" (a complete tzimtzum) from a "Chalal" ("Vacated space"), to allow Creation to take place. The interpretation of this forms a central concern of subsequent Kabbalah (see Tzimtzum), and the "withdrawal" of God is interpreted only as a concealment from the perspective of the Creation, and only to apply to His light, not His Essence, as that would imply heretical limitations to the Divine. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the Tzimtzum concealed the Ohr Ein Sof, which resolved the dichotomy between the Infinite Light and the possibility of creating finite Worlds. Without this radical leap of a concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, even with the progressive, gradual concealments of the Chain of Worlds, the problem would not properly be overcome. Only a second, new light, immeasurably diminished, and of a different quality than the Ohr Ein Sof, could become the creative source of all reality. This new light, a "thin" illumination from the Ohr Ein Sof, called the "Kav" ("Ray"), shone into the "Vacated Space", and was a light that was adapted to the perspective of the subsequent creations on their own terms. It could relate to finite creation (Divine immanence), rather than the infinite Primordial light (the ultimate Divine transcendence).
Metaphorical representation of the Five Worlds with the 10 Sephirot in each, as successively smaller concentric circles, derived from the light of the Kav after the Tzimtzum  Interpretations of this in Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy, are careful to avoid literal, spatial, geometric understandings of the Vacated Space and the Kav, as such dimensional understandings relate only to our physical world. Nonetheless, circular diagram representations of this, strictly metaphorical, are used in Kabbalah to represent the process. In the first, a black circle is broken only by one thin, vertical, straight line that descends from the surrounding white into the centre of the black circle from the top. Here the surrounding white represents the Ein Sof, the black circle represents the Chalal vacated "space", and the thin white line represents the "thin" illumination of the Kav, derived from the Ohr Ein Sof, but able to illuminate into the Chalal on its own terms. This representation is then augmented by a second, similar diagram, where the successive, unfolding Five Worlds, each with 10 successive Sephirot, are shown within the original circle as a series of concentric circles. The descending chain of Worlds proceeds in the diagram towards the centre of the circle, representing our lowest, physical realm. Each successive World and Sephirah is a successively smaller concentric circle, representing diminished, more constricted Divinity. The same Kav line is still shown connecting the outer Ein Sof to the centre of the circle, as the light of the Kav is the origin of all Creation after the Tzimtzum, though its light undergoes innumerable second tzimtzumim, toward the circle's centre. The utilisation here of concentric circles, or spheres is also significant, as with each subsequent lower step, the light encompasses" (sovev - "surrounds") that level of "immanent" (mimalei"-"filled") creation. Each of the Sephirot comprises both an encompassing light vested in its immanent vessel. Each World similarly incorporates its own relative level of Divine transcendence, illuminating its own level of Divine immanence.
At the very beginning the King made engravings in the supernal purity. A spark of blackness emerged in the sealed within the sealed, from the mystery of the Ayn Sof, a mist within matter, implanted in a ring, no white, no black, no red, no yellow, no colour at all. When He measured with the standard of measure, He made colours to provide light. Within the spark, in the innermost part, emerged a source, from which the colours are painted below; it is sealed among the sealed things of the mystery of Ayn Sof. It penetrated, yet did not penetrate its air. It was not known at all until, from the pressure of its penetration, a single point shone, sealed, supernal. Beyond this point nothing is known, so it is called reishit (beginning): the first word of all ...66 "
- Zohar
The structure of emanations has been described in various ways: Sephirot (divine attributes) and Partzufim (divine "faces"), Ohr (spiritual light and flow), Names of God and the supernal Torah, Olamot (Spiritual Worlds), a Divine Tree and Archetypal Man, Angelic Chariot and Palaces, male and female, enclothed layers of reality, inwardly holy vitality and external Kelipot shells, 613 channels ("limbs" of the King) and the divine Souls of Man. These symbols are used to describe various levels and aspects of Divine manifestation, from the Pnimi (inner) dimensions to the Hitzoni (outer).citation needed It is solely in relation to the emanations, certainly not the Ein Sof Ground of all Being, that Kabbalah uses anthropomorphic symbolism to relate psychologically to divinity. Kabbalists debated the validity of anthropomorphic symbolism, between its disclosure as mystical allusion, versus its instrumental use as allegorical metaphor; in the language of the Zohar, symbolism "touches yet does not touch" its point.
Emanation of the Macrocosm (The Greater World)
- The Expansion of Light
- Light begins to radiate in concentric circles outward into the Void, forming the spheres of the cosmos.
- This recalls the Neoplatonic Emanation and Kabbalistic Sefirot—each sphere is a step down from pure divinity.
- The Hierarchy of Being
- The cosmos unfolds as a vertical hierarchy:
- Godhead (Deus)
- Angelic Intelligences
- Celestial Spheres (planets, stars)
- Elemental Realm (fire, air, water, earth)
- The World Soul
- A divine Anima Mundi animates all levels—Fludd calls it the Spiritus Mundi, connecting all things.
- The Harmony of the Spheres
- All is ordered by mathematical proportion and musical harmony—a Pythagorean vision.
- He depicts the Cosmic Monochord, where divine music tunes creation.