שָׁמַיִם
“Shamayim is a Hebrew word that refers to a beautiful sky full of fire. The word is a construct of the Hebrew words esh (fire) and mayim (water), forming the heavens.”
Shamayim (Hebrew: שָׁמַיִם šāmayīm, "heavens") is the dwelling place of God and other heavenly beings according to the Bible. It is one of three components of the biblical cosmology. There are two other ones. Eretz (Earth), home of the living, and sheol (the common grave), the realm of the dead
“Exodus 24, Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6, 2 Chronicles 18 and 1 Kings 22 describe God seated on a throne, with angels surrounding him. Exodus 24:10 describes a pavement made of sapphire or lapis lazuli.
Ezekiel 1 describes a throne room made of angels and God's throne being seated on a flying angel. Isaiah 6 describes an altar standing before God's throne. 2 Chronicles 18 and 1 Kings 22 describe angels to the right and the left of God, like prosecutors and defendants to the right and left of a judge in a bet din. Judaism interprets the visions symbolically, rather than as literal descriptions of heaven.”
šāmayim (שָׁמַיִם) is a plural form meaning heavens or sky. Hebrew grammarians classify it as a plural of majesty. In biblical cosmology, it refers to the upper region above the firmament, the dwelling place of God, and the domain of celestial beings.
The Hebrew root is sometimes interpreted as combining esh (fire) and mayim (water), although this is a later mystical etymology rather than a historical linguistics claim. It expresses the idea that the heavens are composed of a subtle union of opposites.
The word appears in Genesis 1:1 as one of the first objects of creation. It signifies the upper half of the ancient tripartite cosmos:
- Shamayim — the heavens
- Eretz — the earth
- Sheol — the underworld
Biblical prophets describe Shamayim in visionary imagery: throne, attendants, fire, sapphire pavement, living creatures, temples not made by hands.
In Jewish Mysticism (Kabbalah)
Kabbalah treats Shamayim not as physical sky but as a term for the upper worlds generated by divine emanation.
Several layers of meaning appear:
a. Shamayim as Yesod
Some Kabbalists identify Shamayim with the sefirah Yesod, whose function is the channel or conduit that unites higher and lower realms. Yesod takes its power from the union of opposing elements, which fits the esh–mayim reading.
In this interpretation, Shamayim is the subtle, invisible field through which divine influx passes into the world.
b. Shamayim as the Boundary Between Worlds
Other traditions place Shamayim at the interface between the lower world of Asiyah and the higher world of Yetzirah. It is a membrane, veil, or expanse—a metaphysical raqia—separating densities or planes of existence.
c. Shamayim as the Supernal Heavens
In Lurianic and Zoharic literature, Shamayim is often used generically for the realms above the physical—corresponding to the seven or ten heavens of rabbinic mysticism. It includes the dwelling of angels, celestial palaces, the heavenly Temple, and the upper Garden of Eden.
In these texts, Shamayim carries several functions:
- the storehouse of souls
- the domain of divine knowledge (da’at elyon)
- the archetype of the earthly Temple
- the field of emanated light before the constrictions of embodiment
In Hermetic Philosophy
Hermeticism uses the Hebrew term indirectly through its adoption in early Christian, Jewish-Hellenistic, and late antique magical texts.
In Hermetic writing, Shamayim is functionally equivalent to:
The Aether
The subtle fifth element which forms the medium of the planets and stars.
The Celestial Spheres
The layered heavens ruled by planetary intelligences.
The Subtle Sky of Mind
A plane of higher thought, corresponding to the “above” in “as above, so below”.
Hermeticists understand Shamayim as the upper half of the cosmic polarity, the realm of ideation, archetypes, and intelligence. It is not a place but a mode of existence characterized by light, order, and subtlety.
In Alchemy
Alchemists adopted the esh–mayim reading symbolically. Shamayim becomes the archetype of the celestial water or astral fire that permeates matter.
Typical meanings include:
a. The Subtle Spirit in Matter
A volatilized, luminous substance—sometimes equated with the Anima Mundi or Quintessence—that links the Above to the Below.
b. The Rebis (fire-water union)
The heavens as union of opposites, mirroring the alchemical marriage of sulfur and mercury.
c. The Macrocosmic Vessel
Shamayim signifies the “upper vessel” in the cosmic laboratory where processes of dissolution, clarification, and distillation occur. The lower waters (material chaos) and the upper waters (spiritual vapors) are brought into relationship.
The alchemist’s Work replicates this division and reconciliation.
In Western Occultism
Later esoteric traditions adopt Shamayim as a symbolic word with these associated meanings:
- the celestial world
- the realm of angels
- the homeland of the soul
- the pre-incarnational state of consciousness
- the true native landscape from which the initiate has fallen
- the archetypal “Upper Room” or Holy of Holies
- the inner sky that is accessed through mystical ascent or magical practice