The history of Kabbalah corresponds to the history of creation. The Thought of Creation caused creation to happen. The Thought of Creation is called the Root Phase or Phase Zero. Phase Zero generated four more phases, which then generated a Root World, which is still a spiritual world, not a physical one. The Root World, called Adam Kadmon (The Primeval Man), generated four more worlds, called Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. Those, too, are spiritual worlds, not physical ones.
At the bottom of Assiya was a black point, called “the point of This World,” which materialized into what you and I know as “the universe.” Within our universe there is a galaxy, called the Milky Way, and in that galaxy there is a tiny planet called Earth.
Earth’s evolution from fiery lava to cool seas to the upheaval of mountains and the break-up of landmass into the continents continued for many millions of years. It is the physical parallel of the spiritual Root Phase. When Earth cooled, vegetative life began, which reigned the globe for several million years.
Life on Earth continued to evolve until, at some point, the first animals appeared.
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On Course
When we talk about moving from inanimate to vegetative, to animate, and to human, we automatically think of Darwin, or of the explanation of creation that suits our belief system. But you should know that according to Kabbalah, the only reason for the appearance of the next step of creation—or of anything else, for that matter—is the completion of the previous step. When a phase is completed, the very end of the phase is the incentive for the appearance of the next stage in line.
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The last animal to evolve was, you guessed it, man. Humans first appeared several tens of thousands of years ago. They first lived like animals, finding whatever food was available.
Gradually, humans evolved and became the first animal to ask about the origin of its own existence. The name of the first person to ask where he came from was Adam. Yes, that Adam. This is why Adam is considered by Kabbalists as the first person to reach spirituality, to discover the source of his own existence—and yours, too.
If you look back at this short history of evolution, you will notice that it always consists of five phases before a major change occurs. Kabbalists describe five phases, five spiritual worlds, and five stages in the physical world: inanimate, vegetative, animate, human, and spiritual.