In the Kabbalistic lexicon of creation, the “Second Flash of Lightning” is the second of the ten primal emanations that inaugurate existence from the Void. Known in Russian as «2-ya Vspyshka Molnii», this object represents the initial movement of the creative impulse as it descends from pure potential into differentiation. It is the lightning that follows the first rupture, the extension of the flash that begins to trace the lines of the cosmos. Etymologically, the term links the sudden, illuminating strike of lightning with the ordered sequence of emanations—each flash a discrete yet continuous act of revelation. In Hermetic Kabbalah, this flash is assigned to the second sephirah, Chokmah (Wisdom), the point of primal force that receives the influx from Keter and transmits it downward. Unlike the first flash, which is the initial spark from the Absolute, the second flash is the first explicit unfolding of that spark into a directed energy, a thrust of pure will that establishes the axis of creation.

Position on the Tree of Life

The Second Flash of Lightning corresponds to the second step on the scale of the Sword and the Serpent—specifically, the step associated with Chokmah on the Tree of Life. In the path of the lightning flash, each flash marks the transition from one sephirah to the next. Positioned at Chokmah, this flash is the first of the active emanations, the first point at which the passive unity of Keter begins to split into duality. It is the lightning that bridges the supraphysical and the manifest, the point where pure wisdom begins to organize the chaos of the first flash into a coherent structure. This placement is parallel to the second path of the Serpent, which represents the serpentine wisdom that coils through the Tree, but the flash itself is the direct, vertical descent from Keter to Chokmah, a strike that sets the entire Tree vibrating.

Astrological and Planetary Correspondence

While no direct astrological symbol is given in the data for this step, the correspondence to Chokmah links the Second Flash of Lightning to the zodiacal sign of the first decanate of Aries—the ram’s horn that initiates the zodiacal year—and to the sphere of the fixed stars, specifically the first swirl of Mazloth. In the scheme of the Sword and the Serpent, this flash is the first of the flashes that correspond to the paths of the Serpent, and it shares the astrological nature of the first flash of Keter but with a more defined, directional quality. It is the lightning of the east wind, the spark that carries the influence of the outermost sphere into the realm of form. In practice, this flash is the point of origin for the energies that later crystallize into the planets, but it itself remains beyond planetary assignment, being a pure force of wisdom.

Historical Context

The figure of the lightning flash as a model of creation has deep roots in Kabbalistic cosmology, most directly in the Zoharic description of the sephiroth as “flashes” that emanate from the Ein Sof. The concept of ten flashes of lightning (often called “beraqim” in Hebrew) appears in the Idra Rabbah and Idra Zuta, where the process of emanation is described as a series of illuminations that strike from the hidden head downward. However, the specific systematization of “1-ya Vspyshka Molnii” through “10-ya Vspyshka Molnii” as a coordinate grid for the Tree of Life is a modern development, likely codified by Aleister Crowley and his collaborators in the early 20th century. In Liber 777, the table row “The Sword and the Serpent” aligns each sephirah and path with a flash, the sword representing the vertical descent and the serpent the ascending, winding path of return. The Second Flash of Lightning is thus the second of ten sword-strokes, and it is historically significant because it reifies the dynamic nature of Chokmah: not a static point but a movement. This tradition draws on earlier Hermetic works such as the Aesch Mezareph and the Kabbalah Denudata, but Crowley’s grid is the first to assign a specific numbered “flash” to each step, making the tradition accessible to Western ceremonial magicians. The Second Flash is often invoked in rituals of the Golden Dawn as the force that breaks the silence of the first veil.

In the Context of Table 777

In the table row for the Sword and the Serpent, at the step numbered 2 (the second sephirah), the named subject “2-ya Vspyshka Molnii” appears as the cell entry for the source column. This placement designates the object as the second stage of the lightning descent, the specific energy that characterizes the essence of Chokmah in the context of the Sword’s fall. It is not merely a label but the active principle that defines the quality of that position on the Tree, bridging the first flash of Keter and the third flash of Binah. For the practitioner, this cell indicates that the invocation of Chokmah should be aligned with the imagery of the second lightning strike—the beginning of direction and the first pattern of force. The Second Flash of Lightning, in this table, is the key to understanding the transition from the potential of the first flash to the actualized structure of the third, and it is the point at which the magician may begin to trace the pattern of creation from the top down.