Pathjoins 3–6 is the connective path on the Tree of Life that runs directly from Binah (Understanding, Sephirah 3) to Tiphereth (Beauty, Sephirah 6). Its name derives from the explicit enumeration of the two Sephiroth it bridges, marking a descending route from the left pillar of severity to the central pillar of equilibrium. In the thirty-two paths of the Sepher Yetzirah, this is numbered as Path 18, the eighteenth of the twenty-two paths that connect the ten sephiroth.

Position on the Tree of Life

Pathjoins 3–6 corresponds to step 17 in the scale (Path 17, according to the conventional enumeration in the Golden Dawn tradition). It is the sole direct link between the third and sixth Sephiroth, descending from the supernal realm of Binah, the Great Sea of form, down into the heart of the microcosm at Tiphereth. Visualized on the diagram, it runs from the left side of the upper triangle diagonally inward to the center of the middle pillar, crossing horizontally through the path that connects Chokmah (2) to Tiphereth (6). This placement makes it a crucial conduit for the energy of Saturnine understanding to become the balanced solar harmony of the central sphere.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

In the standard astrological attributions of the paths (following the Golden Dawn and Crowley's 777), Path 18—and thus Pathjoins 3–6—is ascribed to the zodiac sign Aquarius, ruled by Saturn in its nocturnal house, and to the Hebrew letter Tzaddi (צ). However, Crowley's revised schema in The Book of Thoth reassigns Tzaddi to the path between Chokmah and Tiphereth (Path 14, traditionally Heh and the Star), and places the letter Heh (and therefore Aries) on Path 18. The classic attribution for this path in the context of Binah and Tiphereth emphasizes the Aquarian current: the fixed, airy, and intellectual water-bearer who pours out the waters of understanding from Binah's vessel into the solar heart. Saturn, strengthened in this context, confers discipline, gravity, and the crystallizing of spiritual insight into an illuminated self.

Historical context

The earliest Kabbalistic source for the paths is the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), which enumerates the 32 paths: 10 sephiroth and 22 appendages (the paths). The 18th path is there described as the 'Intelligence of the House of Influence' (or the 'House of Abundance'), signifying a channel through which the supernal influx descends. In the medieval and Renaissance Kabbalah (e.g., the Pardes Rimonim of Cordovero, the works of Luria, and the Zoharic commentaries), this path is understood as the vector of geburah (severity) transformed into hesed (mercy) at the junction of the pillar. The Golden Dawn, systematizing these correspondences in the 1880s, formalized the attribution of the paths to the Hebrew alphabet and astrological signs. In their Cipher Manuscripts and subsequent publications like Liber 777 (1908), Aleister Crowley codified Pathjoins 3–6 as a specific entry in the 'Tree of Life' column, showing that in the Liber 777 table, this path corresponds stepwise to the number 17 (the scale step of the path itself) and to the 18th path of the Yetziratic system. The traditional Tarot attribution for Path 18 is the 17th Major Arcana card, The Star (which in the Golden Dawn and 777 is linked to the path between Binah and Chokmah via the letter Heh; but in the more commonly accepted sequence for this path, the card is The Tower or The Star depending on the arrangement; the Liber 777 row for Path 18, however, lists the Tarot trump 'The Star' for the path connecting Binah and Tiphereth according to the revised scheme). The understanding of this pathjoins is essential for any student of practical Kabbalah, as it governs the descent from the form-giving, womb-like Binah into the revealed beauty of Tiphereth, bridging the gulf between the supernal triad and the moral world.

In Liber 777, the named subject 'Pathjoins 3–6' appears as a specific entry in the table row for the Tree of Life, at the scale step of 17. It designates the connecting line that links the third and sixth Sephiroth, providing the practitioner with a precise node in the diagram that carries unique magical and meditative correspondences, distinct from the other pathjoins in the system.