SEFER YETZIRAH, the BOOK OF CREATION

(Translated by Aryeh Kaplan, Weiser 1990):

3:3      Three Mothers: Alef, Mem, Shin

HE engraved them, HE carved them,

HE permuted them, HE weighed them,

HE transformed them.

          And with them HE depicted

Three Mothers in the Universe

Three Mothers in the Year

Three Mothers in the Soul,

           Male and Female.

3:4     Three Mothers in the Universe are air, water, fire.

Heaven was created from fire, Earth was created from water,

and air from Breath decides between them.

3:5     Three Mothers in the Year are the hot, the cold

          and the temperate.

the hot is created from fire, the cold is created from water

and the temperate, from Breath, decides between them.

3:6      Three Mothers in the Soul, male and female,

are the head, the belly and the chest.

The head is created from fire, the belly is created from water,

and the chest, from breath, decides between them.