'Olam (Hebrew)
Ulom (Phoenician) [from
`alam to hide, conceal] Also oulom. Long duration, long past time, great antiquity, hence occasionally used for the future; again, the world. Parallel to the Gnostic Aeon, which signifies a time period, something secret and esoteric, and the world which exists in the time period; also parallels the Sanskrit kala. Sometimes mistranslated as eternity. Frequently used in the plural ('olamin).
In the Qabbalah, however, 'olam particularly refers to a sphere or world, of which there are four, which come into being during the manifestation of a cosmos. They are enumerated as: 'olam
'atstsiloth (the sphere of condensation); 'olam had-Beri'ah (the sphere of creation); 'olam hay-Yetsirah (the sphere of formation); and 'olam ha-
'asiyyah or Qelippoth (the sphere of action or of shells). Each 'olam is the emanation or continuation of its superior, so that each is as a pendant connected with its superior and a link in a chain from
'atstsiloth -- neshamah: to the head; beri'ah -- ruah: to the breast or chest; yetsirah -- nephesh: to the abdomen; and
'asiyyah or qelippoth -- guph: the physical body.
