How the Sefirot appear in the prophetic vision. The images seen by the prophets and what they represent.
The Sefirot have no intrinsic form; they appear in many shapes — Partzufim, body-parts, lights brighter or dimmer — depending on what the observer is shown.
Op. 5–6 told you what the Sefirot are (visible attributes of the Will). Op. 7 opens a new section asking how they appear. The answer governs every prophetic-vision text in the tradition. Three principles are laid down here that will operate through Op. 7–13.
First principle: the Sefirot can shine brighter or dimmer. When more brightly, they appear as Partzufim (configurations) — fully-articulated faces. When dimmer, they appear as individual Sefirot in katnut (small mode, exile-state) or gadlut (great mode, redemption-state). The same powers, two intensities of revelation.
Second principle, and the most consequential: the Sefirot have no intrinsic form. There is no shape they actually possess; what the prophet sees is one mode of appearance, suited to the prophet's vision. This explains a feature of the tradition that often confuses readers: different prophets see different forms, the Idra Rabba and the Idra Zuta describe different anatomies, the Zohar and Etz Chayim use different vocabularies. None of this is a contradiction. The Sefirot, being visible attributes rather than substances, appear differently to different perceivers. The forms are real as forms of revelation; they are not real as descriptions of intrinsic structure.
Third principle: in essence the Sefirot are an extended array of powers, interdependent, ordered toward the perfection of the plan. This is the engineering picture. Not a list of ten things, but an integrated apparatus — each power calibrated, each contributing, each depending on the others.
The chapter also introduces a crucial term: Merkavah (Chariot). The Chariot is the visible composite of the Sefirot when they operate together. The Ezekiel-vision tradition is exactly this — the prophet sees the Sefirot in their integrated operational form.
Op. 13 will close this section by showing the most fundamental two-modes view: the Sefirot as circles (developmental chain) or as upright lines (governmental order). And Op. 17 will sharpen the katnut/gadlut distinction Op. 7 introduces, separating it from the formal Sefirah/Partzuf distinction that runs through the second half of the book.