Wikipedia posted:

Tiferet ("Adornment", Hebrew: תפארת ti'feʔɾɛθ or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiphereth - also known as Rakhamim ("Mercy", Hebrew: רחמים ɾaħăm'im) or Shalom ("Peace", Hebrew: שלום ʃɔ'lom) - is the sixth sefira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", "Compassion", and "Masculinity".

Tiferet is the force that integrates the sfira of Khesed ("Compassion") and Gvura ("Overpowering"). These two forces are, respectively, expansive (giving) and restrictive (receiving). Either of them without the other could not manifest the flow of Divine energy; they must be balanced in perfect proportion (by sharing), and this is the role of Tiferet, wherein the conflicting forces are harmonized, and creation flowers forth.

Tiferet is unique amongst the Sephirot as it is connected to all the other Sephirot (except Malkut and Daath) via the subjective paths of the unconscious. Its position down the center between Kether and Yesod indicates to many Kabbalists that it is somewhat of a "converting" Sephirot between form (Yesod) and force (Kether). In other words, all crossing over the middle path via Tipharet results in a reversed polarity. The law of conservation of energy and mass tends to corroborate this - in all cases of energy transmutation, a sacrifice is necessary so a new form may be born.

Tiferet is the middle of the tree. Five Sefirot surround it: above are Khesed at the right (south) and Gvura at the left (north), and below are Netsakh at the right, Hod at the left, and Ysod directly below. Together these six comprise a single entity, Zer Anpin, which is the masculine counterpart of the feminine sfira Malkhut. In certain contexts, Tiferet alone represents all the sfirot of Zer Anpin, so that the entire tree appears with only five sfirot: Keter, Khokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut.

In the standard tree, Tiferet has eight paths, leading (counterclockwise) to Keter (through Daat), Bina, Gvura, Hod, Ysod, Netsakh, Khesed, and Khokhma.

Wikipedia posted:

In H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, the term Old Ones is used in different contexts. In his short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), Lovecraft used "Old Ones" to refer to Cthulhu's spawn.[1] Lovecraft also mentioned the Old Ones in "The Dunwich Horror" (1929), naming them as mysterious entities associated with the Outer God Yog-Sothoth. In "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1936), the Old Ones (whoever they were) had the power to keep the Deep Ones in check. In Lovecraft's revision story "The Mound" (1940), "Old Ones" referred to the denizens of K'n-yan.

In Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness (1936), "Old Ones" was another name for a fictional alien species, the Elder Things, which were described in vivid detail in the story. These aliens built cities around the world during prehistory but were eventually relegated to Antarctica. At the end of their reign, they were all but destroyed by the shoggoths, a slave race of their own creation.

Old Ones can also refer to the Great Old Ones, alien beings of immense power. Along with the previous definition, these two uses of the term are the most popular among Cthulhu Mythos authors.[2]