Shattering the Vessels - Pluto Retrograde

PLUTO RETROGRADE - A COSMOLOGY

There is this beautiful concept in Kabbalah called the “shattering of the vessels”. In fact, it’s less of a concept and more of a love story…. It’s goes a bit like this…

In the beginning, there was only Ein Sof—the Infinite.

To create the world, Ein Sof contracted itself (Tzimtzum) to create a space for finite existence.

Into this space, divine light was poured into ten vessels (representing the ten Sefirot, or divine attributes).

The lower vessels, particularly from Chesed (Kindness) downward, couldn’t contain the intensity of the light, and they shattered.

This cosmic catastrophe scattered sparks of divine light throughout creation, trapped in the material realm and surrounded by shards—klipot (husks or shells).

This event explains the brokenness of the world—chaos, suffering, fragmentation. But it also sets the stage for Tikkun Olam (repair), where humanity’s role is to elevate the sparks through spiritual work, ethical behavior, and connection to the divine.

In Kabbalah, the divine is structured in male and female aspects, often expressed through Zeir Anpin, and Nukva (the feminine presence, often linked to the Shekhinah). In a state of harmony, the masculine and feminine “face each other” (panim el panim), meaning there is mutual flow, unity, and blessing.

However, when sin, imbalance, or cosmic disorder occurs (such as from the shattering), the masculine and feminine “turn back to back” (achor b’achor). This metaphoric turning signifies disconnection, blockage of divine flow, and a world in which harmony is lost.

This turning is not just about divine dynamics—it also mirrors human experience:

Alienation in relationships—especially between men and women

Separation between soul and body

A sense of exile or disconnection from the divine

Tikkun (repair) isn’t just mystical—it’s inner work: Healing the psyche is lifting the sparks within us.

Restoring the masculine and feminine means cultivating balance and relationship between our polarities.

Some examples:

Facing wounds (where the vessels shattered) with compassion rather than avoidance—that’s lifting a spark.

Letting feeling and structure collaborate, like combining intuition (feminine) with clear action (masculine).

In relationships: being present with your partner in a way where both your inner masculine and feminine are alive. That creates panim el panim—face-to-face connection.

The Shekhinah, the feminine divine, is in exile—trapped in the fallen world, longing for reunion. On a soul level, this is our own longing:

The part of us that remembers oneness, connection, belonging.

The yearning for intimacy, creativity, mystery—the feminine soul hidden in matter.

Mystics say when the masculine (Zeir Anpin) turns again to the Shekhinah with love and presence, the world begins to heal. In human terms: when we turn toward our own depths, or hold space for another’s soul, we participate in divine reunion.

Kabbalah doesn’t shy away from erotic language… union of masculine and feminine is a sacred act. In some teachings, even Shabbat is the cosmic wedding night, when the worlds reunite.

This union can be:

Cosmic: the divine energies realigning.

Human: two souls meeting in truth and love.

Inner: when our thinking and feeling, action and intuition, merge.

It’s all mirrors. The personal mirrors the cosmic. The healing in one dimension affects the others.

The very reason the vessels shatter, say some Kabbalists, is because of divine desire—Ein Sof’s longing to be known, to emanate, to be in relationship.

But this desire is so intense, so uncontainable, that the vessels—symbols of form, structure, limitation—cannot hold the infinite. They shatter.

Mystically, this tells us: creation is born not of flaw, but of longing. And brokenness, paradoxically, is the result of love trying to pour itself into form.

“There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.” – Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

This is our work as Pluto stations retrograde in Aquarius. Aquarius is about healing and elevating the world. As I navigate my own grief, and internal pain, I often wonder if the bigger pains lie in the light.

I spent a lifetime as an orphan, wondering exactly where I fit. Where I belong. Shying away from receiving big love without even knowing noticing it. I know how to GIVE big love, but taking it in is so much harder. To be so open hearted that love can pour into me? It’s so vulnerable… and ecstatic when it happens for me. I notice this same wound in my children. My daughter is 14. Going through the things that all 14 year olds go through. She can’t take in the compliment “you are so beautiful” because something in her can’t hold her beauty. I worry sometimes that I modeled this for her. But then I remember it’s the story of the cosmos. It’s this evolutionary dance of turning away from the light, only to reclaim it once again.

This is what I call the “wound of love”. Perhaps it can be called the “wound of light?”

As we move through this Pluto retrograde season, let’s remember this.. that we are all shattered vessels, ALL OF US, but if we want to, if we feel called, we can do the work of Tikkun. Both in (Pluto Retrograde) and outside (Aquarius) of ourselves.