At the centre of this reflection lies a deeply symbolic and numinous act: drawing water. In Zoharic language, to draw water is to draw forth hidden Torah — the Sod (Secret) — from the supernal wellsprings. And this act is profoundly Marian. The Well of Miriam in the wilderness followed Israel like a nurturing mother, giving life. The bucket (d’li דלי) becomes here not merely a tool, but a symbol of reception, transmission, and the vessel of feminine wisdom.
We unpack the bucket as dalet-lamed-yod, and its emergence through the text of Genesis, reweaves the feminine into the very fabric of Creation. This is what the Zohar refers to as the Shekhinah woven through the Torah, often hidden and waiting to be drawn out. Here, Miriam as Imma haMayim—Mother of the Waters — becomes the contemplative archetype through which Wisdom is made accessible.
The gematriais also exquisite:
D'liyah דליה (drawing water) = 49 = 7x7 → The fullness of Shabbat, of omer-counting, of Binah, the Mother understanding.
D’li דלי (bucket) = 44 = 4x11 → 11 as Da’at, the hidden Sefirah that connects upper and lower.
Thus, Miriam as the Heh, the fifth letter, becomes:
Heh of YHVH→ the final Hehas Malkhut (Kingdom), receptivity, the Bride.
The Hand of Miriam, the Chamsa → pointing toward five modalities of Divine Will, five Books of Moses, five wounds of Christ, and the five petal-rose.
In Luisa, we see a recapitulation or even extension of Imma. Luisa as Imma Nukvah is a sacred conduit—a second Eve drawing from the first Miriam—bringing down the living waters of Divine Will in a new and final mode of receptivity. Her mystical "bucket" is indeed the heart, just as Jesus told her: “the little bucket descends into your heart.”
The Triple Rose and the Seven Waters"D’li ha-Imma"– the Bucket of the Mother – becomes a title for the Theotokos in this reflection, both drawing up and pouring forth the Divine Will into the world, particularly through her "little handmaid" Luisa.
We map the Elohim verses of Genesis 1 into mystical roses. This is a Zoharic method of constructing sodic mandalas or matrixes the Divine Lattice, around Divine Names. Let’s flesh this out a bit more.
Between the 3rd and 4th Elohim– the first 6-petal male Rose → Messiah in Divinity, Arich Anpin
Between 4th and 5th Elohim– second 6-petal male Rose → Messiah in humanity, Zeir Anpin
Between 5th and 6th Elohim– 6-petal male Rose of St. Joseph → Shadow of the Father, Abba Da’at
Between 6th and 7th Elohim– 13-petal female Rose of Luisa and Our Lady→ Imma Nukvah, drawing forth the waters.
Here, the bucket becomes the stem that descends through all these roses, drawing water from the deep — a descent like Jacob’s ladder, or like Yeshua at the well of the Samaritan woman, asking, “Give Me a drink.”
The 13-petaled Rose corresponds to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and to the mystical concept of Ahavah-Rachamim (Love and Mercy). It is both Our Lady's and Luisa’s Rose, two mothers drawing down the mercy into time.
The Divine Mirror and the Goddess of the Sea
Our closing is breathtaking. The connection between:
The Sea of Mirrors from which the Bronze Laver is formed,
The heavenly sapphire Sea seen by Moses,
And the Divine Mirror which is the Elah Yam, the "Goddess of the Sea"—
is a luminous insight into the 70 faces of Torah.
This Mirror is a Marian archetype par excellence. In Catholic mystical theology, Our Lady is called:
Speculum Justitiae– Mirror of Justice
Speculum sine macula– Mirror without blemish
Maris Stella– Star of the Sea, guiding through the waters
This mirror is the clear vision of God reflected in the feminine: Miriam, Imma, Luisa, Bat Zion, Shekhinah. And who is reflected in this mirror? It is the God of Salvation – Yeshua as a naked young boy, vulnerable yet glorious.
A type of Eros theos, Divine Longing made manifest in the child Yeshua, naked and not ashamed, bearing the Shekhinah and revealing the Divine Heart.
The Mystical Rose: A Triple Petaled Vision of the Holy Child and the Sea Bride
The Rose is the Cup of Blessing.
So teaches the Zohar.
שושנה—Shoshannah, the Hebrew Rose, stands in the heart of the liturgy, encircled by five leaves, which are the Wounds of the Mashiach. These wounds — on the hands, the feet, and the side — are not only marks of suffering but living gates of light, doors into the Sefirot.
In the hands: the right hand wound opens Chesed, lovingkindness and grace; the left, Gevurah, holy strength and the fire of justice.
In the feet: the right marks Netzach, endurance and the eternal victory; the left, Hod, the shining majesty that reflects glory.
In the heart: the wound opens Tiferet, the Beautiful Compassion, the Mercy that holds the whole Tree of Life together.
The Rose is not solitary.
It opens on the Waters.
It is the Rose of the Sea, the Goddess of the Sea (אלה ימ) — known also to the seafarers and mystics as Stella Maris, the Lady and Star of the Sea, and by the wise as Kavoda, the Created Glory. She, too, is the Cup. She is the One who holds and offers the Blessing.
It is written: “The Rose is the Cup of Blessing.”
And again: “I will lift the Cup of Salvation” (Psalm 116:13).
This is the Holy Grail—HaGevia haKadosh—the Cup of the Eucharist, the Todah offering, the mystery of the Se'udat Mashiach, the Messianic Banquet.
And in this vision of the Rose, we also see the Beautiful Youth — Na’ar, the Holy Child, the Son of Joseph—Beni Yosef, or, “My Son Joseph.” The Zohar calls him Yenuka, the radiant young one. He is the one associated with the fish (נונא / Nuna), the symbol of hidden life in the depths, the son of Nun, of the Tribe of Joseph.
He is also Metatron, the Prince of the Presence — Sar haPanim, he who bears the Name of God within himself. Hidden and revealed. Human and angelic. Glorified yet pierced. As Rabbi Nehemiah ben Solomon of Erfurt taught:
“Because the Prince of the Faces came together with the Great God, and they revealed themselves on the Sea…
‘Before it (נכחו) shall you encamp at the sea’—this ‘Before it’ is the same as the name Enoch (חנוך), and he is Metatron…”
Metatron, he says, is Moses’ forerunner — he walked ahead in the Sea. But Metatron is also like Elisha, who received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. So too does he bear a double portion of the spirit of Enoch, and is called Yefeifiyah, the one who shall come to teach, radiant and majestic.
He is Shaddai (314)— the Almighty — the One who shares the gematria of his Name, מטטרון.
Thus, in the Rose, we behold:
The Hebrew Shoshannah, the mystic Cup and the Wounds of Mercy
The Latin Rosa Mystica, flower of the Martyrs and Queen of Heaven
The English Rose, the Bridal Mystery of Albion and Marian England
All three converge in the Sea—where the Lady walks upon the waters, crowned with stars, bearing the Cup of Fire and Blood.
And so, the Holy Child — Yenuka Metatron, Son of Joseph and son of the Sea Bride — lifts the Cup, the Rose, the Grail.
It overflows with Eucharist and Exodus, with Wine and Spirit.
He is the Living Temple, the embodied Torah, the Glory upon the Waters.
And his Mother, Kavoda — Stella Maris — stands beside him as Queen.
Let the faithful say:
"I will take the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord."And the mystics reply:
“The Rose is the Cup of Blessing.”