Phase Zero (Keter, Shoresh): This initial phase represents the Creator's desire to bestow pleasure and create beings capable of receiving it. It is marked by the Light's intent to give and create a Vessel (recipient) for the pleasure it wishes to bestow. This phase is considered the preliminary stage of creation, embodying the Creator's wish to please and the beginning of the creation process.

Phase One (Hochma, Aleph): In this phase, the Light creates a Vessel, which is an entity capable of enclosing and holding pleasure. The Vessel is perfectly designed to receive pleasure, embodying the will and desire to receive it. The relationship between the Light and the Vessel is akin to a stamp and its imprint, where the Vessel's creation and its capacity to receive pleasure are directly influenced by the Light's intent to give.

Phase Two (Bina, Bet): The Vessel, having been filled with Light and experienced pleasure, now perceives the attribute of the Giver, leading to a desire to emulate the Light's giving nature. However, since the Vessel is inherently designed to receive, it opts to cease receiving altogether in an attempt to mirror the Giver's attribute of bestowal. This phase is marked by the Vessel's refusal to receive pleasure as a means to align itself closer to the Light's qualities.

Phase Three (Zeir Anpin, Gimel) and Phase Four (Malchut, Dalet): In the third phase, the Vessel decides to receive a portion of the Light again but with the stipulation that it does so to please the Creator, not for its own sake. This represents a mixed phase of receiving to give pleasure back to the Light. The fourth phase culminates in the Vessel's realization of its true nature as a receiver and its decision to accept all the pleasure the Light offers, fully embracing its role but with the newfound independence of desire. This signifies the Vessel's transformation into a "creature" or "creation," defined by its independent choice to receive pleasure.

These phases describe a progression from the initial intent to create and bestow pleasure, through the creation and development of a Vessel capable of receiving and ultimately reflecting upon its nature and purpose, leading to a cycle of receiving and giving that defines the relationship between the Creator and creation in Kabbalistic cosmology.

The matter of everything is desire, the form of everything is intention.