Hod, Hebrew HVD, “splendor,” is the eighth Sephirah of the Kabbalah Tree of Life, located on the base of the Pillar of Form or Serenity.
Universal symbolism:
Name of God: ALHIM TzBAVTh, Elohim Tzabaoth (God of Armies)
Archangel: RPhAL, Raphael, (Healing of God)
Angelic Host: BNI ALHIM, Beni Elohim (Sons of Elohim)
Astrological Correspondence: KVKB, Kokab (Mercury)
Tarot Correspondence: The four Eights of the pack
Elemental Correspondence: Water
Magical Image: A hermaphrodite
Additional Symbols: The caduceus
Colors:
in Atziluth – violet purple,
in Briah – orange,
in Yetzirah – reddish russet,
in Assiah – yellowish, brown flecked with white
Correspondence in the Microcosm: The intellect of Ruach
Correspondence in the Body: The left hip
Grade of Initiation: 3=8, Practicus
Qlippoth: SMAL, Samael (the Liars)
Text from the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom corresponding to this Sephirah: “The Eighth Path is called the Absolute or Perfect Intelligence because it is the mean of the Primordial, it has no root by which it can cleave or rest except the hidden places of the Gedulah, which emanate from its own proper essence.”
Hod, divine glory or splendor, springs forth at first with Netzach from Tiphareth, in a single effusion; the first effusion is called Netzach, whereas the distinct emanation emerging from it is Hod, the “female” receptive and negative power of the creator that separates, forms, and transforms all the worlds created indifferently by Netzach. This “glory” of God emerges from his “victory,” in order to project the apparent multiplicity of the One in the cosmic milieu and in order to reabsorb this apparency into the One. A.G.H.
Sources:
Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Worldwide. pp. 230-231
Schaya, Leo, The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah, Secaucus, NJ, University Books. 1971. p. 54