The Sitra Achra, who removes the blessing from creations, is called "death," as it says, "and death and evil." Thus, when a person sins he draws the Sitra Achra, called "death," toward him.
Rabbi Isaac Luria, Sha'ar HaGilgulim, Chapter 23
Sitra Achra is an
Aramaic term which translates literally as "the Other Side". It is used by devout
Jews euphemistically to refer to the forces of
evil in the universe, to anything that is wholly
impure. These forces are
anthropomorphized but typically not
personified. I.e. the Sitra Achra can be said to intend or do a certain thing, but it is nontheless not defined as the same thing as
Satan, the Adversary.
According to the
Kabbalah, God made the Sitra Achra and opposed it to the
Sitra d'Kedusha, the
Holy Side. A central tenet of
Lurianic Kabballism has it that during the course of the creation of the world, a shattering occured during which sparks of divine holiness were scattered. The Sitra d'Kedusha is contantly engaged in
tikkun olam, the repair of the world, finding and gathering these sparks, and the Sitra Achra is constantly engaged in undoing the work of the Sitra d'Kedusha. Because human beings are intricately bound up in tikkun olam, achieving it through observing God's commandments, the Sitra Achra undoes tikkun olam by luring human beings into sin. One tool of the Sitra Achra is therefore the
parasitic yetzer hara, the evil urge. On an individual level, the Sitra Achra manefests itself as a
klipah, an impure, earthly film which clings to human beings and separates them from
divinity.
Sitra Achra is also the third album recorded by the Czech
metal band
Ebola Joy. It was recorded in February 2002 in
Znojmo, in the
Czech Republic. Here's a tracklist:
- Dying World - 4:39
- You Have No Choice - 5:19
- Your Life in Death - 5:16
- Touch of Death - 6:07
- Empty - 5:20
- Anonymous Face - 4:00
- Weary - 5:24
- Stay - 5:46
- Return (On the Boundary of Light and Shadows) - 5:04
You can listen to mp3 clips from this album at http://www.ebolajoy.cz/englishversion/cd44e.htm