The most inner layer of this configuration contained the material world. The spiritual soul of humankind descended from the outer layer, or God, to the inner layer, or the material world. This onion-skin configuration of the world is definitely shared with Gnosticism whose chief teaching was that the divine spirit was entrapped in matter, especially the soul in humankind. It is only through the attainment of knowledge that the spirit can escape its material confinement. The Kabbalah, which is based on the theory of the soul's descent from and ascent to God, is made up of ten sephirots instead of nine which is due to the influence of the Pythagorean theory.
Earth has a separate sphere to itself.
Above this the next seven sephirots correspond to the planets, with the top two corres- ponding to the stars and the Prime Mover or God. Each sephirot is guarded by angels who determinedly try to turn climbers back on their ascent to God. On the bottom sephirots there are plenty sinister intelligences who can easily trapped a soul in ignorance. The Kabbalist hold that some persons can achieve an union with God even before death. There were many modifications and interpretations made of the Kabbalah through the centuries.