There are four primary stages of transformation of the Divine archetypes. They are called 'Worlds' in Kabbalah, but should not be confused with astronomical objects like planets. They are:

1. Atziluth (the Archetypal World). The initial stage of conception of the Divine Ideas. God contemplates His own nature in the archetypes embodied in His Godnames;
2. Beriah (World of Creation). The stage at which God's intentions become formulated broadly by the Archangel assigned to each Sephirah;
3. Yetzirah (World of Formation). In the angelic realms, the abstract, Divine intention is diversified and given form, although still subtle in nature;
4. Assiyah (World of Action). The physical universe where Spirit finally conjoins with Matter and the Divine Ideas become realized in space and time.