16th-century Jewish mystic and Kabbalistic teacher, Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed:
At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring the world into being, to make room for creation, He contracted Himself by drawing in His breath, forming a dark mass. Then God said, Let there be light (Gen. 1:3) and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light. God sent forth the ten vessels like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. But the vessels—too fragile to contain such powerful Divine light—broke open, scattering the holy sparks everywhere. Had these vessels arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. Instead, God created people to seek out and gather the hidden sparks, wherever we can find them. Once this task is completed, the broken vessels will be restored and the world will be repaired.
I love how this compares favorably to the Swygard's and Dolores Cannon origin stories I’ve written about previously, all dealing with contraction and expansion fro a single Source. Beautiful ancient wisdom.