Please can someone take pity on me -- the Tree of Life

Abrac

Hi Carla, what is it exactly you don't understand, can you be more specific?
 

Carla

Hi Carla, what is it exactly you don't understand, can you be more specific?

I need a way in, really. I don't enough to even ask a question. I know nothing. I need a very simple explanation of the terms for each bit and piece of the Tree of Life diagram. And then I need to be eased into the concepts.

I love the idea that the Tree of Life is a way of seeing the universe, that it is a way of thinking. This is what attracts me and interests me.

Chicken Qabalah arrived today and I am making a start on reading it. Just finished the introduction. It's wonderfully funny and that's what I need to help me get over the nerves, I think.

I hope it will be okay to post questions and observations in the Thoth Tarot area. Apologies for being a noob.
 

frac_ture

Carla, a while back, a graphic novel called Promethea was the subject of some discussion in the Books & Media Forum: Promethea Thread

This might be worth a look -- it's the work I still cite as the one that got me fully launched into my truly serious explorations of not only Tarot and the Tree of Life, but also all things occult/esoteric in general. Like I said, it's a graphic novel -- basically a comic book with literary aspirations -- and I think it's just brilliant. Alan Moore, the writer, has had several of his comics works turned into Hollywood films (Watchmen, V For Vendetta, From Hell, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and the artist, J.H. Williams III, is amazingly gifted. Briefly, the tale involves the assumption by a young woman named Sophie Bangs of the role of Promethea: sort of a goddess and sort of a living work of fiction, who bonds with a succession of people down through the years, and may be on tap to usher in the Apocalypse...

There's a long middle section in which Sophie/Promethea embarks on a journey up the Tree of Life. Moore and Williams are giving what amounts to a tutorial on the basic concepts, and I personally found the visual component incredibly helpful in wrapping my mind around a lot of the material. It won't be for everyone, of course, but if visuals help you with your learning, it's fantastically edifying to just see a representation of, say, Yesod or Hod or Geburah, and not have to try to conjure it for yourself while worrying that you're not getting it right. Obviously, you should still shore up any impressions gained here with further study of your own and of other sources, but this might be a helpful work for you.
 

Abrac

Everything in occultism is about correspondences. The Tree, along with the Hebrew alphabet, are the two primary foundations to which all other correspondences return. If the Tree represents the pattern of the universe, then all things must ultimately correspond to it in some way. It’s the cornerstone of 99% of all occult orders.

The names of the Sephiroth (plural) are Hebrew words which describe the qualities of the Sephirah (singular) they represent. The Sephiroth represent emanations that begin at the top with Keter and end at the bottom with Malkût. The descent downward is commonly seen as the process by which Deity manifests itself into the material world. The mystic journey to enlightenment by humans is seen as an ascent upward to attain oneness with Deity. Some occult degree systems refer to 1=10, 2=9, etc. It means the candidate starts at the bottom (10) and moves upward through the Sephiroth, attaining gradual stages of enlightenment in the process. The Tree’s further divided into three pillars. One, comprised of Ḥokmâ, Ḥesed, and Nēṣaḥ, represents Force. Another, comprised of Bînâ, Gebûrâ, and Hôd, represents Form. And the one in the middle, comprised of Keter, Tip’eret, Yesôd, and Malkût, represents Equilibrium. These are also archetypal representations of a universal reality.

Here’s a list of the names of each Sephirah with the commonly-used English translations, and Strong’s Concordance reference numbers. If you have a Hebrew dictionary or a Strong’s, you can look them up for further meanings.

1 H3804 Keter כתר Crown
2 H2451 Ḥokmâ חכמה Wisdom
3 H999 Bînâ בינה Understanding
4 H2616 Ḥesed חסד Mercy
5 H1369 Gebûrâ גבירה Severity
6 H8597 Tip’eret תפרת Beauty
7 H5331 Nēṣaḥ נצח Victory
8 H1935 Hôd הוד Glory
9 H3247 Yesôd יסוד Foundation
10 H4438 Malkût מלכות Kingdom

Just a few things I wish someone would have shared with me in the beginning. If the Hebrew fonts don't look right, change your browsers default font to Times New Roman. :)
 

Richard

Mystical Qabalah

The online version has a number of misprints, the most common of which is confusion between b and h, obviously an OCR quirk. 'Qabalab' and 'Sephirab' look strange because they are wrong. It's not a problem if you know about it.

Another thing. Her choice of words is sometimes not PC, but she wrote before PC was invented. Moreover, her references to God and such are not the superficial concepts of exoteric religions. In fact, it is through Qabalah that a philosophically satisfying concept of God (or whatever one wishes to call It) can be constructed. The Sanscrit statement 'Tat Tvam Asi' starts to make sense after awhile, and, rightly understood, it is not a symptom of megalomania. In a sense, it is the opposite.
 

Carla

The online version has a number of misprints, the most common of which is confusion between b and h, obviously an OCR quirk. 'Qabalab' and 'Sephirab' look strange because they are wrong. It's not a problem if you know about it.

Another thing. Her choice of words is sometimes not PC, but she wrote before PC was invented. Moreover, her references to God and such are not the superficial concepts of exoteric religions. In fact, it is through Qabalah that a philosophically satisfying concept of God (or whatever one wishes to call It) can be constructed. The Sanscrit statement 'Tat Tvam Asi' starts to make sense after awhile, and, rightly understood, it is not a symptom of megalomania. In a sense, it is the opposite.

You know, I have chanted Sanskrit mantras for years and my practice already includes this concept of God. And I do chant Tat Tvam Asi sometimes in my practice. Just from the bit I read last night in Chicken Qabalah, I begin to see that many of the basics are beliefs or ideas that I already am familiar with or even hold myself.

However, it's where we get into numbers and such that my brain starts to whirl. I'm not a numbers person. I bring to the table all my maths anxiety when numbers and geometry and so on start popping up. Part of me shuts down. I need to work on overcoming this.
 

Carla

Carla, a while back, a graphic novel called Promethea was the subject of some discussion in the Books & Media Forum: Promethea Thread

There's a long middle section in which Sophie/Promethea embarks on a journey up the Tree of Life. Moore and Williams are giving what amounts to a tutorial on the basic concepts, and I personally found the visual component incredibly helpful in wrapping my mind around a lot of the material. It won't be for everyone, of course, but if visuals help you with your learning, it's fantastically edifying to just see a representation of, say, Yesod or Hod or Geburah, and not have to try to conjure it for yourself while worrying that you're not getting it right. Obviously, you should still shore up any impressions gained here with further study of your own and of other sources, but this might be a helpful work for you.

This looks like a really good resource, I will see if I can get hold of it, thanks for telling me about it!
 

Carla

Everything in occultism is about correspondences. The Tree, along with the Hebrew alphabet, are the two primary foundations to which all other correspondences return. If the Tree represents the pattern of the universe, then all things must ultimately correspond to it in some way. It’s the cornerstone of 99% of all occult orders.

The names of the Sephiroth (plural) are Hebrew words which describe the qualities of the Sephirah (singular) they represent. The Sephiroth represent emanations that begin at the top with Keter and end at the bottom with Malkût. The descent downward is commonly seen as the process by which Deity manifests itself into the material world. The mystic journey to enlightenment by humans is seen as an ascent upward to attain oneness with Deity. Some occult degree systems refer to 1=10, 2=9, etc. It means the candidate starts at the bottom (10) and moves upward through the Sephiroth, attaining gradual stages of enlightenment in the process. The Tree’s further divided into three pillars. One, comprised of Ḥokmâ, Ḥesed, and Nēṣaḥ, represents Force. Another, comprised of Bînâ, Gebûrâ, and Hôd, represents Form. And the one in the middle, comprised of Keter, Tip’eret, Yesôd, and Malkût, represents Equilibrium. These are also archetypal representations of a universal reality.

Here’s a list of the names of each Sephirah with the commonly-used English translations, and Strong’s Concordance reference numbers. If you have a Hebrew dictionary or a Strong’s, you can look them up for further meanings.

1 H3804 Keter כתר Crown
2 H2451 Ḥokmâ חכמה Wisdom
3 H999 Bînâ בינה Understanding
4 H2616 Ḥesed חסד Mercy
5 H1369 Gebûrâ גבירה Severity
6 H8597 Tip’eret תפרת Beauty
7 H5331 Nēṣaḥ נצח Victory
8 H1935 Hôd הוד Glory
9 H3247 Yesôd יסוד Foundation
10 H4438 Malkût מלכות Kingdom

Just a few things I wish someone would have shared with me in the beginning. If the Hebrew fonts don't look right, change your browsers default font to Times New Roman. :)

Thanks, Abrac, I think I will just have to copy this stuff out and hope it makes sense to me at some point in the future. :)
 

Zephyros

Another thing. Her choice of words is sometimes not PC, but she wrote before PC was invented.

The notorious references to the "white races." :)

However, to be fair, I didn't get the feeling of actual racism from her (perhaps apart from the "genteel" type prevalent at the time) but rather the points she raises fit in with today's discussions of cultural misappropriation. The gist of what she says is that it is preferable that people study their own cultures rather than adopting others that may not be suitable for their daily lives or that they would lack the cultural instincts or racial memories.
 

ravenest

Hi Carla
Okay, lets jump right into numbers and geometry then :) (dont be scared :laugh: )




In some traditions numbers are not just symbols that tell us how many of a particular thing there are but can be seen as divine emanations.
In simpler form it goes something like this;

1. (Kether) The number one - the original primal unity. Some call it God - at the stage of God before creation. Others call it pure Self or pure Being. In cosmology it represents the singularity before the ‘Big Bang’. In geometry, it is represented by the ‘point’. (In the Ancient Egyptian, using Gods and their symbols as metaphors, this is symbolised by the point or disc i.e. the Sun or Hadit.)

2. There doesn’t seem to be much of a definition so far, as definition has not come into being. Concepts like self or even God require some level of awareness of the self or being, that is, it is postulated that being or self will have self-awareness. This concept or awareness of the self or being is a little different from the idea of self on its own. The idea of self, on its own, ‘implies’ awareness of self, one has within it the potential for two, duality, i.e. the self itself and the contemplation of or awareness of self. Now we have two concepts; the self and the self’s idea of itself. Subjective and (to an extent) objective. To contemplate the self requires one to ‘step outside’ of the self and ‘look back’ at the self. In geometry this is symbolised by ‘the line’ –conceptual, one-dimensional direction. [This ‘dimension’ is perhaps the basis of the components of matter and energy; In the 1980s, a new mathematical model of theoretical physics called string theory emerged. It showed how all the particles, and all of the forms of energy in the universe, could be constructed by hypothetical one-dimensional "strings", infinitesimal building-blocks that have only the dimension of length, but not height nor width. (In the Egyptian metaphor this process is seen as a moving point, and symbolised by the winged disc – the god force is seen as dynamic, not static, constantly moving forward by accruing experience – the god force is not ‘in the being’ it is ‘in the going’ – hence the symbol of life and God in the hieroglyphic Ank – a sandal strap.)]

3. As one implies two, two implies three. Via the process in 2 a new view is formed, a ‘new’ view of the self as gained by contemplation or awareness of the self. [Or the vibration of the ‘string’ forms a ‘particle’ or ‘energy field’.] Something has been gained, even if it is ‘just’ internal experience. In geometry this is symbolised by the concept of ‘surface’. It is also represented by the triangle. The triangle represents structure, order and form, definition and rigidity. It represents either; Singularity further explained by its polarities or a mediating ‘middle path’ between two polarities. With 3 ‘space’ has been created; up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards.
Now we begin to see how maps of 3 can be useful; The three Gunas – rajas, satvas and tamas, the three alchemical principles – sulphur, salt and mercury, The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the three primary colours – red blue yellow and many other things like; Yin, Yang, Tao, even in electricity – positive, negative and current or for plants; temperature, moisture, light or Mother Father Child (to cut through all the mythic terminology). (In Thelema the ‘product’ of Hadit and Nuit {who represents zero or the circle – whose radius is infinate as Hadit represents the point or centre of the circle, which is located everywhere} is Ra Hoor Khuit; motion or ‘force’.)

But with three we are still in the realm of idea, or the ideal world. It is a little beyond our normal comprehension and experience (which is why people have always used symbols, like maps or hieroglyphs or gods).

On the Tree of Life of the Qabbalah this ‘Supernal Triad’ lies above the ‘Abyss’.
Energies ‘travelling’ into manifestation pass through the third Sphere, Binah and become formulated, solidified, restricted and directed to become further manifest in the fourth realm. Alternatively, energies travelling ‘up’ the Tree, towards duality, unity and beyond, become liberated from form and restriction and Binah becomes a realm of liberation.

4. As two implied three, three implies four. The energies manifesting in four take on the ‘principles of four’ and are able to operate in a word of ‘double duality’ (2 x 2). Although many systems use the map of 4 it has its roots in 3 and extensions to 5. In four we have the map of the 4 elements; fire, water, air, earth, the four suits of the Tarot, the four worlds of the Qabbalah and many more. Four brings the concept of space from the 3 (up-down, left-right, forwards-backwards) which define space. The 4 is the result; ‘space’ itself. In physics it represents the concept of time.

5. Five moves more into the world of action. One analogy is the pyramid; the four sides can be extended up into the point. We can get the idea of motion and action. It can also relate to the pentagram; the four elements and spirit. Some traditions have 5 elements, either including ‘spirit’ as an element or adding an element such as wood or metal. In physics this is the idea of motion.]

6. Six solidifies the manifestation of the second triangle. It can be represented as the hexagram; two superimposed triangles, one pointing up, the other down. It can represent the four elements and spirit, with spirit in its duality of active and passive, or the four elements, their origin in spirit and their connection to ‘earth’.
[ “Height, width, and length constitute three-dimensional space, and time gives a total of four observable dimensions; however, string theories initially supported the possibility of ten dimensions – the remaining six of which we cannot detect directly. This was later increased to 11 dimensions based on various interpretations of the ten dimensional theory that led to five partial theories ... Super-gravity theory also played a significant part in establishing the necessity of the 11th dimension.” (Wikipeadia). The relationship of this model to the Qabbalistic model of 10 spheres of Creation (with an 11th and ‘hidden’ sphere – Daath, situated in the ‘Abyss’) and its manifestation through the 5 elements is an interesting correlation.]

One thing to point out is, so far, I have been quiet lineal. There are concepts that relate to reflection (or refraction), that is, the Supernal Triad on the Tree of Life reflects through (or on the waters of) the Abyss and makes another downward pointing triangle (the first triangle implies a second, as 1 implies 2) and of course this requires a third triangle, and all three come together in the manifest realm, to make the 10th sphere of the Tree of Life.

But there is also the idea (of lineal manifestation) within this system of the Lightning Flash, where the energy travels from 1 – 10.

This might seem all good so far but what about zero? The above system seems to be rather ‘patriarchal' and relating to cultures who have a singularity genesis. We adopted the concept of zero mathematically from the Islamic world but it can also be seen in Qabbalah in the worlds of pre-existence; Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Ur (and again we can see how the Supernal Triad is a reflection from the triad of ‘negative existence’).

Adding the concept of zero we can see how that implies the number one. I am sure physicists can explain how the ‘Big Bang’ came from nothing better than I can, but a simple mathematical equation will suffice here; if we consider the manifest world is duality and things appear in polarities, opposite pairs, we have + ‘side’ of one thing and – ‘side’ of another, if they are equal values , ‘n’, then we have +n + -n = 0 , therefore, 0 = -n + +n.
[ String theory’s concept of supersymmetry is a fancy way of saying that each particle (+) has a related particle called a superpartner (-). ]

Now, looking at any ‘n’, + or –, we can understand it further by converting it to the world of duality that we operate in. So we have + and – of +n and + and – of –n. In the elemental world this is shown as a division into active and passive. Active elements are Fire and Air; passive elements are Water and Earth.

So, looking at maps of four the obvious place to start seems to be the four elements. But why do we need maps anyway? For the Hermeticist all things are interrelated but some vibrate within specific energy fields. It can be handy for comprehension of interrelationships to draw the line somewhere, so we develop maps of 1 - singularity, 2 - duality, 3 - trinities (as mentioned above), 4 - Elements, 7 - planets, 10 – spheres (Qabbalah), 12 – signs (astrology), 22 paths (Qabbalah), 64 Hexagrams (I Ching).
This isn’t just juggling with numbers it’s an expression of the natural laws. Everything is influenced by it; the singularity splitting to the duality and the triangle of forces creating a base that although based on three creates the extra fourth and all comes back together again … sorry.

Try this instead, as you read this it is because of the way your eyes work; There are 3 ‘primary’ colours; red, blue, yellow. There are 4 ‘natural’ colours; red, blue, yellow green : fire, water, air, earth.

We have 3 sets of colour receptors; black and white, blue and yellow and red and green. These three combine to give hundreds of possible hues like purple and magenta.
Within the eye the retina has two types of light sensitive cells called rods and cones. Cones absorb red blue and yellow but do not work well in detecting colour in low light. Rods have ‘sacrificed’ colour reception to work as ‘night vision’ and detect black and white.
Signals travel from the retina along the optic nerves to the visual cortex for sorting and sending to the three relevant parts of the brain to analyse the signals in respect to three qualities; movement, colour, distance. These three parts of the brain send their processed information back to the visual cortex where it integrates the information.
Light – singularity, passes through two types of receptors to make three dimensions of colour, in a duality (or polarity) black / white, blue / yellow, red / green, to process through the visual cortex to three parts of the brain and back again to make it possible to observe the four ‘natural colours’ and their combinations.