Readins using Tree of Life

Zechariah13

Im not entirely sure if this should go here or in the Using Tarot Cards section, but i figured people who frequented this part of the forum might be more likely to know the answer.

I am relatively new to tarot, practing for only a few months. But the first spread i ever did for someone was a Tree of Life spread, mainly because he asked for 'the biggest most complicated spread i knew' so i gave it a go. I had to look at my book that came with my deck (Tarot of Vampyres by Ian Daniels) the entire way, but i he said i was quite spot on with it, and it has become my favorite spread, if its appropriate for a given situation. I typically use it to assess the energies surrounding or being used by a particular person/thing/event at a specific moment, kinda like a snap shot.

But i am slowly finding out that this spread is far more complicated than i thought it was. My understanding of the Sephiroth might be exaggerated if i call it rudimentary, i dont really know anything about the paths between the Sephiroth, aside from that Daniels said each path is goverened by one of the Major ARcana, and i am hearing something about the sephiroth being divided into four based on the letters of the tetragrammaton? I find it all mildly confusing, as i havent started studying kabbalah yet.

Any help, guidance, corrections and/or pointers i could get in using the Tree of Life as a spread would be greatly appreciated
 

bradford

I would begin by ignoring the paths altogether. Try to refine a good, simple, working knowledge of the Ten Sephirot, maybe plus Da'at, with a set of clear keywords for what each one means. Use several keywords for each Sephira so you don't oversimplify. And try to get clear on how they relate to each other in different sets of pairs. For me they are "parts of the psyche", for you they might be something completely different.
As a spread the Tree works really well, but more for diagnosing a present dynamic in detail, not for telling a story about what's to come. The Celtic Cross does that one well enough.
 

Zechariah13

For me they are "parts of the psyche", for you they might be something completely different.

well, i tend to see the Sephiroth spread as sort of a progressive outline of how the spiritual energies become material in our lives.

Kether describes the basic energy we are dealing with. If this card is reversed or just conflicting with other cards, there could be a serious issue to deal with

Chokmah- described as the primordial masculine energy, the first spark of creation and power. I see this as being how we interact with the Kether energies on a basic level. How are we using the energy we tap into?I take special notice of Lords (kings) Princes (knights) and male major arcana that fall here

Binah- the primordial female energy, spiritual understanding and perception. How do you/I understand or percieve the energy we are weilding or the consequences of what we do? I take special note of Queens, Daughters (pages or princesses) and female arcana that land here

Chesed- Mercy and compassion, or the desires of the heart, or the force that will lead us TO the desires of our heart. I typically read this as 'What do you TRULY WANT?', but it can also read troubles of the heart. I take special notice of Grails/CUps or Knives/Swords that appear here

Geburah- Severity, the internal sense of justice and boundary. I usually see this as the boundaries, rules or systems we set up to regulate, monitor and protect ourselves

Tiphareth- True Self, the Core of our being. Really thats a cheesy abstract description, but i look at this as the Midpoint between the complete energy (kether) and the complete material (Malkuth), meaning that now things are less likely to be simply energies or thoughts or emotions, but more physical things can begin appearing now. This is you before the clutter of the world gets thrown in?

Netzach-instinctive and intuitive response to life, attractions and repulsions. i would look at this as to how our Chesed card relates to the world around us, and what it draws to or repels us from?

Hod-Communication, analyzing, processing and abstraction and reason. Effectively the powers of the mind? For some reason i see this card as being connected to Geburah, and would take very special note of it if it were filled by a Knife/Sword, or a card the
harmonized/conflicted with the Geburah card

Yesod-psyche, comfort and protection seeking. I see this as the primal 'tend my wounds' response, as well as the desire to pursue things that feel good or put is in a place of comfort. That means that the card here could tell us what we think we want, and/or how we are trying to get it. Given the emotional context and protection/comfort seeking, i would also compare this spot to Geburah and Chesed.

Malkuth- the Kingdom, the final materialzation. Pretty much i have been reading this as the final product of every card read prior to it. Like 1-9 is all your pieces, and Malkuth is the whole that they create.

Does that make sense or is there something i am missing?
 

Naomi Ningishzidda

I'm a little confused at your attributions to Netzach. You placed a question mark at the end of the sentence, and it was not a proper question, so I take it you are as well.

Netzach *is* attributed to Venus, but remember Venus rules *Victory in War* and Netzach means *Victory* in Hebrew. So this is not an intuition station so much as an indicator of where things are at strategically. It is also attributed to endurance, fortitude, courage comes into play. It is also called *Perpetuity* for this reason.

Venus is not the fluffy emotional love goddess everyone makes her out to be. She is extremely warlike, ruthless and chaotic. The number 7 is notorious even among mathematicians as being quite ornery. Remember the grand scale of 7 "777" is called by Crowley "Worse than useless unless you have it by the hilt" "The flaming sword that drove Adam and Eve out of paradise", "The devils know it, and fear it."

Crowley of course was guilty of accusing Venus of everything from being a bitch to not wearing clean underwear, so we mustn't take this assessment too seriously, but it is important to make sure we do not underestimate Netzach just because we have learned other people's insecurities about Venus.


There are some other issues as well. Tiphareth you attribute to the "True Self" which I find a little unnerving. I would be more wont to put this in Kether (Crown), if I must, or not at all, as the tree is a reflection of ourselves. So the *totality* of the tree is our "True Self". It is a map of the body of man. It was designed this way deliberately as well - traditional maps of the human body on the tree are reflections of the person viewing it, i.e. the left hand is on Hod, the right on Netzach (Sefer Yetzirah translated by Aryeh Kaplan)
 

Zechariah13

I'm a little confused at your attributions to Netzach. You placed a question mark at the end of the sentence, and it was not a proper question, so I take it you are as well.

Sorry, i tend to write statements ending with a quesiton mark when i think something is one way but am unsure. That was meant to be read as questioning if my conclusion is correct



Venus is not the fluffy emotional love goddess everyone makes her out to be. She is extremely warlike, ruthless and chaotic.
yeah, she is kindof the love that drives people and nations against each other, isnt she? That kinda was the basis of the Trojan War, IIRC



There are some other issues as well. Tiphareth you attribute to the "True Self" which I find a little unnerving. I would be more wont to put this in Kether (Crown), if I must, or not at all, as the tree is a reflection of ourselves. So the *totality* of the tree is our "True Self". It is a map of the body of man. It was designed this way deliberately as well - traditional maps of the human body on the tree are reflections of the person viewing it, i.e. the left hand is on Hod, the right on Netzach (Sefer Yetzirah translated by Aryeh Kaplan)

My descriptions of the Sephiroth didnt come from a Kabbalah book, thats the primary reason im asking. My description came from Ian Daniel's Phantasmagoria, the book that came with his Tarot of Vampyres card set. His wording is as follows

by Ian Daniels, Phantasmagoria, page 33
Tiphareth is our true Self that can harmonize and integrate the personality into a working whole. It is our radiant, shining core, concerned with our individual truth and self expression. As the Central point on the Tree of Life, it represents making sense of our life experiences. When stable and permanent contact is made, the centre integrates all our diverse experiences, emotions, revelations and dreams into a meaningful whole. With this powerful harmonizing and equalizing focus, the soul can develop, flourish, and find its purpose in life.

So i basically pulled True Self from the first sentence. Albeit, now that i look at it, Tiphareth seems more revolving around intergrating the parts of the self to reach the whole of the self. is that more like it?
 

Naomi Ningishzidda

That paragraph from Daniel's book is pretty confusing. I really like the art in the deck, it's good quality stuff. I also really liked the book itself, i flipped through it a couple times and the intro is great. It's a theme deck though, and I don't expect it or its author to represent the entirety of kabbalah or even give it great attention when it comes to the details.

While I don't think his paragraph is wrong per se (the "true self" aspect is questionable) it does have a lot of gaping holes leaving me hoping any readers taking the sephiroth seriously (which is like, every intelligent occultist) would get a broader perspective on them before approaching any kind of developmental incorporation.

He seems to be comparing Tiphareth to an alembic of sorts, something that distills and I think that is correct.
 

Zechariah13

It's a theme deck though, and I don't expect it or its author to represent the entirety of kabbalah or even give it great attention when it comes to the details.
True, i guess. I dont know anything about Kabbalah, so i didnt know there were any true discrepincies there. I mean, when i first saw the position of Geburah, my first reaction was "Hey! I heard that word on Silen Mobius!"

While I don't think his paragraph is wrong per se (the "true self" aspect is questionable) it does have a lot of gaping holes leaving me hoping any readers taking the sephiroth seriously (which is like, every intelligent occultist) would get a broader perspective on them before approaching any kind of developmental incorporation.
Now this makes me sad. So far i think i have only done, like, 4 of these as such so far and they've all been (according to my responses) rather accurate...
...
but now that i think about it, i dont really ever remember the Tiphareth Card being significant in anyway, so maybe that's because i've been reading it as the wrong thing? or, since i laid the card thinking it meant what i thought it meant, did the card actually represent what i thought it was supposed to? im all confuzzled now

He seems to be comparing Tiphareth to an alembic of sorts, something that distills and I think that is correct.

Could you elaborate on this? I too found his whole Tiphareth paragraph kinda confusing.
 

Naomi Ningishzidda

What we have to strive to remember is that the process of divination engages our creative processes or imagination, as well as our subconscious mind which is where the truly deep insights emerge. Whether we know enough about Kabbalah or not is practically irrelevant so far as engaging in the practice of an action meditation such as tarot reading.

One could not know anything about the tree of life at all, and still hope to arrive at a set of conclusions about it identical to the ones set forth in classical Hebrew Kabbalah - from only the framework of the tree itself, or less. That is, after all, what the early Semites did. Early "test flights" into the anatomy of the tree can be observed in numerous religious iconography dug up in the area of Mesopotamia. After Abraham fled Ur, this research continued until it evolved into what we presently know as Kabbalah. It's amazing what syncretic philosophy can produce.

Truth has no need for books, it is a living source of information available to anyone. So I think you have nothing to worry about.

So you may not have know what the reading meant from disciplinary study. Some part of you did.

As for my own opinion on Tiphareth, I view it (sometimes) as a jungle, some place wild that uses the process of evolution to distill components. The Sephiroth as a landscape are vast places to me.
 

bradford

That is, after all, what the early Semites did. Early "test flights" into the anatomy of the tree can be observed in numerous religious iconography dug up in the area of Mesopotamia. .

Interesting claim if it can be supported. Has anyone done a real study? Do you have any citations or references for that, or was it just intuited? The oldest depiction of the tree that we know now that I've been able to find hard evidence for comes from 10th century China in the form of Chen Tuan's Wujitu, which morphed into Zhou Dunyi's Taijitu. Both of those have all the spheres, except that Chokmah and Binah are combined in a precursor of the yin-yang icon.
 

Zechariah13

As for my own opinion on Tiphareth, I view it (sometimes) as a jungle, some place wild that uses the process of evolution to distill components.

The point of my inquiry of the meaning was what you meant by distill.