The Tree of Life was designated to describe to man the structure of creation, the placement of man and the placement of God. Since time immemorial, man was likened to the Tree of Life whose legs are rooted in the ground and whose head is lifted to the sky.
In Jewish tradition, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life serves as a synthesis of all creation. Written 4000 years ago and attributed to Abraham who invented the concept of the Tree of Life, the Book of Creation describes the evolution of the seed from which sprouted all branches, fathers, mothers, conceptions, doctrines, and religions. The Tree of Life appears as a simple and coherent diagram, but its deeper meaning is concealed and constitutes a source of cosmic inspiration and infinite knowledge. The structure contains 10 round Sephirot (enumerations) and 22 routes that connect them, which all in all create 32 routes of wisdom.
The word Sephira (enumeration) connotes a number, from 1 to 10. The kabbalists also interpreted the word as deriving from the word ‘sapphire’ (light stone) and perceived the Sephirot as the lights with which the sky and the earth were created.
All 10 Sephirot are a single power – the light of God. The Sephirot through which the light is transferred are different from one another; one infuses the other in a specific order, like a candle that lights another candle and loses none of its own light in the process. The Sephirot are a supreme cosmic energy and may be envisioned as packages of energy, each of which has its own wisdom and unique characteristics.
The structure of the Tree of Life is constructed of 3 lines:
1. The Right Line –
the masculine side; the element of air and fire; represents the spine of wisdom.
2. The Left Line –
the column of Binah (understanding) symbolizes the feminine, maternal side.
3. The Middle Line –
Symbolizes the neutral force that combines the other two into a balanced state.
The three-column structure gives us a deep understanding of the divine essence and the significance of the unification of male and female. The structure is closely related to the Kabbalah, the Jewish mysticism. The energy that emanates from the Tree of Life is derived from all the light and is based on man’s desire to receive in order to influence.
When man lives in the world of action, he has access to this immensely powerful energy system. But he has access to higher worlds. Man’s essence is spiritual; the soul belongs to higher worlds – the world of nobility, the world of arrival and the world of creation. The body, however, belongs to the world of monarchy, of action, the physical and the corporeal. The body is the soul’s external mantle, and therefore man must organize new tools in order to be able to sanctify himself so he can function in higher worlds.
Man is the will to receive and the creator is the will to influence.
Man represents the multiplicity and God the One. God is the light and man is the vessel; the vessel needs the light in order to receive, and the light needs the vessel in order to give. According to the Book of Creation, God created his world using 32 wisdom routes that enable man (the vessel) to design and build himself in order to influence, and the process repeats itself.
The knowledge of the numbers that represent the 10 Sephirot is embedded in the Kabbalistic numerology. It includes influences of stars and astrological signs that alter as man develops his senses beyond his five earthly senses. It connects one macrocosm (the creator) and another (man). The Tree of Life is built on the idea of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The tree’s height is divided into 3 parts that symbolize the spirit, the soul and the body.
According to the Kabbalah, man exists in this world to fulfill his will and receive his birthright. Without the desire to accept and receive, we would not be able to attract light. The stronger the desire the better, but we must always aspire to a balance by receiving and giving. This is how we grow. The Tree of Life indicates the spirit’s descension to the material world and the material world’s ascension to the spirit; this is man’s fate, even though he is located in this world, that is, the world of Malchut. He can rise to the spirit through the Sephirot if his connection to God is powerful.
The 10 rays of life, to which is attributed the power that stands behind universe and man, the power that defines and encompasses all. The letters and numbers are the tools of the light. While the light is always the light, what changes are the tools through which it is expressed. 22 paths connect the 10 Sephirot to each other and each Sephira has its own name and number and its purpose in our world. Each path is parallel to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet and all together create the Kabbalist Tree of Life and the map of the universe.
To learn more on each one of the 10 Spehirot Press Here.