Tree of Life - Etz ha’ Hayim

Ten Sefirot of Nothingness: Ten and not nine; ten and not eleven.

Understand with Wisdom, and be wise with Understanding.

Examine with them and probe with them, make a thing stand on its essense, and make the Creator sit on His base

Sefer Yetzirah 1:4

The Tree of Life is one of the most important glyphs to have arisen not only within Jewish Kabalah, but in the occidental esoteric tradition generally. As can be seen from the above three depictions, the Tree has various representations.

One of its important aspects is that its roots are in the spiritual realms, and is hence at times depicted as an inverted or upside-down tree. Another is that it has precisely and only ten Sefirot (emanations): Daat, or Knowledge, is not a Sefirah.

There are many sources for studying these in further detail. Below I simply present a brief outline and the beginning of an exegesis based on the manner in which the words are written (in Hebrew). As I have used the letter-images I have elsewhere on this site, a note should be added that all single letters are shown green, doubles black (and dageshed), and mother letters displayed in red.

Further notes on the Hebrew letters are on the Alef-Beit page.

Four worlds

The Tree of Life reflects a four-fold creative process. Some have preferred to view that each of these worlds contains a whole Tree, others to see the Tree itself as manifesting the four worlds.

In one sense, a little like a holograph, each part contains within itself the whole. A tiny particle of Malkut thus contains within itself the whole Tree - a deep sense of the Hermetic maxim 'As it is above, so it is below'. If this is the case, then of course each world-division of the Tree 'contains' an image of the full Tree.

This holographic quality, however, does not mean that the clear image is not one. The Tree of Life is one.

The four 'divisions' of the World can visually be seen on the Interactive Tree page. Each division, or each world, is itself a creative living manifestation. Its titles are usually given as Atzilut, Beri'ah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah (variations occurs in Hebrew transliterations). A little about each of these worlds follows.

Atzilut: the World of Emanation (Olam Ha'Atzilut)

This is the highest world to which we have 'access'. It is at times described as the first world of emanation, as the world still able the grasp its connection to the ungraspable realm of Ain Sof. Some Rabbis place within this world only one Sefirah: Keter. Though there is a dynamism in placing in this elevated and transcendent world only the pinnacle of the Tree, there is something about both Hochmah and Binah that properly belongs here. Looking at the written word (Atzilut), I note that it opens with a mother letter (Alef) and concludes with a double (Tav), within which are solely single letters. Furthermore, the beginning and end of the word reflects the beginning and end of the Alef-Beit: Alef → Tav. It is 'as if' the pan of the alphabet is maintained at its endings, and the contents within allowed to be mixed and remixed in order for the creative act to later emerge from its hallowed womb.

Beri'ah: the World of Creation (Olam Ha'Beriah)

From the throne of the Divine will emanate creation, beginning with the first two letters that also opens Genesis: Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'arets (In the beginning Elohim created heaven and earth).

Yetzirah: the World of Formation (Olam Ha'Yetzirah)

The realm of ideas descends upon human beings as gifts from the higher realms, to there be reflected within the receptable of the brain, heart and liver.

Assiyah: the World of Action (Olam Ha'Assiyah)

Within the tomb of the body of human beings resides the eternal essential nature. Here is the world of deeds, the kingdom of action, upon whose fields we may strive to allow that small breath within to find its independent and individual expression.

The Sefirot and Da'at

Keter - Crown

Hockmah - Wisdom

Binah - Intelligence or Understanding

Da'at - Knowledge

Hesed or Gedulah - Love or Covenant

Geburah or Pahad - Strength or Awe

Tifaret - Beauty

Netzach - Reverberation

Hod - Splendor

Yesod - Foundation

Malkut - Kingdom

Resources for Tree of Life study

book recommendation on the Tree of Life

Dion Fortune Mystical Qabalah (a little reluctantly)

Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi The Way of Kabbalah

Tree of Life sites

Eliezer Segal's simple diagram

for other Kabalah pages on this site

> Kabalah index (on the home page)