Tree of Life

[tannhaus]

I saw someone that saw a Thelemic reference to the Tree of Life and they thought it referred to the tree of life in the garden of Eden. So, I decided to give the real meaning of the Tree of Life as well as provide some helpful background.

Many of your occult orders, both now and for the past couple of hundred years at least, have a foundation of jewish mysticism. This foundation is called the Jewish Kabbalah. People are familiar with the Kabbalah because of Madonna, although Madonna does not practice a legitimate form of the Kabbalah. If anything, it appears her rabbi sold out and sells quick and dirty spiritualism....not the Kabbalah.

Now, the actual jewish system is called Qoph, Beth, Lamed. Ancient Hebrew does not have most vowels. Qoph can be written Q, K, or C...since it's just a K sound. So basically, it's spelled QBL, KBL, or CBL. Most jewish sources tend to spell it Kabbalah.

Well, the Tree of Life is sort of like a filing system as well as an illustration of deeper truths. So, based on who is doing the filing, people have found it best to do different spellings. So, the version for traditional Judaism is called Kabbalah. The version used by Christians is called the Cabalah. The version used by occultists is called the Qabalah.

It's the same basic system, but we're filing different things...based on our religious beliefs. I've carried on correspondence with a Jewish Rabbi and follow his blog. It's seldom that I run across a difference between the Qabalah I use and the Kabbalah he uses. The methods and underlying symbolism is the same.

[tannhaus]

This is the Tree of Life. It's just a diagram that's very helpful in understanding the underlying concepts. It came about in the middle ages, even though the Kabbalah itself predates the Bible. As a matter of fact, portions of the Bible were written using the Kabbalah (including the book of Revelations).

[tannhaus]

At the top, you'll notice three veils. Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur. I don't really want to get into anything but the basics, but you can think of Ain as nothing...not the absence of everything...but rather space full of everything...but with nothing manifest.

Ain Soph is infinite space. The interaction between infinite space and nothingness is Ain Soph Aur....boundless light. These three veils can be considered "negative existance". If you had to put a number to it, you would use 0.

0 is incomprehensible to our mortal minds. But, 0 gave birth to everything and set everything into motion. In other words, 0 is God.... incomprehensible and unknowable... without measurement.

[Lost]

I have seen that before, but I don't remember where :plays twilight zone music:

[tannhaus]

Ok..so say we looked at all this nothing...and we decided to point at it...just point at infinite nothing. We could say that point is Kether. That point is God. Now, I know I already said that unlimited space and infinite nothing were God. So, how can Kether be God? Well, the idea is that the 1 doesn't actually exist except as a containment of the 0. In other words, you cut the 0 down to size....to a point you can actually comprehend at some point...so that little slice of the infinite is Kether.

Now Kether is our first filing place on this diagram. We can stick things into Kether that relate to Kether in some way. As you can see from the diagram, they've already stuck things into Kether...they're already using it as a filing cabinet. They've stuck 1 there....they've stuck the astrological symbol for Pluto there...and they've stuck "the crown".

This is where a lot of religions mess up. They keep trying to define the 1. They say God is this...God is that... God wants this...God wants that... but they fail to realize that the 1 only exists as an emanation of the 0. In other words, God is infinite. God is boundless. God is incomprehensible. We focus so much on the 1 that we forget the 0 behind it.

So, if man wants to seek the face of God in Biblical terms, what is he actually doing? He wants to see creation for what it is...part and parcel of the Divine. But, he also wants to become one with the Nothing. Now, isn't that the goal of yoga? For that reason, people sometimes call the Qabalah "Western Yoga".

[tannhaus]

Now, this is also a diagram of Creation. I like the way Lon Milo Duquette wrote it up in "The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford".

From the Spirit of the Living God (1) emanated Air (2), from the Air emanated Water (3), from the Water emanated Fire or Aether(4), from the Aether emanated Height (5), and the Depth (6), the East (7), and the West (8), the North (9), and the South (10).

So, you can say that God spoke Creation into existance. When he did, it spilled out....1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10....with 10 being the material world.

ohhhhh getting sleepy....I'll try to wrap this up soon.

Ok...so underneath Kether which is 1, you start getting a duality. So, everything starts getting divided into 3 columns. On the left, you have the pillar of severety...also called Boaz. It is the black pillar. On the right, you have the pillar of mercy...also called Jachim. It's the white pillar. (if you've read the Gnostic Mass, you recognize these pillars from the props). You will also find them in masonry.

Everything on one side is balanced against the other side. So, starting with 2...which is Chokmah, ABBA...the Eternal Father....wisdom....it's balanced on the side of the pillar of severity with Binah.. Aima...the Eternal Mother...understanding.

Now, I'm sure you've all run across Babalon in the writings...the Great Whore. She is in Binah. Why is she called the great whore? She doesn't turn anyone away. This is important. You see, if you are travelling up the Tree of Life...seeking the face of God...you cross the Abyss...and it comes upon Babalon to accept you.

So...we have wisdom balanced by understanding. So, what is the abyss? It's called a false sephiroth...it's not really there. It's situated on the middle pillar below Chokmah and Binah. That is the sphere of reasoning. In order to reach this level, you have to cross the Abyss....you have to exhaust reasoning...you have to transcend reason...not disregard it...but go beyond it.

Then you have 4...chesed...mercy...and it's balanced by 5...geburah...strength or severity. So, you have mercy balanced by strength.

Below those on the middle pillar, you have beauty...and I think we can all agree that when strength and mercy are balanced, it's a thing of beauty lol.

Now, the interesting thing about Tiphareth is that is where Christ is filed. So, thinking along Christian terms...from our world we live in..the material world...to get back to God...you have to go through Christ. So, you see, there are many layers to this filing system..and depending on who is doing the filing, you'll get something different.

Seven is Netzach..victory...this is also the realm of venus..love. It's balanced on the pillar of severity with Hod...learning...this is the sphere of mercury, thoth, etc.

Underneath these, you have the foundation...Yesod. Yesod contains the astral plane. When you dream, you go to Yesod.

Then, at the bottom, you have Malkuth...the kingdom....that's the material world.

[Nora Volkova]

I'll point out that including Christ as a divine figure in the Kabbalah starts to definitely pull it away from its traditional Jewish interpretations.

[tannhaus]

Now you'll see other divisions on that diagram as well. Those divisions are:

Atziluth - the archetypal world
Briah - the creative world
Yetzirah - the formative world
Assiah - the material world

The best way to explain these worlds would be to go from a need to a fulfillment of that need.

So, in Atziluth, God would think "I'm tired". In Briah, that urge would get further refined into "God needs a chair". In Yetzirah, it would get further refined into "Ok...this is what the chair looks like that God needs". In Assiah, the chair would actually be built.

Also, the four worlds divide the heavenly hosts. In Atziluth, you have a specific name of God. In Briah, you have an archangel. In Yetzirah, you have a host of angels. In Assiah, you have spirits that answer to those hosts of angels.

And...I'm done. I've probably just confused you all more. No one ever said Thelema was simple tho...

[tannhaus]

I'll point out that including Christ as a divine figure in the Kabbalah starts to definitely pull it away from its traditional Jewish interpretations.

Yeah...I should have made that clear...that's why I said that depending on who's doing the filing, you get something different.

Though...wouldn't the messiah fit here for the traditional Jewish Kabbalah?

[Kasdeja]

Yes, the Jewish just don't see Jesus as the Messiah.

[cymatic]

People are familiar with the Kabbalah because of Madonna, although Madonna does not practice a legitimate form of the Kabbalah. If anything, it appears her rabbi sold out and sells quick and dirty spiritualism....not the Kabbalah.

Hey, who's dissing other people's religions now?

[tannhaus]

Yes, the Jewish just don't see Jesus as the Messiah.

I know...I was going more along the lines of Golden Dawn Cabalah there...and, of course, the Golden Dawn was a Christian organization.

I would personally stick Osiris there

But understood.....no yeheshuah.

[toadlguy]

Hey, who's dissing other people's religions now?

tannhaus isn't against dissing religion, he's against dissing HIS religion. (Just an observation.)

[Kasdeja]

I dunno, he's yet to say anything offensive to me...

[tannhaus]

Hey, who's dissing other people's religions now?

The Kabbalah isn't a religion though...more of a system. But, I'm not dissing Madonna as much as I'm dissing Rabbi Berg and what he's done to the Kabbalah.