Your experiences have brought you to this level of perception. Your struggles have not been in vain, as they have given you wisdom of divine understanding. Do not seek approval from a lower level of awareness, as you will only become disenchanted by the futility in trying to conform to a place you have outgrown. Perceive what is within your elevated frequency of awareness and you will continue to rise to new heights of wisdom. Seek from within and you will meet your God.
The story of Adam & Eve is the story of us. We are eating from the tree of knowledge right now.
Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”
Genesis 3:22.
This could either mean that the secret to immortality, or the freedom of our souls lies within the tree of life.
Let’s examine the tree of life…
The tree of life is a diagram used in various mystical traditions and is derived from the Flower of Life. The spheres usually represent encompassing aspects of existence, God, or the human psyche.
It is an arrangement of ten interconnected spheres called sephiroth and with 1 hidden sphere named Daat makes 11, which represent the central organizational system of the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition or ‘cosmology’ of the Kabbalah.
The beginnings of the Jewish Kabbalah is traced back to the Medieval Age, originating in the Book of Bahir and the Book of Zohar.
The Tree of life is considered to be a map of the universe and the psyche, the order of the creation of the cosmos, and a path to spiritual illumination.
The spheres are often arranged into three columns to represent that they belong to a common category. The columns are usually symbolized as pillars. These pillars usually represent different kinds of values, electric charges, or types of ceremonial magic.
The ten spheres represent the ten archetypal numbers of the Pythagorian system. There are said to be 32 paths on the Tree of Life. The first 10 are the Sefiroth (not including Daat).
The remaining 22 correspond to the lines or channels of energy that join the Sefiroth together. Each of these, in turn, corresponds to one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
According to Kabbalist scholars, the tree of life is to be interpreted in the following way: The tree represents a series of divine emanations of God’s creation itself ex nihilo, the nature of revealed divinity of the human soul, and the spiritual path of ascension.
1. The Crown (‘Kether’ in the Kabbalah): it is the primordial infinite energy or limitless light out of which all things are created. the Creator Himself.
2. Wisdom (‘Chokhmah’): Divine reality/revelation; the power of Wisdom.
3. Understanding (‘Binah’): repentance/reason; the power of Love.
4. Mercy (‘Chesed’): grace/intention to emulate God; the power of vision.
5. Strength (‘Gevurah’): judgment/determination; the power of Intention.
6. Beauty (‘Tiferet’): symmetry/compassion; the power of Creativity.
7. Victory (‘Netzach’): contemplation/initiative/persistence; the power of the Eternal Now.
8. Splendour (‘Hod’): surrender/sincerity/steadfastness; the power of Observation.
9. Yesod (‘Foundation’): remembering/knowing; the power of Manifesting.
10. Kingdom (‘Malkuth’): physical presence/vision and illusion; the power of Healing.
11. Daʻat (“Knowledge”): is the location (the mystical state) where all ten sefirot in the Tree of Life are united as one.
The Kabbalistic tree of life is based on descriptions given in the Sefer Yetsirah, or Book of Creation, and expanded upon in the Kabbalistic text, the Zohar, and the book of Splendour. The ten sephira, similar to the Norse tree of life, are divided into four realms:
Atziluth: the realm of the supernal.
Beriah: the creative world of archetypes and ideals.
Yetsirah: the world of formation.
Assiah: manifest creation, the material world.
The tree of Life does not only speak of the origins of the physical universe, but also of man’s place in the universe. Since man is invested with Mind, consciousness in the Kabbalah is thought of as the fruit of the physical world, through whom the original infinite energy can experience and express itself as a finite entity.
After the energy of creation has condensed into matter it is thought to reverse its course back up the Tree until it is once again united with its true nature. Thus, the Kabbalist seeks to know himself and the universe as an expression of God, and to make the journey of Return by stages charted by the Sephiroth, until he has come to the realization he sought.
Now you are ready to use the Tree of Life and its many branches to trace your own personal destiny. The 22 paths represent the royal roads that lead from one energy center (sphere) to another. The successful navigation of any of these paths requires the harmonious blending of the forces represented by the two spheres it unites.
Twelve of these paths correspond to the 12 signs. the remaining 10 represent the heavenly bodies that travel through the signs.
Remember, you can use these techniques to not only understand yourself but also any other process you wish to understand better. Each aspect of creation, whether it is a sentient being, a plant, a project, a country or a poem, has a moment of birth, a time when it was Created (hence the Book of Creation). That moment in time can be traced on the Tree of life and is described by two distinct paths:
Understand that life is a test of faith compassion and finding our way back home, to the infinite all.
