Inner Shift

Posts Tagged ‘Tree of Life’

“There is a natural tendency to view the Tree as a series of discrete objects rather than as the unified, undifferentiated whole it actually is, and the paths allow us to begin the process of reintegrating the Tree by exploring the relationships between pairs of sefirot. A thorough understanding of two sefirot and the path between them creates a new unit of understanding that can then be put together with other such units. A solid grasp of the sefirot is required before any path may be usefully meditated upon and followed, and a path is realized through study, visualization, empathy and guided meditation. Thorough knowledge of the sefirot linked by the path and the correspondences of the path itself are an important part of this process.” ~ Byzant Kabbalah

{Note: Paths 1-10 correspond to the ten sephiroth.}

There are many ways you can place the Tarot Trumps on the Tree of Life. Gray came out with a non-conventional way that makes much more sense than some of the traditional ways (e.g., the Golden Dawn). Mainly what he does is sort the Major Arcana by homogeneous ideas. Look it over and see if this arrangement resonates with you!

Cosmic Phenomena:

• on the central Pillar
• using the distance from the Earth outwards
• Moon – Malkuth to Yesod
• Sun – Yesod to Tiphareth
• Star – Tiphareth to Kether

External Rulers:

• temporality and religion
• Emperor – Chesed to Chokmah
• Emperess – Netzach to Chesed

Exoteric and Esoteric:

• the outer and inner Life
• Hierophant – Chokmah to Kether
• Hermit – Binah to Kether

Fatality:

• karmic laws dealing with compensation and balance
• how life deals with us
• in conjunction with the Cosmic Phenomena = the Space-Time Continuum
• Wheel of Fortune – Hod to Netzach
• Justice – Geburah to Chesed
• Judgment – Binah to Chokmah

Alteration:

• dealing with change
• Death – Binah to Geburah
• Devil – Hod to Geburah

Compensation:

• dealing with balance
• The Hanged Man – Tiphareth to Binah
• Temperance – Tiphareth to Chokmah

Energy:

• the uses of force
• Strength – Tiphareth to Chesed
• The Blasted Tower – Tiphareth to Geburah

Movement:

• nothing is static
• moving through Life
• moving in Life through the generations
• The Chariot – Hod to Tiphareth
• The Lovers – Netzach to Tiphareth

Inspiration:

• inspiring inner and outer action
• The Magician – Yesod to Hod
• The High Priestess – Yesod to Netzach

Who? What?:

• ideas of people and places
• The Fool – people
• The World – places

Quotes: Gray, William G.

The Talking Tree

Gray’s “Qabalistic Creed” affords a way for the Qabalist to see the pattern of Life on the Tree. The two directions, moving up or down the Tree, are used depending on the what work or training you are focusing on. This is an excellent and succinct creed to meditate on; in addition, you can also incorporate it as a daily prayer or into your spiritual rituals.
Ascending {Matter To Spirit} In Material Expression I Believe With Reason And Devotion In the Beauty Of Controlled Abounding Love Whose Understanding Wisdom Is The Only Light Illuminating Boundless Being In the Ultimate Unmanifest.	Descending {Spirit to Matter} In the Ultimate Unmanifest My Boundless Being Becomes Illumination, As The One True Light Of Wisdom, Understanding All With Love Outpoured In Full Control As Perfect Beauty Whose Achievement Is A Brilliance Finding Its Foundation In Material Expression.

Source: Gray, William G.

The Ladder of Lights

From the Great Unmanifest (or a state of total and complete nothingness)  and pre-Ketheric condition exist what Gray terms the “condensation-condition” as follows:

Ain ~ Nothing (“What now?”)

Ain Soph – Limitlessness (Freedom)

Ain Soph Aur – Limitless Light (Spiritual Illumination)

The concept is of light intensifying from out of darkness till it reaches a maximum focus at Kether which enables God to create the Cosmos. The Divine Consciousness impressed its intention and Will upon Ain (Nothing) using “words” — recall the statement: “And God said: Let there be Light, and there was Light.”

On the way up the Tree we reach Kether and then move beyond to find our “True Selves” in Immortality, a coming into what mystics have called the Divine Union with God.

These concepts are not immediately easy for humanity to comprehend. It is hard enough to even understand the three Supernals of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah. So, its important to contemplate within how you perceive concepts of nothingness, limitless light and spiritual illumination.

Here is another way of looking at Ain Soph Aur espoused by Gray:

AIN
SPH
AVR

Rearrange as such from Hebrew:

ASA – “To be strong, and heal.”
IPV – “Very beautiful.”
NHR – “To flow. Figurative for gathering of people.”

And, as Gray writes, “Surely the story of the Tree cannot be put much plainer than that”?

“This is the Golden Rule of Life. Between two extremities, always choose the Middle Way” is the message of the Three Pillars according to Gray. If you think on your own life you’ll see that this is quite apropos as we navigate back and forth seeking the centered and stable path. The Three Pillars are normally associated with three paths of spiritual dedication as explained below.

The Pillar of Severity {pain} ~ Binah, Geburah, Hod

Corrresponds with the Hermetic Path named after Hermes Trismegistus — followed by ritualists, Qabalists, temple type occultists, and professions that call for a high magnitude of intellectual study and application such as physicists, surgeons, lawyers. The path is of a more serious and formal nature, moving cautiously and with diligent research. Considered to be the most reliable and safest of the paths.

The Pillar of Mildness {pleasure} ~ Chokmah, Chesed, Netzach

This pillar corresponds to the Orphic Path named after Orpheus — it is one of emotion, spontaneity, and exuberance. On this path you would find pagans, artists, poets, writers, animists and so forth. Here there is less of a dependency on rules, dogma, convention and tradition. Many start on this path in their youth and then move to the Hermetic Path later in life.

The Pillar of Mercy {peace} ~ Kether, {Da’ath}, Tiphareth, Yesod, Malkuth

The Middle Pillar is the Mystic Path — a difficult path for most of humanity to follow as it involves a deep purposeful self-sacrificing devotion to Deity. The spiritual level called for following this path is high and only those truly experienced enough in all their incarnations choose to travel its path. Gray calls it a path for “Avatars and Sacred Kings”.

The sephiroth of the Tree of Life lie vertically upon three pillars. These can be seen as expressions of balance (the Pillar of Mildness) between two opposing forces (the Pillars of Severity and Mercy). You can place the Tree around your body as follows: Kether slightly above your head, Chokmah at the left shoulder, Binah at the right shoulder, Chesed at the left arm, Geburah at the right arm, Tiphareth at the heart/solar plexus, Netzach at the left leg, Hod at the right leg, Yesod at the genitals, and Malkuth at your feet. Practice visualizing the Tree standing in front of a doorway or matching them to the parts of your head and face. [Keep in mind that the Pillars will change depending on whether you are facing the Tree or visualizing it within you or behind you.]

Some further ideas to keep in mind when contemplating the Pillars:

• a white pillar for the masculine, a black pillar for feminine, and the
  middle pillar (gold) as a column of light to represent the Moon, Sun and Stars illuminating the Earth
• the three rays of the Druidic symbo of Awen
• the rays from the solar disc of Ankh-en-Aton
• trilithons at ancient sites such as Stonehenge
• the pillars of Boaz and Jachin in the Temple of Solomon

Hermetic Qabalah holds to the neoplatonic conception that the manifest universe, of which material creation is a part, arose as a series of emanations from the godhead. These emanations arise out of three preliminary states that are considered to precede creation. The first is a state of complete nullity, known as Ain (אין “nothing”); the second state, considered a “concentration” of Ain, is Ain Suph (אין סוף “without limit, infinite”); the third state, caused by a “movement” of Ain Suph, is Ain Suph Aur (אין סוף אור “limitless light”), and it is from this initial brilliance that the first emanation of creation originates.

The emanations of creation arising from Ain Suph Aur are ten in number, and are called Sephiroth (סְפִירוֹת, singular Sephirah סְפִירָה, “enumeration”). These are conceptualised somewhat differently in Hermetic Qabbalah to the way they are in Jewish Kabbalah.

From Ain Suph Aur crystallises Kether, the first sephirah of the Hermetic Qabalistic tree of life. From Kether emanate the rest of the sephirot in turn, viz. Kether (1), Chokhmah (2), Binah, Daath,(3) Chesed (4), Geburah (5), Tiphareth (6), Netzach (7), Hod (8), Yesod (9), Malkuth (10). Daath is not assigned a number as it is considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah.

Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine energy (often described as ‘the divine light’) which ever flows from the unmanifest, through Kether into manifestation. This flow of light is indicated by the lightning flash shown on diagrams of the sephirotic tree which passes through each sephirah in turn according to their enumerations.

Each sephirah is a nexus of divine energy and each has a number of attributions. These attributions enable the Qabalist to form a comprehension of each particular sephirah’s characteristics. This manner of applying many attributions to each sephirah is an exemplar of the diverse nature of Hermetic Qabalah. For example the sephirah Hod has the attributions of; Glory, perfect intelligence, the eights of the tarot deck, the planet Mercury, the Egyptian god Thoth, the archangel Michael, the Roman god Mercury and the alchemical element Mercury. The general principle involved is that the Qabalist will meditate on all these attributions and by this means acquire an understanding of the character of the sephirah.

Source: Wikipedia