Tree of life (Kabbalah) - Wikipedia

In the Jewish Kabbalah, the nodes are called sephiroth. ... The diagram is also used by Christian Cabbala, Hermetic Qabalah and Theosophy. ... The diagram is ... Treeoflife(Kabbalah) FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch Diagramusedinvariousmysticaltraditions ThispagereferstotheconceptofanarchetypaltreeoflifeinJewishKabbalah,ChristianCabbalaandHermeticQabalah.SeealsoTreeoflife(disambiguation)forothermeaningsoftheterm. PartofaseriesonKabbalah Concepts EinSof Tzimtzum Ohr AyinandYesh Sephirot FourWorlds Sederhishtalshelut TreeofLife Merkavah Jewishangelichierarchy Shekhinah Partzufim Qliphoth TohuandTikun Sparksofholiness Messianicrectification Gilgul Kabbalisticastrology Gematria Notarikon Temurah NamesofGodinJudaism Shemhamphorasch Tzadik TzadikimNistarim AnthropomorphisminKabbalah Panentheism History Pre-KabbalisticJewishmysticism Tannaim Heichalot SeferYetzirah ChassideiAshkenaz Medieval Bahir Toledanotradition PropheticKabbalah Zohar KabbalisticcommentariesontheBible MainstreamdisplacementofrationalismwithKabbalah Renaissance SelectiveinfluenceonWesternthought MysticismafterSpanishexpulsion Mysticsof16th-centurySafed CordoveranKabbalah LurianicKabbalah Maharal'sthought PopularKabbalisticMussar Earlymodern BaalShem-Nistarim Sabbateanmysticalheresies Emden–Eybeschutzcontroversy ImmigrationtotheLandofIsrael TraditionalOrientalKabbalists BeitElSynagogue EasternEuropeanJudaism HasidicJudaism /philosophy LithuanianJews Hasidic-Mitnagdicschism Modern Hasidicdynasties MysticisminreligiousZionism AcademicinterestinJewishmysticism Non-OrthodoxinterestinJewishmysticism Practices Torahstudy Mysticalexegesis Mitzvot Minhag Customaryimmersioninmikveh Meditation Kavanot Teshuvah Deveikut Prayer Nusach TikkunChatzot TikkunLeilShavuot PilgrimagetoTzadik Pilgrimagetoholygrave LagBaOmeratMeron Asceticism PracticalKabbalah People 100s FourWhoEnteredthePardes SimeonbarYochai 1100s IsaactheBlind Azriel 1200s Nahmanides AbrahamAbulafia JosephbenAbrahamGikatilla MosesdeLeon MenahemRecanati 1300s BahyabenAsher 1400s 1500s MeiribnGabbai JosephKaro ShlomoAlkabetz MosheAlshich MosheCordovero IsaacLuria ChaimVital JudahLoewbenBezalel 1600s IsaiahHorowitz AbrahamAzulai 1700s ChaimibnAttar BaalShemTov DovBerofMezeritch MosheChaimLuzzatto ShalomSharabi VilnaGaon ChaimJosephDavidAzulai NathanAdler SchneurZalmanofLiadi ChaimVolozhin 1800s NachmanofBreslov BenIshChai ShlomoEliyashiv 1900s AbrahamIsaacKook YehudaAshlag BabaSali MenachemMendelSchneerson Role History Torah Tanakh Prophecy RuachHaKodesh Pardesexegesis Talmudicalhermeneutics Midrash JewishcommentariesontheBible OralTorah ErasofRabbinicJudaism GenerationaldescentinHalacha GenerationalascentinKabbalah Rabbinicliterature Talmudictheology Halakha Aggadah Hakira ClassicMussarliterature AshkenaziJudaism SephardiJudaism ModernJewishphilosophies Jewishstudies Topics GodinJudaism Divinetranscendence Divineimmanence Freewill Divineprovidence Kabbalisticreasonsforthe613Mitzvot Jewishprinciplesoffaith Jewisheschatology Primarytexts vte Thetreeoflifeisadiagramusedinvariousmysticaltraditions.[1]Itusuallyconsistsof10nodessymbolizingdifferentarchetypesand22linesconnectingthenodes.[2]Thenodesareoftenarrangedintothreecolumnstorepresentthattheybelongtoacommoncategory.[2] Thenodesareusuallyrepresentedasspheresandthelinesareusuallyrepresentedaspaths.[2]Thenodesusuallyrepresentencompassingaspectsofexistence,God,orthehumanpsyche.[2][3][4]Thelinesusuallyrepresenttherelationshipbetweentheconceptsascribedtothespheresorasymbolicdescriptionoftherequirementstogofromonespheretoanother.[2][4]Thenodesarealsoassociatedtodeities,angels,celestialbodies,values,singlecolorsorcombinationsofthem,andspecificnumbers.[3][5]Thecolumnsareusuallysymbolizedaspillars.[2]Thesepillarsusuallyrepresentdifferentkindsofvalues,electriccharges,ortypesofceremonialmagic.[2][5]ItisusuallyreferredtoastheKabbalistictreeoflifeinordertodistinguishitfromotherconceptswiththesamename.[1][6]IntheJewishKabbalah,thenodesarecalledsephiroth.[2]ThediagramisalsousedbyChristianCabbala,HermeticQabalahandTheosophy.[5][6][7]Thediagramisbelievedtobederivablefromthefloweroflife.[3] ScholarsbelievethattheconceptofatreeoflifewithdifferentspheresencompassingaspectsofrealitytracesitsoriginsbacktoAssyriainthe9thcenturyBC.[1][6]TheAssyriansalsoassignedvaluesandspecificnumberstotheirdeitiessimilartothoseusedbythelaterJewishKabbalah.[1][6]ThebeginningsoftheJewishKabbalaharetracedbackbyscholarstotheMedievalAge,originatingintheBookofBahirandtheBookofZohar.[5][6]However,thefirsthistoricalinstanceofthemoderndiagramappearedcenturieslaterinthecoveroftheLatintranslationofGatesofLightintheyear1516.[5]ScholarshavetracedtheoriginoftheartinthePortaLuciscovertoJohannReuchlin.[8] Contents 1Evolution 2Interpretations 2.1Chassidist 3Culturalinfluences 4Seealso 5References 6Externallinks Evolution[edit] AversionoftheKabbalistictreeoflife ThefirsthistoricalinstanceofthemoderntreeoflifewasdesignedbyJohannReuchlin.[8]PaoloRiccio'sson,Hyeronomius,hadactivelyexchangedlettersandsharedhisfather'sworkwithReuchlinbeforepublication.[9]Thus,intheyear1516,Reuchlin'sdiagramcametoappearonthecoverofthePaoloRiccio'sLatintranslationofJosephGikatilla'sGatesofLight.Thediagramonlyhad17pathsand,atthetime,theconceptsof10spheresand22letterswerestilldistinctintheliterature.[10]In1573,aversionsketchedbyFranciscusZillettusappearedinCesareEvoli,Dedivinisattributis.[11]Thisversionintroducedseveralinnovationsthatwouldreappearinlaterversions:allthesphereswereofthesamesize,thelinesbecamewidepaths,thesphereswerealignedinto3distinctcolumns,Malkuthwasconnectedtothreespheres,andastrologicalsymbolsfortheknowncelestialbodieswereusedinconjunctionwiththeHebrewnamestolabelthespheres.However,italsohadonly17paths,albeitdistributeddifferently.Reuchlin'sversionwasreprintedinJohannPistorius'compilationof1587.Finally,severalversionsfromunknownartistsintroducing21and22pathsappearedintheposthumousprinteditionsofMosesCordovero'sPardesRimonimbetween1592and1609.[12]However,thediagramswith22pathslackedconsistencywitheachotherandnoneofthem hadthe22letters.[13]Between1652and1654,AthanasiusKircherpublishedhisownversionofthetreeinOedipusAegyptiacus.Kirchermighthavedesignedhisdiagraminasyncreticattempttoreconcileseveraldistinctideas.Thisheavilyannotatedversion,self-termedSephiroticSystem,introducedmoreinnovations:abstractconcepts,divinenames,the22Hebrewlettersforeachpath,andnewastrologicalsymbols.[14]Between1677and1684,ChristianKnorrvonRosenrothpublishedKabbalaDenudat.Hedesignedseveralnewversionsofthetreeoflife,introducedthefirstversionwith11spheres,placedDaathbetweenKetherandTiphareth,andattemptedtoderivethetreeoflifefromelementalgeometry.[15][16][17] Consequently,tomodernday,twoversionsarewidelycirculated:onewhereMalkuthhas1path,owingtoReuchlin'soriginal;andanotherwhereMalkuthhasthreepaths,owingtoseverallaterversions;bothhaving22pathsintotal,correspondingeachtoaHebrewletter,owingtoKircher'ssyncretism.[18]Withtheresurgenceofoccultisminthe19thcentury,manynewversionsappeared,butwithoutmajorinnovations.[19]Inthe20thcentury,AleisterCrowleymighthaveresurfacedtheideaofDaathasan11thhiddenspherebetweenKetherandTipharethinhisbookLiber777,syncretizingtheconceptwithKircher'ssymbolsandvonRosenroth'sdiagrams.[20][21]Withthediscoveryofnewplanets,peoplemighthavetriedtointroducemoreastrologicalsymbolstotheirownversionsofthediagram.Asaresult,thereisnogeneralagreementaboutthepositionofUranus,NeptuneandPluto.[22][23]However,inparticular,ithasbeennotedthatPlutobearsresemblancewithDaath:Plutoisaformerplanet,thelasttraditionalcelestialbodytobediscovered,andDaathisahiddensphere,thelasttobeintroduced.[24]Inthe21stcentury,enthusiastsmighthaverushedtoattributethesecollaborativeworksspanningcenturiesandinvolvingseveralpeoplethroughcomplexinteractionstosingleauthors.Thus,sometimes,theversionwhereMalkuthhas3pathsistermedtheTreeofEmanation,andtheversionwhereMalkuthhas1pathistermedtheTreeofReturn.[5] Interpretations[edit] Chassidist[edit] ApatterninspiredbythetreeoflifeinawindowintheJoodsHistorischMuseuminAmsterdam ThetreeoflifebasedonthedepictionbyRobertFluddintheDeutscheFotothek AccordingtoChassidistKabbalistscholars,thetreeoflifeistobeinterpretedinthefollowingway:[25] ThetreerepresentsaseriesofdivineemanationsofGod'screationitselfexnihilo,thenatureofrevealeddivinity,thehumansoul,andthespiritualpathofascentbyman.Inthisway,Kabbalistsdevelopedthesymbolintoafullmodelofreality,usingthetreetodepictamapofcreation. Thesymbolicconfigurationismadeof10spiritualprinciples,but11canbeshown,since"Keter"and"Da'at"areinterchangeable. Thetreeofknowledgeofgoodandevilisequivalenttothe10spheresseenfromthelastsphereofthediagram("Malkuth"),andtheoriginaltreeoflifeisequivalenttothe10spheresseenfromthemiddlesphereofthediagram("Tiferet"). Kabbalistsbelievethetreeoflifetobeadiagrammaticrepresentationoftheprocessbywhichtheuniversecameintobeing. Onthetreeoflife,thebeginningoftheuniverseisplacedinaspaceabovethefirstsphere(named"Keter"or"crown"inEnglish).Itisnotalwayspicturedinreproductionsofthetreeoflife,butisreferredtouniversallyasOhrEinSof(אֵיןסוֹף‎‎‎‎אוֹר‎inHebrewor"endlesslight"inEnglish). ToKabbalists,itsymbolizesthatpointbeyondwhichourcomprehensionoftheoriginsofbeingcan'tgo.Itisconsideredtobeaninfinitenothingnessoutofwhichthefirst"thing",usuallyunderstoodamongKabbaliststobesomethingapproximating"energy",explodedtocreateauniverseofmultiplethings. Kabbalistsalsodon'tenvisiontimeandspaceaspre-existingandplacethematthenextthreestagesonthetreeoflife. Firstis"Keter",whichisthoughtofastheproductofthecontractionof"EinSof"intoasingularityofinfiniteenergyorlimitlesslight.IntheKabbalah,itistheprimordialenergyoutofwhichallthingsarecreated. Thenextstageis"Chokhmah"(or"wisdom"inEnglish),whichisconsideredtobeastageatwhichtheinfinitelyhotandcontractedsingularityexpandedforthintospaceandtime.Itisoftenthoughtofaspuredynamicenergyofaninfiniteintensityforeverpropelledforthataspeedfasterthanlight. Nextcomes"Binah"(or"understanding"inEnglish),whichisthoughtofastheprimordialfeminineenergy,thesupernalmotheroftheuniversewhichreceivestheenergyof"Chokhmah",coolingandnourishingitintothemultitudinousformspresentthroughoutthewholecosmos.Itisalsoseenasthebeginningoftimeitself. NumbersareveryimportanttoKabbalists,andtheHebrewlettersofthealphabetalsohaveanumericalvalue.Eachstageoftheemanationoftheuniverseonthetreeoflifeisnumberedmeaningfullyfromone("Keter")toten("Malkuth").Eachnumberisthoughttoexpressthenatureofitssphere. Thefirstthreespheres,calledthe"supernal"spheres,areconsideredtobetheprimordialenergiesoftheuniverse.Thenextstagesofevolutiononthetreeoflifeareconsideredtoexistbeyondaspaceonthetree,calledthe"Abyss",betweenthe"supernals"andtheotherspheres,becausetheirlevelsofbeingaresodistinctfromeachotherthattheyappeartoexistintwototallydifferentrealities.The"supernal"spheresexistonaplaneofdivineenergy.Thisiswhyanothercorrespondencefor"Binah"istheideaofsufferingbecausethe"supernal"maternalenergygivesbirthtoaworldthatisinherentlyexcludedfromthatdivineunion. After"Binah",theuniversegetsdowntothebusinessofbuildingthematerialsitwillneedtofulfillitsevolutionandbecreatingnewcombinationsofthosematerialsuntilitissodensethat,bythestageof"Malkuth",theinitialpurelimitlessenergyhassolidifiedintothephysicaluniverse. Sinceitsenergiesarethebasisofallcreation,thetreeoflifecanpotentiallybeappliedtoanyareaoflife,especiallytheinnerworldofman,fromthesubconsciousallthewaytowhatKabbalistscallthehigherself. Butthetreeoflifedoesnotonlyspeakoftheoriginsofthephysicaluniverseoutoftheunimaginablebutalsoofman'splaceintheuniverse.Sincemanisinvestedwithmind,consciousnessintheKabbalahisthoughtofasthefruitofthephysicalworld,throughwhomtheoriginalinfiniteenergycanexperienceandexpressitselfasafiniteentity. Aftertheenergyofcreationhascondensedintomatter,itisthoughttoreverseitscoursebackupthetreeuntilitisonceagainunitedwithitstruenature:"Keter".Thus,theKabbalistseekstoknowhimselfandtheuniverseasanexpressionofGodandtomakethejourneyofreturnbymeansofthestageschartedbythespheres,untilhehascometotherealizationhesought. Culturalinfluences[edit] InNeonGenesisEvangelion,aJapaneseanimeseries,theTreeoflifewasdepictedformultipletimes. InLobotomyCorporationandsequelgameLibraryofRuina,theTreeofLifeisamajorfocusofitssymbolism,downtheAIbeingregardedastheSephirotandbenamedforeachpartofthetree. InFinalFantasyVII,thecharacterSephirothisnamedafterthe10emanations. Seealso[edit] Atziluth Floweroflife Sephirot Treeofdeath(Kabbalah) Treeoflife(biblical) Treeoflife Treeoftheknowledgeofgoodandevil References[edit] ^abcdParpola,Simo(1993)."TheAssyrianTreeofLife:TracingtheOriginsofJewishMonotheismandGreekPhilosophy".JournalofNearEasternStudies.52(3):161–208.doi:10.1086/373622.JSTOR 545436. ^abcdefghMills,Robert."Kabbalah-TheTreeofLife".www.byzant.com.ByzantMystical. ^abc"TreeofLife-AThoroughExplanation".TokenRock. ^ab"Kabbalah:AnArchetypalInterpretation".www.newkabbalah.com. ^abcdef"HermeticKabbalah".www.digital-brilliance.com. ^abcdeWelch,JohnWoodland;Parry,DonaldW.(2011).TheTreeofLife:FromEdentoEternity.DeseretBook. ^"TheKabbalah:AUniversalSymbol--theTreeofLife".www.wisdomworld.org. ^abHeertum,Cisvan;Netherlands,BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica(Amsterdam(2005).PhilosophiaSymbolica:JohannReuchlinandtheKabbalah:CatalogueofanExhibitionintheBibliothecaPhilosophicaHermeticaCommemmoratingJohannReuchlin(1455-1522).BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica.TheInventoryofReuchlin'sHebrewworks[...]listsPortalucisunderno.35[...]Thisisthefirstrepresentationofthesefirotictreeinprint ^Heertum,Cisvan;Netherlands,BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica(Amsterdam(2005).PhilosophiaSymbolica:JohannReuchlinandtheKabbalah:CatalogueofanExhibitionintheBibliothecaPhilosophicaHermeticaCommemmoratingJohannReuchlin(1455-1522).BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica.ReuchlinwassentPaulusRicius'partialLatintranslationofSha'areiOrahbythelatter'sson,Hieronymus[...] ^Heertum,Cisvan;Netherlands,BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica(Amsterdam(2005).PhilosophiaSymbolica:JohannReuchlinandtheKabbalah:CatalogueofanExhibitionintheBibliothecaPhilosophicaHermeticaCommemmoratingJohannReuchlin(1455-1522).BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica.[T]hedistinctionbetween'theknowledgeofGodbythepathofthetwenty-twoletters'[...]and'theknowledgeofGodbythepathofthetensefirot'[...]adistinctionalsoreferredtoby[...]Reuchlin ^Heertum,Cisvan;Netherlands,BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica(Amsterdam(2005).PhilosophiaSymbolica:JohannReuchlinandtheKabbalah:CatalogueofanExhibitionintheBibliothecaPhilosophicaHermeticaCommemmoratingJohannReuchlin(1455-1522).BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica.lllus.2:SefirotictreeinCesareEvoli,Dedivinisattributis,Venice,FranciscusZillettus,1573 ^"ReligiousChangeandPrint,1450-1700:"KissurPardesrimonim"".ReligiousChangeandPrint,1450-1700. ^"KabbalisticAbridgmentstothePardesRimonim:TheEvolutionofaText|PennLibraries".www.library.upenn.edu. ^Crowley,Aleister(1986).777AndOtherQabalisticWritingsofAleisterCrowley.WeiserBooks.ISBN 9780877286707.TheJesuitKirchergives[...]TheorderofthePlanetsisthatoftheirapparentrateofmotion.Bywritingthemintheirorderroundaheptagon[...] ^"Rosenroth'sKabbalaDenudata,scannedfromtheLatin". ^KabbalaDenudataTomIA,scannedfromtheLatin.p. 588. ^"Endplates".KabbalaDenudataTomIB,scannedfromtheLatin. ^Crowley,Aleister(1986).777AndOtherQabalisticWritingsofAleisterCrowley.WeiserBooks.ISBN 9780877286707.[I]nhisOedipusÆgypticus.Itisthisbook(late17thcentury)[that]containstheearliestknownappearanceoftheversionoftheTreeofLifeusedbythe[GoldenDawn]andCrowley,andinfactmostmodernWesternoccultists. ^Crowley,Aleister(1986)."777".777AndOtherQabalisticWritingsofAleisterCrowley.WeiserBooks.ISBN 9780877286707. ^Crowley,Aleister(1986).777AndOtherQabalisticWritingsofAleisterCrowley.WeiserBooks.ISBN 9780877286707.CXXIV.TheHeavenlyHexagram[...]Daath ^Crowley,Aleister(1986).777AndOtherQabalisticWritingsofAleisterCrowley.WeiserBooks.ISBN 9780877286707.IntheGoldenDawndiagram(inturnderivedfromvonRosenroth)fromwhichCol.CVI.wasderived[...] ^"AnAstrologicalViewoftheChakras".KabbalahSociety-. ^"Thelemapedia:TheEncyclopediaofThelema&Magick|TreeofLife:HeavensofAssiah".www.thelemapedia.org. ^"PlutoandtheKabbalah".www.electricalspirituality.com. ^DovBer,Shalom."TheTreeofLife-Aclassicchassidictreatiseonthemysticcoreofspiritualvitality".www.chabad.org. 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TheIlanotProject—AsearchabledescriptivecatalogueofkabbalisticdiagramsinmanuscriptsandbooksfromMedievalAgetothe20thcentury Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tree_of_life_(Kabbalah)&oldid=1055176878" Categories:ChristianKabbalahHermeticQabalahJewishsymbolsKabbalahKabbalisticwordsandphrasesMagicsymbolsHiddencategories:ArticleswithshortdescriptionShortdescriptionmatchesWikidataCommonscategorylinkisonWikidata Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk Variants expanded collapsed Views ReadEditViewhistory More expanded collapsed Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Inotherprojects WikimediaCommons Languages العربيةEspañolفارسیFrançaisItalianoNederlands日本語PortuguêsРусскийTürkçe中文 Editlinks