Tree of Life

The ancient teachings of Qabalah are mapped out on the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life is like a road-map, it has paths that lead from one area of life into another. It can help us identify dreams and turn them into something real but it can also help with life's challenges; whatever is happening in our life we can map it on the Tree and through applying the teachings and meditation, we can find different ways of overcoming difficulties.

The Tree of Life is a tool that can be used in our everyday life. There are no judgements only right ways of living in line with our individual needs.

To look at a picture of the Tree of Life we can see there are 10 circles and a lot of lines.

The circles are called sephirah (singular) and sephiroth (plural).

There are worlds within worlds

Each sephirah is numbered and linked to a planet, and each line aligns with a major karmic tarot card and are known as Paths.

1.   Neptune
2.   Uranus
3.   Saturn
4.   Jupiter
5.   Mars
6.   Sun (star at centre of our solar system)
7.   Venus
8.   Mercury
9.   Moon (Earth's natural satellite)
10. Earth

There is another region on the Tree of Life which is quite often hidden or shown only as a dotted circle. This area is linked to Pluto and situated vertically between the Sun and Neptune

Each planet affects us in different ways

Everything in the Universe is energy in one form or another. As the planets move they form configurations and are positioned in ways that consistently bring about the same sort of results.

The Moon governs our emotional reactions and responses and the cycles of behaviour we find ourselves repeating. The planet Mars challenges our courage and daring and brings out the warrior within us in order to survive.

As well as having planetary information linked to them, the sephiroth relate to different aspects of our lives.

The Lines on the Tree of Life are representative of the different paths we walk in life. Each line (or path) relates to a different major arcana tarot card. The major arcana cards are known as karmic cards or Trump cards. Through understanding what each of these paths mean and the teachings behind the major cards, we can help ourselves and find more effective ways of dealing with the challenges we are faced with in our daily lives. The first path we walk takes us from the Earth sephirah (otherwise known in Hebrew as Malkuth) to The Moon sephirah (Yesod). This path is called the Universe Path. The Universe path looks at how we are bound to the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, and helps us to understand the Bigger Picture. The way we break free from this restriction is through recognising the cycles we get caught in, breaking negative habit patterns and taking control.

The tarot trump card (major karmic card) this path aligns with is the Universe card. This card works with the energy of the planet Saturn. If this tarot card appears in a lay it can indicate a refusal to learn the lessons of life. It is this refusal to learn from our life experiences that ties us to our karmic debts and the endless cycle of birth/death/rebirth. It is only when we learn from the lesson does the karma drop away. The teachings of the Tree of Life help us to recognise the cycles we get caught in and thus break the negative habit patterns of the way we handle and react and respond to situations, events and people. It is the way we deal with things that determines whether the karma falls away or traps us further.

The ancient teachings of Qabalah (Kabbalah) take us on a journey up the Tree of Life. The journey begins in Malkuth (Earth) - the physical plane. This is where we examine the material world and the way we play this Game of Life. Malkuth looks at the world we have created for ourselves. From the physical plane the journey takes us up into the realms of the personality where we explore our emotional reactions and responses. We look at the way we think and our attitude; the way we interact with others and the sort of relationships we enter into, as well as the relationship we have with ourselves.

The next part of the journey moves us into the realms of the soul. The soul is objective and detached and interested only in reaching out and aligning the Soul Will to the Will of the personality. Each of us has a Karmic Destiny to fulfil and through acting on our intuition we can walk the path intended for us in harmony and in tune with the natural order of the universe.

The last part of the journey takes us up into the spiritual worlds. Here we create our own Heaven on Earth, we walk unaided, alone, as Magicians able to juggle all the elements of life and receptive to the endless possibilities the universe has to offer. The aim is to return to the source as pure beings and to align ourselves to spiritual truths and the Will of the Spirit.

The journey is truly exciting and once begun, we never look back because we find better ways of living that work for us.

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Earth (Malkuth): this sephirah deals with the Physical Body and the physical plane (the world we live in). It represents the end result and gets us looking at the way we behave and take action in our everyday lives.

Moon (Yesod): this sephirah helps us to recognise the way we emotionally react and respond to people and situations. This area holds within it the memories of all that has gone before and gets us looking at why we find ourselves caught in cycles of behaviour and habit patterns. Subconscious

Mercury (Hod): this sephirah represents our Personal Will. It deals with our attitude and the way we build images in our mind. Thoughts

Venus (Netzach): the planet of love and desire. This sephirah tests our personal ability to love unconditionally and gets us looking at our self-worth and Feelings.

The Sun (Tiphareth): this sephirah is our point of balance and where we learn how to 'tune into' our Intuition and walk hand in hand with our Soul. Heart

Mars (Geburah): the focus of this sephirah is to prevent us from continuing on a path that is not intended for us. It deals with eliminating all that has out-lived its usefulness and holding us back. Soul Will

Jupiter (Chesed): this benevolent planet rules the area that encourages us to explore the Bigger Picture and to see where each of us fits into this jigsaw of life. Love

Saturn (Binah): this sephirah represents structure and discipline, and teaches us the importance of contemplation and silencing the conscious mind in order to hear. Spiritual Love (Awareness).

Uranus (Chokmah): this sephirah brings us in touch with spiritual truths. Here we experience the force of the universal energy and learn how to bring this energy down and through us in a controlled manner. Spiritual Will (Purpose and Direction).

Neptune (Kether): the essence here is to just BE. This sephirah is the source of all energy. This area represents the beginning and the end - when we return to the source as pure Beings. Self / Spiritual Desire