Excerpts from
“The Tree of Life”
by Ari

And when upon His simple will, came the desire to create the world and emanate the emanations,
To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,
Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,
He then restricted Himself, in the middle,
Precisely in the center,
He restricted the light.
And the light drew far off to the sides around that middle point.

And there remained an empty space, a vacuum
Circling the middle point.
And the restriction had been uniform
Around the empty point,
So that the space
Was evenly circled around it.

There, after the restriction,
Having formed a vacuum and a space
Precisely in the middle of the endless light,
A place was formed,
Where the emanated and the created might reside.

Then from Endless Light a single line hung down,
Lowered down into that space.
And through that line, He emanated, formed,
Created all the worlds.

Astrology and the Tree of Life

In consideration of the astrological aspects, I wanted to keep a throughline with the ten ideal numbers that I began this work with in order to maintain a thread of continuity and connection between all the components used in this Tree of Life. To do this I first looked for parallel patterns of similarity and symmetry between the geometrical, astrological, rhetorical and numerical components of this Tree of Life system. It was very important to tie all the parts of this Tree of Life together in order to create a harmonious system. In order to maintain consistency with the ideal numbers, the sun would have to correspond with the zero point, and the planets would be associated the number that corresponds with their orbital order out from the sun. Much to my surprise this direct association between the ideal numbers and the planets proved to be very relevant.

The Sun is the not a planet yet without it the planets would not exist, however, the Sun can exist without planets. Hence, we call it the Solar System, for the planets revolve around the Sun and are subject to its’ gravitational influence, not the other way around. Similarly, the number Zero is not a number of material quantities, however, it qualifies all the other numbers representing a quantity by means of their relative relationship to the determined position of zero. Zero is the ultimate reference point and qualifier of all the other numbers of quantitative value; it is the qualifying empty space within which a set of quantities is thereby distinguishable, determined, and contained. Similarly, the Sun defines the spacetime set within which the planets are contained.

This approach to a Tree of Life astrology is also based on a geocentric perspective of our life in the universe, as opposed to a solar centric perspective. The reason is because we don’t live on the Sun but on the Earth and as such, from our relative point of view on Earth, we are in the middle of all existence, with the Sun above us, with Mercury and Venus close by its’ side. Furthermore, the fundamental direction that life grows is upwards towards the Sun light. Whereas the roots of plants grow downward through the dirt as they reach for the water, minerals, and other nutrients in the earth.

The Moon is a satellite revolving the Earth and is not a planet revolving around the sun by itself. Our moon, however, does have its’ own predictable patterns and influences that effect life on Earth. Our moon primarily influences the Earths’ condition by way of its’ push and pull effect on the ocean tides, the weather, and the overall rhythms of all life on this planet. Similarly, the ebb and flow of our collective knowledge have also influenced our living conditions, rhythms, and cultural growth as a species: Hence the correlation between the Moon and the sphere of Knowledge on the Tree of Life. The knowledge of the waxing and waning effects of the moon on planting and hunting was critical to the survival of our earliest societies.

Knowledge can also influence our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual growth for better or worse depending on how we are able to understand the information and how we can use it wisely. In all the Tree of Life constructs, the sphere of Knowledge is not considered a Sephirah like the other spheres that correspond to planets; non the less it has still played a very important role in all the different Tree of Life systems. Similarly, the Moon is not considered a planet in the solar system, yet it still plays a vital role for all the life that lives within our planets’ ecosystem.

Now imagine the Moon in this Tree of Life as if it moved around central sephirah of Tiphareth (the sphere representing the Earth in this construct). The Moon would become full in area of Yesod (the sphere of Saturn in this construct).  In turn, the New Moons and subsequent Solar eclipses would occur while the Moon is in the position of Da’ath, (the sphere of the Moon). The progression is the same as older models of the Tree of Life from the perspective of Earth, except that in this construct the Moon is not given the same status as the other planets with its’ own Sephirah, but rather its’ own special status as the Sephirah that’s not a Sephirah; just like it’s planet like but it’s not a planet, it’s a satellite of a planet.

We now know that our solar system extends even deeper into space then we ever knew just a few hundred years ago. As a result of our present knowledge of the solar system, where the presence of the three outer planets is now common knowledge, this Tree of Life model is including them.  But I can’t help but wonder if the ancients were already aware of these other dynamics in the solar system, at least theoretically. For they did recognize that the observations of factors in the observable world they lived in, known as the Microcosm, should have corresponding factors in the universe without, known as the Macrocosm. They would have also understood that there was far more to life than just what we can see, for they also spoke extensively about other beings from the stars that influenced our knowledge and destiny that they couldn’t see with their own eyes.

One of the major reconsiderations I am making in these new models of the Tree of Life is the manner in which the Moon and the outer planets are organized. Previous attempts by scholars of the western esoteric traditions to include the outer planets into their new Tree of Life models was to simply place the three outer planets onto the three supernal Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. Since these sephirah had not been associated with any planets in the models predating the discoveries of the outer planets they would just plop them in without considering how this would impact the harmonious relationship between all the components of the Tree of Life as a whole. I believe that the inclusion of the three outer planets requires a complete reevaluation of the whole Tree of Life system in order to attain the most harmonious arrangement with all these new parts included.

There are stories in western mythology, in which the old gods, Neptune and Pluto, ruled the depths of the ocean and the dark caverns of the underworld, both signifying forces from below. The influences of the outer planets may not have been observed visually, however, over time the cyclic patterns of their behavior could still be observed by their effects on our environment and in mankind’s ever changing societal behavior.

In this construct of Tree of Life, Pluto is associated with the eighth number, and position, not the ninth number. I’ve done this because when you look at the order of the orbits around the sun, and not which planet goes further away from the sun by linear distance, the orbit of Pluto passes between the orbit of Uranus and Neptune as it makes its’ oblong journey around the sun. The puzzle of why Pluto has such an eccentric orbit may have been solved, however its’ classification is still being debated; Is it a planet or a planetoid? Either way it is a dynamic object that has an effect on the other bodies in our solar system and whose patterns have been observed and analyzed by astrologers for quite some time now.

The ten Ideal Numbers 0-9 in this system correspond to the first ten cards of the Tarot and these cards also represent ten character types, which can also very easily correspond to the natures of the ten planets: 0- The Fool (Sun), 1- The Magician (Mercury), 2- The High Priestess (Venus), 3- The Empress (Earth), 4- The Emperor (Mars), 5- The Hierophant (Jupiter), 6- The Lover (Saturn), 7- The Charioteer (Uranus), 8- The Courageous (Pluto), and 9- The Hermit (Neptune).

Furthermore, the twelve double numbered Tarot cards can easily correspond with the twelve Zodiac signs which represent twelve different types of environments or experiences we have in life: 10-The Wheel of Fortune (Taurus), 11- Justice (Libra), 12- The Hanged Man (Pisces}, 13- Death (Scorpio), 14- Temperance (Sagittarius), 15- The Devil (Capricorn), 16- The Lightning Struck Tower (Aries), 17- The Star (Aquarius), 18- The Moon (Cancer), 19- The Sun (Leo), 20- Judgement (Gemini), and 21- The World (Virgo).

The development of civilized cultures grew out of our ability to mark and measure significant moments in time and predict recuring patterns of nature in order to be better prepared for an otherwise unpredictable future. These considerations of the recurring changes in our environment lead us to the use of the number twelve as a basis for measuring time and space in a manner that was not achievable by the use of the number ten alone. The number ten doesn’t divide easily into thirds or sixths and thereby lacks the ability to easily create harmonious musical tones in a structured space as well as a 12-unit system can.

Whether the western variations are actually superior to the Judaic versions or vice versa is totally subjective. The important thing to keep in mind is that there are no past models of the Tree of Life that are exactly the same, or sometimes even similar, and by no means should it be assumed that there is only one correct model. The various constructs of the Tree of Life are all just different attempts to organize what we knew of how life grows and bears’ fruit for humankind. Modern science makes these archaic approaches to understanding how life works rather obsolete and even ridiculous at times. However, the exercise of reexamining the subject is still very stimulating to the brain and the process can help us focus our minds on higher levels of consciousness, which in turn could enable us to see things about life that we would not have otherwise seen.

These updates to the Tree of Life system of correspondences are not as radical as it may seem to those who have a hard time changing their perspective or incorporating new information. There have been many different approaches to drawing the Tree of Life over the years, but they are often overlooked because of all the popularized versions proposed by the modern western esoteric schools and their publishers’ successful promotion campaigns. Some of them may even claim to be part of an ancient tradition to gain more validity or authenticity. However, the only real Kabbalistic tradition was to update our understanding of life as new information became known to us and to do so with the aim of finding the most harmonious Tree of Life system as possible.

Every moment may hold a lifetime of meaning:
So, seize your moment and know thyself.


Arcane Astrological Advisors