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 in 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 in the Tree of Life
In consideration of the astrological aspects, I wanted to keep a throughline with the ten ideal numbers, which I began this work with, in order to maintain a thread of continuity that could connect all the different components used in this Tree of Life construct. 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 an interconnected manner in order to create a coherent metaphysical system.
In order to maintain consistency with the ideal numbers in this system, the sun would have to correspond with the zero point, and the planets would have to be associated with the numbers that corresponded with their orbital order out from the sun. Much to my initial surprise this direct association between the ideal numbers and the planets orbital order 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, not the planet system; for the planets revolve around the Sun and are subject to its’ gravitational influence and not the other way around. Similarly, the number Zero is not a number of a material quantity, 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 with quantitative value. It is also the qualifying empty space within which a set of quantities is thereby distinguishable, determined, and ultimately contained. Similarly, the Sun defines the spacetime set of conditions and invisible forces by which the planets are contained and their orbits defined.
This approach to the Tree of Life astrological associations is also based on a geocentric perspective of our life in the universe, as opposed to a solar centric perspective; i.e. the earth is in the central position of the model. The reason is because we don’t live on the Sun but on the Earth and as such, from our relative point of view living on Earth, we are in the middle of all existence, with the Sun above us and Mercury and Venus close by its’ side. Furthermore, the fundamental direction that life grows is upwards towards the Sun. Whereas the roots of plants grow downward through the dirt as they reach down towards the water, minerals, and other nutrients within the earth.
The Moon is a satellite revolving around the Earth and is not a planet orbiting around the sun by itself; it is dependent upon the Earth. Our moon, however, does have its’ own predictable patterns and influences that only effect life on this planet. Our moon primarily influences the Earths’ condition by way of its’ push and pull effect on the ocean tides, weather patterns, and the overall rhythms and behavior of all the life that exists on this planet. The knowledge of the waxing and waning effects of the moon on planting and hunting was critical to the survival of our earliest societies. Similarly, the ebb and flow of our collective knowledge have also influenced our living conditions, rhythms, behavior and cultural growth as a species. Hence the correlation between the Moon and the sphere of Knowledge on this Tree of Life model. For like the Moon, knowledge can also influence our emotional, physical, and mental growth, for better or worse, depending on how we are able to understand the information gathered, and whether or not we use it wisely. In all the different Tree of Life models that are currently out there, the sphere of Knowledge is not considered a Sephirah like the other spheres; 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.
We now know that our solar system extends even deeper into space then we knew just a few hundred years ago when the Kabbalah was first developed. As a result of our present knowledge of the solar system, where the presence of the three outer planets (Uranus, Pluto and Neptune) is now common knowledge, this Tree of Life model has included them. But I can’t help but wonder if the ancients may have somehow already aware of these other dynamics in the solar system, or at least of their theoretical possibility. For Pythagorus and Plato did believe that factors in the observable world that they lived in, known as the Microcosm, should have corresponding factors in the universe without, known as the Macrocosm. They also understood that there was far more to life than just what we can see with our eyes, for they spoke extensively about other beings from the stars that influenced our knowledge and destiny that were beyond our ability to observe.
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 and eastern 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 overall balance and harmony of the Tree of Life construct as a whole. I believe that with the addition of the three outer planets changes the whole equation, which requires a complete reevaluation of the whole Tree of Life system in order to achieve the most harmonious arrangement of all the components now being included.
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 just which planet travels further away from the sun in 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, analyzed, and included in the pantheon of planets by astrologers for quite some time now.
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. The twelve has been used in our clocks since it was first developed by the Babylonians and is still used throughout the world to this day.
Whether the western variations of the Tree of Life 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 closely similar, and by no means should it be assumed that there is only one correct model. The various constructs of the Tree of Life were just different attempts to organize what we knew of how life at the particular time and place that they were developed.
The proposed updates to the Tree of Life system put forth in this study are not as radical as it may seem to those who are afraid of changing their perspective. 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 or eastern esoteric schools and their publishers’ successful promotion campaigns, each of them expecting their students to consume their interpretation hook, line, and sinker; the student becomes so overwhelmed by the required memorization of their teachers endless nonsensical justification for their ridiculous interpretations of another idiots hallucinations. Some of them even claim to be part of an ancient unchangeable esoteric tradition just to gain more validity or authenticity. However, the most important Kabbalistic tradition that most people overlook is the tradition of updating our old Tree of Life construct when new factual information or truths about life are learned.
To reconsider a past presumption, or to rebuild an old construct from scratch, are how great new discoveries can be made. Modern science makes these archaic approaches to understanding how life works obsolete and even ridiculous to students of serious modern sciences; however, that does not mean that they are without value or worthy of any consideration. The exercise of reexamining an archaic subject can still be very stimulating to our brains and the process could possibly even help us focus our minds on higher levels of consciousness a little better. This in turn could even enable us to see things about life that we may not have otherwise been able to see. Although science loves to say that they are standing on the shoulders of giants, they fail to consider what those giants may have overlooked in their day, however, with a little reconsideration or reexamination, might actually be very relevant today.
Every moment holds a lifetime of meaning:
Seize your moment and Know Thyself.
Arcane Astrological Advisors