The Tree of Life features in the story of the garden of Eden. It bares similarities to various plants of life, that are suggested to give immortal life. These plants of life feature in many Mesopotamic ancient stories, but the story of the garden of Eden stands out because the Tree of Life is less central to its story. In the story of the garden of Eden, the plant of life seems to be put aside for a new focus instead on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Tree of Life is mentioned briefly, particularly when Adam and Eve are cast out. In the short line when it is mentioned, the verse indicates that it is the key to eternal life.

The diagram often used to represent this key to eternal life, comes from the students of Isaac Ben Luria. It is therefore considered a major part of Modern Lurianic Qabalah. Luria studied the Zohar and focused on the process of creation, as was later symbolised by the Tree of Life. The notes of Luria’s teaching were compiled by his foremost student Chayyim Ben Joseph Vital. This was later explored further by Gikatilla in his Gates of Light. An early Christian Cabalist called Johann Reuchlin compiled the first diagram of the tree of life based on Gikatilla, however this only featured 17 paths. Athanasius Kircher drew the first version with 22 paths and had planets associated with each sphirah. The planets however were one sphirah lower than our modern tree of life with the moon associated with Malkuth. However, in the diagrams given in Christian Knorr Van Rosenroth’s Qabalah Denudat the planetary associations are what we normally see.

Ladder of Lights

In Gikatilla’s Gates of Light, the sphiroth are referred to as if they are gates and at some stages, he refers them as “levels”. This is quite an important description in terms of the potential implication to later qabalists.

Polytheism in Judaism?

Many pagans are drawn to the Qabalistic Tree of Life because it demonstrates 10 different perspectives of god. They often think that you can finally reunite pagan polytheistic beliefs with Judaism and its influence on western magic. However, this system was never designed to be Pagan. In the Paleo-pagan world-view the gods are aspects of nature and natural aspects of humanity, which were subject to fate. In the Judaic view, the Tree of Life is above fate and decides fate. (see Nahum Sarna’s Understanding Genesis). Its aspects are infinite and they are meant to be conceived as one.

Gikatilla introduces his Gates of Light by suggesting that the Tree of Life is like a tree in that each branch seems separate but they are one living creature. In the Tree of Life, God is one being of which we can have different experiences. We can experience its grace, its wrath, its jealousy, its beauty and much more. In the same way, my dad can be experienced by me as a father, by my mum as a husband, by my grampa as a son, by my uncle as a brother and by others as friends. That does not make him multiple people, but there are different aspects of him. (I never really realised what Donald Michael Kraig was getting at in Modern Magick, until I accidently stumbled on the same model in my own writing).

9 Mirrors of vision

Gikatilla in Gates of light refers to the 1-9 sephiroth as the 9 mirrors of vision and refers to them as levels. Perhaps this is because the light of God passes from one to another without diminishing. They do not shine, but repeat the light of the Ain Soph Aur, which comes before them. Each one is considered infinite in power.