For this expanse is the secret of knowledge, and the Torah is the food of the souls in the Garden of Eden, and the mitzvot (a mitzvah is a commanded deed) are garments, as all this is explained [in the Zohar, the portion Vayakhel, folio 209 and folio 210, and in the Tree of Life, gate 44, chapter 3].
And as it is written in the Zohar and in the Tree of Life, the Shekhinah, which is malchut (kingship) of Atzilut, [which is the aspect of the revelation of the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, and of the life that shines to the worlds, and therefore it is called the word of Hashem (God) and the breath of His mouth, as it were, by way of analogy, as with a person, whose speech reveals his sealed and hidden thought to those who hear], is clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies of Beriah, which is the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Beriah.
And as it is written in the Tree of Life, that the light and the life of the material globe of the earth, which is seen by eyes of flesh, are from malchut (kingship) of malchut of Asiyah (making), and within it malchut of Yetzirah (formation) (in earlier printings it was written "malchut of malchut of Asiyah," and it seems to me that it should be "malchut of Yetzirah," and so it is in the Holy Epistle, section 25, which begins "to understand words of understanding," and so on, of which the original of his holy handwriting is before us), and so on, until within all of them are the ten sefirot (divine channels) of Atzilut (emanation), which are united with their Emanator, Ein Sof, blessed be He.
Now, though the particulars of the manner of hiding and concealment of the light of Ein Sof (the Endless), blessed be He, in the downward chain of the worlds, until this physical world was created, are very many in number, and kinds of different kinds, as is known to those who have tasted of the Tree of Life, in a general way they are three kinds of mighty general contractions, for three kinds of general worlds, and in every general class there are myriads of myriads of particulars.
And as it is written in the Tree of Life, the union of the kisses is, at root, the union of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
But Kabbalah does not spread at all from Atzilut to Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah, as he wrote in the Fruit of the Tree of Life.]
But there are upper angels in the world of Beriah whose service is in intellectual fear and love, as it is written in the Faithful Shepherd there, that there are two kinds of holy living beings, natural ones and intellectual ones, and as it is written in the Tree of Life.]
And as he wrote [in the Tikkunim and the Tree of Life], that six sefirot (divine channels) nest in Yetzirah.
Only at intervals and at times, which are a time of favor above, and as in the prayer of the Eighteen Blessings, which is in Atzilut, and in particular in the bowings that are in it, for every bowing is in the aspect of Atzilut [as it is written in the Fruit of the Tree of Life, in the welcoming of the Sabbath], for it is a matter of nullification in His light, blessed be He, so as to be counted before Him as actually nothing.
[Gloss: And as it is written in the Tree of Life, that the intention of the mitzvot, and Torah study, is on the level of light, and the body of the mitzvot is the level and the aspect of vessels, which are an aspect of contraction, for by the contraction of the light the vessels came to be, as is known to those who know hidden wisdom.]
And as the naturalists wrote, and so it is in the Tree of Life, that the element of fire is in the heart, and the source of the water and the moisture is from the brain.
And as is written in the Tree of Life, gate 50, that it is the aspect of wisdom, which is called water, in the nefesh elokit.
[And as is written in the Tree of Life, the gate of the chashmal, in the mystery of the garments of the first man in the garden of Eden, that they were nails from the aspect of the brain of discernment.]
But the explanation of the matter is according to what Rabbi Chaim Vital, of blessed memory, wrote in the Gates of Holiness [and in the Tree of Life, gate 50, chapter 2], that every man of Israel, the one a tzaddik and the one a rasha, has two souls.
They are from the other unclean kelipot, in which there is no good at all, as it is written in the Tree of Life, gate 49, chapter 3.
The Tree of Life turns up in more places than I expected when I started this research.
The tree matters most on Immortality: the Tree of Life, Amrita and the Quest for the Elixir, where I follow the search for a life without end from Eden to the churning of the ocean in India.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever
On Overview of the Tree of Life Spirit Science describes ten spheres, the Sephiroth, and 22 paths between them, and three barriers called the Gulf, the Veil of Paroketh and the Abyss.
The paths line up with the Tarot on 22 Paths of the Tree of Life and their Tarot connections, and The High Priestess, Path of Gimel and Guardian of Inner Wisdom follows one of them, the path from Keter to Tiphereth.
On Haudenosaunee Creation Story a tree called the Tree of Life grows in the center of Sky World, and Sky Woman grabs its seeds as she falls and plants them on the land that grows on the turtle's back.
On The Assyrian Sacred Tree Mariana Giovino reviews three competing readings of the Assyrian relief: a tree of life, a date palm and a constructed cult object.
On The 8 Dimension: Akashic Records Matias de Stefano describes the eighth dimension as the great tree of life, where the roots meet the branches in a network of connections.
Immortality: the Tree of Life, Amrita and the Quest for the Elixir
Overview of the Tree of Life
22 Paths of the Tree of Life and their Tarot connections
For every page I tagged with Tree of Life, see the Tree of Life tag archive.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The kiškanû tree of Ea may be the prototype of the Tree of Life.
Mariana Giovino: The Assyrian Sacred Tree: how scholars came to read the Assyrian sacred tree as the tree of life of Genesis 2 and 3, and why that reading is disputed.
This structure is similar to the Tree of Life in the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition but is also known as the "symbol of life" in the Egyptian tradition.
Thus the tree of life was not a tree but a book that spoke.
Aubrey Marcus: Well, I mean the tree of life is the encoding of divine value and the tension between those values.
You know, one piece that I can add here is when God in Genesis is punishing the snake for actually encouraging Adam and Eve to eat from the fruit of the tree of life, He says “from henceforth you will crawl on your belly.” Which means that the snake had legs.
1. The fruitage of the tree of life is all too fine to feed the carnal mind.2. If you would throw a diamond to a hungry dog, lo, he would turn away, or else attack you in a rage.3. The incense that is sweet to God is quite offensive unto Beelzebul; the bread of heaven is but chaff to men who cannot comprehend the spirit life.4. The master must be wise and feed the soul with what it can digest.5. If you have not the food for every man, just ask and you shall have; seek earnestly and you shall find.6. Just speak the Word and knock; the door will fly ajar.7. No one has ever asked in faith and did not have; none ever sought in vain; no one who ever knocked aright has failed to find an open door.8. When men shall ask you for the bread of heaven, turn not away, nor give to them the fruit of carnal trees.9. If one, a son, would ask you for a loaf, would you give him a stone?
An honest evil man is more esteemed by guardians of the soul than a dishonest pious man.30. If you would curse the son of man, just curse him out aloud.31. A curse is poison to the inner man, and if you hold and swallow down a curse it never will digest; lo, it will poison every atom of your soul.32. And if you sin against a son of man, you may be pardoned and your guilt be cleansed by acts of kindness and of love;33. But if you sin against the Holy Breath by disregarding her when she would open up the doors of life for you;34. By closing up the windows of the soul when she would pour the light of love into your hearts, and cleanse them with the fires of God;35. Your guilt shall not be blotted out in this, nor in the life to come.36. An opportunity has gone to come no more, and you must wait until the ages roll again.37. Then will the Holy Breath again breathe on your fires of life, and fan them to a living flame.38. Then she will open up the doors again, and you may let her in to sup with you for evermore, or you may slight her once again, and then again.39. You men of Israel, your opportunity is now.40. Your tree of life is an illusive tree; it has a generous crop of leaves; its boughs hang low with fruit.41. Behold, your words are leaves; your deeds the fruit.42. Behold, for men have plucked the apples of your tree of life, and found them full of bitterness; and worms have eaten to the core.43. Behold that fig tree by the way so full of leaves and worthless fruit!44. Then Jesus spoke a word that nature spirits know, and lo, the fig tree stood a mass of withered leaves.45. And then he spoke again, Behold, for God will speak the Word, and you will stand a withered fig tree in the setting sun.46. You men of Galilee, send forth and call the pruner in before it is too late, and let him prune away your worthless branches and illusive leaves, and let the sunshine in.47. The sun is life, and it can change your worthlessness to worth.48. Your tree of life is good; but you have nurtured it so long with dews of self, and mists of carnal things that you have shut the sunshine out.49. I tell you, men, that you must give account to God for every idle word you speak and every evil deed you do.
All selfish acts and sensual deeds spring from the heart.27. To eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.28. And Peter said, Lord, What you said to-day has grievously offended scribe and Pharisee.29. And Jesus said, These scribes and Pharisees are not the scions of the tree of life; they are not plants of God; they are the plants of men, and every foreign plant shall be plucked up.30. Let all these men alone; they are blind guides; they lead a multitude of people who are blind.31. The leaders and the led together walk; together they will fall into the yawning pits.
For instance the Bible’s first man was “Adam,” while in Egypt “Atum” was the first man, in Babylon he was “Adamu,” in India he was “Adima” and he was always warned against eating the fruit of immortality from the Tree of Life.
at the east of the garden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.”
There are suggestions in the ancient Sumerian texts that the cherubim are actual mechanical or robotic devices which, in this case, protect the tree of life.
What is the literal translation of the tree of life?
In Sumerian the word for the tree of life was GISH.TIL.
It seems clear that the action by the gods of stationing the cherubim to keep humans from the tree of life was actually denying the humans the knowledge of their heritage.
It was their way of allowing humanity to eat from the tree of life after all.
Ptah is shown writing divine codes into Seti’s hand while he stands within what is interpreted as a symbolic brain or tree of life.
Christ Consciousness is associated with the middle pillar in the Tree of Life
The Great Spirit gives her a companion she does not want: the monstrous Tree of Life.
Christ Consciousness is associated with the middle pillar in the Tree of Life, which symbolizes balance and the path to unity consciousness.
“He must not be allowed to reach outhis hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Therefore, DNA manipulationdrastically reduced the human life span along with the ability to make full use of human brain capacity.
In Kabbalistic mysticism, the Fool of the Tarot is associated with the path of Aleph (א) on the Tree of Life.
In the Tree of Life, this aligns with the emanation of energy from Keter to Chokmah, the first creative impulse.
In the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, the Fool represents the pure potential of creation, the divine energy as it begins to take form, and the trust required to embark on the journey of existence.
In the system that links the Kabbalistic Tree of Life to the Tarot, the High Priestess goes with the Hebrew letter Gimel (ג).
She stands for the path from Keter (Crown) to Tiphereth (Beauty) on the Tree of Life.
Tiphereth, Beauty, is harmony and integration, the heart of spiritual experience on the Tree of Life.
The 22 paths on the Tree of Life in Kabbalah are matched, in the Hermetic Qabalah of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot.
The Tree of Life usually has 10 Sephiroth, or 11 in diagrams that add Da'at (knowledge) below Keter, joined by 22 paths.
Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the tarot as keys to the Tree of Life.
For a card by card view, see the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot, and for the wider tree, see the Tree of Life in Eden, Kabbalah and the Assyrian sources.
The Tree of Life in Kabbalah is a spiritual map with 10 Sephiroth (spheres of existence) and 22 connecting paths.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn later matched the cards to the 22 paths of the Tree of Life in its own order, with The Fool on the first letter, Aleph.