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A Meditation on the Qabalah

Kerry A. Shirts

The Qabalah is a wonderful religious system of understanding and learning about God, the universe, man, woman, and our places in this home we call the uiniverse. As I have been studying the various symbolisms of many religious traditions, I have found a kinship to the Qabalah Tree of Life that is unparalleled. I would like to share some of my own thoughts, research, "scribble notes", as I like to call them, analysis, translations, etc., while I pondered the Tree of Life this last weekend. I superimposed the Ten Sefiroth, that is the Qabalah Tree of Life, on many and varied religious pictures, glyphs, etc., in order to see what would come of it. What, if anything, does the symbolism of the Qabalah Tree of Life mean? Does it apply to anything at all? Is there overlap within and without the varied and numerous religious traditions around the world?

As I superimposed the Tree of Life, I found many intriguing things occurring, which in turn, brought out more questions, hence I know I am on a good path. I don’t say I am on THE right path, but I am on a good path, as it leads to more and more discoveries. I am not going to answer the world’s problems with this type of exercise. I don’t intend to nor do I care to with this at this time anyway. I know I cannot do so. But I am going to learn new information, new correlations between religious traditions, new ways of appreciating my fellow man around the globe, with his own religious sacred symbols, sacred doctrines, sacred hopes, sacred prayers, and sacred Gods. I will share this with you in the hopes you too, can, along with myself, come to appreciate, just a little more, our Wonderful Creator, for His infinite Wisdom, Love, and Greatness, as He gives truth to all his children this globe over.

This shows the ten sefiroth, the circles, which are thought of as emanations or powers of God. This is the structure and map of the universe in mystical Qabalistic thought. It is a most startling image as I shall show you. Its applicability amazes me as I ponder it and compare it to other symbols of religious art and myth. The connections between the sefiroth are the paths of the Tree of Life. Notice the four large circles, which is what I commented on as I wrote all over this thing. This is a most important theme in the Qabalah, what I will call the doctrine of the four. It is an image you will meet again and again, as it has applicability with your own life, your family, the city you live in, your country and the world, in fact, the very universe. Let me show you just what I mean as the number 4, among other numbers, interpenetrates most all we understand as does this Tree of Life.

Here I doodled with the Sefiroth and noted they upper portion of the Tree of Life is precisely the Egyptian measurement instrument the Khekh! I was astonished. No one has shown this so far as I know. The interesting thing is how the two match in philosophy and use also. This symbol, these instruments are about time… they measure…. They build. I was delighted when I hit upon this. Pondering while you doodle can lead to all sorts of revelations about symbolisms and their meanings, as well as their direct applications in life for us. This is perhaps my very favorite way to meditate. Just look at symbols and doodle, and the universe talks to you.

I figured, well, I found one Egyptian correlation, are there others? Yes indeed, and in fact, they also have similar purposes. I was again amazed that there was a fit, with of all things, the Egyptian judgment scene of the weighing of the heart. Here the deads heart is weighed to see if it was true and stayed the course in life. The scales demonstrate either a balance and harmony, or a problem. Precisely this balance is struck with the Tree of Life denoting harmony and balance as two crucial points to the universe, as well as what we should set as goals of having in our lives here on earth. So, what next I thought? I thumbed through many terrific books, magazines and articles and found far more than I would have ever believed.

Here is a superimposition of the Tree of Life on an Egyptian scene showing opposites, poles, etc. Yet because of the opposites, there is, once again, a divine harmony to it all. This is worth noticing as it is a major key to realizing and understanding the Qabalah itself with the angelic powers as well as the demons and what it is all about. The Hermetic Doctrine from the Tabula Smaragdina comes through powerfully. In a nut shell? It says "As Above, So Below." Notice the shape of the cross with the sun in the heart which I drew below the pullout of the big picture. That is the mystical Savior who is hidden in symbolism. Much religious symbolism the world over, whether Mayan, Egyptian, Hermetic, ancient Babylonian, African, North American, etc., has this feature, of a cross the connection, the intersection of the vertical with the horizontal. Pay attention carefully and you will see this everywhere. It is precisely in the Tarot Card of the High Preistess as well.

Notice the cross on her bosom which is actually one of the Sefiroth, and in fact, most significantly, the Sefiroth called "Tifereth," meaning Beauty. An apt Sefiroth for the Hidden Mystical Savior to be located at on the Tree of Life. The cross is at one and the same time a beautiful, yet horrible thing. It is a tree of death, and a Tree of Life. This is the idea in the Qabalah Tree of Life. Opposites, and their opposite, unities. Everywhere you look, they abound in the sacred religious and mythological symbolisms around the world. It is a universal language, though differing in details across cultural boundaries, yet unified universally in remarkable ways. It is delicious to enjoy and learn and taste of the symbolisms no matter where you look.

Note the similar three pillars in these two depictions. The theme of the mystery of redemption just thrilled me after I read what it was about. Yes the male is redeemed by the female, and the female by the male. This is the idea of the two shall become one flesh, etc. The marriage of male and female is clearly depicted by the Tree of Life with its two opposite pillars on either side of the central pillar, unifying them, etc. There are just so many ways of reading the symbolism, which is a key point to remember. The symbols can be interpreted in numerous ways, yes. There is no dogmatism or heretics in reading symbolism. That is the delight of it. It can be personally applied to your own situation right now if need be.

This one, I confess, was one of my very favorites to doodle into. This is a marvelous example of how other religious symbols correlate so very well across cultural boundaries. The Temple at Luxor literally fits the dimensions of man! It also is a compass to the cosmos! To superimpose the Tree of Life onto the man superimposed on the cosmic temple is truly delightful! This is an important key Hugh Nibley reminded us of concerning the temples as powerhouses. They use cosmic energy to function, to tune us in to our cosmic home. In fact, to further this theme to ourselves look at what else I found.

Upper right. Pay attention! The Tree of Life superimposed onto mankind ourselves. Next to it are the four realms (again), the important four elements, of which mankind is composed. Notice a unique theme with the upper left piece. Man in the image of God. Take the Tetragrammaton, the most sacred, most religious name in all Creation, and it forms the form of mankind! It forms our bodies. It informs our bodies. It is imbued in our bodies. It IS our bodies. The body of mankind corresponds to the name of God.

This is overwhelming when pondering and doodling with it. I highly recommend this form of meditation and prayer. Notice how YHWH also corresponds to India’s four sacred syllables! Truly a universal truth is herein hidden awaiting to be discovered, savored and enjoyed. Want to take a further peek behind the veil? The Tetragrammaton, the YHWH, name of God? The topmost letter, the Yod? It is identified by some with Hokhmah (Wisdom) and is thought of as the Father. The next letter down that forms mankind’s arms? It is the first He, and identified with Binah (Intelligence), and is thought of as feminine, the Mother. The third letter, the Vau, whose numerical value is six, corresponds to the six Sefiroth constituing the body of the Microprosopus, (the Son) who is the son of the union of the Father and Mother. The final He is Malkuth (Kingdom) the Microprosopus’ bride. All this within our very bodies. The mysteries of Godliness are delicious to feast on. The four sacred syllables of the Indians that YHWH corresponds to so perfectly is the Tantric Seed Syllable, AUM…….or as the saying is "aum mani padme hum!" (The Jewel is in the Lotus). Each of the six syllables refer to a specific world or universe. In breathing exercises, while repeating the mantra, it is thought that the practitioner breathes worlds into being within his body, and as he exhales, the worlds disappear, reminscent of the sleeping Vishnu in Indian religious thought.

Again the Caduceus manifests itself within the realm of the Tree of Life, not only in the Book of Genesis, but also in the Qabalah. The Caduceus, of course, being a powerful symbol of life… Eternal Life, among other things. This symbol along with many others are inherently within the Tree of Life waiting for doodling manifestation as I show you now below.

What else is worth noting, is the Chinese system of I-Ching can correspond to the Tree of Life as well! This is just nifty to know. I am amazed the Tree of Life is more culturally broad than any other symbol I have ever studied so far.

It astonishes me still to realize how many religious icons and symbols the Tree of Life correlates and superimposes onto, from around the world, from the Egyptians to the Chinese to the Greek geometers. Herein is Wisdom. Finally, to ourselves. There is nothing quite like self discovery. Indeed, the correlations to the Tree of Life onto man can hardly be exaggerated nor can it be exhausted. Here are just a few of the doodling ideas I had and wish to share. There are literally myriads more. All of this is possible because of the Tree of Life… literally. Its worth enjoying and pondering.

 Finally, the top triangle of the Tree of Life starts out with the Qabalah family unit as Father, Mother, Son make up the Trinity. The triangle I noted is the first form of a plane, a physical bursting onto the material scene of creation. The point and line are not dimensional. This occurs with the triangle, hence the importance of the Primal Triangle as making up the governing family unit of the Universe.