The Tree of Life and the World Ash

World mythology contains many depictions of the Cosmic Tree. Yet analogies often arise where they are not warranted. One example of a strained analogy is the common equation of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life with the pagan World Tree (in particular, Yggdrasil). The only real basis for such a comparison is the shared “tree” structure, but that structure can pertain to fundamentally different concepts. As products of different cultures and modes of thought, these concepts describe entirely different things.

The idea of the “Tree of Life” (“Etz HaChaim“) goes back to Lurianic Kabbalah, which reinterpreted the biblical image according to its cornerstone concept of the Sefirot. It holds that the Light emanating from the Most High fills Creation (“Vessel”) in several stages, each stage marking a degree of distance from the Source and attaining autonomous existence — a Sefira. The cosmic process comprises ten such stages of the Light’s emanation, and accordingly any closed object (“partzuf“), whether the Universe as a whole, a human being, or even a finished verbal formula, has ten elemental qualities, each reflecting a particular state of interaction between Active and Passive principles.

The system of the Sefirot consists of interactions between individual Sefirot, and these interactions, or channels (“tzinoroth“), correspond to the possible transitions from one Sefira to another. It is precisely the assemblage of intersection points (Sefirot) and channels (tzinoroth) that constitutes the sephirotic system as a Tree. Each individual Sefira points to one aspect of God in His role as Creator, while simultaneously constituting a whole world of Light in the chain of being — an aspect of the Deity’s self-knowledge. All the Sefirot taken together form the “Tree of Sefirot,” regarded as a dynamic unity in which the creative activity of the Most High is manifested.

The concept of the “Tree of the Sefirot” crystallized relatively late, based on spiritual-mystical insights into biblical mysteries. We will not examine in detail here the sense and significance of each Sefira, especially given the abundance of literature on the subject. What we need to grasp in the present context is that the Sefirot are at once stages of Creation and elements of every object. And the Tree of Life describes the “skeleton” of any phenomenon or object in its aspect as the mind’s access to Being.

Yggdrasil, the World Ash-tree, Yggdrasil — is also a skeleton, but the skeleton of a specific universe, inhabited by specific beings. And it describes the division of worlds not according to stages of their creation, but according to forms of differentiated consciousness that produce the images of those Worlds. People often say: “Asgard is Keter.” But that is fundamentally mistaken. Keter is the general form of the Creator’s presence in Creation, in which creation is considered merely a potential response to the Creator’s activity. Asgard, by contrast, is a mode of consciousness corresponding to its creative, shaping, and differentiating activity, characteristic of the Aesir, a specific form of life. In other words, Etz HaChaim views the world from the Creator’s standpoint, as the realization of His Will, while Yggdrasil views it from the standpoint of Creation, self-organizing and self-differentiating. Both viewpoints, of course, are legitimate, but their synthesis should yield the unmanifest state, not a hybrid concept of “Sefirot-Yggdrasil.”

In the human as a microcosm one can find all the Sefirot, from Keter to Malkuth, yet it is absurd to look for Asgard or Muspellheim in a person, although the principles embodied in those worlds are present within them. If we were to analyze Yggdrasil from the perspective of sephirotic structure (which is possible, though somewhat odd), we would arrive at a division differing from the picture of the Nine Worlds. In particular, Keter would not be found (since creative activity lies beyond this tree); Chokhmah would include primarily elements of Asgard and Jotunheim; Binah — Vanaheim and Ljosalfheim; Hesed — again Ljosalfheim combined with Muspellheim; Gevurah — elements of Jotunheim and Niflheim; Tiferet — Asgard, Vanaheim, and Ljosalfheim; Netzach — Hel and Ljosalfheim; Hod — Hel and Svartalfheim; Yesod — Asgard and Vanaheim; Malkuth — Midgard and all the worlds of the gods. This difference arises from the different natures of differentiated and absolute mind.

Absolute mind, the mind of the Deity, distinguishes elements in the world according to the possibilities of its interaction with Being. The concretely differentiated mind, however, distinguishes elements according to its own characteristics, tonalities, and preferences. The pure Principles of the Sefirot mingle in every object, producing its complete picture; and just as in any object one can find all the Sefirot, so each Sefira enters into different objects. The synthetic mode of thought can either seek the Principle behind its manifestations or regard the Manifestation as a harmonious aggregate of Principles. The important thing is not to confuse these distinct perspectives, since only an integral picture can be effective; the addition of artificial syntheses does not enrich but, on the contrary, confuses the mind by inventing nonexistent links.