Down the Tree

Although in the pure nature of the Great Spirit there can be no divisions, no movement, and no change, it also contains within itself all possibilities, all potentialities — including both the possibility of remaining whole, undifferentiated, unmoving and unchanging, and the possibility of self-knowledge among its differentiated aspects. It is from this field of possibilities that the viewpoint held by actual consciousness — the self-aware mind of the Great Spirit in one of an infinite number of its aspects — arises.

In other words, when we contemplate the Great Spirit in His fullness, and when we contemplate Him in His manifestation, we are considering the possibilities that He, being absolutely free and absolutely perfect, equally contains within Himself. The Great Spirit is not bound by existence or non-existence, by unity and multiplicity, while nonetheless encompassing all these potentialities.

Whenever we say that something “happens,” “manifests,” or “actualizes,” we must understand clearly that we are in a field of possibilities in which there is always room for non-happening, non-manifestation, and non-actualization. Nevertheless, examining this field from one possible viewpoint, one of an infinite number of viewpoints, we can speak of “reality,” “manifestation,” or “self-knowledge” as something definite.

It is precisely in this relative, yet nonetheless quite definite, sense that the Magical Myth considers the unfolding of the World-process and models it with the scheme of the World Tree.

We have already said that this model implies the simultaneous arising of the subject and object constituents of the World-process respectively “from above” and “from below” the Tree, describing it as the resultant of the “descent,” the “shattering” of the One Spirit’s mind and the “ascent,” the “reintegration” of the mind of the individual.

Although for the Magus, as an individual being, the mind’s operative movement is the “ascent” up the Tree, an understanding of this process proves far more complete when one grasps the whole picture. Therefore, consideration of the involution of the Spirit, which receives so much attention in Kabbalistic literature, is indeed extremely useful both from theoretical and practical perspectives.

In order to attain its full individualization, the One Mind passes through a series of stages which it then repeats, returning to pleromic unity.

First of all, within the Great Spirit the very potential for such a manifestation is discovered. We have already understood that this possibility is neither unique nor necessary, yet by virtue of the omnipotence of the Ineffable Absolute it can, of course, be delineated. This delineation of the possibility of manifestation itself, the “potency of potencies,” is called the Tree’s Crown of manifestation, and on the Tree it is symbolized by its “upper root.” Since the Tree contemplates the possibility of differentiated Self-knowledge, the next stage is the arising of the idea of Multiplicity. This idea is reflected in the Tree’s Intelligence, and its emergence is immediately accompanied by the appearance of the “paired” idea of Unity, which correspondingly is reflected in the Tree’s Wisdom. Because differentiation, the establishment of individuality, is the Tree’s primary driving force, the following stage naturally becomes the emergence of a law defining individuality, its very determination as a form of reality that does not overlap with others. This establishment of law is the Tree’s Mercy, since it marks the free formation of shared mind and co-creation and is associated with Jupiter’s forces. At the same time, the repelling force that maintains boundaries of the independence of the individualizing mind and prevents its blending, is called the Tree’s Severity; it corresponds to Mars.

The next stage — the formation of an individual field of mind within Spirit’s unified ocean, ensuring a distinct, indivisible existence of a distinct viewpoint and mode of self-knowledge — is called the Tree’s Victory, its Venus, and its paired potency of “consideration,” “mutual attunement” with the whole ensemble of individual aspects and manifestations is called the Tree’s Glory (Mercury).

When the possibility of individual self-awareness is created and established, and its place in the overall symphony of the all-encompassing process is defined, it becomes “creative,” capable of autonomous reflection (therefore this activity is “Lunar”) and is called the Tree’s Foundation.

Finally, a fully formed individual awareness, directed toward knowing reality in the multiplicity of possible interactions and actualizing its potentials, is called the Tree’s Kingdom.

It is the “Kingdom” that is the domain where the creative mind knows itself through actions, through its reactions to contact with energies, thereby realizing its unique aspect of self-knowledge as the Great Spirit.

Note that a mind immersed in self-reflection “falls out” of the “Kingdom,” sinking, at best, into pernicious self-replication (gilgul), and often into destruction (the Qliphoth). When such a mind discovers its “destiny,” it begins the reverse process — liberation, the “ascent” up the Tree.