Structure of the Tree

As we have discussed, every self-contained whole object of the cosmos can be described as a composite of ten “basic” properties, the sefirot. In its “vertical” scheme — yosher, the Tree of Sefirot can be considered in several ways:

• As the “vertical” triad of the Columns (Heb. gimel kavim),
• As a dynamic system, the manifestation of the Tetragrammaton, and
• As the composite of three triads of sefirot whose activity is expressed in the resulting field of Malchut.

From the standpoint of “vertical polarity,” the Tree of Life divides into right, left, and middle parts. The sefirot of the right side — Chokhmah, Chesed and Netzach — symbolize the quality of giving (considered masculine), while the sefirot of the left side — Binah, Gevurah and Hod — symbolize the desire to receive, considered feminine. The right is also associated with light (kedusha), the left with darkness (tumah) and the powers of darkness (sitra achra). It is held that in the course of his “rectification,” tikkun, a person must attain yichud — the supernal union of the male and female divine principles. Yichud allows the Shekhinah, separated from God and “hidden” in the created world, to reunite with her source — “the Holy One, blessed be He,” that is, with the transcendent Ain Sof. The reason for the Shekhinah’s separation and the interruption of the “flow” (shefa) of divine energy poured into the earthly worlds is human selfishness and sin. Conversely, altruism, the “property of Light,” and human righteousness open the way to reunion and the revelation of the Divine.

As a fourfold structure, the Tree includes the Arikh Anpin, the “Great Face” — situated beyond the Supernal veil of Keter and its Radiance — which is not an element of the Tetragrammaton; it is said to be symbolized by the “dot above the Yod,” denoting the transcendent source of creation, and four “faces” — partzufim: the Father and Mother (Aba ve Ima) — Chokhmah and Binah, expressing the active (Yod) and passive (He) principles; the “Small Face” (Zeir Anpin), comprising the six “middle” sefirot with its “heart” in Tiferet and its “organ of activity” in Yesod, expressing the androgynous principle of Vav; and the “bride” (“Nukva“, literally ‘female’ or ‘female organ’) — Malchut, which receives the “seed” of Zeir Anpin and serves as the field of its growth and manifestation. The word “shefa“, used in Hebrew for the Divine Light, also denotes the male seed. The name of each “face” indicates that the sefirah from which it developed has become a system of ten “included” sefirot, likewise organized according to the yosher scheme.

Finally, as the composite of three triads plus Malchut, the Tree expresses the same tetragrammatic principle, but in a slightly different aspect. The first (“supernal”) Triad — Keter, Chokhmah and Binah — expresses the “upright” triangle of activity, the principle of spirit, which manifests in two “inverted” triangles that receive its energy — the “creative” and the “created” immanences — and these, in turn, reflecting in one another, find “condensation” and physical manifestation in the “lower realm” of Malchut.

Since the Tree depicts the order in which Light passes through (and “throughout”) the vessels, its gradual “diminution” and modification, each principle is manifested in two aspects — a “transmitting” aspect, which is symbolized by the sefirot, and a “filtering” aspect, which corresponds to the Qliphoth. The capacity of each sphere to “receive” the properties of Light is considered benevolent and divine, whereas its “selfish” striving to absorb the Light gives rise to “demonic” manifestations. Moreover, in the Tree these two forces appear as the power of unity (Mezla), the manifestation of Light, and the power of separation (Nahash), which shapes the “boundaries” of the vessels (indeed, the more rigid such a boundary, the less a Vessel can take on the properties of Light, the more reluctantly it “shares” the Light — whence the very word “qliphoth” — “shells,” “husks”).

Because the “filtering” of Light occurs through its partial reflection, there must be a mechanism that ensures the “change of direction” of the Light. Yet the nature of the Light itself is such that its sole impulse is to fill vessels — Light is pure expansiveness and cannot simply “turn away” from a vessel, no matter how the vessel attempts to reflect it with its Screen. The only way to change the direction of the Light is to present it with another, more attractive vessel; thus the essence of the “limiting,” shadowing activity of the Qliphoth is their greater attractiveness, which at the ordinary level is perceived as predation — their assimilative activity.

Accordingly, as we have already discussed, it is not quite correct to separate the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of Death,” sefirot and qliphoth; it is more accurate to regard each principle in its two aspects — the aspect of “assistance” to the Light and of “resistance” to it.

In the sefiratic, Light aspect, each principle, of course, has a tetragrammatic manifestation, and in it one can find:

1) the manifestation of the very nature of the Light — the radiating, “emanational” level (this level is in fact called “emanation,” Atzilut (Heb.) ‏האצילות‏‎), traditionally designated by the corresponding Holy Name, is the element of the Divine Presence in each sphere. Strictly speaking, the Atzilut principle pertains to “Light as such,” prior to its direct interaction with vessels, and corresponds to the “dot above the Yod of the Tetragrammaton.” The Atzilut level asserts the unity of the object, its essential autonomy, the “object in itself.”

2) the manifestation of the Light’s creative activity — its expansiveness and impulse to manifest (the aspect of “Bria“, Heb. ‏עולם הבריאה‏‎, “the world of creation”), and for each sefirah its own creative aspect is expressed by a particular archangelic power. The Bria level marks the emergence of primary duality, subject–object relations, and delineates the fundamental possibilities for the object’s interaction both with its own aspects and with its environment.

3) the manifestation of the interaction between the nature of Light and the nature of the vessel (the so‑called “principle of form“), which is the “measurement” of the Light in accordance with the vessel’s particularities (the aspect of “Yetzira” (Heb.) ‏עולם היצירה‏‎, “the world of formation”; “the world of forming of forms”). It is expressed in the receptive creative potentials of the “nature of the created” and is symbolized by the so‑called “angelic orders,” i.e. aggregates of active elements transforming the inert medium;

4) the manifestation of the vessel’s “receptive abilities,” its capacity and desire to receive (and reflect) the Light (the aspect of “Assiah“, Heb. ‏עֲשִׂיָּה‏‎, “the world of action”). This aspect is symbolized by “souls” (ishim, ashim (אשים)), the products of the “animation of matter,” conscious beings.

5) the manifestation of the properties of the vessel as such, its qualities as a medium, the field in which the activity of the Light is expressed (the aspect of the “Environment”, A‑ze, Hebr. ‏ הזה העולם ‏‎; “this world”).

These principles can be found both in each sefirah and in the Tree as a whole: Atzilut (the World of Archetypes) corresponds to Keter. Bria corresponds to Chokhmah and Binah, the Great Father and Mother. The World of Formations — Yetzira — consists of the six central sefirot: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod and Yesod. The world of Assiah corresponds to the sefirah Malchut, while the A‑ze aspect corresponds to the “soil” from which the Tree grows.

From a practical point of view it is important to understand that, since the sefiratic structure underlies any object or integral process (including spells and other kinds of magical practice), considering it from all indicated perspectives will produce the most balanced, and therefore the most effective, structure.