QABALAH - THE TREE OF LIFE

by

Chris Mitchell

In the last article, we had a look at the Tree of Life - the principle "glyph" of the Qabalah, consisting of ten "sephirot" (singular "sephira") and twenty-two paths connecting them. In effect, we can think of the Tree of Life as a roadmap of our consciousness, and in this article and the next we're going to take a guided tour of the Tree of Life, and see what each sephira represents, and look at one way of dividing the Tree into three distinct areas: our outward personality, our inner core and our spirituality. We'll also get the chance to try out some meditations associated with the personality areas of the Tree.

This article is just going to look at the bottom four sephirot on the Tree of Life - Malkuth, Yesod, Hod and Netzach represent our personality and the everyday world.

Malkuth means "kingdom", and is the physical realm, and your physical body and sensations. Running, eating and drinking, physical pain and exhaustion - these are all part of Malkuth, and correspond to the base chakra, and to Earth.

Yesod means "foundation", and represents our subconscious. When we decide to take an action, it manifests in Yesod before making its presence known in the real world. Dreams take place in this realm, and if you've wondered where all those brilliant ideas that you never quite got round to doing spend their time, it's here! It corresponds to the sexual chakra, and the Moon.

Hod means "splendour", and represents our thoughts and intellect. When you are doing a crossword puzzle, arguing a point with someone or worrying about whether someone hates you because of something you said - you are experiencing the attributes of Hod. It corresponds to the solar plexus chakra, and to Mercury.

Netzach means "victory", and represents our feelings and emotions, both positive and negative. When you are moved by the beauty of the scenery, or enjoying a work of art, or feeling depressed and crying - you are experiencing the attributes of Netzach. It corresponds to the solar plexus chakra, like Hod, and to Venus. In some ways, Netzach and Hod can be seen as opposites. True, they work very well together, but they can also represent different tendencies - some people are cold, calculating and logical (Hod-based), and others are hot-headed and emotional (Netzach-based).

We can see that, in essence, these four sephirot represent our personality - our body, our subconscious, our thoughts and our feelings. These four sephirot are easily accessible, and we'll have a look at some exercises to get in touch with these.

PRACTICAL EXERCISES

These exercises are designed to give us a brief flavour of the individual sephiroth - usually our experiences are a blend of various areas of our life, and it's useful to be able to "feel" what each sephiroth feels like by itself. For each exercise, give yourself a half hour slot where you feel comfortable and won't be disturbed. Take the phone off the hook!

 Malkuth - The World of Sensations

In many ways, Malkuth is the easiest sephira for us to relate to, because even the most hardened sceptic is aware of physical sensations! However, Malkuth is about more than simply physical experience. Normally, we rarely experience anything physically without a whole load of other thoughts and feelings being associated with it. For example, taste is part of the experience of Malkuth; but when you bite into something, you experience a whole set of thoughts and emotions: that ice-cream you're eating may remind you of a similar taste experience you had years ago, and all the memories associated with that come flooding back; or it may be so cold it sets your teeth on edge, and reminds you, nervously, that you have a dental appointment tomorrow; or you may be on a diet and start worrying about how many calories it contains. None of these associated thoughts and feelings are part of Malkuth - just the physical sensation.

To experience Malkuth, try the following exercise. You will need a small piece of food for this - a piece of fruit or a sandwich, for instance.

Sit down quietly where you won't be disturbed. It may be in your house, your garden, or somewhere public. Imagine that you are an alien visitor to Earth - you have never been here before, and have no idea what it looks like, what sort of food humans eat, what the people and animals and plants are like. You don't have ANY pre-conceived ideas.

Take a look around you - what do you see? Don't give the things that you see labels - you don't see "a cat" or "a road accident" - you don't know what these things are. They're new to you. Just EXPERIENCE the sensation of looking around and seeing images.

Now pick up the piece of food, and start to chew it, very slowly. Notice the texture. Notice the taste. Notice the sensation of your mouth chewing the food. There are no other sensations - the food does not remind you of anything, for instance, because you have never eaten Earth food before. Just be AWARE of the sensations.

After you have eaten half the food, sit quietly for a few minutes while you come back into the "real world", and start being human again. Start looking around you and name the things you see around you. Eat the rest of the food in the normal way.

Compare the experience - the day-to-day way of operating, and seeing things through different eyes. What aspects are the same? What aspects are different? You're comparing "raw" Malkuth to your normal experience, which is a mixture of various sephirot coming into play.

Yesod - The World of Dreams

Yesod is associated with dreams, the subconscious and the Moon. Dreams have always had special significance for me; every since I was a child, I've divided my dreams into "just a dream" and "a real dream". A "just a dream" is what is says - it felt like just a dream and nothing more. I wake up with anything from a vague impression to a vivid recall - and yet it doesn't seem important. Other times, I wake up feeling as though it wasn't "just a dream" - I was actually there. This isn't to say that if I dream of a person that I believe I've physically been to that person's house. I haven't. I've astrally been with them. The effect on me is sometimes very profound, and is as "real" as any physical experience.

To experience Yesod, try the following over a period of two weeks.

Keep a pencil and paper by your bed. Some people remember their dreams vividly on waking; others have only a vague impression, and still others have no recollection at all. One thing that most people have in common is that no matter how vividly you remember your dreams on waking, frequently you will have forgotten them completely within half an hour - or even less.

When you wake up, write down your dream. This is MUCH easier said than done! There are numerous practical problems:

Once your brain really kicks in, there's a good chance you'll forget your dream. Unfortunately, the act of writing is usually enough to get your brain to start working. You may feel too groggy to be able to write coherently. Don't panic! If you possibly can, write down some key words in your dream (for example: "boat", "cat", "playing backgammon with Genghis Khan"). Or draw a quick picture.

If you really can't write the second you wake up, shout out some key words at least three times; the act of vocalising the words (which may well be easier than writing them) makes it more likely they'll stick in your mind so you can write them down a few minutes later, after your brain has started working.

You may have absolutely no recollection of your dream whatsoever. Admittedly, this DOES make writing it down a bit of a problem. Without thinking about it, write down the first few words that come into your head (for example, "toadstool", "arguing", "bubonic plague", "multi-tasking operating system")

After doing this for at least two weeks, see if you feel any different internally. The act of writing down your dreams means that you are less likely to forget them, so your experience now consists of your day-to-day reality together with a knowledge of your dreams. If you want to try to analyse them, that's fine - I don't bother, personally. Just being aware of them means that my Universe is larger than it would otherwise be.

This may seem a bit obscure - but Yesod is obscure. Trying to experience Yesod directly is like trying to catch moonbeams. It can't be done. But you do know what the sea looks like without the reflection of the full moon in it; and you know what it looks like with the reflection, and you know what the difference looks like. This dream exercise gives you a taste of Yesod by helping to crystallise the fleeting experience that is dreaming.

Hod - The World of Thoughts

My first experience of meditation was quite inadvertent - I became a computer programmer. Sometimes, our normal notions of space and time break down when we're engrossed in something very "mental" - like doing a crossword puzzle, or writing a computer program. When I'm really engrossed in a program, I feel as though I'm "inside" the program, following the various paths. This "program space" is quite different from the three dimensions that we normally know and live in.

Greek philosophy had the concept of a "space of ideas" - that thoughts existed in a "space", quite separate from our space of three dimensions. Mathematicians use the concept of number "space", and modern novelists use the term "cyberspace" - first coined by the brilliant novelist William Gibson - to refer to the community of people connected via the Internet. If you're reading an article on the web, you're in cyberspace. It exists - it's real. You can navigate your way round in it. It's space, but not as we know it. You have a "back" button on your browser - but there's no North or South, up or down.

When we meditate, we enter a different kind of "space". There are many different kinds of meditation space - and "Hod-space" is the world of ideas, thoughts and the intellectual challenge.

Think of a three-syllable word. Write it down. Now write down a dozen words that you associate with it, no matter how indirect the association is.

Look at the words you've written down and stare at them for at least a minute. Do any of the words look strange? Sometimes everyday words can suddenly look strange, and lose their meaning until your brain kicks back in again.

Pick out the strange ones and say them out loud, very slowly. Feel them forming in your mouth; feel your throat vibrate or your tongue hiss as you say them. Pick one of the words and say it slowly, twenty times. Feel the rhythm of the word as you say it again and again. Do you notice anything?

This is a very simple form of ritual - you have kept your brain active, doing something that is essentially meaningless. While the logical side of your brain follows the instructions and is kept busy, your intuitive side has time to listen, hear and generate some internal images for you.

As soon as you've finished the exercise, quickly write down any immediate impressions that may now be in your mind.

Netzach - The World of Feelings

If you've ever fallen in love, you've already experienced Netzach. If you've ever experienced total and utter despair, you've already experienced Netzach. Netzach is the world of feelings - which as we know, can be very intense at times. The following meditation is not designed to be that intense - it's a lovely way of just letting go and relaxing. This meditation is my variant of the "Three Friendly Deities" meditation in the astonishingly good "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook for the Urban Warrior: A Spiritual Survival Guide". This book is so good, I definitely recommend that you buy at least two copies of it. Modify this meditation to include your own personal deities!

It's early in the morning, just before dawn breaks, and you're swimming in a warm, moonlit tropical ocean listening to the waves breaking, and bobbing up and down with them. You see the psychedelic purples and pinks in the sky as the day breaks, and hear the sounds of the seagulls as they circle around.

It's nearly time for breakfast, and Rita is just opening up her café on the beach. You see her setting the tables on the beach, getting the parasols ready for another warm day as you walk out of the water and slowly up the beach, the cool sand on the soles of your feet. She smiles and waves to you, and you wave back happily as you walk up to the café. You sit down at a beach table, and she brings you a freshly squeezed orange juice, a strong espresso with a perfect cream on it and a freshly-baked croissant. You sit watching the sunrise, and you and Rita sit down chatting and drinking. Not only does she run the perfect café, she's also a great friend and confidante, and always helps you out if you're in trouble and gives you a hug when you're down.

After breakfast, you hug goodbye and start to walk up the cliff path. You peer into the crystal cave and look at the sparkling citrine and amethyst on your way up, until you reach the plateau at the cliff top. The red glow in the sky gets stronger - not just from the dawn hue of the sun, but from the light reflected on the magnificent crimson palace on the top of the cliff. You walk through the beautiful scented gardens to the doors of the palace, which being made entirely of polished ruby coming as it does straight from a fairy-tale, sparkle in the morning sun. The prince walks out, smiling, to kiss you tenderly. You really appreciate him - you have total trust in each other; he's your best friend, your lover - and such a fashionable address, too! You sit in the gardens cuddling each other, listening to the waves breaking far below, the seagulls crying, and Rita's uninhibited hoot of laughter as she relates a rather dubious joke to the clientele yet again.

You're going to be having lunch with the prince at the palace later, and decide to go for a stroll before lunch. You kiss "au revoir", and walk along the plateau a short way to the foot of the mountain, and start to walk up the steep mountain path. You climb and climb, the invigorating mountain air filling your lungs, until you are nearly at the snow-capped peaks at the top. You pass the cave with the hermit and acknowledge him with a smile and keep climbing until you reach the summit. Golden eagles soar overhead, and you stand awe-struck at the magnificent view over the other mountains, and the lakes in one direction, and the ocean in the other. You absorb the view, unable to find words, and you are aware of a presence - your guardian angel stands next to you, a benevolent if scruffily-dressed Merlin-type character with mischievous eyes and a beard you could hide a badger in. You feel absolutely safe, and there is no need for words - you are moved beyond them.

When you feel ready, you can descend the mountain again. I tend to come down to the appropriate level - if I'm intending to do a different sort of meditation, or a tarot reading, I'll stay at the top of the mountain. If I am going to socialise, or a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, I'll come down to the palace and stay there. If I'm going to do physical exercise - a long walk, or playing badminton, or doing T'ai Chi - I'll come down to the beach again.

The great thing about this meditation is you can do it whenever you want, it's better than the description in the holiday brochure, and it's completely free of charge. And you get a friend, a lover and an angel of your choice into the bargain!  

Winter 2003