Tree
of Life I & II
The Tree of Life is the symbol
that perhaps best embodies “As above, so below”.
It is to be found in many spiritual traditions. In shamanism,
it often
occurs as the Axis Mundi, the world tree that the shaman journey
upon to enter the higher or lower realms. It occurs throughout
Alchemical work, with different figures at branches or stations
of the tree representing aspects of the alchemical work. The
source of immortality, the Tree of Life grew in the middle
of Eden with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The glyph of the Tree of Life
in the Jewish Kabbalah represents ten spheres (called "sephirot"), or "emanations" by
which God created the Universe. Each sephira has a name, starting
with "Kether" which means "the Crown",
and culminating in "Malkuth" which means "the
Kingdom" and represents the physical Earth. Thus the Tree
of Life shows different aspects of the soul’s manifestation
or journey upon the earth. The Tree of Life can also be viewed
as a "map of consciousness" - a roadmap of our soul’s
evolution.
The single trunk of divine life and power
nourishes all the multitudinous forms of which the universe
is composed.
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