F. Trees of Life from the Book of Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation)
After the Sefer HaShmoth (Book of Names) and ancient portions of the Torah that pre-date Master Mosheh, the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation) is the oldest book of the written Mystical Qabalah, dating to the times of and attributed to Master Abraham. The Sefer Yetzirah is a manual on the mystical nature of the Hebrew alphabet recorded by Master Abraham in the original Sinatic Hebrew alphabet. The Sefer Yetzirah presents a number of unique forms of the Tree of Life.
The first of the six chapters of the (Sefer Yetzirah)Sefer Yetzirah 1:1 begins: “By thirty two wonderful paths of wisdom hy, hvhy of Hosts, Elohim of Israel, Living Elohim, and Eternal King, El Shadai, Merciful and Gracious, High and Uplifted, Who inhabits Eternity, Exalted and Holy is His Name, engraved. And He created His universe by three signs: by border and letter and number.”
The “thirty-two paths” which comprise the Tree of Life are
the ten Sefiroth (tvrpc, lit. Spheres) and the twenty-two release
gates interconnecting the Sefiroth. The gates are the twenty-two
Hebrew letters (see Diagram).
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The first verse above is
immediately followed in the second verse with the five root
phrases that serve as the “skeleton” upon which the body of the
book hangs. One or another of these root phrases lead into most
of the verses throughout the rest of the text.
“There are Ten Intangible Sefiroth (hmylb tvrypc rsi, Eser Sefiroth Belimah) and Twenty-Two Letters are the Foundation (dvcy tvytva ,ytsv ,yrsi, Esrim Ooshtayim Autiot Yesod): Three Mothers (tvma sls, Shalosh Imote) and Seven Double Letters (tvlvpk ibs, Shevah Kuhfoolote) and Twelve Simple Letters (tvuvsp hrsi, Esrae Puhshootote).” (Sefer Yetzirah 1:2)
The verses beginning with “Ten Intangible Sefiroth”
generally allude to various forms of the Tree of Life, some of
which are unique to this book. We mentioned earlier that the
Sefer Yetzirah is the textual source for the six-pointed star,
commonly known as the “Star of David.” The Star of David, a
two-dimensional symbol composed of two interlocking triangles,
is easily the most recognizable symbol of the Jewish religion.
This way of viewing the star certainly presents a wealth of
interpretative possibilities. The Sefer Yetzirah yields two forms
of the six-pointed star as Trees of Perfection. The first is a flat,
circular form (see Diagram). The second presents
the star as two interfacing pyramids containing the ten Sefiroth and the letter-gates (see Diagram).
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By way of comparison, it is interesting to note that the six-pointed star is
also an ancient and important symbol in the North Indian Tantric
tradition, dating back to the second millennium BCE. In the
Tantric tradition, it is associated with the Anahata Chakra in the
heart center.
The Sefer Yetzirah also describes a flat, vertical version of the Tree of Perfection. As with other flat Trees, two of the “Inner Court” Sefiroth (Water/Good and Fire/Evil) are moved into the side columns, with the gates adjusted accordingly (see Diagram). The names of the Sefiroth in the Sefer Yetzirah are based on the elements (Spirit of Living Elohim, Air, Water, Fire), or alternately, on the four “Heads of Celestial Messiah” (First, Last, Good, and Evil), and the six directions (Above, Below, East, West, North, South).
The six directions are sealed through permutations of the Name vhy. The final Heh h of the Name hvhy is dropped due to the fact that the action is occurring in the astral World of Yetzirah.
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“There are (Ten Intangible Sefiroth)Sefer Yetzirah 1:5 whose measure
is ten without end: Depth of First and Depth of
Last, Depth of Good and Depth of Evil, Depth
of Above and Depth of Below, Depth of East
and Depth of West, Depth of North and Depth of
South. Lord, Only One, El, Faithful King rules
all of them from His Holy Dwelling Place unto
Eternity.” (see Diagram) Yetzirah. “These Ten Intangible Sefiroth are (ONE)Sefer Yetzirah 1:14 - Spirit of
Living Elohim, Air from Spirit, Water from Air,
Fire from Water, Above and Below, East and
West, North and South.”
The second chapter of the book is keyed to the root phrase:: “Twenty-two letters are the foundation.” It describes the letters as the basis for everything that is formed, and presents the image of a wall bearing two hundred and thirty-one two-letter permutations (see Diagram). Some of these twoletter roots are known Hebrew “words” with literal and hidden meanings, and some are unknown. “
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Twenty-Two Letters are the Foundation: He engraved them, He hewed them out, He combined them, and He set them at opposites, and He formed through them everything that is formed and everything that is destined to be formed.” (Sefer Yetzirah 2:2)
Twenty-Two Letters are the Foundation: He set them in a cycle like a kind of wall with two hundred and thirty one gates... And it (the cycle) rotates forward and backward... and thus everything that is formed and everything that is spoken goes out from One Name (i.e. hvhy).”(Sefer Yetzirah 2:4)
The third chapter is keyed to the root phrase: “Three Mothers Alef a Mem m Shin s.” The Mother Letters are the gates among the Sefiroth of the “Inner Court” of the Tree (First, Last, Water, Fire). These letters are discussed in relation to the universe— Heaven, Earth, and the space between them, the seasons of the year (hot, cold, temperate), and the body of male and female (head, belly, and the Geviyah). Verses in both the third and sixth chapters mention “fathers” born from the archetypal elements of the Mother Letters. From the Air (ryva, avir) of Alef a comes the father “Space;” from the Water (,ym, mayim) of Mem mcomes the father “Matter;” and from the Fire (sa, esh) of Shin s comes the father “Energy” or “Motion.” “...And from Him go out Fire and Water, dividing into male and female. Three Mothers Alef a Mem m Shin s are their foundation, and from them are born fathers, from which everything is created.” (Sefer Yetzirah 3:2)
The fourth and fifth chapters are respectively keyed to “Seven
Double Letters” and “Twelve Simple Letters.” On the Tree, six of
the Double Letters connect the Inner Court to the six Directional
Sefiroth via the Holy Temple, represented by the seventh Double
Letter Tav t (see Diagram).
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The action of the Directional Sefiroth is alluded to as the “Living Beings (tvyx,
Chayot)” mentioned in the Torah and the Book of Ezekiel.
“And Elohim said the waters will swarm with the
movement of (Chayah)Torah B’reshith 1:20”.“And the (Chayot)Torah B’reshith 1:14 run forth and return.”
Each Double Letter is has two pronunciations e.g. Pey Fey, Kaf Khaf, and two opposite principles e.g. Life/Death, Dominion/Slavery. Through them are said to have formed seven planets, seven days of the week, and seven orifices of the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.
“Seven Double Letters: Beyt b Gimel g Dalet d Kaf k Pey p Resh r and Tav t are the foundation. He engraved them, He hewed them out, He combined them, He weighed them at opposites, and He formed through them: seven stars in the universe, seven days in the year, seven gates in the body of male and female... and through which He engraved seven universes, seven heavens, seven earths, seven seas, seven rivers, seven Sabbatical years, seven Jubilees, and the Holy Temple. Therefore He cherished the seventh ones under all the heavens.”(Sefer Yetzirah 4:6)
The twelve Simple Letters, also called the “borders” and
“everlasting arms” of the Tree, are gates that connect the
Directional Sefiroth among one another. Chapter Five, Verse 2
gives an exact delineation of how the Simple Letters are assigned
to the diagonal borders on the Tree. The reader will note that the
way the text assigns the Simple Letters to the respective borders
differs significantly from the way that Luria places them on the
Tree (see Diagram),
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and also from the way they are
assigned to the gates in virtually all books on the Hermetic
Qabalah and commentaries on the Tarot. This verse also says that
they (i.e. the “arms of the universe” a.k.a. the Simple Letters)
“become wider for ever and ever.” Briefly referring back to the
parallels drawn in Chapter One between the Mystical Qabalah and
modern cosmology, one of the continuing debates among
astrophysicists regards whether or not the universe is closed i.e.
will not expand forever. On the one hand, the model of a closed
universe holds that there is sufficient mass in the universe so that
the Big Bang expansion will gradually slow down and reverse due
to the pull of gravity. In this model, all the mass of the universe
involutes back into its unimaginably small and dense original
condition until another quantum shift precipitates another
explosion. On the other hand, there are those who contend that the
supernova data on distant galaxies confirms that there is
insufficient mass for the reversal to occur, and that the negative
expansion energy of space is causing our universe to expand
forever. It is therefore interesting to consider the implication of this
verse of the Sefer Yetzirah within the context of this debate. “
Twelve Simple Letters: Heh h Vav v Zayin z Chet x Tet u Yod y Lamed l Nun n Samek c Ayin i Tzade o Qof q. Their foundation is the twelve borders of a diagonal: East-Above border, East-North border, East-Below border, South-Above border, South-East border, South- Below border, West-Above border, West-South border, West-Below border, North-Above border, North-West border, North-Below border. And they continually become wider for ever and ever, and they are the arms of the universe.”(Sefer Yetzirah 5:2)
The text then goes on to respectively designate the twelve
constellations, twelve months, and twelve organs in the body of
male and female as formed from the Simple Letters. For the
reader’s convenience, all of the correlations given by the Sefer
Yetzirah for the Mother, Double, and Simple Letters are given in
(Tables 4.1), (Tables 4.2) and (Tables 4.3).
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The fifth chapter ends by mentioning
three allusions: the “Sunset,” the “Wall,” and the “Battle.” )
The
Sunset (see Diagram) includes all the information on the letters in
the Sefer Yetzirah. The Wall (see Diagram) is a
tabulation of all possible two-letter permutations. The Battle
(see Diagram)
is a diagram depicting the tension between the dual
aspects of the Double Letters, and between six pairs of Simple
Letters. This tension plays an integral function in the Creation
process.
The sixth and final chapter is generally a summary.
(Tables 4.1), (Tables 4.2) and (Tables 4.3) list the complete information contained
in the Sefer Yetzirah on the twenty-two Hebrew letters. Gate
assignments are given for both the 3-dimensional and flat versions
of the Tree. Zoharic names for the Sefiroth are in parentheses.
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