What the Tree of Life is
In Kabbalah, the Tree of Life is the diagram of the ten sefirot, the attributes or emanations through which the infinite God (Ein Sof) is described as relating to creation. In Hebrew it is called Etz Chaim, “Tree of Life,” a phrase that also appears in the Bible, for example in Genesis and Proverbs, and is used in Jewish liturgy for the Torah. The sefirot are not separate gods. They are understood as aspects of one divine reality, and they are also seen as patterns in the human being and the world.
The word sefirah (plural sefirot) is often connected with a Hebrew root for counting, and also with ideas of brightness and sapphire.
The ten sefirot
From the top down, the standard list is:
- Keter (Crown): the highest, closest to the infinite; associated with will.
- Chochmah (Wisdom): the initial flash of insight. See Chochmah and the Supernal Triad.
- Binah (Understanding): the development of that insight.
- Chesed (Kindness, also called Gedulah): giving, love, expansion.
- Gevurah (Strength, also called Din or Judgment): restraint and boundaries.
- Tiferet (Beauty): harmony between kindness and judgment; sometimes compassion.
- Netzach (Victory or Endurance): perseverance.
- Hod (Splendor or Humility): acknowledgment and gratitude.
- Yesod (Foundation): the channel that connects the upper sefirot to the final one.
- Malkhut (Kingship or Sovereignty): the receiving point and the world of action; in many sources associated with the Divine Presence (Shekhinah).
Translations vary by author, so you may meet slightly different English names.
Daat
Daat (“Knowledge”) is often mentioned as an additional point. It is usually placed between Chochmah and Binah, as the union of the two. In some systems it is not counted among the ten, and either Keter or Daat is counted in a particular scheme, which explains differing descriptions.
The three pillars
The sefirot are arranged in three columns:
- Right (Kindness): Chochmah, Chesed, Netzach.
- Left (Judgment): Binah, Gevurah, Hod.
- Middle (Balance): Keter, Tiferet, Yesod, Malkhut.
The idea is that the middle balances the two sides. Excess of one side, particularly judgment without mercy, is linked to imbalance, which is relevant to Sitra Achra.
Reading the diagram
A common way to understand the Tree is as a flow. Divine energy or light is imagined to descend from Keter to Malkhut, and human action is imagined to cause an ascent in return. The sefirot are also linked to the Hebrew letters, to names of God, and to biblical figures: for example, Chesed is associated with Abraham, Gevurah with Isaac and Tiferet with Jacob. These associations are traditional, not universal.
Many teachers also map the sefirot onto the human body and personality. The lower seven are associated with emotional traits and are the subject of the counting of the Omer, a seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot.
Jewish and Hermetic Trees
Western esoteric traditions, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, adopted the Tree of Life and attached it to tarot, planetary symbolism and ritual magic. Those versions are often spelled “Qabalah” and differ from the Jewish tradition. Jewish usage tends to treat the Tree as part of prayer, study and ethics. Be aware of which version a source is describing.
The Tree and the worlds
The Tree is often paired with the doctrine of the four worlds, in which a set of sefirot is said to appear in each world. In the Lurianic scheme, it also features in the story of the shattering and repair of creation; see Lurianic Kabbalah. For the broader background, see Kabbalah Explained.