And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
(Genesis 2:9)
The symbol of the Tree in spiritual and religions traditions is that of the axis-mundi of creation and, for the initiates into the esoteric practices, a meditative guide to gnosis and union with the Divine. Cross-culturally the Tree stands as a symbol of central orientation and spiritual hierarchy. The Norse Yggdrasil , the Mesoamerican Yax Imix Che , the Vedic Asvattha are but a handful of examples of sacred “World Trees” akin to those mentioned in Genesis.
Kabbalah takes a geometric approach to the symbol in using tree diagrams to illustrate the Ten Sefirot of the Sefer Yetzirah. Through these Trees the Kabbalist encapsulated the mathematical correspondence between the 10Sefirot of creation and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
There are two primary geometric variations of the diagram: 1) the Ari (Isaac Luria) , and 2) the Gra (Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna).
Most students of Western esoterica are familiar with the Sefirot layout of the Ari Tree as it was popularized by Aleister Crowley and the various Golden Dawn/Freemasonic offshoots. The Ari Tree hinges on the non-Sefirot of Da’at (‘Knowledge’) that is the pivot of reflection between the supernal triad and the lower seven Sefirot. Whereas the Gra Tree is more compact and geometrically balanced resembling an isometric projection of a double-stacked cube.
The only difference between the geometric layouts of the Gra and Ari versions is the central column (Tiferet, Yesod, and Malkut ) of the lower Sefirot that is shifted downward in the Ari Tree. Aside from this, the organization of the Sefirot are identical.
Meditating upon the two Trees side-by-side we find a geometric allegory to the Biblical Fall from Grace represented by the “fall” of Tiferet (‘Splendor’), Yesod ('Foundation'), and Malkut (‘Kingdom’) away from the supernal triad of Keter, Binah, and Chakhmah.
Thus taken together, the geometric arrays of the Gra and Ari Trees may be interpreted as the two trees of the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. As consequence of mankind’s fall from grace, the Tree of Knowledge is void of the fruit of Da’at making the Tree of Life and eternal existence and union with the Divine unobtainable. This “Fallen Tree” corresponding to our state of waking consciousness in day to day life, whereas the “Perfect” geometry of the Tree of Life speaks to a resurrected and higher level of consciousness.
And the LORD God said: 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.'
(Genesis 3:22)
Originally Published November 16, 2008 in Reflections from the Black Stone