The Kabbalah Tree: A Journey of Balance & Growth by Rachel Pollack

Author:Rachel Pollack
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-02-14T16:35:00+00:00

Kether-Pluto

Hokhmah-Neptune

Binah-Saturn

Gevurah-Mars

Tiferet-Sun

Netzach-Venus

Hod-Mercury

Yesod-Moon

Malkuth-Earth

Notice that the inclusion of Earth for Malkuth leaves no sephirah for Uranus (in a sense, we skip over it as we go from Hokhmah-Neptune to Kether-Pluto). We might, however, consider Uranus as the "hidden" sephirah of knowledge, Da'ath. One quality of Uranus is transformational thought, something we could easily attribute to Da'ath.

We saw earlier how we might find Adam Kadmon-and therefore all humans-in the four worlds. We also can map the human body onto the individual tree through the ten sephiroth (as opposed to the three triangles and Malkuth that we looked at above). As with so much else, different versions exist. Here is one from Charles Ponce in his book Kabbalah, a contemporary work that brings together both the ancient Jewish and modern Western traditions. It bases the correspondences on the functions as well as the place in the body.

Kether, the crown, forms the head.

Hokhmah, wisdom, resides in the brain.

Binah, understanding, rests in the heart. Ponce points out that many people, especially in esoteric traditions, have considered the heart the true organ of thinking. The brain governs rational judgment, but the heart gives us the understanding described in the sephirah. Some yoga teachings tell us that the kundalini energy rises up the spine to the brain (Hokhmah), seems to open up the top of the head (Kether), and then moves back down to rest in the heart.

Chesed, mercy, lies in the right arm and hand. For right-handed people, the right arm reaches out to help others.

Gevurah, power, lies in the left arm and hand. In contrast to the right, the left arm can mark a boundary. If we give with the right hand, we hold back with the left. We will see, when we look closely at this sephirah, that we should not think of this as "evil" or negative but as a very necessary quality, for if we give ourselves away we end up with nothing.

Tiferet marks the chest. This is where the Binah heart energy comes to reside (thus joining the upper triangle to the middle). It also forms the site of the lungs, the organ that allows us to exchange energy with the world around us. We breathe in oxygen created by the plants (as a byproduct of photosynthesis) and breathe out the carbon dioxide plants need to live. Breath also forms our connection to the divine. We speak of the breath of life, and in fact such words as spirit, or the Hebrew words ruach (spirit), or neshamah (soul), literally mean "breath" Kabbalists often describe the four-letter name of God, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, as the sound of a breath.

Netzach, eternity, is the right leg. Netzach is an active power, and for right-handed people (the majority) the right leg steps toward our spiritual encounters and victories.

Hod, glory, is the left leg. We might think of glory as the place where we stand, firmly rooted.

Yesod, foundation, represents the genitals, both male and female, for remember that Adam Kadmon signifies the perfect hermaphrodite before separation into male and female.

Malkuth,

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