In regards to the manifestation of reality, beyond what ancient faith you study – they all generally speak towards the same thing. The ancient Egyptians were masters of geometry, yet the way that they spoke about it was in story, in the description of principles and forces interacting and engaging with each other. The Hebrews used a more descriptive explanation, with thirty-two paths of the creative forces which bring about all things in reality, and their purpose as well.
Whether we decide to learn about how everything comes to be through this lens or that, we will still be seeing the same thing – or rather – different aspects and perspectives of the same thing. Today, one such lens we are going to look at is the geometric form in relationship to the ten Sephiroth. Understanding the Flower of Life geometry is very important as well, and so if you haven’t seen our videos on either of these subjects, we encourage you to watch them first!
The Sephiroth and the Seed of Life
Speaking to the manifestation of reality, let us presume the Sephiroth are in the position of the manifesting circles which form the basis of the Flower of Life. The first circle would be Kether, the possibility for creation – yet nothing has come into being.
The moment that this second sphere is created, we now have both Chokmah and Binah together. Chokmah is the second circle standing in perfect relationship yet opposite to its creator – it is the created. Together they form a container between them – a vesica pisces, which establishes the principle of form (as many ratios and fundamental mathematical formulas derive from this place) and is the space in which new creations can form.
Hence, when the next sphere comes into being, we have Chesed birthed in
the trinity; the principle of loving-kindness, or mercy. This “divine immaculateness” which is represented by our conceptions of “The Holy Trinity”, followed by the Trion-Re in Geburah with the fourth sphere, and paring down the structure of creation. (If you want to learn about the Trion-Re, we have this video about it here!)
Now we have exactly half of the seed done at this time, and so now we can actually make another great leap. By simply mirroring itself, the geometric form can actually become the completed Seed of Life by doing what it did in its original state, and projecting itself into a new position in relationship with itself. This complete Seed of Life geometry is Tiphareth, and forms the basis for the Tree, by the established centerpoint which is encircled by the original sphere – Kether. This is what it means if you read “Kether is Tiphareth on a higher dimension”.
The Tree, The Flower and The Fruit
Next, the Tree of Life comes into being by the
continued development of the form, which is characterized by Netzach. Netzach is the sphere of polarities; the Tree forms the basis of polarity within the expanding geometry, by the observed structure and “pillars” on either side of the creation.
Between the Tree of Life and the Flower of Life is born the Egg of Life. This is more of a “mysterious” center on the Tree, because it is a central point between the other created forms. In a sense, this form actually represents Da’at, the hidden Sephira. It is often observed as the conjunction point between the higher centers of the tree, but in this fusion of forces is where consciousness is born. The Flower of Life is the next major form to develop, which is characterized by Hod. Hod is the concentrated form or condensation of energy into something more structured – Flower of Life embodies this simply by its continual manifestation of the pattern in grand repetition as far as it can go. Of course, it doesn’t take long before the next form reveals itself.
The Fruit of Life is next,
characterized by Malkuth. It is what we would call “our world”, or “the physical realm”, but beyond that, it is a realm of independence – created by and connected to the spiritual realms which created us, and yet it is free to do as it wants. This realm operates through the universal laws of free will, but is still intricately tied to the natural laws which were established by the foundational structure that preceded its existence.
It is within the Fruit of Life that new creations may come into form, including the potential for re-connection in likeness to the original will of the “creator”, the force of Spirit which brought the first Sephiroth into becoming.
Meditate upon this sequence, and even practice drawing it – if you want to take your understanding so much further.
The Four Forms and the Royal Arcana
In the Tarot, one of the major suits is called the “Royal Arcana”, which is made up of a 4 x 4 grid of elements and members of a spiritual royal family. If you are unfamiliar with them, all you need to know here is that each family member is indicative of a different set of cosmic forces, and can be applied to the representations of the forms we just discussed.
It becomes especially simple because the Royal Arcana sits directly on top of the Tree of lIfe, and so matching the Sephiroth to the corresponding forms is a breeze.
The Kings sit upon Chokmah
The Queens sit upon Binah
The Princes sit upon Tiphareth, and the Five Sephiroth surrounding it
The Princesses sit upon Malkuth
Once we have established these four relationships, we are almost able to match them to their corresponding geometry, bringing more awareness to what these characters represent on a larger scale. In order to do so, we have to make a few adjustments to our observations, and expand our perspective a little bit more.
The first thing we must do is remove the Egg of Life from the equation, as the Royal Arcana pertain to the four elements exclusively, and the Egg of Life is the representation of the Fifth, which is described by the Major Arcana of the Tarot.
There is a bit of a larger problem here however, because the Vesica Pisces, the Trinity, and the Trion-Re are not accounted for in the relationships between the four elements with “The Flower/Fruit/Seed/Tree” sequence, which is a natural cycle in nature unto itself. Therefore, we must shift our perspective to see how else this sequence corresponds with the Tree of Life, which we can do by observing the “Four Worlds” perspective.
In the “Four Worlds” traditional Kabbalah, Kether is phase zero of creation. Chokmah is phase one, Binah is phase two, and phase three is constructed of all of the spheres surrounding Tiphareth, from Chesed to Yesod. The fourth and final phase in the creative process is Malkuth. We begin with the Seed, by the observance of the nature of Chokmah and the corresponding geometries which follow it – for the Flower and the Fruit are already placed. Now we are able to place the geometries with ease.
The Seed embodies Chokmah – connected to the Kings
The Tree embodies Binah – connected to the Queens
The Flower embodies Tiphareth – connected to the Princes
The Fruit embodies Malkuth – connected to the Princesses
When one takes the time to study and comprehend all of the meanings behind these different forms, whether they are the Sephiroth, the sacred geometries, or even the personality associations and energetic signatures behind the Royal Arcana, it will compound levels of understanding in your mind to the different structures that make up reality, and thus allow you to come to know yourself better on a deeper, more spiritual level.
Let this also serve as an explanation as to why the Flower, the Fruit, the Seed, and the Tree each appear on a Royal Arcana character, which may yet deepen the experience when pulling one of these cards in a Tarot reading.
I hope you enjoyed this post, lots of blessings! Lots of healing! Lots of protection! Love and Light! Namaste!
- A’natumun
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