Kabbalah TREE OF LIFE as a MAP
Part 1
The 3 Pillars
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The Kabbalah Tree of Life illustrates how the polarities of form create the potential for a centered, balanced journey in this physical plane we call LIFE. Centered and balanced does not mean devoid of extremes. It simply means we can move freely through the entire spectrum of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experiences with love and grace, all the while learning, growing and expanding.

Any given time we will find our self somewhere on the Tree, and by following our journey through the tree, we can begin to see the map of our Life.

Today, we'll talk about the direct vertical pathways called the 3 Pillars.

When facing the Tree (diagram to the left):

The left side is the Feminine, Yin, Negative -  polarity.

The right side is the Masculine, Yang, Positive +  polarity.

The middle is Neutral Ø, neither Feminine or Masculine, Yin or Yang, Negative or Positive polarity. It is balanced with a blending of both the Feminine (Yin, Negative) and Masculine (Yang, Positive).

Diagram to the right:

The Tree also maps on the BACK SIDE of the human body, so in actuality, the Tree remains true to the left side of the human body being the feminine side and the right side of the body being the masculine side. 

The right, left and middle sephiroth are called the 3 Pillars in Kabbalah:

The left pillar of Severity and Destruction, the Feminine Pillar.

The right pillar of Mercy and Creation, the Masculine Pillar.

The middle pillar of Mildness and Harmony, the Neutral Pillar.

The movement from one sephira to another creates a path, which are represented by the connecting lines between each sephira. As you can see from looking at the Tree, there are many possible paths. Generally, we are either moving up or down the Tree. Sometimes we move laterally back and forth in order to achieve balance with a particular quality of our self. And sometimes we need to spend a long time in one sephira because there are lessons to be learned. By following our journey on the Tree, we can begin to see the map of our existence.

The path down from Keter (the Crown) to Malkuth (the Kingdom) can be seen as movement from the Spiritual plane down through the Mental plane, then down through the Emotional plane and finally coming into physical form on the Physical plane. This downward path is taken when we decide to come into a physical body and to place our Soul into a particular physical body. During this journey from Spirit to the physical, we all lose our true connection to Source, which is a natural part of the journey.

The path up from Malkuth to Keter is often the path we are on when we are trying to make sense of this thing we call "Life", when we are searching for the meaning of Life and our purpose for being here. We are longing for that which is missing in our life. We are longing to reconnect to Source.

Once we have found a sense of our Spirituality, we again take the Keter to Malkuth path so that we can experience the grounding of our Spiritual life into our everyday physical existence. And we journey up the Tree again and again to deepen our Spirituality, and down the Tree again and again to solidify the Spiritual experience.

Sometimes we can be moving up or down the Tree and have to turn around and go back to revisit one or more sephiroth or even change the direction of our path. This is not unusual and is part of our Earthly experience.

By studying the Tree and where we are on the Tree, we can gain wonderful insights about what is happening in our life and what possible choices we have before us as we proceed. It helps us understand who we are and what are choices are.

In our next newsletter, Part 2 of the Kabbalah Tree of Life as a Map, we will explore the qualities of each sephira and examples of how we might journey through the Tree during our lifetime.

There are many wonderful books about Kabbalah and the Tree of Life. You can find our list of recommended books here.