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Sephirotic Trees

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.occult.methods,alt.magick,alt.consciousness.mysticism,alt.occult.kabbalah.golden-dawn
From: hara 
Subject: Sephirotic Trees (was kabalae) 
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 20:36:28 GMT

50011122 VI! om

shalom alechem, my kin.

"greta garbo" :
>can you give me information on the tree sephirotic?

from the Charter of alt.occult.methods:
#	Theoretical speculation, cosmology, metaphysics, ethics, and
#	other primarily speculative, mystical, and religious discussion
#	are NOT a part of this newsgroup's purpose. Those discussions
#	can take place in the various occult newsgroups already formed
#	for the purposes of entertaining general discussion (such as
#	the alt.magick, alt.astrology, alt.tarot, alt.divination,
#	alt.consciousness, alt.metaphysics, alt.religion, hierarchies).

so consider taking this discussion elsewhere if and when it becomes
too theoretical (discussion of "kabbalah" under various names typically 
becomes entirely symbolic and theoretical very quickly in cyberspace 
because most people neither have experience with practical use, being 
occultists rather than mystics or magicians, nor really have an interest 
in doing more than understanding it and going on).

'the sephirotic tree' is meaningless within the widest scope of study
of mysticism and magic surrounding "kabbalah", this name and its variety 
of forms under this name originating within a community of Jewish mystics 
and its competitive religious tangents and offshoots developed by the
religious of Christian, Hermetic, Thelemic, and other communities.

the reason that this is the case is that mystical tree-form diagrams
predate Jewish mysticism of this type by centuries, a variety of forms
have been used over the millenia, varying *widely* as to both structure
and association-assignment and even Jewish trees with "sephiroth" have
a multitude of varying forms, even concentric at times.

the *practical* elements of (at least Hermetic, and possibly also
Jewish) kabbalistic diagrams are the names, ideas, and, especially,
the IMAGES and transcendental beings associated with the particular
sephira (often the circle in a diagram of this type, usually paired
with numbers in a series and sometimes illustrative of cosmogenesis).

as far as I can tell, the mystic using such diagrams usually sees them
as maps of the spirit, whether directional mazes to the transcendant
or symbolic recipes for the refinement of conscious. often they, or
their guides within a mystical tradition, attempt to identify their
relative location on the map for the purpose of orientation, and then
set about visualizations or other mystical and magical activities that 
are supposed to bring about movement or "progress" toward the agreed
or mysterious objectives associated with the next phase of mysticism.

sometimes, as seems pretty common amongst Hermetic magicians, the
method of using the 'Tree of Life', as it is often called, includes
particular visualization images associated with the lines (paths)
or circles (sephiroth), specific sonic syllables intoned or presumed
to be keys unlocking the energies of the sephira, portions of the
mind, personality, or spiritual character which may be the focus of
refinement or mastery that the mystic works on based on their state.  

what actually happens to the mystic, whether these techniques result
in anything more than the exercise of the mystic's or magician's
imagination, is subject to a great deal of speculation. suffice it
to say, without extending into the theories associated with these
practices in any depth, that religious traditions sometimes emphasize
the authority of those who are known for developing and/or providing
these methods or understanding them well enough to explain them. in
some cases even notorious individuals have become associated with
progress in the methods despite little (sometimes even CONTRARY)
evidence to be found otherwise (e.g. occultists like Aleister Crowley).

there is a great deal of variation in how these symbolic diagrams and
the significances associated with their pieces are understood and used,
in part depending upon the social group within which one finds them.
often those who use them develop dogmatic adherence to the terminology
and meanings applied, sometimes completely ignoring historical precedent 
and evidence to the contrary. this is as true for Jewish Kabbalists as
for Hermetic numerolinguists who mistakenly identify 'qabala' as 'gematria'.

I'm setting the followup of this post to theoretic newsgroups because
the temptation of posting non-practical information about sephirotic
trees is too great to resist and posters don't usually understand the
difference amongst occult newsgroups.

peace be with you,

hara
nagasiva@luckymojo.com


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