Yes Paul some very interesting insights. I'll post my chapter called the Tree of Life here as a taste of what you'll find in the book (about 250 pages - still revising). Unfortunately the diagrams of the Tree of Life will not show up nor the formatting of the tables so if folks find this of interest - please fill out the survey and I'll send the book.

The Tree of Life

My discussions and interpretations of the symbols and signs the Phoenix light event left behind are rife with references to the concepts and forms that are a part of the mystical system of Kabbalah. It is useful at this point to offer some sense of traditional Kabbalah, especially the Tree of Life and the Gematria system which feature heavily in my conclusions about the Lights. I’ll take some liberties in applying my learning to interpreting religious and mythological text that may prove controversial and provocative. I use a very unique method of interpretation that I’m calling hyperliteral. This method of interpretation intentionally excludes figures of speech, metaphor and logic by focusing on the exact text in question forcing us use the other (right) side of our brain to see the spiritual language in play – much like looking at a Magic Eye picture or stereogram as it’s called An example might help; God created the world in seven days. I’ve already spoken about the Tree of Life and how there are seven layers or levels – the same with the Chakra system. Each layer speaks to an evolving movement from the spiritual to the material. Each layer is a cycle or a day in that spiritual time moves like a pebble thrown in a pond – from the center outwards as in vibration and sound – Aum as the Eastern religions call it or Shal-Aum (Shalom – meaning hello, goodbye and peace) which would be a Hebrew derivative. Linear time has no meaning in this spiritual notion of time as is affirmed in 2 Peter 3:8 with the lord a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.

The hyperliteral method of interpreting text offers the reader a much richer meaning in the same sense that stereo offers a much richer listening experience than mono or single channel sound can provide. Hyperliteral takes the literal text from the left side of the brain and marries it with the intuitive symbols and insights found in the right side of the brain.

In the summer of 2004 I ambitiously launched a Kabbalah class at the local Unity Church designed around Gregg Braden’s book The God Code. I decided to use the class as a way to force myself to delve deeper into Kabbalah study and by putting myself on the spot to teach it, I knew I would have to push myself to face either the embarrassment of failing to deliver or the potential embarrassment of delivering something no one would get or understand. I chose the God Code so I could anchor my teaching on some accepted material that was already making its way up the New York Times bestseller lists and because Braden’s treaty is based in the Kabbalistic system of Gematria which (derived from the Greek word Geometry) correlates traditional Hebrew letters to numerical equivalencies. This idea of assigning numbers to letters comes from one the most ancient Jewish Mystical texts – the Sepher Yetzirah. In that text, which tradition holds was written by the patriarch Abraham himself, it says that “He created this universe by the three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech”. Exploring Braden’s work would be a useful way learn Gematria since the Sepher Yetzirah is used as the foundation for Greg’s theories concerning God’s name being embedded in our DNA coding.

Although this began as a very scholarly approach I noticed over time that something unusual was going on inside me. I began to feel led towards certain information that continued to uncover more and more hidden meaning behind the texts I discussed in the class. I was developing my own hyperliteral perspective. For example I turned my attention to illuminate the story of “Jacob’s Ladder” as I was familiar with it from Lawrence Kushner book God Was in this Place, But I, i Didn’t Know It. The book featured conversations between several well known Rabbis from centuries past discussing the meaning of the “Jacob’s Ladder” story each using their own well known style of analysis. As I taught and discussed the story and rabbinical analyses little details of the tale started talking to me. My thesis was that the story revealed that Jacob had become conscious of his higher self by discovering that the DNA in our body, which looks like a twisted ladder, was a direct spiritual link and communication line into the higher realms of consciousness – this complements Braden’s thesis which we’ll explore later in the book..

Jacob fell asleep with his head on a stone pillow and dreamed that angels are going up and down a ladder. When he awakes he says “God was in this place and I, i, didn’t know it.” He then stands the stone pillow up pours oil over it and calls the place Beth El or “House of God.” The detail that stood out for me was the fact that the same root letters make up the word stone and son (bet, nun). Only a change in the vowels and the addition of the vowel aleph in front of the stone version would distinguish one word from the other which is another pillar within the Gematria system of Kabbalah – similar root letters in a word carry similar meaning. In the text itself from 28 Genesis 18 the exact letters used were aleph-tav (et or the and are also the first and last letters of the aleph-bet) hey-aleph-ben-nun (the stone). It is unusual to use the word the twice in two variations, et and ha which points to the duplicity of the word itself and hints towards the hyperliteral view of stone as matter and son as spirit. This also speaks to the phrase Kushner used to title his book which uses the word I twice, speaking to the lower i and the higher I. In my opinion the ladder is a literal reference to the structure of DNA, which anthropologist Jeremy Narby describes in his book DNA and The Origins of Knowledge. Through his intensive research on shamanic healing practices Narby concludes that the recurring imagery of twining snakes, twisting ladders, or magical vines is directly related to shamanic access to the biologic nature of the world. Narby suggests that through disciplined and rigorous training shaman healers gain the ability to tap into the micro-consciousness of human and plant cells that ‘communicate’ answers and solutions to them in trance. While it may seem “mind-blowing” and or ridiculous to believe that the ancient bible knows more about DNA than modern science, it is comforting at the same time to believe there is a much higher intelligence we can conceive of participating in our lives and ultimate existence, spoon feeding us into a greater spiritual maturity.

Next I turned my focus on sharing with the class my take on the origin of Kabbalah’s Tree of Life. The Tree of Life mentioned in Genesis takes prominence in the story of the Garden of Eden. The Eden depicted in Genesis not only features the tree but also describes the four worlds of Kabbalah through the evolution of Adam through each of the worlds as they evolve from spirit into matter. The notion of four worlds might be easier to understand if mapped to our understanding of elements e.g. earth, water, air and fire, or in human language, body, heart, mind and spirit.

The first inkling we get of Adam is when we are told that God created Adam, “male and female, he created them.” In Kabbalah “emanation” is the highest of the four worlds resting at the top of the Tree of Life and is called Atziluth in Hebrew. “Creation” is the next highest world and in Hebrew is called Briah and sits at the upper middle section of the Tree of Life. As the Gospel of John begins we learn that Adam began as a thought or a ‘word’ as did all of God’s creation which is the initial materialization of spirit or emanating light of God. We know from Genesis that everything starts out that way. The declaration “Let there be light” is followed by its manifestation “and God saw that it was good.” Every thought is followed up with a release – a letting go that allows it to manifest and be seen and to eventually be named.

Later in Genesis, we learn that God formed Adam out of the clay of the earth. This demonstrates for us the world of Yetzirah or the world of “formation.” Each new phase of Adam’s evolution takes on another layer of physicality moving him further away from his spiritual origins. Yet the “heavenly” template remains as does the spirit within that animates the material. In Kabbalah the “heavenly” or divine Adam that is both male and female is called the Adam Kadmon.

The next level for Adam and Eve now that they’ve both been formed is to manifest physically. That Eve was formed from Adam’s rib is better translated as from his side as they share a separation now between male and female. They manifest physically by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This physical manifestation allows them to incarnate into animal skins and to encounter duality within physical form in the world of “action” which is called Assiyah in Kabbalah. The world of action or Assiyah is the world where we confront and ultimately hope to overcome duality in order to find our way back to a united self. Assiyah is also the real meaning of the word Asia in St. John’s Revelation where he refers to the “Seven Churches of Asia.” John’s message is referring to the seven Chakras or energy centers of the body that live in Assiyah. We can glean this from the messages he provides for each “church” that correlate directly to the meanings behind each of these energy centers within the Eastern spiritual traditions. An example would be the heart Charka which is the fourth Chakra. John names this church Thyatira which directly links to the heart Chaka’s other name, the Thymus which is located in upper chest cavity behind the sternum. This “church” is known for its works of charity, service, faith and patience – all attributes of an open heart Chakra. It is also this “church” that finds itself divided through the acts of Jezebel or what seems to be a picture of the distorted feminine perspective that will be suppressed underground until the arrival of the “morning star” which symbolizes Venus, the resurrected female presence. The “morning star” is also linked to Lucifer or the “bringer of light” as well as the notion of rebirth as found when the lower self meets up with its higher self counterpart. This happens in the middle of the Tree of Life at the Sephirah of Tipheret which means “beauty” and also is associated with the sun/son and heart. A Kabbalistic lens can be very helpful in deciphering the mysterious Revelation chapter.

This lesson in duality is commonly referred to as “The Fall” and the serpent is usually cast as the devil. In Gnostic traditions the serpent is viewed in a positive light and is associated with bringer of wisdom or light as in Lucifer. Christ is also considered a light bringer as is Quetzalcoatl his Mayan counterpart described in myth as the plumed serpent and heavily associated with Venus as well. Considering “The Fall” from this point of view holds importance because the process of separation leading to reunification is filled with tremendous creativity, growth and release of fears and beliefs we might easily associate with death – thus the promise of immortality the Tree of Life provides.

In the Tree of Life diagram The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is called Da’at and is considered a non-energy center. Da’at can almost be understood as a black hole which is why it is sometimes referred to as the Abyss. “The Apple” can potentially be considered through the scientific analogy of the quantum physics concept of the “Strange Attractor.” Since the wavelike images of the “Strange Attractor” look very much like an apple.

A plot of Lorenz 'Strange Attractor'


In quantum physics a “Strange Attractor” is a force that disturbs and disrupts the status quo. If Paradise were viewed as status quo or non-evolutionary existence, the apple or “Strange Attractor” provides the catalyst for active evolutionary growth – thus Assiyah or the world of action as our spiritual ground zero.


A visual depiction of the Four Worlds as they appear on the Tree of Life

The round white circles in this Tree of Life diagram represent the Sephirot, spheres of energy or aspects of the manifested God. This multiplicity may seem contradictory to the monotheistic view of one and only one God. However in this construct God manifests from the highest emanation in Atziluth, through creation in Briah, formation in Yetzirah, and action in Assiyah. Each step adds another tone or color layer to the full manifestation or presence of God. Think of it from the lightest blues and ultra-violets to the deepest greens and reds. These colors or aspects of God are the various nuances of the dualistic hierarchy our incarnation encounters while we journey through our quest.

The great Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria developed the principle of the “breaking of the vessels” which says that the volume of light contained in the above model could not be sustained by man in his state of unknowing or non-evolutionary state. As a result the vessels broke – particularly at the bottommost connection between the Sephirot Malchut, Hod and Netzach which I propose forms the sought after Holy Grail from the King Arthur mythology. The Luria Tree can also be seen to depict the upward pointing double-edged sword of myth, the handle formed by Malchut and Yesod. Malchut, meaning Kingdom and representing our physical home within the world of Assiyah, is broken away from both the Sephirot Hod to its upper left and Netzach to its upper right reflected in the tree below.


The ARI Tree of life developed by Rabbi Isaac Luria

The missing connections between Malchut and Hod and between Malchut and Netzach as a result of the vessel breaking are clear in this version of the Tree. Since the Tree is also considered a microcosmic representation of the human body the symbolism of a male phallus is apparent in this Tree showing a one-dimensional link between Malchut or the Kingdom and the Sephirah above it Yesod which means foundation. In actuality Yesod is very much tied to sex and reproduction so the phallus symbol is appropriate here. As a result of “The Fall” or the “breaking of the vessel” mankind is detached from our foundation.

The GRA Tree developed by the Vilna Gaon

The tree above depicts the healthy connections between Malchut with Hod and Netzach forming a Yoni which represents the female attributes physically and symbolically. The bottom section of the Tree (Hod, Netzach, and Malchut, with Yesod in the center) forms a three dimensional V like cup or chalice alluding to the celebrated Holy Grail. The Luria Tree is called the ARI Tree based on the initials of his title and the other tree is known as the GRA Tree based on its founder the Vilna of Gaon.

Earlier I mentioned a quest and now that we have potentially discovered the Excalibur sword and the Holy Grail depicted in the trees we can visualize our Knight running off to find his damsel in distress or his twin flame, inner female, holy breath, or Shekinah. The Knight must face his dragon which is a combination of inner fears and limiting beliefs to ultimately learn to accept himself – every part of himself – good and bad in order to integrate the opposites that drive the duality of his being.

To gain a better sense of what this quest looks like I came up with the novel concept of overlaying the Ten Commandments to the Tree of Life and its ten Sephirot to see how they aligned. I’ve also included corresponding Universal Laws from metaphysic studies.


10th Commandment

Do not covet

Malchut- physical world, earth, material things
Law of Abundance
9th Commandment

Not bearing false witness
Yesod- rules sex and reproduction, deception, false or ego self, Moon Law of Detachment
8th Commandment

Thou shall not steal
Hod – glory, Mercury, mind, communication, cleverness, quickness, thinking, beliefs Law of Attraction
7th Commandment

No adultery
Netzach – victory, Venus, feelings, senses, agreements


Law of Cause and Effect (Karma)
6th Commandment

Thou shalt not murder
Tipheret- solar center, beauty, the higher self, uniting earthly experience with divine, the balance point of judgment, realization of the Adam Kadmon, The Sun
Law of Freewill
5th Commandment

Honor Mother & Father Gevurah – judgment, indicative, Mars, withholding the benefit of the doubt Law of Equilibrium



4th Commandment

Keep the Sabbath Chesed -loving kindness, expansiveness, faith, philosophical nature, Jupiter, gratitude, seeing into what's true
Law of Conservation
3rd Commandment

Lord’s name not in vain
Binah- understanding, creator, Mother, nature, the womb of being, Saturn, matter, light bearer, task master that contrives our life lessons, phosphorus Law of Concentration

2nd Commandment

No graven images
Chochmah- wisdom, creation infused with divine intelligence, Zodiac
Law of Unity


1st Commandment

I am your Lord your God that delivered you out of Egypt
Kether – Initial spark of consciousness – first cause
Law of Fulfillment

Since every quest begins in the Kingdom with an initiate we examine the overlay of the commandments on the Tree of Life from the very bottom of the Tree of Life in Malchut representing our initial physical world – the Kingdom which is where matter has reached its maximum density. Starting at the bottom suggests that we should contemplate Malchut in relation to the 10th Commandment which asks us to not covet all things and people material. Coveting means to desire something someone else has. This covetous desire involves the emotions of both envy and jealousy. At the heart of this desire however is a belief or perception of lack or being cursed in some way. We feel lack what we believe others possess. This is a limiting consciousness. This is poverty consciousness. The great success of the movie and book The Secret has brought an understanding of the Law of Attraction and the message of the ‘do not covet’ commandments into mass consciousness. I’ve associated the Law of Abundance as a direct way to offset lack by focusing on that which we would like to have an abundance of such as health or money.

The Secret really hasn’t been a secret for those familiar with the laws of the universe. The particular law known as the Law of Attraction simply stated is – you get what you focus your attention on -- on what you believe you deserve. The more we feel lack in our lives the more life reinforces that belief in action. If you focus your energy on what you believe you lack, your experiences will reinforce that through a manifest reality that continually substantiates your belief. This unpleasant reality then often causes us to fall back into instinctual modes of behavior - especially with the Sephirah above, Yesod, reflecting our shadow back to us. The ‘word’ is God which means your words, your speech, even your thoughts are very powerful in their ability to work their way through the levels of manifestation until they gather enough steam and aligned energy to make them real.

The first step of any Arthurian quest is to believe you are a Knight capable of going out and slaying the dragon. This takes training. King Arthur had Merlin the Magician to help him prepare for his journey and aid him along the way. In Judaism we have the Levites. We find the tools we need in Leviticus the third book of the five books of Moses.

At first glance Leviticus is an amalgam of don’t do’s that could drive anyone to consider jumping ship to a less restrictive discipline. To truly appreciate Leviticus you should treat it like a Zen koan. Let’s take the Jewish dietary laws of Kashrut better known as keeping Kosher for instance. There are typically three logical rationalizations to explain the laws of Kashrut. One is that in the olden days animals were unclean and pigs for instance were dirtier than other animals and shellfish were considered scavengers or bottom-feeders. Therefore these foods should be avoided for reasons of cleanliness and purity based on a history of sanitation and health issues. The next probable reason is the cruelty involved with eating meat. This suggests the laws of Kashrut were a way to wean our ancestors off a diet rich in animal flesh to one rich in fruits and vegetables. The third reason to substantiate these laws involves keeping the Jews separate from gentiles by imposing difficulties that would drive away non-Jews thus ensuring the continuation of the race.

Using my hyperliteral lens, I’ve come to a different and quite radical conclusion that suggests a much greater intelligence schooling us in the ways of Kabbalah which means “receiving” as in receiving wisdom and knowledge from the higher reams. Kabbalah also means “tradition” in the context of a mystical tradition which Kabbalah certainly represents not only for Jews but for people of many faiths who vary the spelling to distinguish their discipline from Judaism such as Qaballah or Cabala, etc.

From a Jewish perspective, the three main laws of Kashrut most common are:

1. Not mixing dairy with meat in the same meal
2. Eating only fish with scales
3. Not eating anything that does not chew its cud

When trying to understand the dynamics of the Tree of Life it’s important to note the duality inherent within its construct. The Tree forms three pillars. The left pillar is called the Pillar of Severity which represents the “hardening” force of resistance that creates matter. The right pillar is called the Pillar of Mercy representing the positive force of pure energy or spirit. The middle pillar is one of balance and is associated with the Messianic forces of truth and harmonization.

Viewing the tree as a microcosm for own human body it can make sense to think of the middle pillar as the esophagus and Malchut as our stomach. When we consume “food,” we consume for nourishment, pleasure or both. We can extend the concept of food to include sustenance for not only the body but for the heart, mind and spirit. Each law of Kashrut addresses a pair of opposing Sephirot in the Tree of Life.

The first pair at the top of the Tree is Binah which means understanding and Chochmah which means wisdom. The commandment associated with Binah is not taking the Lord’s name in vain. Chochmah’s commandment warns us from making graven images. The Kashrut law in play at the Binah-Chochmah level in the World of Atziluth is not eating dairy with meat. This is the Leviticus prohibition of not boiling a calf in its mother’s milk. Boiling denotes fire and the World of Atziluth is associated with the elemnt of Fire or Spirit. This law asks us to realize that the fluidity of spirit is what animates the material creature. You cannot “boil out” the spirit contained within all things animated or not. Matter cannot be without spirit and spirit cannot be without matter. Here we’re asked to understand (Binah) with wisdom (Chochmah) that nature cannot be taken for granted or objectified into an “it”. Our food is sacred in its construction and in its utilization which is fundamentally expressed in the rituals of “breaking bread” (matter) and drinking wine (spirit). Ultimately this law teaches us that eating without conscious understanding (Binah) or in Vain (the third commandment) violates the imperative to see that God is all things (wisdom or Chochmah) and that his essence cannot be restricted to one Graven Image/”thing” (the second commandment) or another.

The second pair of opposites in the Tree of Life are Gevurah which means judgment and Chesed which means loving kindness. The corresponding commandments are; for Gevurah to honor thy mother and father, and for Chesed keeping the Sabbath. The associated law of Kashrut to consider is the law requiring us to eat only fish with scales. It’s helpful to understand that as harsh as Gevurah can be with judgment, Chesed’s leniency can be just as challenging. Therefore a real balance is necessary – just the kind a scale can provide. The astrological sign of Libra helps establish both the image of a scale as well as the corresponding element of Air or Mind that this opposition reflects. The Hebrew word for scaled fish is kaskeset which is made up of two letters that represent the boomerang properties of the soul, the Hebrew letter kuf. The other main letter repeated twice is samech which means the endless cycle.

Deciphering the mystical meanings of Hebrew letters is a large part of traditional Kabbalah along with a form of numerology called Gematria. In the Gematria system each Hebrew letter is assigned a numerical value as well as its symbolic association and interpretations. The source I’m using for interpretations on the meaning of the letters is a book by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh called “The Hebrew Letters: Channels of Creative Consciousness”. His website is www.inner.org where readers can explore his concepts in greater depth.

The gematria value of a letter or word is used to make associations with other letters and words that have similar values in order to uncover common themes and hidden meanings. In this case a word with letters that mean boomerang and endless cycle conjure up images of back and forth, juggling and debate since this occurs in the World of Briah or Mind. The last letter in the word kaskeset is tav. The tav means “impression or seal” like a seal of approval as issued by a judge or some other authority..The gematria value of the word kaskeset is 1200 which is equivalent to the letters Resh (200) and Aleph (1000 in its final form). The Hebrew word ra which is formed from those two letters means the ability to see, perceive or have a vision.. A good judge requires those attributes as well as the ability to see both sides of every argument and situation using both the right and left sides of the brain (the mother and the father). Reflection is another important attribute which is associated with the commandment to honor the Sabbath.


Hebrew letters and their gematria values

The next and final pair of opposites working down the tree are Hod which means glory and Netzach which means victory. Since glory and victory are the things our Knight seeks the names of the Sephirot are clues to our quest. The ultimate goal of this quest is unifying these Sephirot with the Kingdom of Malchut. The two associated commandments are thou shall not steal and thou shall not commit adultery. It’s difficult to understand the relationship of these commandments without considering Yesod the Sephirah between them as well as realizing we’ve now moved into the World of Yetzirah which means Formation and is in the realm of Feeling. Yesod means foundation and is associated with the commandment thou shall not bear false witness. While most of us interpret this to mean – do not lie-- the commandment goes deeper asking that we not lie to ourselves. We tend to lie to ourselves to avoid responsibility for the creation of events in our lives. We’re so busy “surviving” perceived threats with our emotional fight or flight responses that we don’t realize we’re creating our own reality through our belief systems. Our unique method of disowning parts of ourselves, projecting the disembodied faults and weaknesses onto others is where the associated dietary law begins to make sense.

We’re asked to not eat animals without cloven hooves and that do not chew their cud. We know pigs in particular are singled out but in the text certain insects are also mentioned. The inclusion of insects should raise questions about the intelligence behind this law. How in the world would anyone or anything but the most intelligent know if a certain insect chews its cud or not?

When I ask people to contemplate why pigs are prohibited, I jokingly drop a hint by asking them to chew on the question for awhile. Most still don’t get it. Animals that chew their cud are called ruminants. Ruminants have a unique way of digesting their food that is very slow. The process involves regurgitating digestive fluids and passing the food through three stomachs or in this interpretation of Kabbalah, down the center between the three pairs of opposing Sephirot. One of the definitions of the word itself is contemplation. Netzach and Hod urge us to develop self-mastery over our emotions. Here one must consider the previous Worlds of Spirit and Mind to help calm our Feeling nature. We need to develop understanding, wisdom, judgment, kindness and in the end humility to properly ground ourselves in the kingdom of Malchut which is in the World of Assiyah or Action. and represents the element of earth and Body..

Now that we’ve addressed the details of how the Sephirot can explicate the dietary laws in Leviticus we return to a contemplation of how each commandment correlates to the Sephirot as well.

The Sephirah Yesod directly above Malchut, between Hod and Netzach, is related to the Moon in the emotional World of Yetzirah. Yesod which means foundation, is referred to as the false or shadow self so therefore directly relates to the 9th commandment warning us “not to bear false witness”. It is difficult to understand the connection between “foundation” and the notion of deception. If we can think of “foundation” as a cover-up, we can begin to understand the ideas of ego and objectification that “the fall” represents in our collective experience.

Yesod is the final transition point between the non-physical and the physical. It is a focusing point for all that is above to enter the mortal beings we are below. The ego is also designed to be a focusing point. The ego is the part of ourselves we created in order to be able to see ourselves from a detached viewpoint. In Kabbalah, God is said to have created the universe for the same purpose – to see itself. Kabbalist Z’ev be Shimon Halevi summed it up as follows.

Before the beginning of anything there was only God. Nothing existed, not even existence. Tradition states that the Absolute, called Ayin or No-thing and Ayin Sof or The Limitless in Kabbalah, wished to behold ITSELF and so Existence was willed into being to act as a vast mirror by which God could perceive the reflection of God. This process was accomplished, it is allegorically explained, by the Absolute withdrawing ITSELF from a portion of totality, thus allowing a void to appear in which Existence could be encompassed. Into this space the Holy One projected a line of light, a symbol of will, which unfolded in a specific sequence that was to be the structure and dynamic of a series of four universes, held together by Divine will.

Kabbalah – Tradition of Hidden Knowledge,, Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi

When from this purposeful perspective, it is somewhat easier to comprehend that our “fall” was self-created for the sole purpose of severing our spiritual connection so we could find it once again from a point of detached consciousness. We in essence fooled ourselves into believing we are only mortal and therefore needed to “cover” ourselves up with the cloth of ego to act as our “foundation” in confronting our self-conceived “hostile universe”. The 9th Commandment is our reminder that we should not forget our origins and that if we identify too much with our “game” we risk distorting the reality of ourselves and others beyond the intent of our God-like purpose.

Fooling ourselves into believing we are separate from the source of our being has played havoc in our lives. The main expression of this dysfunction is though addiction and its denial. What seems obvious to an onlooker cannot be explained to an addict through reason or logic. According to the addict nothing is wrong. They meant to sell their car to a crack dealer for a three day binge. Drugs, alcohol and sex are not the only addictions we take on. Work, gambling, shopping andexercise are just a few of the many activities that can become obsessive and compulsive when used as pain avoidance mechanisms. Marriages can be lost, lives torn apart, and children unnecessarily hurt when a person chooses to remain blind to everything outside the focus of their desire. Pain and shame endlessly feed each other in a vicious cycle. This is depicted in the ARI Tree through the disconnection of Malchut from Hod and Netzach which represents the lack of mastery over, and ultimately the integration of the emotional self with the other aspects of our being.

The 8th Commandment “thou shalt not steal” then can be associated with the 8th Sephirah, Hod which means glory. Steal what? How about the energy of others? There are innumerable ways our bodies can become blocked to both absorbing and dispersing energy. Fear, anxiety, and pain cause us to retract or withdraw. Out of self protection we close ourselves off from the natural energetic exchange process. The same way a contracted blood vessel constricts the flow of blood constricted Chakras or Sephirot centers restrict the movement of energy to our detriment. Our energetic system is depleted if we stop naturally absorbing energy. If we simultaneously stop discharging our spent energy in reaction to fear or emotional pain then we are not only depleted, hungering for energy we become swamped in our own toxic discharge. We’ve all felt it….that inexplicable sense of exhaustion when the grating guest finally leaves. Since most of us live oblivious to the health of our energetic system few of us even realize when we’re starving for energy -- when we may be unfairly soaking up the energy of friends and loved ones because it is safe. This is especially true in the many faceted realm of love and sex. If our own sexual energy has been blocked by any of love’s various dings or bangs we tend to seek to unite indiscriminately with others drinking up their energy like a vampire. This behavior is driven by lack or the covetous desire mentioned in the 10th Commandment. What we lack or covet we try to reach out for, glorify or “steal” from others as opposed to developing or recognizing that we already have what we are seeking out in our own backyard.

If we compromise ourselves enough to become vampires or lack driven thieves, we spread the contagion on to the next Sephirah Netzach. Netzach which means victory, is related to the commandment prohibiting adultery. Victory once again is a victory over the emotional self. Agreements between partners become adulterated when we function unconsciously feeding our base needs instead of acting on the impulses of our higher selves. The flowing energy that was severed in “the fall” turns into adulterated energy driving us into further and further base or destructive exchanges. Like any toxin or pollution the adulterated energy spreads everywhere, with everyone. This further corrupts our sensibilities keeping us further away from what we really seek; the solar center of beauty and splendor found in Tipheret. Tipheret is also the mediation point for the higher self found in the upper Sephirot.

The 6th Commandment associated with Tipheret the solar center of the Tree of Life representing the heart is “thou shalt not murder”. Tipheret which means beauty or splendor unites the lower light of earthly experience to the higher light of the divine. Of course the 6th Commandment is effectively broken if we cut ourselves off from our solar center. This then locks us into an endless cycle of pain and meaninglessness. Tipheret is the balance point between too much judgment and not enough; between Gevurah and Chesed. Tipheret stands at a cross in the Tree and represents the achievement of unification and realization of the Adam Kadmon or Primal Man template. Therefore Tipheret- the heart- must make sure to moderate between the two pillars left and right as well as unite the upper and lower realms. Breaking through the layers of pattern and habits and corrupt ways of perceiving the human self buried beneath is the only way out. The way the quest is fulfilled is through balance in Tipheret.

Tipheret cannot be reached without developing the honesty required to face all one’s demons and do away with them. The prohibition of murder found in the 6th Commandment is directed more to the Worlds of Thought (Briah) and Feeling (Yetzirah) since Tipheret straddles both realms. This explains why the Christian Gospels focus on sins of the heart and mind as opposed to the sins of the body that Leviticus incorporates since Yesod which rules reproduction, is the transition point between the Worlds of Heart (Yetzirah or Formation) and Body (Assiyah or Action).

Since Yesod is on the middle pillar between Hod and Netzach and rules sex and reproduction, we really need to understand the Leviticus laws beyond their assumed meaning. Again we are faced with misleading laws on purity. The most misunderstood law from Leviticus in my opinion is the law prohibiting a man lying with another man as he lies with a Woman.

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Leviticus 20: 13, KJV

The interesting thing about this verse is that the word ‘mankind’ is translated from the Hebrew word zakar, z(zayin), k (kaf), r (resh). There are only three other instances of this word in the entire bible. One of which is a reiteration of the first and the other two are in the New Testament. Whenever I see a word used only once in the bible I take note. This is important. The Hebrew word for womankind is Isha which is the common word for women. Zakar on the other hand is only used in this singular context and the repetitions in similar verses. Since this is a special occurrence I look at the importance and meaning of each letter.

The first letter in zakar is zayin meaning woman of valor which seems odd to begin a word denoting mankind. The next letter kaf means the crown: the power to actualize potential. To me this represents the crown Sephirah of Kether as it sits at the top of the Tree of Life waiting for consciousness to rise up to its highest position. The next letter resh means process: the art of clarification which again reiterates the current theme since it also means head and the beginning of wisdom which also hints at the second Sephirah of Chochmah which also sits high up in the Tree of Life.

When one considers that Yesod, the ruler of reproduction as well as blood and the menstrual cycle, acts as the “foundation” for this upward thrust into the higher worlds, it becomes quickly apparent that the kind of sex Leviticus speaks of is above and beyond the purely physical realm. What is being expressed here is the concept of male-female unification within the realm of feeling – Yetzirah or Formation. The woman of valor is our own inner bride that has been pushed deep into the subconscious through several thousand years of paternal rule. Since she is subconscious – at least for most males, the natural compensation for this quandary is to project her onto anyone willing to act out the suppressed qualities which occurs in the World of Assiyah or Action. Thus Leviticus’ meticulous prohibitions against “laying” with any relative or animal that might take on these projections, serves less as a warning and more of a directive to reclaim the female qualities within. It is considerably ironic and humanely tragic that homosexuality of the body has borne the burden of a limited interpretation of the verses.

St. Paul reiterated the law in his writings but he used an entirely different word which contained the Greek prefix ‘arsen.’ This word suggests the inner serpent found in the eastern religions called the Kundalini – liquid fire. This is the same substance called the Holy Breath – the Ruach or spirit called Shekinah in Hebrew which is the feminine aspect of God. Without the Shekinah – death is inevitable – thus the proclamation of Leviticus 20:13. The reference to blood is the recognition that Yesod is the stopping point in our upward expansion if the Shekinah doesn’t participate in our climb. Examining the story of Moses in the desert further enlightens us.

Moses discovers a God named "I am" in the midst of a burning bush (Hebrew word Sineh which also means to fend off an attack as with thorns). This God also tells Moses to remove his shoes because he is on "holy" ground. He comes down from the mountain (Hebrew Sinai) with two stone (Exodus 31:18 Hebrew word eben which is also used anatomically for the word testicles in Lev 21:20; Dt 23:1; Job 40:17) tablets. The burning bush imagery refers to the seat of the kundalini fire, the Shekinah, revealing an emerging feminine perspective around this experience. Holy ground denotes a holy feminine presence in the earth although suppressed thoroughly enough to be defended with thorns. The stone tablets suggest a testimony meant to re-establish the "I am that I am" (Hebrew Ayeh Asher Ayeh) within as the male or spirit “I am” unites with the female or material “I am”.

On his return to camp Moses sees a golden calf which touches on our earlier discussion regarding the prohibition of boiling a calf in its Mother’s milk. What we have here is an attempt to enslave spirit into matter once again. This idolatry is viewed as blasphemy which causes Moses to break the first set of tablets which could be viewed as divided into spirit and matter at least as it relates to the laws at hand and their affiliation with the Tree of Life. The calf is made into a powder and the Israelites must eat it to internalize the lessons at hand and to halt the backsliding into Egyptian ways.

The broken tablets symbolize the broken connections from Malchut to Hod and Netzach that Moses had just re-established through his communion with the burning bush on Sinai. So the Israelites must again learn to reconnect Malchut to glory and victory through developing self-mastery and not avoiding the process by projecting God into external material objects. This will happen with a new generation (regeneration) of Israelites that know freedom (the children of the slaves after 40 years - 40 being the time it takes for this message to be received).

I propose that the ARI Tree - the one without the connections to Hod and Netzach be referred to as the Patriarchal Tree and the GRA Tree the one with the connections to Hod and Netzach be referred to as the Restored Tree or Kadmon Tree. The first Adam (Kadmon) was created male and female before “the fall”. According to the text “the fall” was a result of an impulse to acquire the knowledge of both good and evil, in essence the knowledge and experience of all polarities. Our purpose then becomes to integrate the opposites to find wholeness once again but with the wisdom gained in the process.

The reconnection of Malchut to Hod and Netzach can occur when the suppressed feminine within is reclaimed and reintegrated into the consciousness. This is reflected in the 5th Commandment to “Honor thy Father and thy Mother”. The 5th Commandment corresponds to the Sephirah Gevurah or judgment which is the first purely divine attribute in the Tree of Life above Tipheret.

We now move to the Sephirah of Chesed and the 4th Commandment of observing the Sabbath. Chesed means loving kindness. This Sephirah is associated with the astrological planet Jupiter. Jupiter is recognized for its expansiveness and philosophical nature…..the idea of putting all the pieces together to grasp the big picture. There is a playful nature in this. The previous Sephirah Gevurah is indicative and Chesed is invitational. Whereas Gevurah is stingy withholding the benefit of the doubt, Chesed is all about faith. There is meaning in life and it's found in gratitude.

The Shabbat or Sabbath ritual seeks to endow the participant with a sense of the Messianic Age by creating a twenty-four hour space of sacred time. In Judaism lighting the two Shabbat candles symbolizes the marriage of the bride and bridegroom, representing the union of Malchut and Kether from our Tree of Life. To welcome the bride we sing “Lecha Dodi” inviting the Shekinah to come to the wedding party from Malchut. Rabbi Luria the developer of the ARI or male Tree and his followers would sing this song parading to the synagogue dressed in white for the Sabbath services at sundown in Sfat, Israel.

There is a wholyness about this ritual that invites everyone into the mood of gratitude and abundance. Abundance is represented by the double loaves/portions of bread and gratitude by the prayers to the King (Melach). Wine represents spirit as the bread represents sustenance and matter. We wash our hands and say a blessing to purify the temple of our bodies. Then we bless our children to acknowledge our love for them.

This environment reveals meaning. The number seven for the seventh day and Chesed share a gift for seeing into what's true. Silence is meditative and study is reflective. Transformation into wholeness is accomplished through ritual and reflection which helps us see what’s right in the world instead of chronically focusing on what’s wrong.

We continue the cycle moving from Chesed to the next Sephirah Binah. To accomplish this we must cross the abyss of Da’at, which means knowledge. The word Binah itself means understanding. The Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden was called The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or Good and Bad. The Trees are organized and arranged so we can learn “to be like Gods” by going through the experience of duality. The first clue to this mystery is the expression to be like Gods in the plural sense. There are so many God names to contend with in the Hebrew including the name Elohiem which itself is plural. It’s no wonder the expression says Gods. The paradox though is that we are told there is only one God. In fact in the Shema prayer we state “The Lord is one.” The Rabbis explain that these God names are just aspects or facets of the one God. In Kabbalah we view each Sephirah as an aspect of God.

The third commandment warns us not to take God’s name in vain. Here the text specifically speaks of God in the singular sense. In that case are we to refrain from taking the one particular name in vain or does this apply to any or all of the large stable of God names? And what in God’s name does vain mean anyway?

I was brought up to understand that taking God’s name in vain meant to not swear with his name in the expression such as God Damn it. This made sense until I discovered plenty of other nastier words and phrases that didn’t contain the word God at all.

The definition of vain that works here for this particular exercise is from Webster’s –

vain 1. Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying. ``Thy vain excuse.'' ... 2. Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
Webster’s Dictionary

When I look at these meanings or the lack of meaning they convey, I find all the Hebrew God names to be just that, lacking of substance. This is in direct contrast to the second commandment which asks us to basically keep the notion of God totally void of image. Why this schism?

When we reflect back on how matter is animated by spirit, it begins to make some sense as to what this commandment is trying to tell us.

In the Hebrew bible one particular God name is given the most prominence – YHVH which is the amalgamation of the letters yud-hey-vav-hey. The problem with these letters is that it is impossible to say this God name because no one knows how to pronounce it, with the supposed exception of the high priests who do so in private on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The name is unpronounceable because each letter can have its own sound or be silent within a word. Of course you can go the way of the translators and make it Jehovah or Jave or Yavay, etc. but that’s just purely ignoring the Hebrew intent of keeping this name enigmatic and non-encapsulated. Yah is one variation used in Hebrew but only very rarely.

The other God name appearing over and over in the bible is Elohiem. Elohiem is given the distinction of being the Creator God but the form is plural. The God name El is the singular from of this name and is spelled aleph-lamed EL. This God name was discovered on ancient wall writings in pre-patriarchal sites around the world in a form of Hebrew known as the Negev script. It turns out the Hopi alphabet has the same number of letters as Hebrew and ancient Hopi inscriptions in this Negev script style have been discovered. The El name is also contained within variations of the pagan God names in the bible such as Baal.

The bible frequently alternates the use of Elohiem and YHVH interchangeably. In Hebrew prayers the name YHVH is replaced by Adonai which means the Lord. YHVH is granted the superior status over all the other Gods because he is “the Father” And represents the highest attribute of spirit This God name is associated with Chochmah, the next Sephirah up the tree. It only makes sense that if Chochmah is associated with the Father, then Binah must be associated with the Mother and indeed it is. Binah spelled bet nun hey connotes a container for creation or a womb which represent the highest attribute of matter. El is the God name associated with Binah although most often it’s shown in its plural form as it is in the Bible – Elohiem. Is El or Elohiem the God name that we are supposed to not take in vain?

The problem with El being the name commandment three refers to is that YHVH allows no other Gods to be above it. This is shown in the text. From a gematria standpoint though, YHVH adds up to 26 (yud 10 + hey 5 + vav 6 + hey 5) and EL adds up to 31 (aleph 1 + lamed 30). If we break the rules of gematria and reduce the God name El to 4 by adding the values of the two digits together from 31 to 4 then we can honor the higher authority of the 2nd Commandment which says no other God should go before it (YHVH). Now the name YHVH has greater gematria weight then El by 22 (26-4= 22) or the full span of the Hebrew aleph-bet from the first to the last letter.

The significance of this is that when we add the two God names of El and YHVH together, we get the value of 30 (26 + 4_) which is equivalent to the letter lamed which has the esoteric meaning: aspiration: contemplation of the heart. If we were to ignore the 2nd Commandment and not reduce El down, the revised equation of 31 + 26 would yield the value of 57 which eerily enough equates to the Hebrew letters of nun (50) and zayin (7) or nazi (vowels added myself). This is the result of allowing matter to overshadow spirit. If we reverse those letters again we’re left with an interesting turnabout as the word would then become zayin nun or potentially zion. Many people question whether Zionists prioritize material interests over spiritual interests in the pursuit of their political agenda.

The third commandment tells us that the name of God, the true name of God, which is the unification of spirit and matter (with help from some well placed vowels), is anything but empty when revealed to the diligent student. Whether it’s love (lamed-yud-hey-vav-hey), to love (el means to and ohev means love in Hebrew), a heart that understands knowledge or EL-YHVH, the incredible depth of this undertaking – understanding – is undeniable. The album cover image from Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” visually demonstrates the relationship from Chochmah (YHVH) to Binah (El) and its crossover the abyss of Da’at (knowledge). Chochmah sends the pure white light to Binah the prism where its spectrum is divided up into the rays/tones of creation.

Chochmah means wisdom which implies that creation is infused with a divine intelligence or a plan that unfolds in its own way. I say unfolds in its own way because the planet Saturn ruler of time as we know it rests in Binah therefore Chochmah is beyond time and beyond our material understanding (Binah).

The Sephirah Chochmah is associated with the entire 12 houses of the Zodiac. The number 12 is directly related to the 12 tribes and the 12 signs of the Great Wheel. Christians might say that this is also representative of the 12 apostles.

The 2nd Commandment chastises us to “have no other Gods before me” and not to “make for yourself an idol.” The essence of this commandment is reflected in the dynamic nature of this Sephirah in how it separates and unites Gods and names keeping an inherent mystery alive concerning the nature of our universe. There is no way to capture just a portion of this dynamic divine force apart from itself nor is there any way to put another force before it. The prohibition of idolatry ultimately diffuses YHVH into the Ayn Sof (limitless light) or in New Age speak - All That Is.

Finally the upper most Sephirah is Kether. The 1st Commandment is more of a declaration – I AM your Lord your God that delivered you out of Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim which means “narrow place.” The narrow place referred to is the very bottom of the Tree of Life prior to free physical existence. This is a statement of beingness and ultimate power, responsibility and obligation. Kether means crown. This is the crowning of the prince within his kingdom as the ultimate goal of the Knight’s quest to marry Malchut the kingdom with Kether the crown. This is what the Sabbath is supposed to teach us. We are to realize that there is a “greater work” than our day to day tasks to get through the world. Our quest for Wholyness is not in vain and we do not have to put it into any kind of framework or cast it into any kind of preconceived notion. All we need to do is to simply realize ourselves – our “I Am-ness.” When the “I am” of the crown (Kether) meets the “I am” of the Kingdom (Malchut) then we can say “I am that I am” or “Ayeh Asher Ayeh” which was the name told to Moses on Sinai by “the presence” of the burning bush.

The crown placed on the Adam Kadmon may now be understood as the realized Christ, Buddha, or Krishna Consciousness. It is the marriage of the yin and yang and the connection point of heaven and earth.

The more I got into the class the deeper my thoughts would go. I felt like I was channeling something beyond me. All I had to do was to feel the impressions and somehow they would find their way out of me. This was something entirely new in my life and I wasn’t sure if it was from the power of the Tree of Life Mandela or from being exposed to the Lights themselves. Perhaps the Lights were spirits or Kachinas as the Native Americans called them. All I knew was that I was turning into something of a mystic which left me somewhat puzzled as to what to do with my newfound skill. My first task was to explore the implications of the signs and symbols left behind by the Phoenix Lights.