This lesson provides an overview of the essential aspects of the relationship between the Tarot and the Tree of Life to support our work. As you explore the Tarot, you are exploring the Tree, and if you study the Tree more intently, it will deepen your understanding of the Tarot. For now, you are invited to peek through the keyhole of this remarkable worldview.

A video introduction is embedded at the bottom of this page, which should provide a basic understanding.

What is the Tree of Life?

The Tree of Life is a model for emanation. Emanation is the process by which an abstract process becomes a perceptible thing. It consists of 10 sefirot and 22 paths (explored below).

A little history…

This emanation model originated from the Jewish magical/mystical tradition called Kabbalah, which is still practiced today. Beginning sometime between 1400 and 1600 CE, the Tree of Life was adopted into a Christian-European underground spiritual movement. This movement became generally known as Spiritual Alchemy, Hermeticism, or the “Western Mysteries.” During that process, a distinct set of beliefs and practices evolved, diverging significantly from their Jewish Kabbalistic origins. As a convention, this derived tradition is written “Qabalah” instead of “Kabbalah.”

This new Hermetic Qabalah used tarot to represent and synthesize the diverse practices of astrology, hermeticism, alchemy, and more. By the mid-to-late 1700s, it had adopted a strong, non-religious, and non-dogmatic stance in support of radically independent personal spiritual growth and practical transformation. By the late 1800s, numerous groups had emerged and splintered, leading to many “adepts” (advanced practitioners) publishing the previously secret teachings. This revelation sparked the emergence of the new thought movement and modern metaphysics.

The Tree of Life: Sefirot

Image 1 shows the basic structure of the Tree of Life. Each sefirah represents an objective state or construct in the process of emanation. As we explore the minor arcana of Tarot, we will become increasingly familiar with these centers; for our purposes here, it’s just good to be generally informed.

Here is a table of their respective Tarot cards in the minor arcana, Astrological correspondence, and English names.

Sefirah #	Pip/Court	Correspondence	English
1	Ace	Primal Movement	Crown
2	2/Knight	The Zodiac	Wisdom
3	3/Queen	Saturn	Understanding
4	4	Jupiter	Mercy
5	5	Mars	Severity
6	6/King	Sun	Beauty
7	7	Venus	Victory
8	8	Mercury	Splendor
9	9	Moon	Foundation
10	10/Princess	Earth	Kingdom

An additional implicit center, Knowledge ( da’at), synthesizes Understanding and Wisdom.

Each of these spheres represents a force that serves a role in the natural law of the universe. To explore the symbolism of the most ubiquitous Tarot decks is to explore these forces.

NOTE: The Heaven & Earth Deck follows Aleister Crowley in placing the Knight in the 2nd sefirah and the King in the 6th. The more standard placement is King in 2nd and Knight in 6th. Please critically examine the impact of this adjustment frequently.

The Tree of Life: Paths

Connecting the sefirot are 22 paths. Each path corresponds to a Hebrew letter with its associated meanings and a form of subjective conscious experience. In addition, each path has an elemental, planetary, or zodiacal correspondence. Most important to us, those meanings are all encapsulated in the Trumps of the Tarot. In image 2, you can see each Trump’s “standard”* location on the tree. I find the keys, connected sefirot, and correspondences most applicable in my reading work with Tarot.

Here is a table summarizing that information.

Trump	Key	Sefirot	Correspondence
The Fool	0	1-2	Air
The Magician	I	1-3	Mercury
The High Priestess	II	1-6	Moon
The Empress	III	2-3	Venus
The Emperor	IV	2-6	Aries
The Hierophant	V	2-4	Taurus
The Lovers	VI	3-6	Gemini
The Chariot	VII	3-5	Cancer
Strength	VIII	4-5	Leo
The Hermit	IX	4-6	Virgo
Wheel of Fortune	X	4-7	Jupiter
Justice	XI	5-6	Libra
Hanged Man	XII	5-8	Water
Death	XIII	6-7	Scorpio
Temperance	XIV	6-9	Sagittarius
The Devil	XV	6-8	Capricorn
Tower	XVI	7-8	Mars
The Star	XVII	7-9	Aquarius
The Moon	XVIII	7-10	Pisces
The Sun	XIX	8-9	Sun
Judgment	XX	8-10	Fire
The World	XXI	9-10	Saturn

*Crowley switches the Star and the Emperor. Some systems switch the Fool and the High Priestess. As with the Knight/King positioning, revisiting these irregularities will greatly deepen your understanding of Tarot.

Four Worlds

As with all of these topics, the Four Worlds is a rich, complex, mind-bending, and nuanced teaching. The cheat sheet below is what I think is necessary for the vast majority of tarot work. The hardest element to capture is that each world, while dominated by certain sefirah, contains all sefirot. The fractal nature of the Tree and the full process of emanation is what makes it so elegant and effective, but also so complex and difficult. As you’ll hear me say again and again, working with the Tarot illuminates these concepts, just as much as studying these concepts helps us be more effective with the Tarot.

Sefirot in Brief

Below is a very brief summary statement of each sefirah’s character.

The three sefirot below create the Supernal triad, meaning the archetypes they represent are beyond the self-concept and in the realm of transcendent meditative experience. When working with Aces, Twos, Knights, Threes, and Queens in divination, it can be helpful to remember that they are the powerful, but somewhat unstable, beginnings of their world.

Crown

The Crown is a pinprick of white light in the darkness. Like the single star in a new moon sky. Or like the single dot of a pencil pressed against the paper before one begins to write. It is the beginning of a moment that contains all that will be. It is the Sun as it rises over the horizon before it begins to shine. A great monad, or oneness.

This is the four Aces, the primal sources of each of the four Worlds. It is likened to the Premium Mobile (primal movement) of the Celestial sphere. It is said that the Princesses, associated with the Kingdom, are the Thrones of the Aces.

Wisdom

In Wisdom, the point of the Crown begins to move; it becomes a line. It is the pinprick of light beginning to radiate in all directions—the Sun receiving its halo. This is pure consciousness and raw experience, absent any analytical process or intelligence. In motion, the oneness of the Crown begins to become two. The Yin and Yang are still in harmonious union. As emanation continues in the Archetypal world, Wisdom remains the yin force, and Understanding becomes the yang force with the Crown providing the balance. For emanation to flow through the whole tree, Wisdom is the first well-spring of the outpouring of vital energy.

This is the Twos (dominion, love, peace, harmonious change) and the Knights. It is likened to the Zodiac.

NOTE: The twos in most decks show their suit as two separate but connected items, with the exception of our deck of the Wands, which uses its divinatory meaning, “Dominion,” as the source of the image. “Dominion” connects to Wisdom in the Archetypal world because it is the source of our Will and the power to create. The Knights are the fiery outpouring of conflicting forces within their element.

Understanding

With Understanding, the first structure is complete. The Point of the Crown has moved into a line, which, connected to the point of Understanding, generates a triangle. This sefirah is the sphere of subjectivity, analysis, and the sea of the unconscious. It provides the functional direction and structure to the pure energy that flows from Wisdom. It is the yin to Wisdom’s yang and the Yang. Between Crown, Wisdom, and Understanding we have all that is necessary for a conscious moment – light (Crown), something to reflect (Wisdom), and something to understand what is reflected (Understanding).

This sefirah is the home of the Threes (established strength, abundance, sorrow, material work) and the Queens. It is likened to Saturn, has a special relationship to Kingdom, and thus the Threes and the Tens illuminate each other.

The three sefirot below create the Ethical triad or the Higher Self. Here, the polarities that emerged from the Crown take definite form. Notice there is no direct path in the flow of emanation from Understanding to Mercy. This is called the “abyss” because it is such a huge leap in our mental experience and the density of the forces we are dealing with. This triangle holds the opposing forms on any spectrum and their harmonization; generally, we can say it is thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. When working with Fours, Fives, Sixes, and Kings, remember that these are the most fixed and robust structures of their suit.

Mercy

Mercy is all of the forces of stability, growth, love, good fortune, and benevolence. It is everything that builds up and holds together. It represents forgiveness, conservation, anabolism, peace, and Divine Love. Without its connection to Severity, this sefirah would be a force of stagnation through order; turning a blind eye to the rot growing within itself in favor of preserving the status quo.

This sefirah is the home of the fours (perfected work, balanced pleasure, rest from strife, earthly power). It is likened to Jupiter.

Severity

Severity is the polar opposite of Mercy. It is the forces of change, decay, power, and ruthlessness. It is everything that tears down and starts over. It represents accountability, destruction, catabolism, conflict, and Divine Justice. Severity is often the least comfortable force we work with on the Tree, and the Fives aren’t considered “good omens.” Without its connection to Mercy, it is uncompromisingly selfish and cruel in the name of “What is Right.” However, this is not an evil or maleficent energy. It is like a forest fire, which is both dangerous and destructive, but ultimately brings about new growth. It is the capacity to do what is hard on our journey toward a new and better life.

This sefirah is the home of the fives (strife, loss in pleasure, defeat, and material trouble). It is likened to Mars.

Beauty

Beauty is the harmonizing center of the entire tree. Notice that it has a direct relationship with every sefirot but Kingdom. Beauty is the balance of all the other sefirot. It facilitates a healthy relationship between Mercy and Severity, and serves as the center that bridges the Higher Self and the Personality. This is the realm of knowing one’s life purpose, self-empowerment, authorship, and capacity to be a sovereign individual, positively contributing to society.

This sefirah is the home of the sixes (victory, pleasure, earned success, material success) and the Kings. It is likened to the Sun.

The three sefirot below create the Astral triad or the Personality. These three spheres represent blends of all the previous forces in the realm of our individual activities and preferences. They are the the most dense and defined versions of their source energy as it transitions into the next lowest world, i.e., Wands becoming Cups. These sefirot are represented by the Sevens, Eights, and Nines.

Victory

Victory can be thought of as Mercy combined with Beauty in our Personality. This clue is indicated in the color scheme: Blue + Yellow = Green. Victory is all about endurance and perseverance, particularly in the interpersonal sphere. It is the home of love, connection, music, dance, and community. Victory blurs the lines. The energy of giving up our needs in service to others. Victory out-of-balance is codependence, a loss of self, and failure to maintain healthy boundaries.

Victory is the home of the Sevens (valor, illusory success, unstable effort, success unfulfilled). It is likened to Venus.

Splendor

Splendor blends Severity and Beauty like Victory blends Mercy and Beauty. It is the manifestation of independent strength and skill. It is a realm of distinctions, intellect, ritual, form, and structure. Out of balance, Splendor can appear as ruthless ambition, isolation, and overanalysis.

Splendor is the home of the Eights (swiftness, abandoned success, shortened force, prudence). It is likened to Mercury, with Mercury representing, perhaps, the most important key to the entire system of Qabalah practice.

Foundation

Foundation serves a similar role to Beauty, but in the realm of Personality. It is the synthesis of Victory and Splendor while also serving as the final catch-basin before the entire process enters into the Kingdom. Foundation is the realm of imagination, visualization, emotion, and cyclical life patterns.

Foundation is the home of the Nines (great strength, material happiness, despair and cruelty, material gain). It is likened to the Moon.

Kingdom

The Kingdom is the pure white light of the Crown now fully distinguished and separated into everything that makes up physical reality. It is the realm of the natural sciences and the five senses. It is the most dense sefirah of its world and, simultaneously, the Crown of the world below it. Specifically, the Kingdom of the Archetypal World is the Crown of the Creative World, and so forth. In Tarot terms, an example would be that the 10 of Wands, “Oppression,” becomes The Ace of Cups, “Emotional Source.”

In the Active World, the 10 of Pentacles, “Wealth,” begins the ascension back up the Tree. The Kingdom sefirah also has a direct relationship with the Sefirah of Understanding. The Kingdom’s complexity and subtlety are remarkable; allow your understanding of it to deepen with time.

Kingdom is the home of the Tens (oppression, perfect success, ruin, wealth) and the Princesses.

The Princesses are the thrones of their Aces. Similarly, the Queens sit on the thrones of their Tens.

Three Pillars

Unique

Equilibrium

Universal

Here’s a 16-minute video that does a great introduction for those who prefer such a format.