Kaballah

The Tree of Life (Hebrew: עֵץ חַיִּים ʿĒṣ Ḥayyīm) is a diagram used in Kabbalah and various other mystical traditions.[1] It usually consists of 10 or 11 nodes symbolizing different archetypes and 22 lines connecting the nodes.[2] The nodes are often arranged into three columns to represent that they belong to a common category.[2]

The nodes are usually represented as spheres and the lines are usually represented as paths.[2] The nodes usually represent encompassing aspects of existence, God, or the human psyche.[2][3][4] The lines usually represent the relationship between the concepts ascribed to the spheres or a symbolic description of the requirements to go from one sphere to another.[2][4] The nodes are also associated to deities, angels, celestial bodies, values, single colors or combinations of them, and specific numbers.[3][5] The columns are usually symbolized as pillars.[2] These pillars usually represent different kinds of values, electric charges, or types of ceremonial magic.[2][5] It is usually referred to as the Kabbalistic tree of life in order to distinguish it from other concepts with the same name.[1][6] In the Jewish Kabbalah, the nodes are called sephiroth.[2] The diagram is also used by Christian Cabbala, Hermetic Qabalah and Theosophy.[5][6][7]

Scholars believe that the concept of a tree of life with different spheres encompassing aspects of reality traces its origins back to Assyria in the 9th century BC.[1][6] The Assyrians also assigned values and specific numbers to their deities similar to those used by the later Jewish Kabbalah.[1][