Keyword: Universe/Cosmos
I was researching on the African Cosmos when I came across the tree of life. It is believed that the origins of the Zulu peoples could be traced to a priest of Isis during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, the 3rd dynasty (3900 BCE) builder of the Great Pyramid. The Yoruba religion corresponds to the core concepts of Kamitic cosmology.
The concept of a tree of life has been used in biology, religion, philosophy, and mythology. A tree of life is a common motif in various world theologies, mythologies, and philosophies. It alludes to the interconnection of all life on our planet and serves as a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionarysense. The term tree of life may also be used as a synonym for sacred tree. The tree of knowledge, connecting to heaven and the underworld, and the tree of life, connecting all forms of creation, are both forms of the world tree or cosmic tree, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, and are portrayed in various religions and philosophies as the same tree.
0 – Consciousness and Will
Sphere 0 is at the top, and is depicted as being “above” the tree. It depicts and corresponds to the state of God and of existence before the creation of the thingly, phenomenal world. It consists of dual properties: One is the principle of Mind, the other is the principle of Matter. The principle of Mind is itself dualized into Consciousness and Will. Consciousness represents the passive polarity, and Will the active polarity, of the same essential quality.
1 – Omnipresence/Central Theme
The mirror image of 0, 1 on the Tree represents God in the world. Sphere 1 represents that highest aspect of Man’s spirit which is as yet unawakened in all of us. According to the African cosmology, this is a process that takes countless incarnations, but whether knowingly or unknowingly, it is a journey on which we all are embarked.
2 – Omniscience/Divine Will
It is through Sphere 2 that the will of God may be made known. In addition to divination systems, the omniscience faculty of the Creator may be made manifest through living sages and adepts who have been able through spiritual cultivation or through Divine assistance, to establish their Consciousness at the part of Spirit represented by Sphere 2 on the Tree.
3 – Omnipotence/The power of creation
Spiritual science holds that creation is brought about by Word, invocation, or vibration. Thus Sphere 3 also represents words of power, or mantra. The original Godly vibration which created the (our) world was said to be aung. Since creation of the thingly universe brings into being structure, also limitation by inference, Sekert and Obaluaye are identified with the foundations of things. One calls on Sekert or Obaluaye to help establish firm and enduring foundations. At the same time, since nothing lasts forever in the thingly world, Sekert and Obaluaye are also identified with cycles, and since no new cycle begins unless an old one has died, Sekert and Obaluaye are also identified as much with death as with creation.
4 – Divine Law/Truth
Harmony, the interdependence of all things.
Sphere 4 of the Tree of Life represents that aspect of the Creator corresponding to the laws of existence for the things of creation.
5 – Divine Law Enforcement
Sphere 5 of the Tree represents that aspect of Spirit from which Divine Law is “enforced.” The deity represented by this Sphere is known as Herukhuti. The wrath of God (punishment) is exercised through this faculty, as is the love of God in its protective aspect. There is a balancing logic at work here. There is no law without means of enforcement, therefore Herukhuti is needed to complement Maat.
6 – Man’s Will
Sphere 6 of the Tree represents that aspect of Spirit from which Man’s Will is exercised. It is in the exercise of Free Will that the divine aspect of Man finds expression. Sphere 6 is at its geometric center, poised between the divine faculties already discussed, up above, and the more mundane faculties now to follow, down below.
7 – Joy, Imagination, the Libido, Beauty.
Sphere 7 of the Tree represents the part of Spirit that governs joy and the imagination. She is known as Het-Heru (House of Heru) in the Kamitic tradition. It is a congregative faculty, meaning that, among other things, it is concerned with putting things together for beautiful or pleasing artistic effect. It is in this sense that Heru (the Will and its realization) is related to Het-Heru (the “house” of Heru or the place where the will is gestated — the imagination). The Het-Heru faculty is intimately connected with that which the Kamau called Ra or life-force, and what is known as Chi to the Chinese
8 – Logic, Intellect, Belief, Communication
The Tree of Life represents the part of Spirit that governs logic and the intellect. The corresponding deity was known to the Kamau as Sebek. Where Het-Heru at Sphere 7 is congregative, Sebek at Sphere 8 is segregative. Where Het-Heru puts things together in beautiful, harmonious arrangements, Sebek takes things apart and puts them in logical order or relationship. He takes thoughts and orders them into words, one syllable at a time. He governs syllogistic logic, and all manner of information.
9 – Soul, Memory, Learning, Receptivity, Devotion, Nurturing
Sphere 9 on the Tree of Life represents the part of Spirit with which we most identify, as giving us our respective and distinct identities as individuated spiritual entities. The “soul”-memory of the individual resides at the part of spirit represented by Sphere 9. The “soul” itself, in this conception, is nothing but the individuated duality of consciousness and spirit (mind and matter) of which each of us is composed. While the soul is conceptually distinct from the soul-memory, they are inextricably linked, for it is the content of the soul memory, over the many lifetimes through which the soul passes, inhabiting many bodily forms as it does so, that allows us to distinguish one soul from another. The soul memory may be conceived of as residing at Sphere 9, in the sense that it is an aspect of spirit — in the grand dichotomy between mind and matter, the soul memory is classed as matter. The soul on the other hand is an abstraction, in exactly the way identity is an abstraction, and may be seen as referencing an individual’s entirety, namely her individuated mind, body, all aspects of her spirit, and entire soul history. Soul history transcends space/time and other dimensions, and so embraces what we call “future” as well
10 – Body, Flesh and Blood and Animal Senses, Motion and Emotion
Sphere 10 of the Tree of Life represents the part of Spirit that is flesh and blood, the physical body, along with the electro-magnetic “body” or energy-field which immediately surrounds it, and which is the animating spirit (energy-field) that “drives” the physical bodily “vehicle.” The planetary correspondence of this deity is the earth itself. It is at the aspect of creation represented by Sphere 10 that the individuation process, begun with the first Godly word of vibration, emerges finally as that part of reality which is tangible and visible.
Sphere 10 represents the physical body, flesh and blood. the physical body inherits the qualities and attributes of all the deities: “as above, so below.” That is, the physical body “inherits” or reflects the patterns of energy organization already present in the aspects of spirit represented by Spheres 9 to 1. Every major organ or organ system in the body is tied to or governed by an aspect of spirit or deity represented by Spheres 9 to 1 of the Tree. The patterns of energy organization from Spheres 9 to 1 are imperceivable to the physical senses of the bodily vehicle represented by Sphere 10.
The Tree of Life classifies the world starting at the transcending state of the unmanifest, hidden God (Amen, Atum, Aten, Nu, Nut) represented by Sphere 0 above the Tree, the manifested aspect of God represented by Sphere 1, and the forms in which the creator came into the world distributed through Spheres 2 to 10.