Bridge Lesson: The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life

(See “Tarrot and Kabbalah”, chapter “Sephirot”)

• The Tree of Life represents the levels that are present in creation and in the human being.

• The Tree of Life consists of: 10 Sephirot o Every Sephirot is a world, a level. o All Sephirot emanate from Sephira, the Divine Mother. o There is also Daath, the “hidden Sephirot” that is not counted with the rest. o Ain Soph Aur and Ain Soph can also be considered as the 11th and the 12th Sephirot. o Every Sephirot has a Kabbalistic name. o This name shows us its property. o Moreover, specific hierarchies of celestial beings are active in each Sephirot.

  3 Triangles o The Logoic Triangle (Kether-Chokma-Binah) which is governed by Kether. o The Ethical Triangle (Chesed-Geburah-Tipheret) which is governed by Chokma. o The Magical Triangle (Netzach-Hod-Yesod) which is governed by Binah.

  3 Columns o The column of Balance (Kether-Tiphereth-Yesod-Malchut). o The column of Love (Chokma-Chesed-Netzach). o The column of Severity (Binah-Geburah-Hod). o At the entrance to the White Lodge Temples there are two columns representing the column of Love and of Severity (explain the salutation to enter the Lumisial).

  22 Paths o They are lines connecting the Sephirot. o If we add to these the 10 Sephirot, we have 32 Paths.

The 4 Worlds in Kabbalah

• In addition, There are four worlds mentioned in Kabbalah: Atziluth: the Archetypal World or the World of Emanation. The World of Logos. Briah (Korsia): the World of Creation. The World of Archangels. Yetzirah: the World of Formatting. The World of Angels. Assiah: the World of Action or the World of Matter.
• Every Sephirot has a fourfold nature, that is, it exists in each of these four worlds.

Invocation of Solomon the Wise

• By invoking Solomon the Wise, we invoke the positive forces of the higher worlds. The ones that are outside (the Hierarchies of Beings working in the higher dimensions). The ones that are inside (the different parts of our Being).
• We use it in most of the Second Chamber activities.
• We can recite it before bedtime, so we have a greater chance of being transported to the higher planes while we are outside our physical body.

Practice: Rune IS

• At the end of this lesson we suggest Rune IS be taught.
• This Rune relates to the Divine Mother.
• The aim of this practice is to unite ourselves with the Divine Mother and ask for her assistance.

Suggested Practice with the Sephirot

• Ath the end of the lesson we will do:
  • Rune IS.
  • A guided meditation practice.
• First we do Rune IS all together 5 times.
• Then we sit down for the meditation practice.
  • We take a few deep breaths, relax, empty the mind, etc.
  • We concentrate in the heart, invoke our Divine Mother, and ask her to give us enlightenment and help us raise our consciousness to the higher Sephirot.
  • We slowly read the Invocation of Solomon the Wise.
  • We remain for a while in silence and peace.
  • The practice will last about 30 minutes (without the Rune).

What else we need to explain to the people regarding the Second Chamber procedures

• The salutation to enter the Lumisial (we can explain this when we talk about the Column of Love and the Column of Severity in the lesson “The Tree of Life”):

  1. The person approaches and stands at the entrance of the Sanctuary with their arms crossed in an X-shape over their chest. The right hand is on top of the left. The fingers are closed and the heels joined.
  2. He places the left hand on the Solar Plexus while extending the right one in front of the face, but slightly on the side, not straight ahead, with his thumb, index and middle finger slightly apart at face height and says: “PAZ INVERENCIAL”.
  3. Then he crosses his arms again over the chest with his fingers joined. He turns the head (not the whole body) to the right, bows and says “JACHIN”, then similarly turns the head left (not the whole body), bows and says “BOAZ”.

• How to stand and kneel in the Lumisial. We always stand with our arms crossed over our chests, as described above in the salutation. o This position, which we often see in the pharaohs of Egypt, symbolizes doing the will of the Being, dying to the Lord. o The right hand above the left symbolizes that spirit must be above matter. When we need to kneel, the left leg kneels first and then the right leg, and with the body upright (we do not sit on our calves).

• About chains (we can talk about this in the lesson “The Magical Power of Prayer”): The left hand is upwards (receives), while the right hand is downwards (gives). If for some reason during a chain we do not feel well and we want to get out of the chain, we must always go in, joining the hands of the people next to us so that the chain is not broken. When someone is sick or not feeling well, as well as when a woman is menstruating, she goes to the center of the chain from the beginning. It is better if it is possible for men and women to form the chain alternately (man-woman-man-woman, etc.), but this is not strictly necessary. During the chain, we must be with the heels of the feet joined and the eyes closed, so that the energy of the chain does not leak, and repeat the words aloud (not mentally).

• Finally, we must tell individuals to reflect on what the Gnostic Church is, since they will be asked the corresponding question in the Initiation Ritual (we can tell them this when we talk about the Gnostic Church in the course “The Schools of Sacraments”).