Groupings

The structure of the Tree of Life is broken down into several sections. Some diagrams will present two groups (three above and seven below) but we’re going to go further and show five total groupings.

We will begin with the usual 7/3 split. (No, this is not a bowling reference.) The top three Sefirot (in yellow) are considered the “intellectual” ones (mochin) that “oversee the seven below. We don’t really deal with those on a day-to-day basis, but they provide us with some key spiritual concepts, including the idea of ‘masculine’ (Chokhmah) and ‘feminine’ (Binah).

The seven below are called the “middot” (attributes) These are the same seven we consider when we count the Omer after Passover and that are associated with the seven Ushpizin at Sukkot. These seven are broken down in the upper group of six which relates to the concept of son/groom (The green and blue, called “Zeir Anpin” for “lesser countenance”) and the last, Malchut, which is the daughter/bride/Shekinah.

Zeir Anpin is further divided into two groups. The upper three in green (with the acronym CHaGaT, for Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet) connect ‘upward to the mochin. The lower three (NeHiY, for Netzach, Hod, Yesod) connect ‘downward’ to Malchut.

 

 

 

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