When you start getting deeper into Tarot, you will start seeing references to other esoteric systems like astrology and kabbalah. Lately I have started to study these connections, and today I am going to attempt to summarize and explain the connections between Kabbalah, and specifically the Tree of Life, with the Tarot.
Kabbalah is a school of thought that seeks to explain the relationship between our universe, God, and infinity by studying the esoteric, hidden meaning of the Torah. It originated from Jewish mysticism and has since been adapted to traditions of Christianity (Cabala) and Hermeticism (Qabalah).
As I’ve personally just scraped the world of Kapalah, and I can already say it is a difficult but interesting world to comprehend. But just like Tarot, you don’t need to master it completely to be able to benefit from it in your everyday life. And understanding even a little helps you understand the meanings behind tarot cards.
What is the Tree of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world’s mythologies, religious, and philosophical traditions, but the one it is most often associated with is Kabbalah.
Kabbalah depicts the tree of life in the form of ten interconnected nodes (sephiroths), and it describes the universal laws of reality. There are also 22 pathways that can be drawn between the ten nodes. The pathways generally describe how spirit and energy travels in order to make itself manifest as matter.
In Tarot, the Tree of Life serves as the blueprint to the meanings of the cards and how they are connected. Conversely, the cards are considered to be the keys to the Tree of Life. For this reason, much deeper meaning can be found in the cards when their position on the tree of life is considered.
The Structure of the Tree of Life
There is a lot of information contained in the tree of life, so it is best to break it down into parts to make it easier to understand.
As mentioned earlier, the diagram consists of 10 nodes and 22 paths that connect each of the nodes. If you look deeper into it, you’ll notice that the 10 nodes are placed in three different 3 pillars and 7 different levels. Let’s take a look at these individually before we dive deeper into how the Tree of Life correlates to the Major and Minor arcana.
The 10 Nodes
On the Tree of Life there are ten nodes called sephiroth, individually called the sephirah. They represent different aspects of God, the self, or the psyche. You could say they represent ten states of consciousness. The top of the Tree is closest to God, and as one travels down the Tree of Life, he or she comes closer and closer to manifestation.
The 10 sephiroths.
- Kether, or The Crown. It rests at the top of the tree closest to god. It is pure, infinite energy.
- Chokmah, or Wisdom. It rests on the top of the right pillar and represents pure masculine energy. It possesses the will to create.
- Binah, or Understanding. It rests on the top of the left pillar and represents pure female energy. It nurtures and is full of creative energy established in Chokmah.
- Chesed, or Mercy. It possesses the spirit of benevolence.
- Geburah, or Severity. It possesses the spirit of judgment.
- Tiphereth, or Harmony. It corresponds to the ego and the heart and possesses the spirit of mediation.
- Nezach, or Triumph. It possesses the energy of the emotions and the artist.
- Hod, or Glory. It possesses the energy of the intellect and the scientist.
- Yesod, or Foundation. It receives and purifies the energy from all the other sephiroth before transmitting it to the physical plane.
- Malkuth, or The Kingdom. It represents stability and the physical world.
The 3 Pillars
The balance of opposites is a recurring theme in the symbolism of Tarot cards, specifically in The High Priestess, The Hierophant, Justice, and The Chariot. In each, there is a purposeful representation of three pillars—light, dark, and neutral.
For example if you look at the High Priestess in the classic Rider Waite Tarot deck, you will notice the B and J written on the pillars. Those letters stand for Boaz and Jachin, which flanked the entrance to the temple of Solomon—the first temple in Jerusalem.
On the left is Boaz, the pillar of severity and the feminine principle, on the right is Jachin, the pillar of mercy and the masculine principle. Then we are left with the center, where lies the pillar of mildness which serves as the keystone between them.
The position of the cards on the pillars determines the polarity of their energy. This is the reason that some cards can feel more inherently negative or positive than others.
The 7 Levels or Chakras
There are 7 levels on the path of enlightenment that correlate to the 7 chakras. In this way, the tree of life also serves as a map of the body.
The 22 pathways
The pathways represent the lessons learned on one’s journey or the spiritual requirements needed to traverse to the next node. Collectively, these 22 paths are known as the Path of the Serpent, and represents the journey of the seeker that longs to return to the divine. As the serpent travels along this path, it also undergoes the healing of the spirit. One treads the Path through conscious self development of one’s internal world.
The Tree of Life and Major Arcana
If you have been studying tarot for some time, you may already know that the Major Arcana reflects something known as the Fool’s Journey, which paints a timeline or a cycle of personal development towards spiritual fulfillment. Reflecting this against what we just read about the pathways of the tree of life, the Fool’s journey sounds very similar to the 22 paths of the Serpent.
In the tree of life, each pathway also corresponds to one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. I’ve compiled the in the table below the Major Arcana cards and their corresponding
The Major Arcana and the Path of the Serpent Correspondences is detailed in this table below.
| Tarot Card | Letter | Meaning | Symbolic Meaning |
| Fool | Aleph | Ox | Primal Energy |
| Magician | Beth | House | Temple, Attention |
| High Priestess | Gimel | Camel | Lifting Up, Unconscious |
| Empress | Daleth | Door | Pathway, Nourishment |
| Emperor | He | Window | Vision, Reasoning |
| Hierophant | Vau | Hook, Nail | Connections, Secure |
| Lovers | Zayin | Sword | Discernment, Cut Off |
| Chariot | Chet | Field, Fence | Separate, Enclose |
| Strength | Tet | Serpent, Twist | Surround |
| Hermit | Yod | Closed Hand | Deed, Work |
| Wheel of Fortune | Kaph | Open Hand | Cover, Grasp |
| Justice | Lamed | Goad, Staff | Prod, Tongue |
| Hanged Man | Mem | Water | Overpower, Reversal |
| Death | Nun | Fruit, Fish | Sprouting, Activity, Life |
| Temperance | Samech | Tent, Prop | Support, Doctrine |
| Devil | Ayin | Eyes | Experience, Knowledge |
| Tower | Phe | Throat, Mouth | Speak, Word |
| Star | Tzaddi | Hook | Honesty, Harvest |
| Moon | Quoph | Back of Head | Hidden, Behind |
| Sun | Resh | Face | Redemption, Highest |
| Judgement | Shin | Tooth | Consume, Destroy |
| World | Tav | Sign, Cross | Covenant, Seal, Truth |
The Tree of Life and The Minor Arcana:
The 4 worlds
Although not visible in a single tree of life In the Kabbalah, there are four worlds. Each of the Worlds are connected with one another, so that the nodes of one world interlock with another in order to create a ladder structure that connects the material world and the world of the divine. This is called Jacob’s Ladder, a staircase from earth into heaven, which came to the biblical Jacob in a dream.
Together, these four worlds are represented by the 4 suits of the Minor Arcana which each correspond to the 4 basic elements. At the bottom of this ladder, is the element of earth as the pentacles, and at the top of the ladder is the element of fire and the wands.
| Letter | World | Suit | Element | Meaning |
| Yod | Atziluth | Wands | Fire | Emanation |
| He | Beri’ah | Cups | Water | Creation |
| Vau | Yetzirah | Swords | Air | Formation |
| He | Assiah | Pentacles | Earth | Manifest |
The 10 Nodes of the Tree of Life and Tarot
This is where the core numerological meaning of the cards of the minor arcana comes from. The numbers on each world correspond with a card in the minor arcana. Starting with the world of emanation, we travel through the cards, and go from the aces to the tens. Then, we start all over again, but in the ace of the next world. So from the 10 of wands, we move to the ace of chalices. From the 10 of chalices, we move to the ace of swords. And from the 10 of swords, we move to the ace of disks.
| Sephirah | Card | Meaning | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kether | Ace | Crown | closest to god, unity, eternal source, pureness, potential |
| Chokmah | 2 | Wisdom | divine masculine, expression of full power of their suit, insight |
| Binah | 3 | Understanding | divine feminine, harmony, contemplation |
| Chesed | 4 | Mercy | stability, discipline, structure, form |
| Geburah | 5 | Severity | destruction, motion, change, upheaval, chaos |
| Tiphareth | 6 | Beauty | consciousness, balance, integration, connecting divine and physical |
| Netzach | 7 | Victory | strength, determination, concentration |
| Hod | 8 | Splendor | communication, expression of energy, reasoning, action, movement |
| Yesod | 9 | Foundation | refinement, reflection, imagination |
| Malkuth | 10 | Kingdom | the physical world, energies manifest, tangible form of all emanations |
The 7 chakras
To see what cards correspond to each chakra you just have to consider their position on the tree.
| Chakra | Card(s) | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sahasrara | Ace | I know | Awareness, intelligence |
| Ajna | 2 & 3 | I see | Intuition, imagination |
| Vishuddha | 4 & 5 | I speak | Communication |
| Anahata | 6 | I love | Love compassion |
| Manipura | 7 & 8 | I can | Self-esteem, confidence |
| Sacral | 9 | I feel | Sexuality, pleasure, creativity |
| Muladhara | 10 | I have | Physical identity, stability, grounding |