TREE OF LIFE · LAYERED ATLAS

Hermetic Qabalah Tree of Life: 10 Sephiroth and 22 Paths

The Hermetic Tree took shape in layers: Hebrew terms, Sefer Yetzirah, Kircher’s plate, Golden Dawn tables, Crowley, and modern interpretation.

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The familiar Hermetic Tree took shape over time. Sefer Yetzirah describes ten sefirot belimah and twenty-two foundation letters; it does not name ten circles Kether through Malkuth, draw Kircher’s connections, or assign tarot trumps. Kircher’s early-modern print gives the system a visible architecture. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century occult tables then add planets, tarot, divine names, angels, and ritual grades.

Each entry distinguishes the term’s meaning in its source, the endpoints of the printed line, and the later table that adds the familiar occult attribution. The atlas uses “Qabalah” for that Hermetic reception while keeping Jewish textual layers visible on their own terms.

  1. Hebrew termBiblical use where relevant
  2. Sefer YetzirahTen counts and 22 letter classes
  3. Kircher, 1653Printed Christian Cabalist diagram
  4. Golden Dawn and CrowleyTarot and correspondence tables
  5. Modern synthesisLater interpretive shorthand
Athanasius Kircher’s printed Tree of Life with ten labeled circles, Hebrew letters on the connecting paths, divine names, Latin labels, and surrounding symbolic compartments
Kircher’s printed Tree in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, catalogued 1653 within the 1652–54 publication. The public-domain scan comes from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
10
counted Sephiroth
22
lettered paths
1653
Kircher plate
32
atlas entries

One Tree, five historical layers

Words before nodesBiblical wisdom, beauty, splendor, foundation, and kingdom are read first as words in sentences.
Counts before namesSefer Yetzirah’s ten and its 3 + 7 + 12 letter classes are not silently converted into a later occult table.
Lines before cardsKircher’s geometry is examined as a printed diagram before tarot and planetary rows are added.
Variants stay visibleCrowley’s changed trump titles and Heh–Tzaddi exchange appear as dated revisions.

TEN, NOT ELEVEN

Where Daath fits

Daath, “knowledge,” appears on many later Trees as a dotted, hidden, or non-counted position near the upper center. It has no page in this ten-node atlas because it is not an eleventh counted sefirah. The numerical boundary stated in Sefer Yetzirah determines that choice; Daath remains part of later interpretation.

The diagram supplies evidence and navigation together. Select a numbered circle for its layered history or a Hebrew letter for the connection, tarot attribution, and worked comparison.

SEARCH THE COMPLETE TREE

All ten spheres and twenty-two paths

Showing all 32 entries

Ten Sephiroth

SEPHIRAH 1 · Middle PILLAR

Kether כתר

Crown · Primum Mobile · the four Aces

SEPHIRAH 2 · Mercy PILLAR

Chokmah חכמה

Wisdom · the Zodiac or Mazloth · the four Twos

SEPHIRAH 3 · Severity PILLAR

Binah בינה

Understanding · Saturn · the four Threes

SEPHIRAH 4 · Mercy PILLAR

Chesed חסד

Steadfast kindness or mercy · Jupiter · the four Fours

SEPHIRAH 5 · Severity PILLAR

Geburah גבורה

Strength or might · Mars · the four Fives

SEPHIRAH 7 · Mercy PILLAR

Netzach נצח

Victory, endurance, or perpetuity · Venus · the four Sevens

SEPHIRAH 8 · Severity PILLAR

Hod הוד

Splendor or majesty · Mercury · the four Eights

SEPHIRAH 9 · Middle PILLAR

Yesod יסוד

Foundation · the Moon · the four Nines

SEPHIRAH 10 · Middle PILLAR

Malkuth מלכות

Kingdom or sovereignty · the elements and Earth · the four Tens

Twenty-two paths

PATH 11 · MOTHER LETTER

Aleph א

Kether → Chokmah · Air · The Fool

PATH 12 · DOUBLE LETTER

Beth ב

Kether → Binah · Mercury · The Magician

PATH 13 · DOUBLE LETTER

Gimel ג

Kether → Tiphareth · Moon · The High Priestess

PATH 14 · DOUBLE LETTER

Daleth ד

Chokmah → Binah · Venus · The Empress

PATH 15 · SIMPLE LETTER

Heh ה

Chokmah → Tiphareth · Aries · The Emperor

PATH 16 · SIMPLE LETTER

Vav ו

Chokmah → Chesed · Taurus · The Hierophant

PATH 17 · SIMPLE LETTER

Zayin ז

Binah → Tiphareth · Gemini · The Lovers

PATH 18 · SIMPLE LETTER

Cheth ח

Binah → Geburah · Cancer · The Chariot

PATH 19 · SIMPLE LETTER

Teth ט

Chesed → Geburah · Leo · Strength

PATH 20 · SIMPLE LETTER

Yod י

Chesed → Tiphareth · Virgo · The Hermit

PATH 21 · DOUBLE LETTER

Kaph כ

Chesed → Netzach · Jupiter · Wheel of Fortune

PATH 22 · SIMPLE LETTER

Lamed ל

Geburah → Tiphareth · Libra · Justice

PATH 23 · MOTHER LETTER

Mem מ

Geburah → Hod · Water · The Hanged Man

PATH 24 · SIMPLE LETTER

Nun נ

Tiphareth → Netzach · Scorpio · Death

PATH 25 · SIMPLE LETTER

Samekh ס

Tiphareth → Yesod · Sagittarius · Temperance

PATH 26 · SIMPLE LETTER

Ayin ע

Tiphareth → Hod · Capricorn · The Devil

PATH 27 · DOUBLE LETTER

Peh פ

Netzach → Hod · Mars · The Tower

PATH 28 · SIMPLE LETTER

Tzaddi צ

Netzach → Yesod · Aquarius · The Star

PATH 29 · SIMPLE LETTER

Qoph ק

Netzach → Malkuth · Pisces · The Moon

PATH 30 · DOUBLE LETTER

Resh ר

Hod → Yesod · Sun · The Sun

PATH 31 · MOTHER LETTER

Shin ש

Hod → Malkuth · Fire · Judgement

PATH 32 · DOUBLE LETTER

Tav ת

Yesod → Malkuth · Saturn · The World

What the source sequence changes

Read Kether’s page and path Aleph’s page side by side. Kether begins from a biblical crown word and a later apex circle; Aleph begins from a mother letter and a printed diagonal. The Golden Dawn puts an Ace row on the sphere and the Fool on the path. Even when a modern chart displays them together, the operations remain distinct.

The same separation matters for all 32 entries. It prevents a diagram from being presented as timeless revelation and makes historical disagreement useful. Kircher’s fifth sphere says Pechad, later tables prefer Geburah, and Crowley exchanges the card-letter positions of Heh and Tzaddi. The changes record successive edits to the Tree.