Opinions needed on Tree of Life and a personal model

Sado

Hello everyone,

A few weeks ago I distilled my thoughts on Tarot into a model. Its purpose is to map spiritual development using the Major Arcana. I put it online, to show it to friends:
http://www.sadocles.nl/TalesOfTarot/SadoTarotree.jpg

The basic idea is that any person 'begins' by being thrown into the World, quite literally. The World draws a person towards it by exercising gravity. People become fascinated by phenomena as they grow up and develop consciousness of them. Then, as a person begins his spiritual development, he will slowly begin ascention towards an understanding of the powers behind the World. I made a distinction between three paths... The path of man, the path of woman and the path of the soul. I tried to apply as many themes as I knew to this model, so that it would cover many beliefs and walks of life.

So, as people began to exchange ideas with me on the model, someone noted its similitarity to Jewish mysticism. I never really bothered with stuff like Kaballah before, so I decided to take a look. Quickly, I ended up studying the Tree of Life, and I found the similarities quite stunning. Whoever thought up the Tree of Life seems to have had the same ideas as I have! However, I got my inspiration for the model from the Tarot... Without the Tarot, I could not have thought it up. This points to the fact that, at least for me, these two are interconnected, and they in turn are connected to other systems of belief since it encompasses so many things.

I am wondering if there are people that are interested in having a good look at the model and give their interpretation/perspective on it. I thought this would be a good place to start since it seems to fit well with what is discussed here. I drew up this model in just two hours after having had a muse at work. It's almost alien to me, and I can't really explain why but I have the feeling I'm missing many things. Many things I didn't even consciously put in where uncovered by others. Somebody noted the middle path for example represents the life of Jesus, and it actually does!

So I quietly hope some others want to shed their light on this (and I hope to have put this in the right section!)!
 

jmd

Personal models are wonderful - they always bring forth not only new insights, and allows one to uncover connections that following someone else's model may not reveal to the same extent.

I note that the basic form of the design is as a stylised heart, with the ventricles of oxygenated and de-oxygenated 'blood', with the above spiritual realms as the aorta.

As to its relation to models of the Tree of Life, I don't see it in the image as presented - this does not mean that a little manipulation (in the imaginatio) will not show similarities.

Where I personally entirely agree is that both Tree of Life and tarot may be used to show a path of ascent to the spiritual (though my version is quite different, with cards paired and placed ascending on the Tree itself - cf here). Wirth also has a model that suggests, similar to yourself, a move downwards from cards I - X (but then stops there).

I trust you elaborate and expand on the model somewhat on a page somewhere, of course, as of itself it has much that asks for explanation.
 

Sado

Thank you jmd for your reply!

Personal models are wonderful - they always bring forth not only new insights, and allows one to uncover connections that following someone else's model may not reveal to the same extent.

I agree fully! This model has brought me many new insights I would have overlooked if I would've just kept this in my head. I'm glad I took the time to sit down and give it shape.

I note that the basic form of the design is as a stylised heart, with the ventricles of oxygenated and de-oxygenated 'blood', with the above spiritual realms as the aorta.

That's kind of interesting..... What do the two areas (oxygenated and de-oxygenated) mean to you? Can you tell me more about this and the relation to the human body? What is the function of the aorta and blood in spiritual sense?

As to its relation to models of the Tree of Life, I don't see it in the image as presented - this does not mean that a little manipulation (in the imaginatio) will not show similarities.

Where I personally entirely agree is that both Tree of Life and tarot may be used to show a path of ascent to the spiritual (though my version is quite different, with cards paired and placed ascending on the Tree itself - cf here). Wirth also has a model that suggests, similar to yourself, a move downwards from cards I - X (but then stops there).

Thank you for providing that link to your version of the Tree of Life! I really need to study this, and by reading many opinions and interpretations I can get a lot out of it. I will spend some more time on your website, looks very interesting!

I trust you elaborate and expand on the model somewhat on a page somewhere, of course, as of itself it has much that asks for explanation.

Actually, I was working on this when I got the idea for the model. My website (www.sadocles.nl) contains a section for Tarot, where I started a while ago with meditating on each card of the Major Arcana. Once I hit the High Priestess, I already had had so many new thoughts and insights that I decided to research more. Things are worse now that I've made the model... So many new things to dig into before I think I can complete my own project of clarifying my own thoughts on the Tarot!

I hope I can provide some more detail on the meaning of the model soon... It's a matter of finding the right inspiration. :)