In my life I have gone through phases in my understanding of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. In the beginning I accepted what I read and did not care to understand the provenance of the diagram or the various names and attributes associated with it. When I did begin to query the picture I found the trail went cold very quickly. I struggled to find early Trees.

I began to read more of the early literature of the Kabbalah. In many respects this compounded the lacunae in my understanding. I tried to impose my own views on these writings and was not rewarded. Far from filling in the holes, I ended up with more holes. I began to see the Tree as polysemous – a patchwork of overlapping and not always complementary views. Some viewed it as static, like a Neoplatonic hierarchy of emanation, others as dynamic, like actors enacting primordial dramas.

At the end of this I had many more books in my library, but remarkably few historic representations of the Tree.

This has now changed. A large number of manuscripts have come into view and we can see the Tree in all its polysemous magnificence. Many can now be viewed at

http://ilanot.haifa.ac.il/site/

I would draw your attention in particular to the section “Publications”. I especially enjoyed the video seminar “Magic & the Kabbalistic Tree”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3682&v=QoZNHSkJjaA&feature=emb_logo