What is Tree of Life, really?(Edit 3 on 20.Oct.19)“Kabbalah is a study of the meaning of the Hebrew letters and their pronunciation. In studying Kabbalah, one evokes the feeling mode, the feeling tone, the intuition. Thinking is changed, the ability to sense the world around you is changed” - PhD Fred Alan Wolf
Let’s expand on Fred Wolf’s description.Kabbalah, often known as ‘jewish mysticism’, is an attempt to codify geometric principles and psychological experience through metaphorical symbolism using the ancient autiot (‘letters of the alphabet’). Understanding its origins helps to unlock SciFi Spirituality.In fact, the way we emotionally express our selves through hand gesture is directly linked to the meaning of all 22 letters now used as modern Hebrew.The following is from https://www.meru.org/NewReleases/NewReleases.html“The seminal Kabbalistic work Shefa Tal, by R. Shabatai Sheftal Horowitz of Prague (c. 1561-1619), contains some of the first symbolic illustrations ever printed in the Jewish world.”
“It discusses geometric forms and concepts, including the alphabet-generating "model hand" pictured below, which Mr. Tenen \[of Meru Foundation at https://meru.org] independently rediscovered using the \[modern] Hebrew letter text of Genesis.”
From Shefa Tal, 1:4:\[Translated as:] "See how the straight line curves/bends into a descending gradient (like a waterfall), narrowing, and ultimately ripening into a point in-itself."
Note the spiraling shape which Stan Tenen re-discovered in the 1980’s.“Prior to the Holocaust, Shefa Tal ("Abundance of Dew"), was one of the most widely-reprinted Kabbalistic works in Eastern Europe. In fact, R. Kalonymous Kalman Shapiro (the "Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto") urged his Chassidim who felt they were ready to undertake the study of Kaballah, to start their study not with the Zohar, but rather with Shefa Tal.”“The 12th century sage Yehuda HaLevi (in Al Kuzari, part 4, #25) tells us that "The shapes of the letters are not the result of accident, but of a device which is in harmony with the character of each letter. . . " Each letter then, is not only generated by the model, but also has meaning connected to how the model generates the letter. For example, the letter Mem means "from" or "source of". The source of speech is at the throat. Thus, the most fitting gesture for Mem is at the throat, facing forward as if projecting from the throat as the source of speech. In the case of each Hebrew letter, the gesture that displays the letter’s shape carries the meaning of the letter’s name, based on its function.”
Note how Stan Tenen observed that a certain version of the ‘Hebrew letters’ (autiot) can be generated via hand gestures using the spiral shape…Jews today prey in the morning using a religious artefact known as ‘Tefillin’, which includes winding a strap onto the hand in a way that is meant to represent the Hebrew letters with which ‘God created the heavens and earth’.This same geometric spiral is used in art throughout the ancient world, such as under the Egyptian 'Eye of Horus’.