How the five covenants of the Endowment are related to the central sephirot of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life |
| Image from the book Portae Lucis, by Paulus Ritius, Published in 1516 |
We all know that the covenants that we make in the Endowment are essential to entering the Celestial kingdom. But have you ever thought that they are like rungs on Jacob’s ladder, leading us up through higher and higher planes of existence? According to scripture, the kingdom we will inhabit in the next life is determined by the law that we are willing to obey, and the number of these kingdoms is infinite (See D&C 88:22-24, 36-38 and D&C 105:4-5). This idea of ascending to Heaven by degrees is a universal concept that is taught using many different symbols.
The image of Jacob’s Ladder is the most obvious example of the path of ascension in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, but if you know what to look for, the theme pops up everywhere. The concept of a conduit to heaven is often referred to as the “Axis Mundi,” which is Latin for “World Axis.” As the name implies, it is usually portrayed as being in the center of the known world. In this sacred place, the prayers of man are able to ascend up to God, and His blessings are able to descend. The Biblical tree of life is a prime example of an Axis Mundi: it is in the center of the Garden of Eden, it’s roots draw up nourishment from the earth (the ascending prayers of mankind), and the branches produce fruit from above (blessings descending from heaven). Other examples of the Axis Mundi are the cross, the temple and its spires, the obelisk, the pyramid, and the lingam. The human body also has its own symbolic world axes including the navel/umbilical cord and the spine topped by the skull (the significance of the spine and skull should be clear to anyone familiar with the Hindu chakra system. According to this philosophy, there are seven essential spiritual centers, or chakras, that ascend from the base of the spine to the top of the skull. Each one represents a higher level of spiritual functioning that is supported by the ones below it).
One of the most detailed examples of an Axis Mundi is the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which bears many similarities to the covenants of the Endowment. To understand the cryptic glyph known as the Tree of Life, it is essential to first know about its origin: the Kabbalah. The word “Kabbalah” means “to receive,” and probably references the way that these secret teachings were passed on from mouth to ear. Kabbalistic doctrine was thought to be too sacred for the masses and was therefore only taught to the Hebrew elect who had demonstrated their worthiness. These teachings mainly focus on ten divine attributes and their relation to each other. This is where the “tree of life” diagram comes in; it arranges the ten attributes in an ascending pattern with connecting lines showing the “paths” between these attributes. The attributes themselves are portrayed within circles known as “sephirot” (the singular form of the word is sephirah). The Hebrew words for each sephirah are generally used to distinguish them, but it helps to know that even the English translations of these names don’t tell the whole story. There is a lot more to each of the sephirah than it’s name implies.
The Kabbalistic Tree of Life can be interpreted in many ways. It is most often interpreted as the various manifestations of God from the highest level of Heaven down to the physical plane. It can also be seen as the path that we must follow to return to God, as well as a map of the human psyche.
The Tree of Life may look complicated, but it’s much simpler when the sephirot are viewed as three columns or “pillars.” The central pillar represents our path to exaltation, and the two pillars on each side represent opposing forces that must be kept in balance in order to stabilize the central pillar. These opposing forces include intellect and emotion, mercy and justice, and masculinity and femininity.
There are five sephirot on the central pillar of the Tree of Life which, interestingly, correspond with the five covenants of the Endowment. If we start at the bottom sephirah of this pillar and move up, we can identify a connection to each covenant in the order that they appear in the temple ceremony. The first covenant of the Endowment is obedience, which corresponds to the sephirah Malchut (Kingdom). Just as Malchut is the starting place for ascending to Heaven, obedience is the starting place on the covenant path; all other covenants are meaningless without it. After all, what is the point in covenanting to keep a commandment if one does not intend to obey God’s comments? Malchut is associated with the material world, the world in which we live. It is interesting to note that Adam and Eve covenanted to obey God’s commandments at the time that they were driven out of the Garden of Eden into the lone and dreary world. Clearly, there is a connection between the covenant of obedience and life on this material plane.
The second covenant of the Endowment is Sacrifice, which corresponds to the sephirah of Yesod (Foundation). Yesod is associated with the spirit world and is therefore the spiritual “foundation” of the material world we live in. In addition, it is also associated with the idea of Platonic forms, which are the concepts and ideas upon which physical objects are based. It is significant that Yesod represents the plane of forms and symbols because the Law of Sacrifice is essentially symbolic. The practice of animal sacrifice given in the Law of Moses was a “form” of the atonement of Jesus Christ, as is our modern sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (See 3 Nephi 9:19-20).
Yesod is supported by two sephirot on either side: Hod (Splendor) and Netzach (Victory), representing reason and emotion. These are the two major forces that animate and define our spirits. They also represent the sacrifice that Jesus has asked each of us to make: that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. The broken heart represents reason because the heart is the seat of reason in the scriptures, and the contrite spirit represents emotion because a person’s “spirit” is synonymous with his or her passions.
The third covenant of the Endowment is to obey the Law of the Gospel which is the higher law taught by Jesus Christ. The placement of this covenant in relation to the others is significant. The first two covenants represent the Law of Moses (the Old Testament teachings of obedience and sacrifice) which was followed by the higher Law of the Gospel (the New Testament teachings of Jesus Christ). The Law of the Gospel is the central covenant in the Endowment, having two covenants preceding it and two following it. This makes it the most important of the five covenants if the Endowment is viewed as a chiasmus. A chiasmus is a scriptural literary style with sections that follow the format A, B, C, B, A. The most important message of the chiasmic passage is C, and the other passages, A and B, reflect around it in order to emphasize this central point.
Just as the Law of the Gospel is at the center of the Endowment, the sephirah known as Tiferet (beauty) is at the center of the Tree of Life. This central location represents balance, harmony, and interconnectedness. Tiferet is often interpreted as a symbol of Christ who is an intermediary between Heaven and the fallen world. The central location of Tiferet also represents Jesus’ condescension: although divine, He became mortal; although He was above all things, He descended below all things (See D&C 88:6). Because of these paradoxical themes surrounding Jesus, he can be seen as the sacred center between extremes. One significant aspect of Tiferet is that it is supported on either side by the sephirot Gevurah (Justice), and Chesed (Mercy). This placement of Tiferet is related to Christ’s role as the mediator between Justice and Mercy, reconciling these two opposing laws through His sacrifice (See Alma 34:14-16).
The covenant that follows the Law of the Gospel is Chastity. On the surface, this covenant may seem a little out of place. One has to keep the Law of Chastity to enter the temple, so why do we covenant to keep this law within the temple? The placement of this covenant starts to make more sense as one digs deeper. The placement of the commandment is not based on its difficulty but on what it represents, and the Law of Chastity symbolizes the next step in our progression: unity with one’s spouse. To be chaste means that there are no competing lovers to come between oneself and one’s spouse, which signifies commitment and oneness in marriage. Loyalty to one’s spouse, in turn, is symbolic of our loyalty and commitment to God. This is why marriage is so often used as a metaphor for our relationship with the Divine in scripture.
The Law of Chastity is associated with the sephirah Da’at (Knowledge). This sephirah is a bit complicated.... There are supposed to be only ten sephirot, but Da’at is often seen as the “hidden” eleventh sephirah. It is also rationalized as a reflection, or a lower manifestation, of the sephirah Keter above it. So what does “knowledge” have to do with chastity? The connection becomes clearer when one considers the sephirot to the left and right of Da’at which are Binah (Understanding) and Chokmah (Wisdom). All three of these attributes (wisdom, understanding, and knowledge) are cognitive in nature. Wisdom represents the transmission of an idea from one person to another; it is the spark or genesis of knowledge. Understanding represents the receipt of this transmitted idea. It is like the fertile ground that receives the seed and nurtures it. As a result of the growth of this seed, a mature plant develops, representing a sure knowledge. In this way, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are representative of the human reproductive process. Wisdom, the father, projects information outward. Understanding receives the information into her womb and nourishes it. The child that she bears is Knowledge. Because of this relationship between wisdom (Chokmah), understanding (Binah), and knowledge (Da’at), Chokmah and Binah are viewed by Kabbalists as the masculine and feminine archetypes. Da’at therefore symbolizes unity between male and female which is the purpose of the Law of Chastity. There is a further connection between knowledge and the Law of Chastity: in the scriptures, knowledge is used as a term to describe intimacy between a husband and wife (i.e. “And Adam knew Eve his wife,” Genesis 4:1) and is representative of their mutual understanding and the unity between them.
The fifth and final covenant is the Law of Consecration. It represents total unity with God though devoting all of our means and faculties to His service. The sephirah associated with this covenant is Keter (Crown). Keter is the “crown” because it is the highest state we can attain. Keter, the highest sephirah, represents the mysteries of God. Prior to this point, God was only partially known, but now He is fully comprehended. In this way, Keter is suggestive of entering God’s presence and seeing Him face to face. Because Keter represents unity with God, it makes sense that Da’at, which represents unity with one’s spouse, is a reflection of Keter on a lower plane.
Now that we have gone through the five covenants of the endowment and compared them to the central sephirot of the Tree of Life, we must consider what the connections imply. It is unlikely that Kabbalah influenced the creation of the Endowment, and any similarities between the two could be coincidental. Ultimately, both Kabbalah and the temple ordinances have the same purpose: to guide their adherents into the presence of God. It should be no surprise, therefore, that some of the concepts overlap. The comparisons presented in this article are not intended to prove a connection between Kabbalah and the Endowment. Instead, the intention is to enhance our appreciation for the Endowment through comparison to a similar tradition. If we can see the ordinances of the temple as an ascent up Jacob’s ladder, we will allow our lives to be elevated accordingly.
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