And out of the ground [Adamah אדמה] made Jehovah Elohim [Binah] to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. – Genesis 2:9
There are two trees: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
By studying the Garden of Eden we uncover the mystery of the two trees. We can study this in relation to ourselves. For this we have to explain how the two gardens of Eden manifest.
The first garden is what we call the upper Garden of Eden in the Sephirah Daath, and the second garden is in the Sephirah Yesod. These are symbolized in the glyph of the Tree of Life where we find ten Sephiroth, plus the Sephirah Daath (which is the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil).
Daath, the upper garden, is the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Daath is symbolized by the Caduceus of Mercury1 (a winged staff with two serpents twined around it, carried by Hermes). The Caduceus of Mercury is formed by three serpents. The middle serpent was removed from the symbol many centuries ago; originally the caduceus was a winged serpent, instead of a winged tube.
The word caduceus is a Latin alteration of the Greek word Karykeion, from Karux, for “herald.” This herald was formed by a serpent, and entwined around it were two other serpents, which are called Obd and Od (Hebrew), or Ida2 and Pingala3 (Sanskrit), or Yin and Yang (Taoism). On top of the Caduceus, a sphere symbolizes the brain and also the Sephirah Daath, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Tree of Life is formed by the rest of the ten Sephiroth around this mysterious symbolic Sephirah Daath.
In the book of Genesis it is stated:
And Jehovah Elohim [Binah] planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put Adam whom he had formed. – Genesis 2:8
Throughout the book of Genesis we read that it is Jehovah Elohim who is making this creation. In the world of Atziluth, the name Jehovah Elohim corresponds to the Sephirah Binah, which is the third Sephirah of the triangle on top of the Tree of Life. The sacred name of Chokmah, the second Sephirah of the Tree of Life, is Jah-Havah, or Jah; and the first Sephirah Kether receives the name of “Eheieh Asher Eheieh,” which means in accordance to the book of Exodus: “I shall become what I am becoming.”
And Elohim said unto Moses, I shall become what I am becoming: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I shall become hath sent me unto you. —Exodus 3:14
These three holy names correspond to Kether, Chokmah, and Binah.
The trinity is the triangle of God called the triangle of the archetypes, Atziluth, where everything is unmanifested, meaning they are manifested only in potentiality. These three forces are also called the Holy Triamatzikamno,4 the Holy Trinity, the law of three, the law that creates.
These three primary forces of the universe create, but in order to create they need to join at a given point. That given point—among all the symbols of the Tree of Life—is precisely situated beneath the first triangle, and it is the Sephirah Daath. Daath is where these three forces unite in order to create; in other words, the book of Genesis begins with Bereshith בראשית. In Hebrew this means “in the beginning.” Bereshith happens in Daath.
The Hebrew word Bereshith בראשית begins with the letter Beth ב, which is the second letter in the Latin and Hebrew alphabets. The Hebrew letter Beth ב comes after Aleph א.
The letter Aleph א is a symbol for wind, spirit, air. The letter Aleph א is formed from three Iods י; these three Iods י are the three Sephiroth of the first triangle.
The letter Iod י in the Hebrew alphabet is just a dot, and it is a symbol of the Sephirah Kether. The letter Iod י is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Iod י is related to Kether, because Iod י symbolizes the ten Sephiroth that emanate from Kether. Therefore, when we are talking about the first triangle, which is the triangle of creation or the Holy Triamatzikamno, we are stating that this first triangle Kether, Chokmah, Binah—or Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— is symbolized by the three Iods י of the letter Aleph א.
Aleph א is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and it is formed by a transversal letter Vav ו and two Iods י. However, we can also say that the letter Aleph א is formed by three Iods י, because indeed the letter Vav ו (of the holy name Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei יהוה) is really just an extended Iod י. So, when you write a dot, it is Iod י; but when you extend the Iod י vertically, then it becomes the letter Vav ו. So, this is why when referring to the letter Iod י or Vav ו, we are referring to the same source.
So the letter Aleph א is formed by three dots: the letter Vav ו (an extended dot) is in the middle, then one Iod י above, and another Iod י (dot) below; that is Aleph א, which is the symbol of the wind, air; Aleph א is the symbol of the first triangle of the world of Atziluth.
This is why Aleph א appears in the first sacred name of God—in the first triangle of the world of Atziluth—this is Eheieh Asher Eheieh אהיה אשר אהיה, which is formed by four letters: Aleph, Hei, Iod, and Hei. Eheieh אהיה is the Holy Tetragrammaton5, meaning “four-lettered word.” The word Eheieh אהיה, which means “I shall become,” also has four letters.
Eheieh אהיה is what Moses heard when he went up to the Mount of Sinai, and when he was before the first Sephirah Kether—his own particular individual God—thus, he asked Him:
And Moses said unto Elohim, "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, 'The Elohim of your fathers hath sent me unto you'; and they shall say to me, "What is his name?" What shall I say unto them? —Exodus 3:13
