L. Introduction
The preceding chapters presented a varied array of Trees of
Life yielded by the primary sources of the Mystical Qabalah.
They included Trees that are two-dimensional, and Trees that are
three-dimensional; Trees that involve one, two, or all three
Columns; Trees that are vertical in their orientation, and circular
Trees that emanate from a central Sefirah. While a case can be
made that the Mystical Qabalah has the greatest diversity of
different Tree forms, other traditions such as the North Indian
Tantrikas, Taoists, and the Polynesian Kahunas also have maps
of consciousness that present their respective worldviews. Most
such maps in other traditions are not specifically called “Trees of
Life.” They may look diagramatically quite different, or not be
depicted in a diagram at all. Yet, it is possible to specifically
correlate the names and allusions that they assign for the planes
of existence and successive centers of consciousness to those in
the Hebrew Trees. The Tantric Chakra System and the Taoist
map of the subtle centers are both depicted in highly detailed
pictorial images. The “Before-” and “After-the-World”
Sequences from the eighth wing of the Chinese I Ching (Book of
Change), titled the Shuo Qua, are much more abstract diagrams,
representing the Sefiroth as sets of solid and broken lines. The
Polynesian Kahunas, whose scriptures take the form of sacred
Hulas recorded on boards in Rongo Rongo writing, do not have a
diagram for their Tree, but represent the Sefiroth by the different “Hi’iakas” of the Goddess (Pele)Hi’iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele (“Hi’iaka in the bosom of Pele”),
Hi’iaka-i-ka-maha-o-ka’opua (“Hi’iaka in the face of the
rain clouds”), Hi’iaka-i-ka-wai-ola (“Hi’iaka in the waters of
life”), Hi’iaka naho-lani (“Hi’iaka dweller in the sky”),
Hi’iaka-makole-wawahi-wa’a (“Hi’iaka in the rainbow”)..1 The Hi’iakas are the same as
the Dakinis, the female emanations of the Goddess Kali in the
North Indian and Tibetan Tantra.
