Yossi Chajes (University of Haifa): Spheres, Sefirot, and the Imaginal Astronomical Discourse of Classical Kabbalah

In visualizing the Sefirot both conceptually and graphically, medieval kabbalists appropriated—not inappropriately!—the dominant diagrammatic schemata of astronomy and natural philosophy. Arboreal diagrams were especially favoured, thus giving rise to the metonymic appellation Ilanot (lit. trees) for the entire genre of visual Kabbalah. Hardly less prevalent was the use of nested concentric circles, intentionally reminiscent of the most common visualizations of the celestial spheres.