The Pillars are the three vertical axes that structure the Tree of Life, dividing the ten Sephiroth into columns of force, form, and equilibrium. The Right Pillar, known as the Pillar of Mercy or the Pillar of Wisdom, represents the expansive, active, and outpouring force of creation. It is the channel of pure, undifferentiated energy that flows downward from the Divine, the root of all unformed potential. This pillar is associated with the masculine aspect of the divine, the force of charity, and the quality of loving-kindness (Chesed).

Position on the Tree of Life

On the Tree of Life, the 2nd Plane refers to the Sephirah Chokmah, which sits at the head of the Right Pillar. Chokmah (Wisdom) is the first point of differentiation from the unitary crown of Keter. It is the force of the Big Bang, the flash of insight, and the archetypal male energy that seeds all subsequent creation. As the apex of the Pillar of Mercy, Chokmah’s influence is one of pure, unrestrained giving, a flow of energy that has not yet taken shape or form. The 2nd Plane, Right Pillar position signifies the most concentrated point of this active, creative force on the entire Tree.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

The Right Pillar as a whole is governed by the fire element and the dynamic, expansive energy of the zodiac. In the 777 system, the Sephirah Chokmah, which occupies this specific plane and pillar intersection, is attributed to the Whole Zodiac (the 12 signs in their essential, undifferentiated motion). The Pillar of Mercy itself is associated with the fixed stars and the celestial spheres of the Primum Mobile, representing the original, whirling vortex of creation. This level is prior to planetary limitation, embodying the raw, circular force of the heavens before it is broken into specific planetary influences.

Historical context

The concept of the Three Pillars is a cornerstone of Hermetic Qabalah, which synthesized Jewish mysticism with Neoplatonic, Christian, and Greco-Egyptian thought. The 16th-century text The Garden of Pomegranates by Moses Cordovero, while Jewish, heavily influenced later Christian Cabalists in its systematic arrangement of the Sephiroth. However, the explicit pillar structure—often visualized as the architectural columns of Solomon’s Temple, Jachin (Right Pillar) and Boaz (Left Pillar)—was codified in Western esotericism by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Their teachings, published in the Book T and later by Aleister Crowley in Liber 777, formalized the Right Pillar as the path of the 'Father' or 'King' force. The Right Pillar’s energy is described in the Sepher Yetzirah as the 'breath from the spirit' that forms the universe through extension and return, a process later divided into the Pillars of Severity and Mercy. The Right Pillar is the pure 'Yod' of the Tetragrammaton, the father principle that must be balanced by the Left Pillar's 'Heh' (the mother/form) to create stable reality.

In the Table of 777

In the columns of Liber 777, this intersection (the 2nd Plane, Right Pillar) corresponds specifically to the Sephirah Chokmah in the 'Tree of Life' table. It is the cell defining the position where the force of 1 (Keter) enters the dualistic universe. This plane is the 'Supernal Father,' identified with the divine wisdom that precedes Binah (understanding/form) and which must be balanced by the Left Pillar’s restraint to produce the middle pillar of consciousness.