why is japan so fascinated with the tree of life from kaballah?

[zalder]

So I used to think it was Christianity that anime had somewhat of an obsession with, but really it seems to be kaballah and specifically the tree of life. To recent examples being full metal alchemist brotherhood where it is what makes up the doorway of truth and eva where it is used in multiple places in the show.

What is it about this rather obscure religious/mystical symbolism that appeals to the Japanese psyche do you think? I mean outside of kaballah and Catholicism I don't think it gets much play really, and I would expect most Catholics wouldn't recognize it. I learned about it first from eva of all places (much like ghost in the shell taught me western philosophy but that is a whole nother discussion)

also what are some good references beyond wikipedia that would cover this? It would be interesting to learn more about it and see if it changes how I interpret the anime.

[Fencedude]

It makes for convenient Plug and Play symbolism.

[One Vorlon]

Besides the relative exoticism of the kaballah, I think the attraction of the Tree of Life comes from the similarity to Buddhism. One could argue that a kaballist's ascent to heaven/wisdom (which is symbolized by the Tree of Life) directly parallels the buddhist's path to Nirvana.

So on one hand, the core idea is familiar - transcendence via esoteric knowledge/practices. On the other, kaballah's darker associations* (as forbidden/heretical knowledge, practiced in secret, by men who may also be involved in trafficking with demons) make it a suitable metaphysics for "unwholesome" (or outright evil) arcane conspiracies. In other words, kabbalah can be adapted into an evil version** of Buddhism (complete with a corrupt form of Nirvana), perfect for malevolent occultists.

As for where you can find good resources on kaballah (which I've also seen spelled with a "C" or "Q"), that's trickier - as a form of esoteric Jewish philosphy, I'm not sure how codified the metaphysics actually are. I know there are "Kaballah Centers" that purport to teach the "true" version, but I don't know how rigorously they cover the material (or whether its been expurgated/abridged to expand its appeal). Your best bet might be to look at books aimed at an academic audience - but again, because of the esoteric nature of the subject, there are likely to be major discrepancies from one practitioner to the next



*that's not to say that kaballah actually has anything to do with demons or devil worship - just that it got put in the same group by Christian theologians, and thus there is/was some overlap between practitioners

**sort of the same way that Christian/Catholic practices got coopted/twisted into forming the basics of Western devil worship

[Betenoire]

It seems cool and the portion of the population that truly understands the religion is probably even lower than Christianity (Kaballah is not one of the more active recruiting of the religions) and so one can write something about a religion few have researched and make any sort of bullshit up and pass it off as part of it-like Eva does with Christianity and the West does with Eastern philosophy/religions in pop culture.

Tying it to something that has an ancient and not always commonly known history (like the Knights Templar) can cause people to accept something that without the use of a (mystic/legendary/what have you) past they would not swallow. Not an uncommon plot device in fiction...and often everyday life...as one would hope. It is easy for people to believe something if you say "as X religious text says" and few go to look at the text and see if it does say that or if the speaker is just making shit up and trying to lend a greater air of credibility to their words.

[Doom86]

It's hardly just Japan. See here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WorldTree

[One Vorlon]

So I used to think it was Christianity that anime had somewhat of an obsession with, but really it seems to be kaballah and specifically the tree of life. To recent examples being full metal alchemist brotherhood where it is what makes up the doorway of truth and eva where it is used in multiple places in the show.

What is it about this rather obscure religious/mystical symbolism that appeals to the Japanese psyche do you think? I mean outside of kaballah and Catholicism I don't think it gets much play really, and I would expect most Catholics wouldn't recognize it. I learned about it first from eva of all places (much like ghost in the shell taught me western philosophy but that is a whole nother discussion)

also what are some good references beyond wikipedia that would cover this? It would be interesting to learn more about it and see if it changes how I interpret the anime.
I wouldn't knock the wikipedia article, by the way. I just pulled it up, and it seems to be a fairly rigorous entry on Kabbalah as a religious philosophy (originating in Judaism). There's also a shorter article on Hermetic Kabbalah, a Western sorcerous/religious tradition that tried to achieve a synthesis of several forms of (at least allegedly) mystical/supernatural wisdom, including (Jewish) Kabbalah.

Oh, and Kabbalah did have a brief moment in the sun - a couple of years ago, it was the trend du jour in Hollywood. For a short while, it seemed like all of the stars were wearing red bracelets, and (last I heard) Madonna insisted on being provided with water (blessed by a Kabbalahistic rabbi) at all of her concerts.

[Shiroi Hane]

It's been bothering me but, are you really calling Eva "recent"? Outside Eva and FMA the only anime I can think of off the top of my head where the systema sephiroticum (other than FFVII's Sephiroth which is just the name) is Digimon Frontier (Sephirotmon).
also what are some good references beyond wikipedia that would cover this? It would be interesting to learn more about it and see if it changes how I interpret the anime.
Have you ever listed to the End of Evangelion commentary with Taliesin Jaffe? Putting aside V's "ignore Jaffe, the symbolism is all meaningless" spiel you can pick up a fair bit.

[Hayate Kurogane]

It's been bothering me but, are you really calling Eva "recent"?

Maybe 15+ years is a bit of a stretch for "recent" without conflating it with the present occurrence of the Rebuild project, but I'm more willing to give that a pass than someone calling shows from 2005 or 2006 "old." :sweat:

Have you ever listed to the End of Evangelion commentary with Taliesin Jaffe? Putting aside V's "ignore Jaffe, the symbolism is all meaningless" spiel you can pick up a fair bit.

Though it's a shame that one then also has to put up with the non-Taliesin parts of the commentary.