Similar to the philosophy of perennialism, the perennial architecture depicts the complete structure of creation. It is in essence a schematic of the irreducible components from which the grand narrative of perennialism is formed – like the character, plot set and setting of a story. An example of the perennial architecture is the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which shows the complete picture of creation and consciousness in its simplest form.
The structure consists of three supernals which form the roots of three pillars, and prime materials of manifestation are formed.
Next there are four activities; Involution, Evolution, Eros and Telos, which are reflected through four worlds and four elements, responsible for sorting the types of manifestation based on their degree of complexity, and its phases of materialization from the abstract to the concrete.
Then there are seven interior stars or qualities of consciousness, which also correspond to phases of transformation, individual developmental stages, and epochs of human evolutionary history.
With the three supernals and the seven interior stars there are 10 centers or attributes in all, called the Sephiroth, meaning emanations.
And lastly there are 22 channels or pathways of connection linking the 10 centers, making 32 “paths of wisdom” in total.
From this multidimensional schematic seekers of ageless wisdom are provided a complete picture of the cosmos, its attributes and laws. Because each attribute exists as a non-material entity or “hyperobject”, with vast temporal and spatial dimensions of expression, a single structure represents many different things simultaneously. This is emblematic of the fractal and holographic nature of creation, which manifests a scale free pattern. The Perennial Pattern then is perhaps best learned through esoteric number theory, sacred geometry, symbolism, mythology and archetypal psychology. In comprehending the symbolic root of the structure knowledge is gained regarding the specific manifestation in any of its other domains.
