The following description was prepared by William Gross:
Kabbalistic diagrams resembling Porphyrian trees have been known at least since the sixteenth century as “Ilanot” [Heb. pl. Arborae; sing. "Ilan"]. [First such reference known to me is in the work of Guillaume Postel, who refers to "Ilanoth" as a genre of rabbinic literature.] Ilanot constitute visual representations of kabbalistic cosmologies from the relatively simpler forms of the thirteenth century to the far more complex and ramified systems in Lurianic Kabbalah from the sixteenth century onward. The increasing complexity of cosmic trees between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries directly reflects the exponential ramification of kabbalistic theosophy that took place over those centuries. Given the overwhelmingly visio-spacial conceptions of the divine in its evolutionary “becoming” in these mystical traditions, Ilanot could serve as cosmic maps. This divine cartography aspired to capture the syncronic interrelations between the various facets of the godhead and creation as well as their diachronic, evolving emergence.
This Ilan is a fine early copy of the Ilan originally drafted by Isaac Kopio and one of the most widely reproduced kabbalistic divinity maps. Kopio ( late 17th-early 18th c.) was a Lurianic kabbalist who traveled extensively throughout his native North Africa, as well as Italy and the Ottoman Empire. His Ilan is the most outstanding expression of the transfer of European Kabbalah to North Africa, and his is the only Ilan known to have been fashioned there.At the top of the scroll is a striking figure, already present in, the earliest kabbalistic manuscripts of the fourteenth century. The image is of the first letters of each of the ten Sefirot nested within each other. The khaf of Keter is outermost, and the mem of Malkhut is at the center. Next are diagrammatic representations of the Divine Faces (Parzufim) that show the clear influence of the European scrolls associated with Meir Poppers.
What’s an Ilan? Any synoptic diagrammatic presentation of kabbalistic cosmology. The basic graphical forms could range from the arboreal to the boldly anthropomorphic. Lurianic Ilanot, in their lengthy and complex presentations, often feature both, as well as spreadsheet-like tables. The iconic decadal tree is an Ilan, as is the intricately Baroque Hammerschlag Ilan. Diagrams expressing particular concepts within a larger framework, such as the illustrations that frequently accompany certain cosmogonic discussions in the Lurianic corpus, would doubtfully have been called ilanot by anyone. However simple or complex the pictorial-diagrammatic features of an Ilan, extensive textual material is frequently embedded in and around the geometrical forms. The texts may be paraphrastic chapter headings, original compositions, or the study notes of a student. Their connection to the pictorial features alongside which they appear is usually clear, with the text providing a verbal key to the quality or process depicted graphically. That said, in complex Ilanot, simple keying gives way to more complex and even inscrutable connections. Indeed, these manuscripts demand to be treated as “integrated systems of communication” that raise “questions about how verbal and visual patterns of meaning were constructed, combined, and modified.”
The Ilan Aroch is a Kabbalistic scroll that is used by serious scholars of theoretical Jewish mysticism as an aid in their studies. The number of such scrolls existing today is probably less than one hundred. Later, smaller versions of such scrolls were made from the end of the 19th century and through the 20th, as amulets, in what is called practical kabbalah. This example has at the beginning a design that is composed of the ten initial letters of the ten spheres of kabbalah. In the body of the scroll are many diagrams relating to the relationship of the "spheres" and much text written down the right side of the scroll.
This scroll was formerly in the Moussaieff collection. It is written on sheep skin on six sections that are sewn together
Scroll # 3 - 7 frames - [RybMk = R Yizhaq ben Yisrael Kopran, hame'asef [ed.] appar. Late 18th?] (028.012.002) Morocco parchment ink written sewn 23X366cm [prt.3]
1. Sefirot haAqudim [=all 10 attributes in 1 vessel; the 'mouth' of Adam Kadmon (actually, Aqudim appeared in the earlier scrolls 1 & 2, but not emphasized as here, for this is the first one with only elements from RH Vital without Sarug] and Pillar of 10 Sefirot, and extensive commentary re 'time' of creation [ideas, like in Etz Hayim 1:1 and not like in # 4 re similar q]
2. Iggulim [circular light] and Yosher [straight channels] of A"K [Primordial Adam], in form of 15 levels from Makifei [surrounding lights] A"K and 'down' to this world; followed by Head of A"K in terms of TNT"O [music, phonemes, decorative elements, letters as means of containing and conveying information] and corresponding primordial attributes; followed by primordial Hesed [grace] and gevurah [power-judgement] of A"K
3. Atik-Arikh engarmenting A"K, followed by 13 concentric circles containing 'filled' Names followed by limits of world of nikudim [unexpanding points] to Arikh [intent not clear]; followed by Arikh's engarmenting Abba vImma - [name of scribe appears -, R Yizhaq ben Yisrael Kofdon]
4. Six Partzufim; Abba vImma, Yisrael Sabba uTevunah, Zeir, Yaakov. Rachel vLea
5. 32 Maamarot [creative pronouncements Gen. 1] and Sechalim [forms of intelligence - from the 13th cen. Iyun Circle], followed by Olam haBeriah, in its state at the initial creation of Adam; and Archangels of vowels [from Sefer haKaneh, influenced by Tiqunei Zohar] followed by Olam haYetzirah and Angelic classes
6. Odd diagram of the lower part of Arikh at the time of Shevirah
7. Olam haAssiah [world of action] and the 7 halls of defilement - must check source of names, and if in other mss