In the logo, instead of a serpent around the staff, I have used a vine, to represent the Tree of Life. There is a vast amount of literature on the Tree of Life, what it is and what it means. This link is typical of what one can find: www.crystalinks.com/kabala.html . There are also references to it in the section "The Medical Emblem". I am obliged to Rabbi Laibl Wolf in Melbourne, for most of the following information: (www.laiblwolf.com)

There is one particular aspect of the Tree of Life, which I find relevant for my everyday work, and that is the perspective it gives on human relationships. The energetic flow of the various qualities of the "branches" of the Tree, down the tree, represent how effective relationships are formed, and what makes them so. It describes how we have a thirst for knowledge, how we want to know, and how to go about that, through effort and activity. This flow describes the process of unification, of becoming 'one' with something. Unification becomes completion.

The world is characterised by separateness, differences. Love is the pathway to connectedness, of joining together. The process of connecting enables us to draw meaning from the world. This state of unity is hidden - it is up to us to make the effort to overcome this separateness, to shed light into the proverbial darkness, to bring meaning into our lives.

It is a model of human nature, and the basis of self-understanding. The focus of this process is to be "other-centred", and it then works. (It can also be "I"-centred à this is where problems arise, where in fact relationships can break down).

•  The first principle is that of kindness, compassion (Chesed) - the primary emotion needed to start a relationship. This is what makes us want to give to others, to share, to connect in the first place. It is a capacity to give - not an expression of activity.

•  Kindness is then filtered through Gevurah - discipline or restraint. Unopposed kindness ends up not being kind at all; too many sweets only leads to dental decay! Gevurah filters kindness, so that the amount of the former given is appropriate. "No!" can be a higher order of kindness.

•  The next level (Tifferet or "harmony") represents the blend, the equilibrium of kindness and withholding.

•  The next quality (Netzach or "victory") is the first of the qualities through which a relationship can begin to be formed. It is no longer a capacity, but involves another. The desire or ability to overcome obstacles in the way of the new relationship, to break down the barriers of formality, culture, "strangeness". The desire to win. To overcome the barrier of difference; a determination to enter a new relationship, to come together with another. Too much Netzach is domination.

•  "Hod" is its equal and opposite, described as humility, but meaning empathy. Empathy meaning not "putting yourself in another's shoes", and not moving away, but rather just being there. Being there at a respectful distance, in silence, so that a space is created into which the other can come. It is in this space that the relationship exists. The ability to hold back one's ego, to provide effective nurturing. Too much Hod is submission, lack of self-esteem.

•  "Yesod" is called bonding. What it really means is the ability to care, care for those with whom one wants to become close to. It involves concern for the welfare of the other. The area where the recipient is bonded to the giver. The stronger the bonding, the stronger the giving and receiving process. This is where good teachers stand out.

•  "Malchut" is a passive area in a way. It is the place in which all the others combine, to produce the final element of action or activity. It integrates all the above spheres. It is the area of the final rational expression of our intention to form a relationship, and is found in the middle plane, the plane of balance. This is where we can effect change. It represents the nobility of the whole, where every component plays its correct role in contributing to the completeness of the whole.