Tree of life

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2/3/2000

The Tree of Life

"A tree of life is a mystical concept, a metaphor for common descent or a motif in various world theologies, mythologies and philosophies. This symbol has also been used in science and other areas of study."

One of the most powerful images in the human collective unconscious, the Tree of Life appears in almost all religions, cultures, spiritualities, symbologies, and ritual practices on Planet Earth. [1] Additionally, it has been used by Charles Darwin, in his tribute to the creation and the divine known as "The Origin of Species", as a representation of evolution and a supporting element to the classification of living beings. [2] A tree being a convenient and fundamental data structure for diagrams.

Why it has been there, in any and all cultures, brings us to the reality of scriptures behind the origin of books like the Old Testament. These books, among other sources, include elements from previously existing pagan religions - gathered as one mythology, continuously reinterpreted, re-translated, and re-copied, resulting in several interesting confusions, which emerge also in the New Testament. Notably : in Norse Mythology, Odin, essence of the divine and lord of the Gods, sacrifices himself with his own spear planted in his flank, and ends up crucified head down on the World Tree, Yggdrasil (the Tree of Life). In many ways Odin is an echo of the Christian figure of Jesus Christ. Even more mysterious is the fact Odin's mythology appears to be much older than the New Testament. Ties between these and other mythologies are clear and many; unfortunately, facts about some periods of early history require more archeological evidence to be clarified.

This comparison also leads to the observation that, while in Christian mythology, the snake in the Tree of Knowledge (who tempts Eve to commit the original carnal sin) is associated with the devil, all other mythologies which include the figure of a snake and a tree report that very tree as the Tree of Life, and the figure of the Serpent, often present also, as a God of Life. Thus, what men of our 13th century thought was a carnal sin handed to a person they considered the 13th rib of Adam, could well be the gift of giving birth handed to women. The etymology of the name of Lucifer, a former angel literally named the "bringer of light", suggests this also. The Genesis myth of the Expulsion from Paradise also contains a very important occult secret - see our Garden of Eden article for more.

Finally, the World Tree or Pole (as a reflection of the celestial pole) was used by shamans in many cultures as their guide and means for journeying to the otherworlds. In traditional shamanism, the branches of the Tree are said to hold the Upperworld, while the Middleworld is accessible via the trunk, and the Underworld located at the roots. Norse cosmology is similar to this, mapping out nine worlds instead of only three. (Hence, the name Yggdrasil - "Ygg's horse" - it implies that Odin (Ygg) used the tree to dependably transport his soul and travel through the worlds). The Tree of Life is very often found represented as such a central axis of the Universe, suggesting in some occurrences an allegory of a spine or spinal chord, an internal Axis Mundi. The World Tree is considered a macrocosmic map of the universe, while we as human beings are microcosms of this same universe which is also found within ourselves. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life confirms this - not only is it a map of the macrocosmic universe, depicting ten different layers of creation and levels of consciousness, but it is also representative of our own psyche and physical body as microcosms of this same universal creation.