And of course, Jesus, like all Dying Gods, loses his life on a tree. The Shamanistic birch is the Tree of Life with seven branches representing the seven planets and heavens. In Greek mythology Athena’s olive tree symbolized the intellectual life of mental strength and wisdom. In Scandinavian mythology the Yggdrasil or ash is the Tree of Life. And the Islamic Tree of Blessing which is neither East nor West and therefore central represents blessing and illumination. Similarly, the Kabbala’s Sephirotic Tree has a right and left-hand column representing duality and a middle column that balances the others and restores unity. Conversely, it represents our potential for a Great Awakening into an enlightened Wisdom in which all dualities are overcome, as in Buddha’s Bo Tree which represents his essence as a Sacred Center. The Tree of Knowledge is dualistic and associated with humanity’s fall from the innocent paradisal state. ![]() The Tree of Life is at the center and signifies regeneration, the return to the primordial state of perfection. The Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge grow in Paradise. A major theme related to this is centrality. ![]() With roots that reach deep into the earth, arms that reach up to heaven, and trunks that connect the space in between, trees mediate between heaven and earth, thus symbolizing the soul’s journey through the manifest world in both its sacred and mundane aspects. The tree has meant many things to many people throughout history, but the theme that runs through them all is humanity’s psycho-spiritual journey from ignorance to consciousness. But what I have learned since convinces me that whether the author’s choice to use this symbol was random or deliberate, it was perfect for one whose driving force is the search for meaning and purpose. ![]() Recently I wrote about how a book on personality types I read at the age of 18 used the central metaphor of a tree to describe my “type.” In those days I had no idea a symbol could have important meaning for me.
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