of all creativitity and manifestation for a large number of religions.
The identification and/or the symbolism of this tree varies among cultures and time periods. To the Druids and the Welsh, the tree of life was the Oak Tree. To the ancient Hebrews, it was the Cedar, which provided wood and a delicate, precious oil. The Assyrians depicted the tree of life as a Date tree, and since they artificially pollinated their date trees to produce a greater amount of fruit, to them it was not only a source of food but a symbol of conception. Biblically, the tree of life is the Sycamore, which appears often in the Scriptures. The Egyptians too supposed that the Sycamore Tree was where the gods sit. The Chinese believed the Tree of Life to be a Peach Tree situated in the Happy Islands of the Eastern Ocean. The Tree of Osiris was a Conifer; a pine cone often appears on the monuments as an offering presented to Osiris. In some parts of Europe it's the Pear Tree. In Mexico it is the Yaxche Tree. The Buddhists believe the Bo-tree which once was a coveted crown of honor. The Scandinavians conceived the Tree of LIfe as Yggdrasil, the World Ash, the Oracle and Judgement Place of the Gods, the Dwelling
of the Fates and the Source and Spring of Knowledge.
Comparative mythology has proven the existence of archetypal nodes of consciousness which are a result of three primary influences: neurological wiring (including the instinctual reptilian brain, the emotive mammalian brain and the higher cortex), cultural inheritance (learned knowledge passed down through the
ages) and perhaps due to a fundamental connecting principle called variously:
the Collective Unconscious, the Anima Mundi (the soul of the world), Akasha
and Aether.
The mystic system of the Kabbalah teaches that creation is the outer manifestation of the inner world of god, and that man and the universe are a reflection of each other. The primary glyph of the Kabbalah, the tree of life, summarizes symbols and relationships which resonate with deeper aspects of consciousness and offers access to higher planes of consciousness, knowledge of Self and ultimately the means to enlightenment.
Kabbalistic
Tree of Life |
These 11 spheres, called the sephiroth (spheres of god) are a series of emanations with corresponding archetypal attributes, powers and potencies. They progressively describe the creative process and are arranged in trinities to form the kabbalistic tree of life. The three pillars represent the active, passive and equilibriated poles of the universe, and the 22 pathways correspond to both the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 major arcana cards in the Tarot deck. |
The tree of life is a symbol of the eternal nature of our beings, and
the cyclical nature of our growth and development. We start out with a small understanding. As a result of our experiences, we may grow and develop in wisdom. Our previous understandings are built upon, or discarded, to
be resynthesized into a world view that more closely connects us spiritually. The roots nourish the limbs, and the limbs nourish the roots, in one eternal round of service. Failure to nourish either the root or the limbs will result in the spiritual death of the tree. The roots suck nourishment from the truths that have already been found, while the limbs are constantly searching for further light and truth, and returning those truths to the roots, to be used at some future time of need. Ideas that end up being discarded, fall towards the roots of the tree, just as leaves in the autumn, and are decomposed into their respective elements, to be used as nourishment in the next round of growth.
Starshyne
Sources:
The Lost Language of Symbology by Harold Bayley
The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune
The Tree of Life by Israel Regarde
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