Egyptian mythology: an acacia tree from which Isis and Osiris, the first couple, sprang forth--"the tree in which life and death are enclosed"
Chinese mythology: a tree which produces one peach every three thousand years--the eater of the peach receives immortality
Norse mythology: Yggdrasil, the ash tree known as a world tree, with three roots that go into the well Uroarbrunnr in the heavens, the spring Hvergelmir, and the well Mimisbrunnr
Jewish and Christian mythology: Etz Chaim, the tree of life, found in the Garden of Eden and protected by two cherubs with flaming swords
Indian mythology: the fig tree (banyan/peepal), symbolizing fertility, because it nourished mankind with its milk before grain
Mesoamerican mythology: the ceiba tree, embodying the four directions, a symbolic axis connecting the Underworld and the sky
The idea of a single tree of life still existing somewhere on this planet makes me want to visit every last branch of every tree, examining it for that otherworldly sparkle. Anyone who doesn't believe there could potentially be a tree still, its roots sharing the same dirt that it grew in millions of years ago... Well, if you can't entertain the thought, you're not worth knowing.
2 comments:
don't forget tree huggers, tree houses, ents, and the mormon tree motiff: a branch for every wife (now i've opened a can!) truly, trees are just plain cathartic somehow, symbolically and in the bark.
I have always been inexplicably fascinated by the tree of life. I have painted it more times than I care to count, and then destroyed every single one of those paintings because they didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. I'm not like that about other paintings...just that subject. I don't know what it is, but I LOVE it. Huh. Anyway, thanks for the post. Yet another "I feel so connected to Lindsay" moment. :)
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