Lecture 20: The Tree of Life Symbol of Humanity

1
Lecture 20The Tree of Life - Symbol of Humanity
2
Trees Worship and Spirit trees

• Immemorial present in all cultures.
• Trees are animate, sentient or inhabited by
  spirits or the souls of the dead.
• Therefore, they must be treated with respect or
  revered.

3
The Golden Bough by Sir James George
Frazer 1922
http//www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/index.htm
4
Even today
Trees inhabited by spirits in Thailand
5
Tree of Divine Motherhood
In many parts of the world, trees have been
regarded as the embodiment of divine motherhood.
Thoutmosis III suckled by Isis represented as a
Sycamore tree. Wall-painting, Thebes 16th-14th
BC
6
The birth of Adonis from the trunk of a myrrh
tree after a divine 10-month gestation. Urbino,
16th century
7
The Center Axis Of The Universe
The Buddhist stupa is a symbol of the axis of the
universe. The cosmic axis passes through various
planes of being that constitute multiple levels
of cosmos.
8
Standing under the Kadamba Tree, upon the Lotus
throne, at the centre of the world, the Hindu god
Krishna sustains the life of the universe by the
powers of his music, drawing the hearts of all
being towards the centre, where the sacred
manifests itself.
Krishna fluting, 19th century
9
The Assembly Tree of the Gods (Tsogs-shing)
shows Tsongkapa, one of the greatest Bodhisattvas
of Tibet, at the cosmic centre and surrounding
him the whole assembly of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas,
female deities, guardians of faith and Gods of
the fourth directions The tree is rooted in the
primordial waters, from which all things arise,
and to which they will all return.
Tanka, Tibet, early 19th century
10
Yggdrasil Tree
The giant Yggdrasil tree connected the 9 worlds
in the Norse mythology,
11
The Stair to Heaven

• The Cosmic Sycamore Fig
• The roots of the tree go deep into the earth from
  were they extract the sap of life, which
  ascending through the trunk to the crown becomes
  the heavenly elixir of immortality.

The Goddess of the sycamore welcoming the dead.
Wall-painting, Thebes 16th-14th BC
12
The Inverted Tree Sephiroth TreeKabbalah
13
Tree of Knowledge Tree of Life Tree of Death
Wlilliam Blake, 1807
14
The Tree of Cross
Early Christian representations of the cross
15
Christ on the Tree of Life Pacino da Bonaguido,
early 14th c.
16
Tree of Heaven, Tree of Hell
Archangel Gabriel shows Mohammed riding on the
mythical beast Buraq a tree of rubies, sapphires
and emeralds, perhaps the miraculous Tuba Tree
which is at the centre of the Islamic Paradise
The Tree of Ez-Zakkoum, the infernal Thorn Tree
that was planted to torment the wicked.
Miraj-nameh, Turkey 15th c.
17
The Tree of the Soul
Jung described the dream-image of the tree symbol
as a symbol of the self depicted as process of
growth (individuation process)
From J. Boehme, 1764-1781
18
John Goddard, 1649
19
The Genealogical Tree
20
The Tree of Evolution
21
The Mathematical Tree
22
References

• Abadie, M.J. 1974. The Mythic Image. Princeton
  University Press.
• Cook, R. 1974. The Tree of Life. Symbol of the
  Centre. Thames Hudson, London.
• Frazer, G. J. 1922. The Golden Bough
• Chapter 8. The Worship of Trees. Section 1.
  Tree-spirits.Chapter 9. The Worship of Trees.
  Section 2. Beneficent Powers of
  Tree-Spirits.Chapter 10. Relics of Tree Worship
  in Modern Europe.
• Jung, C. G. 1964. Man and his Symbols. Anchor
  Books Doubleday.

23
(No Transcript)