Tree of life
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See also Tree of life (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term.
The Tree of life is a mystical concept, a metaphor for common descent, and a motif in various world theologies and philosophies.
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[edit] Hypothetical and fictional "trees of life"
Various forms of "trees of life" appear in folklore, culture and fiction. These often hold cultural and religious significance to the peoples for whom they appear.
[edit] Assyria
- The Assyrian Tree of Life is represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It is an important religious symbol among these peoples. It is often attended to by Eagle Headed Gods/Priests or the King himself.
[edit] China
- In China, carvings of a tree with a bird on top and a dragon at the bottom were discovered fairly recently. The dragon, of course, often represents immortality in Chinese mythology.
[edit] Germanic paganism
In Germanic paganism, trees played (and, in the form of reconstructive Heathenry and Germanic neopaganism, continue to play) a prominent role in Germanic paganism, appearing in various aspects of surviving texts and possibly in deity names.
- The tree of life appears in Norse religion as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree) with extensive lore surrounding it.
- Perhaps related to the Yggdrasil, accounts have survived of Germanic Tribes honoring sacred trees within their societies. Examples include Thor's Oak, Sacred groves and the Irminsul.
[edit] Hebraic monotheism
- The Tree of Life is mentioned in both the Books of Genesis, in which it grants immortality to Adam and Eve, and Revelation, in which it is referred to as the Word of Life. (It is not immediately obvious nor is it universally accepted that the Book of Genesis account and the Book of Revelation account speak of the same tree of life. The apostle John, generally recognized as the author of the Book of Revelation, most likely had in mind Ezekiel 47:12 which also reinforces the idea that the singular tree in the Garden of Eden has now expanded to an orchard of Trees of Life.)
- A tree of life in the form of ten interconnected nodes is an important part of the Kabbalah.
- The tree of life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi 8:10-12). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23) and sometimes understood as salvation and post-mortal existence.
[edit] Japan
- In Shinto, trees were marked with sacred paper symbolizing lightning bolts, as trees were thought to be sacred. This was propagated by the fact that after they passed, ancestors and animals were often portrayed as branches on the Tree.
[edit] Mesoamerican
- In Mayan mythology the center of the universe is associated with a tree of life, Whac Chan, symbolised by a great ceiba tree that is uniting the nine levels of Xibalba, the underworld, with the surface of the Earth and the thirteen heavens.
- In Aztec mythology and Olmec mythology the tree of life is worshipped and pictured as a holy tree. Very similar to Mesopetamian culture, it is depicted as a tree with people near it and a bird on top of it. Snakes or dragons are often depicted in the tree.
[edit] Modern use
[edit] Fiction
- In C. S. Lewis "Chronicles of Narnia", the Tree of Life also plays a role especially in his first book The Magician's Nephew.
- The Tree-of-Life also appears in Larry Niven's Known Space novels.
- In the Warcraft universe, the tree of life is a Night elf tree largely inspired by the Yggdrasil, granting energy to its surroundings.
- In the anime movie Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai) the auditorium in the old sunken part of Newport City shows one of the walls of the building bearing one type of the Tree of Life being shot at by a tank from the base of it up, stopping at "Hominu
- In Homeworld, there is a map called the tree of life, probably named after the distinctive shape that the space dust forms.
- The solitary tree in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is often thought to be a representation of the Tree of Life.
- Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain centers around immortality given by the Tree of Life.
- The Hyperion Cantos contains several concepts and (indirect) references to the Tree of Life
[edit] Music
- Pictoral representations of the Tree of Life can be found in the album artwork for Mudvayne's L.D. 50 and on the outer casing of Tool's Salival.
- During several of Tool's concerts, the Tree of Life was in the visual displays, especially during the song Triad.
[edit] Science
- The tree of life in science describes the relationships of all life on Earth in an evolutionary context. Charles Darwin talks about envisioning evolution and ecosystems as a "Tangled Bank" in The Origin of Species however the book's sole illustration is of a branched diagram that is very tree like. See evolutionary tree and phylogenetic tree. The evolutionary relationships of the tree of life were refined using genetic data by the great American microbiologist Carl Woese, the discoverer of the domain Archaea and a pioneer in molecular (genetic) methods in evolutionary biology.
- The Tree of Life on the Web is an ongoing Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity, produced by biologists from around the world. Each page contains information about one group of organisms and is organized according to a branched tree-like form, thus showing hypothetical relationships between organisms and groups of organisms.
- The phrase the tree of life is often used in association with the DNA molecule, and has sometimes been associated with the maternal placenta.
The Tree of Life excerpt from Darwin's 'Origin of Species':
"From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and dropped off; and these fallen branches of various sizes may represent those whole orders, families, and genera which have now no living representatives, and which are known to us only in a fossil state. As we here and there see a thin, straggling branch springing from a fork low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favoured and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the Ornithorhynchus or Lepidosiren, which in some small degree connects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramifications."
Darwin, C. (1872), pp. 170-171. The Origin of Species. Sixth Edition. The Modern Library, New York
[edit] Physical "trees of life"
- The Tule tree in modern times is a real tree in Oaxaca. It can be found in Aztec mythology, as a Tule tree.
- There is a Tree of Life in the island country of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.
- Disney's Animal Kingdom contains an artificial "The Tree of Life" as the park's icon.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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| Science: Origin of life | Common descent | Last universal ancestor | Most recent common ancestor |
| Mythology and religion: Origin belief | Tree of life |
