12/17/2023 0 Comments Persian tree of life symbol![]() Similar to the Hopi kachina Kokopelli, he seduces the girls and then offers them gifts. The humpbacked Ye’i known as Ghanaskidi bears a sack full of seeds, decorated with feathers. In some cases, the flowering of the combination of male and female is cosmic, as in the union of the earth and the sun, or personal, as in this petroglyph from Crow Canyon, New Mexico. While we don’t know what meaning the carvers attached to those images so long ago, we can interpret some of the more recent uses of the same image by asking the descendants of the carvers. The stone carving in the center is from Galicia, Spain. The rock art figure from British Columbia, Canada, on the right, shows a figure rising out of the combined rod and circle elements. The example on the left is from Italy, but similar figures appear all over the world. Certainly, the graphic elements of the rod and circle are some of the oldest known images found carved in stone. In other examples, the tree is a mirror image, combining the power of positive and negative opposites, forming an arboreal yin and yang.īecause the Tree of Life is a very old symbol, it’s had many variations over thousands of years and probably many different meanings. Most of the time, the male (rod) /female (circle) balance remains. In other areas, an ear of wheat, a corn plant, or a thistle might be substituted. While the tree is often generic, as in the trivet, sometimes it’s a specific species, such as an oak (Celtic) or an ash (Nordic), an almond tree (basis for the menorah), a Ceiba (Maya), a Ficus (India), flowering yucca (Anasazi), or a wild plum (The Koran). The fine pressed paper design by Kevin Dyer uses the oak tree, sacred to the Druids, to illustrate the pairing of opposites that results in new life, represented by the acorn cradled in its roots. Thus the flowers and animals appearing in its branches. ![]() It illustrates the pairing of opposite forces that engenders creation in all of nature. Some Tree of Life images quite clearly indicate sexual union of humans, but the symbol is usually far more universal. ![]() These are examples from Persian rug designs and from ancient Assyria: In some cases, the tree itself is simplified into a series of lines, but the intent is the same. It’s a symbolic glorification of the union of opposites. Sometimes the whole design is enclosed in a circle. The trunk is an upright rod (male) while the branches form a fan or circle (female). In many of the examples you’ll find on this post, the Tree of Life features male and female elements. In the tattoo illustration on the left, an eagle perches in the tree top while the dragon/serpent controls the lower part. ![]() Or a bird in the branches and a snake in the roots. Often, the image contains a clear pairing of opposites, such as the foliage fan contrasting with the root fan. Or very stylized branches and foliage, like those pictured in the drawing (right). Others hold many animals in their branches, including those that never live in trees (like deer or lions) or contain elements that don’t go with the tree, like giant flowers. The one on the trivet is a very plain variety. The answers are varied because the image has many forms. If you drew a Tree of Life like the one on the trivet pictured on the right, which is identified in a sale catalog as a Tree of Life, what makes it a Tree of Life rather than just a tree? Maybe you’d draw a circle around the image, or perhaps the foliage would create a circle. If someone asked you to draw the tree of life, you’d probably draw a tree trunk rising in the center, surrounded by spreading branches. ![]() It’s found on T-shirts, jewelry, drawings, paintings, wall-hangings, sculptures, the French 2-euro coin, and many beautiful tattoos. The Tree of Life image is very popular today. ![]()
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