Tree of life

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Conceptual and mythological "trees of life"

Assyria

• What is known as the Assyria
  Assyria
  
  Assyria was a political state centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history....
  n Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It was apparently an important religious symbol, often attended to by Eagle-Headed Gods and Priests, or the King himself. There is no consensus among Assyrilogists as to the meaning of this symbol. The name "Tree of Life" has been attributed to it by modern scholarship, it is not used in the assyrian sources. In fact, no textual evidence pertaining to the symbol exists.

Ancient Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
 (Urartu

Urartu

Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia , rising to power in the mid 9th century BC, and finally conquered by Median Empire in the early 6th century BC....
)

• In ancient Armenia
  Armenia
  
  Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
   around 13th to 6th century BC, the Tree of Life was a religious symbol, drawn onto the exterior walls of fortresses and carved on the armour
  Armour
  
  Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat....
   of warriors. The branches of the tree were equally divided on the right and left sides of the stem, with each branch having one leaf, and one leaf on the apex of the tree. Servants (some winged) stood on each side of the tree with one of their hands up as if they are taking care of it. This tree can be found on numerous Urartu
  Urartu
  
  Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia , rising to power in the mid 9th century BC, and finally conquered by Median Empire in the early 6th century BC....
   artifacts, such as paintings on the walls of the Erebuni fortress in Yerevan, Armenia.

India

• Flora in general play a central role in the Indian culture, which has largely a vegetarian tradition. The symbolism of the tree is mentioned in the 135th hymn of the 10th book of Rig-Veda, and in the 15th chapter of Bhagavad-gita (1–4).
• Two varieties of the fig
  FIG
  
  FIG may refer to:* F?d?ration Internationale de Gymnastique* International Federation of Surveyors...
   (called Ashvatta in Sanskrit
  Sanskrit
  
  Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  ), the banyan
  Banyan
  
  A banyan is a Ficus that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree . "Banyan" often refers specifically to the species Ficus benghalensis, though the term has been generalized to include all figs that share a unique life cycle, and systematics to refer to the subgenus Urostigma'...
   tree and the peepal
  Sacred Fig
  
  The Sacred Fig or Bo-Tree is a species of banyan fig native to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, southwest China and Indochina east to Vietnam. It is known by a wide range of local names, such as Bo or pou , bawdi or bawdi nyaung in Burmese language, Bodhi , Pipal , arasa maram or ...
   tree are the most revered in the Indian tradition, and both are considered the trees of life. The banyan symbolizes fertility according to the Agni Purana
  Agni Purana
  
  Agni Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, contains descriptions and details of various incarnations of Vishnu. It also has details account about Rama, Krishna, Prithvi, and the stars....
   and is worshipped by those wanting children. It is also referred to as the tree of immortality in many Hindu scriptures. The banyan is believed to have nourished mankind with its ‘milk’ before the advent of grain and other food.
• The fig tree is either a player or an observer in several scriptural incidents of Hinduism
  Hinduism
  
  'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
  . The sages and seers sit under the shade of the fig tree to seek enlightenment, hold discourses and conduct Vedic rituals. The Bodhi tree
  Bodhi tree
  
  The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo , was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya , under which Gautama Buddha, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi....
   under which Gautama Buddha
  Buddha
  
  In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect bodhi attained by a .In Buddhism, the term 'buddha' usually refers to one who has become enlightened ....
   achieved enlightenment is a peepal tree.
• The fig tree assumes special importance in the Indian tradition owing mainly to its 'two-way growth' (aerial 'roots' growing downwards).

Ancient Egypt

• In Egyptian mythology
  Egyptian mythology
  
  Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over at least 3,000 years, from the Predynastic Egypt until the adoption of Coptic Christianity in the early centuries Common Era....
  , in the Ennead
  Ennead
  
  Ennead , an ancient Greek translation of the Egyptian word, Pesedjet, consists of a grouping of nine deity, most often appearing in the context of Egyptian mythology....
   system of Heliopolis
  Heliopolis
  
  Heliopolis, meaning "sun city" in Ancient Greek, can refer to*Heliopolis , the ancient city in Egypt*Heliopolis , a suburb in modern Cairo, Egypt...
  , the first couple, apart from Shu
  Shu
  
  Shu may refer to:*Shu * ? , an abbreviation of Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China, as well as the following historical regimes that existed in this region:...
   & Tefnut
  Tefnut
  
  In Egyptian mythology, Tefnut is a goddess of water and fertility, indeed her name means moist waters . She was created by Atum from his mucus, a mythology that may be related to the alternative translation of her name - spat waters....
   (moisture & dryness) and Geb
  Geb
  
  Geb was the egyptian mythology god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis . The name was pronounced as such from the Greek period onward, ...
   & Nuit
  Nuit
  
  Nuit is the speaker in the first Chapter of the Book of the Law, the sacred text of Thelema written or received in 1904 by Aleister Crowley....
   (earth & sky), are Isis
  ISIS
  
  ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
   & Osiris
  Osiris
  
  Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....
  . They were said to have emerged from the acacia
  Acacia
  
  Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
   tree of Saosis, which the Egyptians considered the tree of life, referring to it as the "tree in which life and death are enclosed". A much later myth relates how Set killed Osiris
  Osiris
  
  Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....
  , putting him in a coffin, and throwing it into the Nile
  Nile
  
  The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
  , the coffin becoming embedded in the base of a tamarisk tree.
• The Egyptian's Holy Sycamore also stood on the threshold of life and death, connecting the two worlds.

Germanic paganism

• In Germanic paganism
  Germanic paganism
  
  Germanic paganism refers to the religion beliefs of the Germanic peoples preceding Christianization. The best documented version of the Germanic pagan religions is 10th and 11th century Norse paganism, though other information can be found from Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic mythology....
  , trees played (and, in the form of reconstructive Heathenry
  Heathenry
  
  Heathen and Heathenry may be:*an English loan-translation of paganus, see Paganism.*a current in Germanic neopaganism...
   and Germanic Neopaganism
  Germanic neopaganism
  
  Germanic Neopaganism is the Neopaganism of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Esotericism in Germany and Austria....
  , continue to play) a prominent role, appearing in various aspects of surviving texts and possibly in the name of gods.
• The tree of life appears in Norse religion
  Norse mythology
  
  Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
   as Yggdrasil
  Yggdrasil
  
  File:The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.jpgIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....
  , the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree
  Ash tree
  
  Fraxinus is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaf are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound, simple in a few species....
  ) with extensive lore surrounding it. Perhaps related to Yggdrasil, accounts have survived of Germanic Tribes honouring sacred trees within their societies. Examples include Thor's Oak
  Thor's Oak
  
  Thor's Oak was an ancient tree sacred to the Germanic peoples of the Chatti, ancestors of the Hessians, and one of the most important sacred sites of the pagan Germanic peoples....
  , sacred grove
  Sacred grove
  
  Sacred groves were a feature of the mythological landscape and the cult of Old European culture, of the most ancient levels of Germanic paganism, Greek mythology, Slavic mythology, Roman mythology, and in Druidry practice....
  s, the Sacred tree at Uppsala
  Sacred tree at Uppsala
  
  The Sacred tree at Uppsala was a tree worship located at the Temple at Uppsala, Sweden, in the second half of the 11th century. It is not known what species it was, but a scholar has suggested that it was a Taxus baccata....
  , and the wooden Irminsul
  Irminsul
  
  An Irminsul was a kind of pillar which is attested as playing an important role in the Germanic paganism of the Saxon people. The oldest chronicle describing an Irminsul refers to it as a tree trunk erected in the open air....
   pillar.
• In Norse Mythology
  Norse mythology
  
  Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
   it is the apples from Iðunn's
  Iðunn
  
  I?unn is a goddess in Norse mythology. I?unn is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....
   ash box that provides immortality for the gods.

Hebrew Bible/Christianity

• The Tree of Life is mentioned in the Book of , in which it has the potential to grant immortality to Adam and Eve
  Eve (Bible)
  
  Eve was, according to the Book of Genesis, the First man or woman created by God, and an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her husband was Adam, from whose rib God created her to be his helpmate....
  , in where it's a simile for a blessing.
• A Tree of Life
  Tree of life (Kabbalah)
  
  The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim in Hebrew, is a mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism to describe the path to HaShem and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo ....
  , in the form of ten interconnected nodes, is an important part of the Kabbalah
  Kabbalah
  
  Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
  . As such, it resembles the ten Sephirot.
• Etz Chaim
  Etz Chaim
  
  Etz Chaim Center for Jewish Learning is an Orthodox Jewish organization designed to reach out to secular and non-Orthodox Judaism Jews in the hopes of bring them into the Baal teshuva Movement ....
  , Hebrew for "Tree of Life", is a common term used in Judaism. The expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively applied to the Torah itself. Etz Chaim is also a common name for yeshiva
  Yeshiva
  
  Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
  s and synagogue
  Synagogue
  
  A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
  s as well as for works of Rabbinic literature
  Rabbinic literature
  
  Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Judaism history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew language term Sifrut Hazal ....
  . Further, it is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the parchment of a Sefer Torah
  Sefer Torah
  
  A Sefer Torah is a specially hand-written copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, which is the holiest book within Judaism and venerated by Jews. It must meet extremely strict standards of production....
   is attached.

The Book of Mormon

• The Tree of Life is shown to Lehi and then also to his son Nephi in a dream or vision, between 600 and 592 B.C. according to the Book of Mormon
  Book of Mormon
  
  The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the churches of the Latter Day Saint Movement. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr....
  . Lehi recounted the tree as "a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." (1 Nephi 8:10)
• Nephi's vision is found in "And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow."
• Nephi seeks to learn from the Spirit what the tree represents: "10 And he said unto me: What desirest thou? 11 And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof."
• Nephi is then shown in vision Mary with the baby Jesus in her arms, after which the Spirit says "21 Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? 22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. 23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul."
• These visions were experienced by Nephi and Lehi before they departed the Bible lands and travelled by boat to the Americas.

Mesoamerica

• Among pre-Columbian
  Pre-Columbian
  
  The pre-Columbian era incorporates all archaeology of the Americas in the history of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the Americas continents....
   Mesoamerica
  Mesoamerica
  
  Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
  n cultures, the concept of "world trees" is a prevalent motif in Mesoamerican mythical cosmologies and iconography. World trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis mundi
  Axis mundi
  
  The axis mundi is a ubiquitous symbol that crosses human cultures. The image expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet....
   connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.
• Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the Maya, Aztec
  Aztec
  
  Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
  , Izapa
  Izapa
  
  Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Mesoamerican chronology....
  n, Mixtec
  Mixtec
  
  The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean linguistic family....
  , Olmec
  Olmec
  
  The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in what are roughly the modern-day Mexican state of Veracruz and Tabasco....
  , and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of Mesoamerican chronology
  Mesoamerican chronology
  
  Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest evidence of human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the Spanish colonization of the Americas....
  . Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a ceiba
  Ceiba
  
  Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America and South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia....
   tree, and is known variously as a wacah chan or yax imix che, depending on the Mayan language. The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.
• Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in Mesoamerican calendars
  Mesoamerican calendars
  
  Mesoamerican calendars are the calendar devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. In addition to the basic function of a calendar—defining and organizing periods of time in a way that allows events to be fixed, ordered and noted relative to each other and some absolute progression—Mesoamerican calendars were...
  , and the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden
  Dresden Codex
  
  The Dresden Codex is an ancient Mayan book of the eleventh or twelfth century of the Yucatecan Maya in Chich?n Itz?. The Maya codices is believed to be a copy of an original text of some three or four hundred years earlier....
  , Borgia
  Codex Borgia
  
  The Codex Borgia is a Mesoamerican ritual and divinatory manuscript. It is generally believed to have been written before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, somewhere within what is now today southern or western Puebla....
   and Fejérváry-Mayer codices
  Codex
  
  A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention that replaced the scroll, which was the first form of book in all Eurasian cultures....
  . It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.
• World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of the underworld).
• The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way
  Milky Way
  
  The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
  .

China

• In Chinese mythology
  Chinese mythology
  
  File:Nine-Dragons1.jpgChinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form....
   a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix
  Phoenix (mythology)
  
  The phoenix is a Mythologyical sacred fire bird which originated in the Sub-continent of India in ancient mythologies mentioned in the Ancient Egyptian religion and later the Sanchuniathon and the Greek Mythology....
   and a dragon
  Dragon
  
  File:Ukiyo-e dragon 2.jpgThe dragon is a legendary creature with serpentine shape or otherwise reptilian traits that features in the mythology of many cultures....
   – in Chinese mythology the dragon often represents immortality. There is also the Taoist
  Taoism
  
  Taoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts. These traditions have influenced East Asia for over two thousand years and some have spread to the West....
   story of a tree that produces a peach
  Peach
  
  The peach is known as a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible juicy fruit also called a peach. It is a deciduous tree growing to 5?10 m tall, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae....
   every three thousand years. The one who eats the fruit receives immortality.
• An archaeological discovery in the 1990s was of a sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui
  Sanxingdui
  
  Sanxingdui is the name of an archaeological site in China, now believed to be the site of an History of China city. The previously unknown Bronze Age culture was re-discovered in 1987 when archaeologists excavated remarkable Artifact , that radiocarbon dating dated as being from the 12th-11th centuries BCE....
   in Sichuan
  Sichuan
  
  is a Province in western China proper with its capital in Chengdu. The current name of the province, ?? , is an abbreviation of ??? , or "Four circuit #Circuits in East Asia of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from ???? , or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the existing circuit into four during the Song...
  , China
  China
  
  China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
  . Dating from about 1200 BCE
  Common Era
  
  Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
  , it contained 3 bronze
  Bronze
  
  Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
   trees, one of them 4 meters high. At the base was a dragon, and fruit hanging from the lower branches. At the top is a strange bird-like (phoenix) creature with claws. Also from Sichuan, from the late Han dynasty
  Han Dynasty
  
  The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the Liu clan who had peasant origins....
   (c 25 – 220 CE
  Common Era
  
  Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
  ) is another tree of life. The ceramic
  Ceramic
  
  File:Bridge from dental porcelain.jpgFile:Qing vase p1070256.jpgA ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetal solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling....
   base is guarded by a horned beast with wings. The leaves of the tree are coins and people. At the apex is a bird with coins and the Sun
  Sun
  
  The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
  .

Other cultures

• In the Japan
  Japan
  
  Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
  ese religion of Shinto
  Shinto
  
  is the former state religion of Japan and remains the most common name for the nation's non-Buddhist ethnic religion practices. It was formed from disparate local mythologies, beginning with the Kojiki of 712, into an imperial cult called State Shinto that solidified in the Meiji period....
  , trees were marked with sacred paper symbolizing lightning
  Lightning
  
  File:Blesk.jpgLightning is an Earth's atmosphere discharge of electricity usually accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcano or dust storms....
   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.
• The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
  The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
  
  One Thousand and One Nights , is a collection of folk tales and other stories. The original concept is most likely derived from a pre-Islamic Persian prototype that probably relied partly on India elements, but the work as we have it was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators and scholars across the Middle East an...
   has a story, 'The Tale of Buluqiya', in which the hero searches for immortality and finds a paradise with jewel-encrusted trees. Nearby is a Fountain of Youth
  Fountain of Youth
  
  The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Florida is often said to be its location, and stories of the fountain are some of the most persistent associated with the state....
   guarded by Al-Khidr
  Al-Khidr
  
  Al-Khi?r has a disputed status in Islam; some say he is a saint while others say he is a Prophets of Islam. Hizir is also an important figure in Alevism as well as the subject of a major Turkish holiday, Hindrellez....
  . Unable to defeat the guard, Buluqiya has to return empty-handed.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
  Epic of Gilgamesh
  
  The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
   is a similar quest for immortality. In Mesopotamian mythology
  Mesopotamian mythology
  
  Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq....
  , Etana searches for a 'plant of birth' to provide him with a son. This has a solid provenance of antiquity, being found in cylinder seal
  Cylinder seal
  
  A cylinder seal is a cylinder engraved with a 'picture story', used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay....
  s from Akkad
  Akkad
  
  The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Sumerian language: Agade KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central Mesopotamia....
   (2390 – 2249 BCE
  Common Era
  
  Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
  ).
• One of the earliest forms of ancient Greek religion has its origins associated with tree cults.

Modern interpretations

• In Dictionaire Mytho-Hermetiqe (Paris, 1737), Antoine-Joseph Pernety
  Antoine-Joseph Pernety
  
  Antoine-Joseph Pernety, known as Dom Pernety was a France writer. At various times he was a Benedictine, and librarian of Frederick II of Prussia of Prussia....
  , a famous alchemist, identified the Tree of Life with the Elixir of Life
  Elixir of life
  
  The elixir of life, from Arabic: ???????, also known as the elixir of immortality or Dancing Water or Persian language: Aab-e-Hayaat ?? ???? and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal youth....
   and the Philosopher's Stone
  Philosopher's stone
  
  The philosopher's stone, reputed to be hard as stone and malleable as wax, is a legendary alchemical tool, supposedly capable of turning base metals into gold; it was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for Rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality....
  .
• In Eden in the East
  Stephen Oppenheimer
  
  Stephen Oppenheimer , a British physician, a member of Green College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, carries out and publishes research in the field of genetics....
   (1998), Stephen Oppenheimer
  Stephen Oppenheimer
  
  Stephen Oppenheimer , a British physician, a member of Green College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, carries out and publishes research in the field of genetics....
   suggests that a tree-worshiping culture arose in Indonesia
  Indonesia
  
  The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
   and was diffused by the so-called "Younger Dryas" event of c8000 BCE, when the sea-level rose. This culture reached China (Szechuan), then India
  India
  
  India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
   and the Middle East
  Middle East
  
  File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
  . Finally the Finno-Ugaritic strand of this diffusion spread through Russia
  Russia
  
  Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
   to Finland
  Finland
  
  Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
   where the Norse myth of Yggdrasil
  Yggdrasil
  
  File:The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.jpgIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....
   took root.
• Rastafari and some Coptic Christians
  Coptic Christianity
  
  ||-The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christianity church in Egypt. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodoxy family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different position over Christology theology from that of the E...
  consider cannabis
  Spiritual use of cannabis
  
  Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual usage as an aid to trance and has been traditionally used in a Religion and drugs throughout the old world....
   to be the Tree of Life.

Modern use

Art

• A 2 1/2 story high "Tree of Life" sculpture by Wisconsin artist Nancy Metz White
  Nancy Metz White
  
  Nancy Metz White is an artist from Wisconsin. She has large-scale outdoor sculptures installed in two Milwaukee parks. White uses brightly painted welded steel and forge flashings recycled from Milwaukee heavy industry to produce colorful tree forms....
   was installed in Mitchell Boulevard Park in Milwaukee in 2002. The tree is made of brightly painted welded steel and forge flashings recycled from Milwaukee heavy industry.

Music

• Pictoral representations of the Tree of Life can be found in the album artwork for rock band Mudvayne
  Mudvayne
  
  Mudvayne is an American Heavy metal music band formed in Peoria, Illinois, Illinois in 1996. Members are lead singer Chad Gray, guitarist Greg Tribbett, bassist Ryan Martinie and drummer Matthew McDonough....
  's L.D. 50(NOPE); and on the outer casing of the album Salival
  Salival
  
  Salival is a limited edition Boxed set in compact disc/VHS and Compact Disc/DVD formats released in 2000 by Tool . It includes a 56-page book of photos and stills from their music videos....
  , by rock band Tool
  Tool (band)
  
  Tool is an American Grammy Award-winning Rock music band that was formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones , and vocalist Maynard James Keenan....
  . In addition, the Tree of Life was used in the visual displays shown during several of Tool's concerts, especially during the song Triad.
• Metal band Dååth
  DÅÅTH
  
  D??th, often typeset as D??TH is a metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia . Their music incorporates styles such as thrash metal, death metal, industrial metal, and progressive metal....
   (pronounced 'doth') also uses the Tree of Life as a basis for their music.
• In their album Emissaries
  Emissaries (album)
  
  Emissaries is Melechesh's fourth full length album and third through Osmose Productions. The album introduces their new drummer Xul . The Album contains an instrumental Bonus Track - Extemporized Ophtalmic Release - it is not titled on the track listing but is number 11 on the CD, the given name of this track basically refers to it being...
   the black metal Melechesh
  Melechesh
  
  Melechesh is a black metal band that originated in Jerusalem, Israel. Ashmedi started the band as a solo project in 1993. In the following year, guitarist Moloch and drummer Lord Curse were added to the line-up....
   make a reference to the Tree of Life in their song "Touching the Spheres of Sephiroth".
• One of the tracks on the soundtrack album for the film The Fountain is called "Tree of Life".
• The duo "Trees of Life" did the soundtrack for the animated film Tamala 2010.
• Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai
  Steve Vai
  
  Steven "Steve" Siro Vai is an United States instrumental rock guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, record producer, and actor. After starting his professional career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai would also record and tour in Zappa's backing band starting in 1980....
   has a Tree of Life inlay in his Ibanez JEM guitars
• Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson
  Liam Wilson
  
  Liam Wilson is the bass player of the band The Dillinger Escape Plan and former bass player of the band Starkweather . Before playing in the Dillinger Escape Plan, Liam played bass for other Philadelphia-based metal bands, such as For Life and Burnside....
   has a Tree of Life tattoo on his chest
• American jam band O.A.R. featured a tree of life both on the cover art and on the actual c.d. for the album In Between Now and Then
  In Between Now and Then
  
  In Between Now and Then is a studio album released by the rock band Of A Revolution in 2003. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 in the 54th position....
  

Science

• The tree of life in science
  Tree of life (science)
  
  Charles Darwin believed that phylogeny, the ascent of all species through time, was expressible as a metaphor he termed the Tree of Life. The modern development of this idea is called the Phylogenetic tree....
   describes the relationships of all life on Earth
  Life on Earth
  
  Life on Earth: A Natural History by David Attenborough is a groundbreaking television natural history series made by the BBC in association with Warner Bros....
   in an evolutionary context
  Evolution
  
  In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
  . Charles Darwin
  Charles Darwin
  
  Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
   talks about envisioning evolution and ecosystems as a "tangled bank" in On 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
  Phylogenetic tree
  
  A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities that are believed to have a common descent....
  . The evolutionary relationships of the tree of life were refined using genetic data by the great American microbiologist Carl Woese
  Carl Woese
  
  Carl Richard Woese is an American microbiologist and physicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy of Svedberg ribosome RNA, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice....
  , the discoverer of the domain Archaea
  Archaea
  
  The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
   and a pioneer in molecular (genetic) methods in evolutionary biology.

"Tree of life" excerpt from Charles Darwin's The 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 (Platypus

Platypus

The Platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal Endemic to Eastern states of Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay Egg instead of giving birth to live young....
) or Lepidosiren (South American lungfish

South American lungfish

The South American lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon River, Paraguay River, and lower Paran? River drainage basin in South America....
), 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.

• The Tree of Life on the Web
  Tree of Life Web Project
  
  The Tree of Life Web Project is an ongoing Internet project providing information about the biodiversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world....
   is an ongoing Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity
  Biodiversity
  
  Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems....
  , 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
  DNA
  
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
   molecule, and has sometimes been associated with the maternal placenta
  Placenta
  
  The placenta or afterbirth is a highly vascularized ephemeral organ present in Placentalia vertebrates that connects the developing fetal tissues to the uterine wall....
  .
• The neuroanatomical
  Neuroanatomy
  
  Neuroanatomy is the branch of anatomy that studies the anatomical organization of the nervous system. In vertebrate animals, the peripheral nervous system that the myriad nerves take from the brain to the rest of the body , and the internal structure of the brain in particular, are both extremely elaborate....
   term tree of life
  Arbor vitae (anatomy)
  
  The arbor vitae is the cerebellum white matter, so called for its branched, tree-like appearance. It brings sensory and motor information to and from the cerebellum....
   describes the branching pattern between the cortical grey matter and subcortical white matter
  White matter
  
  White matter is one of the three main solid components of the central nervous system. White matter tissue of the freshly cut brain appears white to the naked eye because of being composed largely of lipid....
   of the cerebellum
  Cerebellum
  
  The cerebellum is a region of the brain that plays an important role in the integration of perception, coordination and motoneuron control. In order to coordinate motor control, there are many neural pathways linking the cerebellum with the cerebrum motor cortex and the spinocerebellar tract ....
  .
• In the world's rain forests, trees' leaves and branches form a canopy
  Canopy (forest)
  
  Canopy refers to the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by Crown_.Canopy is also the term for the upper layer or zone of a forest, formed by Crown_ and including other biological organisms ....
  , which traps moisture and protects the diverse ecology underneath from the equatorial Sun. The phrase trees of life is used to describe this protective barrier, as, in its absence, life quickly abandons the area, due to extinction or migration.
• On 1st February 2009, a new animated interactive tree of life will launch to the public. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough
  David Attenborough
  
  Sir David Frederick Attenborough Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Royal Victorian Order, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society is a broadcasting and naturalist....
   it will be broadcast on BBC One
  BBC One
  
  BBC One is the primary television channel of the BBC . It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of ....
   as part of its Darwin Season. The tree is funded by the Wellcome Trust
  Wellcome Trust
  
  The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around ?15 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research....
  

Fiction

• In Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" The One Tree (or Tree of Life) is the tree that the Staff of Law was produced from.
• In C. S. Lewis
  C. S. Lewis
  
  Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as Jack, was an academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist....
  ' Chronicles of Narnia the Tree of Life also plays a role, especially in the sixth published book (the first in the in-world chronology) The Magician's Nephew
  The Magician's Nephew
  
  The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy fiction novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe....
  .
• In Terry Brooks
  Terry Brooks
  
  Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is a writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly high fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 22 New York Times Best Seller List during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print....
  ' Shannara
  Shannara
  
  Shannara is an high fantasy series of novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through The Gypsy Morph which was released in August 2008....
   series, the Ellcrys
  Ellcrys
  
  The Ellcrys is a sapience tree with silver bark and crimson leaves that was "created by the bonding of earth and life". She appears in two novels of the Shannara series....
  , an Elf
  Elves (Shannara)
  
  Elves are one of the races in the Shannara series of high fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. They are the only race of the faerie creatures still in The Four Lands, though they now have become mortal....
  -turned-tree, plays some sort of role in many of the novels.
• In Robert Jordan
  Robert Jordan
  
  Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. , under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy fiction series....
  ' Wheel of Time
  Wheel of time
  
  The wheel of time or wheel of history is a concept in several religions and philosophies, notably religions of Indian origin such as Buddhism and Hinduism, which regard time as cyclical and consisting of repeating ages....
   the Tree of Life – "Avendesora" – as the last of it's kind plays a pivotal role. This tree also linked to the Buddhist "Bodhi" tree, beneath which the Buddha attained Nirvana.
• The Tree-of-Life
  Tree-of-Life
  
  The Tree-of-Life is a List of fictional plants in Larry Niven's Known Space universe, for which all Hominidaes have an in-built genetic craving....
   also appears in Larry Niven
  Larry Niven
  
  Laurence van Cott Niven is a US science fiction author. Perhaps his best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award, Ditmar Award, and Nebula Award for Best Novel awards....
  's Known Space
  Known Space
  
  Known Space is the fictional setting of several science fiction novels and short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
   novels.
• In Warcraft 3, a "tree of life" is the Night Elf central building.
• Darren Aronofsky
  Darren Aronofsky
  
  Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer....
  's film The Fountain (as well as the graphic novel
  The Fountain (graphic novel)
  
  The Fountain is a graphic novel illustrated by Kent Williams published in 2005 in comics by Vertigo Comics, based on the original script of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain ....
   based on the screenplay) centers around immortality given by the Tree of Life
• In the anime movie Ghost in the Shell
  Ghost in the Shell
  
  is a Japanese people cyberpunk manga created by Masamune Shirow, and first published in 1989 in Young Magazine. A collected edition was released in 1991; a sequel, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface, was released in 2002; and a serialized manga, Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor, was released in 2003, which contain...
   (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 from its base by a tank.
• In the movie, The End of Evangelion
  The End of Evangelion
  
  is a 1997 anime film written and chief directed by Hideaki Anno; it won the Japan Academy Prize for popularity. The movie also won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize for 1997....
  , the Eva series summon the Tree of Life with the Eva-01.
• In Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
  Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
  
  is a Japanese anime television series inspired by the works of Jules Verne, particularly Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the exploits of Captain Nemo....
   there is a giant tree beneath Antartica that is identified as the Tree Of Life by Captain Nemo.
• In Homeworld
  Homeworld
  
  Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999 developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment....
  , 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
  Samuel Beckett
  
  Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish people writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalism....
  's Waiting for Godot
  Waiting for Godot
  
  Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere....
   is often thought to be a representation of the Tree of Life.
• The Hyperion Cantos
  Hyperion Cantos
  
  The Hyperion Cantos form a tetralogy of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons.The Cantos is an epic science fiction series of novels. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category, and could be described as space opera....
   contains several concepts and (indirect) references to the Tree of Life.
• In the manga Fullmetal Alchemist
  Fullmetal Alchemist
  
  Fullmetal Alchemist, known in Japan as , is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after European Industrial Revolution....
  , the Gate of Alchemy
  Gate of Alchemy
  
  The Gate of Alchemy is a fictional metaphysics construct integral to the plot of the anime/manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, referred to as the Doors of Truth in the manga or simply The Gate in the anime....
   depicts a representation of the Tree of Life.
• In Mana games and video game The Legend Of Dragoon
  The Legend of Dragoon
  
  The Legend of Dragoon is a console role-playing game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan on December 2, 1999, in North America on June 11, 2000, and on January 19, 2001 in Europe....
   the Mana Tree and the Divine Tree, respectively, may possibly represent the Tree of Life.
• In the games Tales of Symphonia
  Tales of Symphonia
  
  is a video game first released for the Nintendo GameCube and later for the PlayStation 2. It debuted in Japan on August 29, 2003, in Canada and the United States on July 13, 2004, and in Europe on November 19, 2004....
  , Tales of the World and Tales of Phantasia
  Tales of Phantasia
  
  is a Super Nintendo game in the Console role-playing game genre published by Namco and released in Japan in 1995. It is the first mothership title in the Tales RPG series and was later remade/re-released on the PlayStation, Nintendo Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable....
  , the world tree Yggdrasil appears as the source of mana
  Mana
  
  Mana is the concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The concept is common to many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian languages, Polynesian languages, and Micronesian languages....
   for the world.
• In the game Tales of the Abyss
  Tales of the Abyss
  
  is a console role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco in Japan and Namco Bandai Games in North America. It is the eighth mothership title in the Tales , and was released for the PlayStation 2 on 15 December 2005 in Japan, celebrating the Tales series' 10th anniversary, and on 10 October 2006 in North America....
  , the Sephiroth pillars are variations of World Trees, or Trees of Life.
• In the game Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3
  Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3
  
  Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3, originally titled in Japan, is the most recent installment in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force video game series. The storyline is set during the fourth season of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime series....
  , there is a card called The World Tree
• In the game Dragoneer's Aria
  Dragoneer's Aria
  
  Dragoneer's Aria is an Role-playing game for the PlayStation Portable, developed by Hit Maker and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It was released in North America on August 21, 2007, and was released as in Japan on August 23, 2007....
  , The Great Spirit guards the World Tree.
• In the game Warlords Battlecry III
  Warlords Battlecry III
  
  Warlords Battlecry III is a real-time strategy game developed by Infinite Interactive and published in 2004. It is the third installment in the Warlords Battlecry and the sequel to Warlords Battlecry II....
  , the Wood Elves have a Tree of Life
• The Media.Vision
  Media.Vision
  
  Media.Vision is a video game developer best known for the Wild Arms series of video game computer role-playing game....
   developed videogame Wild Arms 3
  Wild Arms 3
  
  Wild Arms 3, known in Japan as , is a western steampunk console role-playing game developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and the sequel to Wild Arms and Wild Arms 2....
   (for the Sony Playstation 2) references the "Tree of Life" by referring to it as Yggdrasil. This element of the game's storyline is an obstacle for the characters to overcome.
• The fledgling angels of Haibane Renmei
  Haibane Renmei
  
  is a 13-episode anime series based on the work of Yoshitoshi ABe. It began as an original dojinshi comic series, , but this was quickly superseded by the anime and was never completed....
   live in a town surrounded by a gigantic wooden wall. Although the series never shows what exists beyond the wall, the town may be a "nest" on the Tree of Life.
• In the Roger Zelazny's
  Roger Zelazny
  
  Roger Joseph Zelazny was an United States writer of fantasy and science fiction short story and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times , including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad and the novel Lord of Light ....
   The Chronicles of Amber: The Courts of Chaos
  The Courts of Chaos
  
  The Courts of Chaos is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny.This book ends the original series narrated by Corwin ....
   (1978) prince Corwin encounters Ygg (a nick from Ydgrassil), tree who speaks and is planted on the border between Order and Chaos, between Amber and Courts of Chaos.
• In The Sea of Trolls
  The Sea of Trolls
  
  The Sea of Trolls is the first volume of a fantasy trilogy by Newbery Honor winning author Nancy Farmer . The second part is The Land of the Silver Apples , and the final volume, The Islands of the Blessed, will be published in 2009....
   written by Nancy Farmer (author)
  Nancy Farmer (author)
  
  Nancy Farmer is a prominent children's book author from the United States.Farmer was born in Phoenix, Arizona, took her B.A. at Reed College and later studied chemistry and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley....
  , The Tree of Life (Ydgrassil) is a place holding magical powers.
• The Tree Of Life features in the video game Prince of Persia.

Decorative arts

• The grandfather of British studio pottery, Bernard Leach
  Bernard Leach
  
  Bernard Howell Leach Order of the British Empire Order of the Companions of Honour , was a United Kingdom studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery."...
  , famously used a 'tree of life' on many of his works. Something which was continued by his Son David Leach
  David Leach
  
  David Leach , an United States musician/percussionist played for Ben Harper band from 1997-2001.External links*...
  , among others.
• A motif of the tree of life is featured on Turkish 5 Kurus coins
  Turkish lira
  
  The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the non-recognized nations of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kurus....
  , to be circulated in early 2009.

Physical (real) "trees of life"

• The Arborvitae gets its name from the Latin for "tree of life".
• The Tule tree of Aztec mythology
  Aztec mythology
  
  The Aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many gods and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs....
   is also associated with a real tree. This Tule tree
  Árbol del Tule
  
  El ?rbol del Tule is a tree located in the church grounds in the town center of Santa Mar?a del Tule in the States of Mexico of Oaxaca, approximately 9 km east of the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca on the road to Mitla....
   can be found in Oaxaca
  Oaxaca
  
  The Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca }} is one of the 31 Mexican state of Mexico, located in the southern part of the country, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec....
  , Mexico
  Mexico
  
  The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
  .
• There is a Tree of Life
  Tree of Life, Bahrain
  
  The Tree of Life is a 400-year old mesquite tree in Bahrain that is considered a natural wonder. This unique tree stands alone in the desert about from the Jebel Dukhan, the highest point in Bahrain....
   in the island country of Bahrain
  Bahrain
  
  The Kingdom of Bahrain, in , , literally Kingdom of the Two Seas).Bahrain is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime....
   in the Persian Gulf
  Persian Gulf
  
  The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
  .
• Metaphor: The Tree of Utah
  Metaphor: The Tree of Utah
  
  Metaphor: The Tree of Utah is an 87 feet tall sculpture that was created by the Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980s and dedicated in 1986. It is located in the desolate Great Salt Lake Desert of Utah on the north side of I-80 about 25 miles east of Wendover, Utah....
   is an 87-foot high sculpture in the Utah
  Utah
  
  The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
   Bonneville Salt Flats
  Bonneville Salt Flats
  
  The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 159 square mile salt flat in northwestern Utah. The depth of the salt has been recorded at 6 feet in many areas....
   that is also known as the Tree of Life.
• The ancient Zoroastrians and modern Rastafari consider cannabis
  Cannabis
  
  Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa L., Cannabis indica Lam., and Cannabis ruderalis Janisch....
   to be the Tree of Life.
• In some parts of the Caribbean, coconut trees are given the title of "tree of life", as they can produce everything needed for short/medium term survival.
• An acacia
  Acacia
  
  Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
   tree in Tsavo National Park
  Tsavo National Park
  
  Tsavo National Park may refer to:*Tsavo East National Park, a national park in Kenya on the easten side of the A109 road.*Tsavo West National Park, a national park in Kenya on the western side of the A109 road....
  , Kenya.It's a symbol of life in the vast expanses of thorny savanna, where wild animals come to take advantage of its leaves or its shade. Tsavo National Park in southeastern Kenya, crossed by the Nairobi-Mombasa road and railway axis, is the country's largest protected area (8,200 square miles, or 21,000 square kilometers) and was declared a national park in 1948.
• The West Africa
  West Africa
  
  West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
  n Moringa oleifera
  Moringa oleifera
  
  Moringa oleifera, commonly referred to simply as Moringa , , is the most widely cultivated variety of the genus Moringa. It is of the family Moringaceae....
   tree is regarded as a "tree of life" or "miracle tree" by some because it is arguably the most nutritious source of plant-derived food discovered on the planet. Modern scientists and some missionary groups have considered the plant as a possible solution for the treatment of severe malnutrition and aid for those with HIV/AIDS.

See also

• Axis mundi
  Axis mundi
  
  The axis mundi is a ubiquitous symbol that crosses human cultures. The image expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet....
  
• World tree
  World tree
  
  The World Tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the earth, and, through its roots, the underground....
  
• Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)
• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
  Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
  
  In the Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden from which God directly forbade Adam to eat ....
  
• Tree of Knowledge
  Tree of Knowledge
  
  Tree of Knowledge may refer to:...
  
• Trees in mythology
  Trees in mythology
  
  Trees have played an important role in many of the world's mythology and religions, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages....
  
• New Year Tree
  New Year tree
  
  New Year tree are decorations similar to Christmas trees that are displayed in various cultures....
  
• Tree of Life (Kabbalah)
  Tree of life (Kabbalah)
  
  The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim in Hebrew, is a mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism to describe the path to HaShem and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo ....
  
• Sephirot (Kabbalah)
  Sephirot (Kabbalah)
  
  Sephirot , in the Kabbalah of Judaism, are the ten attributes that names of God in Judaism created through which he can manifest not only in the physical but the metaphysical universe....
  
• Phylogenetic tree
  Phylogenetic tree
  
  A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities that are believed to have a common descent....
  
• Sidrat al-Muntaha
  Sidrat al-Muntaha
  
  Sidrat al-Muntaha is a Ziziphus lotus that marks the end of the seventh heaven, the boundary where no creation can pass, according to Islamic beliefs....
  
• The Fountain (film)
  The Fountain
  
  The Fountain is a 2006 in film Cinema of the United States science fiction film/fantasy film directed by Darren Aronofsky that follows three interwoven narratives that take place in the age of conquistadors, the modern-day period, and the far future....
  
• The Fountain (graphic novel)
  The Fountain (graphic novel)
  
  The Fountain is a graphic novel illustrated by Kent Williams published in 2005 in comics by Vertigo Comics, based on the original script of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain ....
  
• Five Trees
  Five Trees
  
  "Five Trees" in Paradise is a mysterious allegory or concept from famous Coptic language Gospel of Thomas NHC 2: 19th saying/logia of Jesus and other sources of religious mythology....
  
• Fleur de lys
  Fleur de Lys
  
  Fleur de Lys is a superheroine from Quebec and an ally of Northguard, created in 1984 by Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette. The name of the character is inspired by the heraldry of the fleur de lys....
  
• Palmette
  Palmette
  
  Palmette, also called anthemion , is an artistic motif resembling the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It was a common decorative motif employed in the Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome era to decorate:...
  
• Maypole

External links

• – Tree of Life Web Project
• - Interactive tree of life animation