Symbolism of trees in art. The symbolic meaning of the tree of life and other trees

Pugacheva I.I.

Children's art school No. 2 of applied and decorative art named after VD Polenova, e-mail: [email protected]

In applied art, old forms, motifs, symbols, emblems and individual compositions retain their vitality indefinitely, passing without any external changes from one cultural era to another. “The study of paganism is not only a deepening in primitiveness, but also a way to understanding the culture of the people” - B.A. Fishermen.

Almost always, the Tree of Life connects three worlds: ours, paradise and hell, or is a connecting link between the upper world, the mortal world and the lower, underground, that is, the other world. Birds, souls and saints live in the crown of the Tree, chthonic and demonic creatures (snakes, demons, etc.) live at the roots. Also, it can be a symbol of human life, as a process of birth, immediate existence, death and rebirth (new birth). First of all, the meaning of the Tree of Life lies in the connection and harmony between earth and heaven, man and the divine essence. The Tree of Life is a source of life, a symbol of rebirth, happiness, prosperity. The trinity system of cosmogenesis represents a world of three classes of creatures (birds, animals, amphibians), includes temporary concepts (past, present, future), three parts of the body (head, trunk, legs), three elements (fire, earth, water).

In mythological and religious systems, the ascending line of life is especially emphasized - from birth to the maximum stage of growth - flowering and fruiting. The most visual way of life was found in the plant world, more precisely, among trees, especially those whose life span was significantly longer than human life (oak, sycamore - white maple, grows in Ukraine, willow, larch, cedar, sycamore - ficus of the mulberry family, homeland Egypt, in the Middle East, the tree is untouchable, banyan tree is an Indian ficus from the mulberry family with the largest crown, yew is the longest-lived tree, the age of the oldest yew is estimated at nine thousand years).

The image of the Tree of Life is a single harmonious composition where the trunk, stem, sprout, bud, blossoming flower, fruit can be used, indicating the course of life. Often the Tree of Life is presented as a female (maternal) character, or at least as its abode. In some archaic traditions, the Tree of Life is portrayed as the feminine, with which animals associated with the middle part of the tree (trunk) are combined and are carriers of the fertilizing force. The idea of \u200b\u200babundance, of the highest degree of fertility, correlated with the Tree of Life, explains the frequent image of double (or paired) trees and, accordingly, double fruits.

In Christianity, a special tree planted by God in the middle of the Garden of Eden. It bears fruit 12 times a year, which gave man immortality, eternal youth and healed any disease. The tree of life served as a model of the blissful and full grace of life with the Lord. In Christianity, the tree of life also symbolizes the development of the spiritual qualities of each person, his desire to know the Almighty and the connection of each person with those whom he addresses with prayers.

The mythological plot of salvation with the help of a tree as gaining life further expands the sphere in which the Tree of Life appears. An example is the extremely widespread fairy tale motif, where the hero, having defeated a snake, escapes from the underground kingdom of death, climbing to the top of a wonderful tree, from where a bird (eagle) carries him; it is characteristic that usually the hero frees the princess, his future wife, and brings living water to the earth with him.

Patterns with the Tree of Life and birds sitting on it or near it are found in the applied art of Ancient Russia in medieval embroidery; they were also common in peasant art of Russia in the 19th century. They are present in wood carvings, wood paintings, weaving, Russian painted popular print. In pagan antiquity, a paradise called "Irey" or "vyry" was in heaven, where the kingdom of birds. Therefore, the tree surrounded by birds on the branches, with the motif of horse heads at the base of the tree, which served as amulets, symbols of the hearth and a solar sign at the top was perceived as an image of a paradise tree, the eternal symbol of the Tree of Life (Fig. 1). An indication of the Tree of Life can also be a triangular hill (world mountain), from which a tree grows (Fig. 2). Sometimes the image of the Tree of Life becomes quite miniature - a leaf with a bird on its top.

Peasant art has always been fueled by folklore poetic images, where the Tree of Life is one of the favorite motifs, a flowering and fruiting tree, as a symbol of the beauty of nature, joy, optimism.

The motive of the Tree of Life can be seen in various compositions in folk art. Often the bird Sirin is depicted with a branch, which symbolizes the Tree of Life, and Alkonost with a flower in his hand (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3.  Russian lubok. The end of the XVIII - the beginning of the XIX century

The prosperous tail of a lion is also a tree. On the ceremonial decoration "Suzdal Mantle" of the late 12th - first quarter of the 13th century, the old Russian goldsmiths depicted the ornament in the form of a flourishing cross (Fig. 4). And on Russian embroideries it is sometimes difficult to accurately determine the motive of the woman goddess, woman in childbirth or the Tree. But in meaning, all these symbols are close and relate to fertility.

Fig. 4.  Suzdal mantle (ceremonial decoration). The end of the XII - the first quarter of the XIII century. Vladimir province

In the Russian painted lubok there is the “Tree of Reason”, on which edifying sayings were enclosed in ornamented circles or were written on wide curved leaves of a bush tree, as a tree of wisdom with useful tips and tricks

In the sphere of ritual, the image of the Tree of Life is most often realized in connection with a positive member of the complex: birth - fertility - death (the role of trees in fertility rituals, weddings, etc.). In Slavic mythology, a tree is an object of worship. They came to sacred trees to perform various ceremonies in order to get rid of diseases, evil eye, spoilage, infertility. Those who came brought sacrifices and gifts, prayed, touched the bark of the tree, “confessed”, repented of sins, asked the tree for forgiveness.

Oak  - in the traditional culture of the Slavs, one of the most revered trees, symbolizing strength, strength and masculinity, as well as personifying the object and place of worship and sacrifices. Among the Slavs, oak was related to the upper world. Positive values \u200b\u200bwere attributed to him. In Slavic languages \u200b\u200band dialects, the word "oak" often appears in the meaning of "tree", for example, the Serbs said that oak is the king of the tree. The world tree in Slavic mythology is like an oak tree, but not acorns grow on it, but the seeds of all plants of the earth. Echoes of these ideas about a tree growing on earth, but reaching heaven, have been preserved in numerous tales.

The revered "female" tree was among the Slavs birch. The girls complained to Birch about an unfriendly groom, an unfaithful beloved, a villain, separation, and a prostitute. They decorated the birch with ribbons, beads, scarves. The white color was considered among the Slavs the color of death, therefore, birch was an intermediary between the world of the living and the dead. Foliage greens symbolized life, that is, a birch personified both life and death at once.

Apple tree- not a simple tree for a Russian person. It is no accident that she is mentioned in many wedding songs and fairy tales. Folk wisdom judged correctly: on the Tree of Life there must be fruits that give immortality or eternal youth. The fruit that brings immortality in a fairy tale should be beautiful, golden, tasty and sweet. Our people chose an apple as the fruit of immortality. But apples do not grow on oaks, so the sacred oak, the tree of Perun the Thunderer turned into an apple tree in fairy tales.

In some folk conspiracies, along with oak, birch acts as a World tree willow, center of the universe. Willow was the personification of a thunderstorm, lightning, clouds, bearing rain. Hence the idea that the willow can protect against storms, lightning, thunder, thunder and has power over the weather.

Spruce and pine  - The oldest trees of Russian forests. Pine - an evergreen tree, a symbol of eternity, longevity and immortality, persistence and overcoming adverse circumstances. In Russia, spruce was a sacred tree, reflecting two worldview approaches at once: the first - goodness in the house, protection of the house, protection from illnesses, healing, etc .; the second is the reception of the dead, their commemoration, funeral rites. The origin of the word "spruce" - spruce, sharp, prickly. For the cultural use and symbolism of spruce, its natural properties as an evergreen, sharp, prickly, smelling, "feminine" tree are essential. They are characterized by a pyramidal crown reaching almost to the ground. The symbolism of eternal life was compared with the Spruce Rusa.

Hazel or hazel  - a sacred tree, in popular beliefs associated with the afterlife, was used as a talisman from evil spirits.

Aspen  - in the folk tradition, the “unclean” tree cursed by God. However, aspen was also used as a remedy against evil spirits.

Rowan  - a talisman used in magic and folk medicine. Mountain ash played a special role in wedding ceremonies as protection against the evil eye.

Among the Western and Eastern Slavs, linden is closely connected with Christian legends: the tree was considered to be the tree of the Virgin, it was said that when the Virgin descends from heaven to earth, she rests on the linden. Icons and images were hung on the linden, there were beliefs that it was on the linden that miraculous icons most often appeared. One of their Christian legends says that linden became a refuge for the Virgin when she and her young son fled to Egypt.

The symbolic meaning of the Tree of Life is not as unambiguous as it seems at first glance. Although in the mythology of different cultures, the symbol of the Tree of Life has a similar meaning and description. The tree of life is a symbol of fertility, eternal rebirth and renewal. The Tree of Life, one of the options for the image of the World Tree - the world axis, the center of the world and the embodiment of the universe as a whole. The image of the Tree of Peace has been established for different traditions since the Bronze Age.

Literature

1. Itkina E.I. Russian hand-drawn lubok of the end of the 18th - beginning of the 20th century. M., 1992.
2. Koshaev V.B. Composition in Russian folk art. M., 2006.
3. Lavrova S.A. Slavic mythology. M., 2011
4. Rybakov B.A. Paganism of the ancient Slavs. M., 1994.
5. Shaparova N.S. Brief Encyclopedia of Slavic Mythology. M., 2004.

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Stem  - The stem of the plant, like tree trunk, symbolizes the material world, the middle of the three worlds, along with roots as a symbol of the underworld and branches or flowers as a symbol of the heavenly world.

Tree of blessing

About the World Tree excerpt from the book of Kirill Fatyanov "The Tradition of Hyperborea"

WANDERS OF THE WORLD TREE

“In those days, the gods walked the earth; the gods are not people, as we know them now. ” Dmitry Merezhkovsky

Tradition says: two and a half darkness  (25,000) years ago, the northern polar continent was not, as it is now, buried under water and ice. It consisted, as it were, of the four Islands. Tradition names them: White, Golden, Secret, Veliy (Great). In general, all this land was called Ort  (Worth, Art), later - Arctida, and its ancient Greeks nicknamed Hyperborea.

The Four Islands shared the straits leading to the inland sea. The center of this sea was precisely at the Pole. (And until now, the legends of different nations tell about blissful islands  and four rivers of paradise.)

Although Tradition speaks of the “Islands”, it was precisely on the Pole that continent, not an archipelago. It was a single array, limiting the shape of the land as if circle enclosed. (And until now, the Northern Tradition, leading its existence on Earth from the Arctic, is also called The Doctrine of the Closed Cross.)

This is exactly how Arctida captured the maps of Gerhard Mercator.

Current geographers are amazed at the accuracy of the mercator maps, because it is simply unbelievable for that time. More precisely, such accuracy was generally not possible  in those times.

This refers to the detail of the coastline image. famous  continents. So, the Kola Peninsula, then not yet studied, is written out in all details. And - the most amazing thing - on the map 1595 year  the strait between Eurasia and America is clearly marked. Meanwhile, Semyon Dezhnev, a Russian Cossack, discovered it only in 1648!

It is believed that Mercator copied his cards from some very ancient images, which he kept secret from competitors. And dying passed these priceless originals to his son, Rudolph Mercator. And he, continuing the work, also issued cards, and he steadily signed them   father's name.

From where could relics of ancient eras, whose knowledge had been lost by his time, fell into the hands of Gerhard Mercator? The sixteenth century still found the hidden temples of the Most Ancient Faith, hidden in the wilderness along the coasts and islands of the northern seas. Did the fate of Mercator or his friends bring together some of the legendary white priests (white elders) - keepers of ancient secrets? Nothing is known about this. However, the “Cosmography” of Mercator provides a detailed description of the sanctuary on the island of Rügen. ( Rusin  - rightly reconstructs Zabelin. He translated this fragment from Mercator and included it in his famous “History of Russian Life from Ancient Times” - IE Zabelin, Moscow, 1876.) From this, at least, the cartographer’s research interest in the secrets of the North of ancient Rus is obvious.

The shape of the sunken polar continent is unusual. This has no other. The almost geometric correctness of the shape resembles ... an artificial structure.

This is precisely what the Hyperborean myth claims. The creators of the unusual form of Arctida were not the whims of the elements, but its inhabitants themselves. And further Tradition speaks of even more incredible. The inhabitants of Arctida were ... not Earth born beings. People, their contemporaries, called them alves. But in the memory of mankind they remained as a race hyperborean.

But they were not “aliens” in the modern sense of the word. They did not fly to Earth in spaceships from distant stars. They did not know this necessity at all - to overcome Space.

Because they, Tradition testifies of them, were world Tree Wanderers.

The image of the World Tree is preserved to this day by the legends of many peoples. Especially the northern hemisphere. According to the World Tree, they come to this world and leave it. Moving along its trunk and branches, make transitions between worlds. The top of this Tree reaches heaven, and luminaries, and stars. Its roots penetrate to unimaginable depths.

Legends have kept all this. The image of the World Tree is presented in them in relief and brightly. But only outside the Tradition now almost no one knows what they invested in the concept  The ancients.

World Tree Concept (or Tree of Worlds) is the key to cosmogony  Northern Tradition. This image concentrates the doctrine of Three Laws of Space. Which are also called, allegorically, three Roots  World Tree.

These laws are as follows:

· “Branching” alternatives form Space.

• Depths  are touching.
• there is a measure of contact Love.

Knowledge the law the first  allows you to understand how the World Tree “looks” and “grows”. Or, in modern language, answers the question of what Space is (where it came from), and why it is constantly - and with acceleration - “expanding”.

But this is an answer that from the point of view of the current century will seem unexpected. Little is known in our time of presentation methods comparable to the Northern Tradition (ST) approach. Only certain provisions of ancient wisdom [“that above is below”, “outside that inside”], and ... some modern physical and mathematical theories about the structure of the Universe echo with it.

According to ST's doctrine of the Space, any choice made of one of the two gives rise to an extra world. Imagine, for example, a knight at a crossroads. The inscription: “you will go to the right - ... you will go to the left - ...” Let's say he chooses to turn right. But - immediately a world arises where the same hero chose to turn left ... That’s exactly in any other case all  alternatives. Moreover, the more alternatives are incompatible, the greater the distance the corresponding worlds are spread in Space. The number of worlds thus increases unlimitedly in Space. Or: The Creation of the World continues even now, as in the first fundamental Seven Days. Or else: Seven Days of Creation forever.

Deploying Space resembles expanding a seed into a tree. The seed implements both mutually exclusive alternatives of the growth direction: growth up (the rudiment of the trunk) and growth down (laying the root). Next, the root and trunk branch. Some branches stop in development or dry up (poorly chosen paths), but in general the number of growth points increases. On the Tree of Worlds ST, each growth point represents a separate world of Cosmos (more precisely, Creations).

Second law - The depths are touching  - is a direct consequence of the First. If the World Space is truly not chaos, but the Tree of Elections, then at a deep level everything stays in connection with everything. For God, everything is NOW and HERE. The moment when the alternative elections carried out were not yet far removed (seedlings of the trunk and root), continues to exist along with the moment when they are already separated by a huge distance (the top of the root and the top of the trunk of a century-old tree). Can a speck of dust from the root, washed away by underground water, be brought to the surface and, further, picked up by the wind, fly to the surface of the crown? Even assuming the likelihood of this trip - how long will it take? But this is the case in the case of travel in the external environment. The inner, deep path conjoins the root and crown almost instantly. The life-giving root juices go to the leaves, and leaf juices go to the roots. And the speed of this movement of life, which seems to be well-known, is so great that it makes us assume the presence of the Hidden Power. An analogy from the field of medicine: it is shown when a person begins to inject a drug into the bloodstream - it is already through fractions of a second  (!) Acts on his brain. Neither the blood flow velocity, nor, especially, osmosis through the filtering walls of blood vessels and the blood-brain (blood-brain) barrier can be so high from the point of view of physics. So precisely, in the Universe there is a “dimension” that instantly connects the Depths of very far-apart worlds. By the Depth of a planet or star, the teaching of the Closed Cross means a point spatially coinciding with the geometric center of a given celestial body, but not identical to it, since it belongs to “other dimensions”. The race possessing this knowledge called the Depth a point Alva. Therefore, its representatives themselves - “who came from the point of Alva” - were called alvami.

The depths are touching. Therefore, according to the teaching of ST, the Depth of the Sun is the same as the Depth of the Moon, as the Depth of the Earth, as the Depth of all stars ... That is, the point Alva is unique. She is incorruptible Primordial seed  World Tree - Sun Of the universe.

The cosmogonic teachings of the Ancients about the Alva point are currently forgotten by humanity and is not known otherwise than within the Tradition. However, some traces of it can be found in the writings of the sages of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

So, Philolaus of Croton  (student Pythagoraswho was called Hyperborean) was talking about World Fire  or Outbreak of the universe. Under this Philolaus understood a certain call center  (or just the Center?) of the Sun, the Earth, and Anti-earth  and other worlds. Thus, Filolaus's treatise “On Nature”, which has lost much in rewriting, preserves, perhaps, the oldest of the surviving traces of the Hyperborean doctrine of the World Tree.

No less interesting in this sense is that place of Aurora Jacob Boehme, where it is said about the “root” of the Sun, representing at the same time the “root and mother” of all stars. Apparently, the “Teutonic philosopher” was initiated in ST. At least, he speaks of the Sun of the Universe much more clearly than some Eastern schools that inherited the ancient North. The dark already echo of Hyperborean wisdom remains the teachings of the East on the earthly sun as just a mirror circled around the Earth, and this mirror reflects the light of the true Sun of the Universe, around which the Earth and all the planets of the Cosmos revolve.

Third law  reads: the measure of contact is Love.

Observing our own soul, we notice: it cannot come into contact with something (to truly understand something) if it does not like it. Bias leads to a flawed understanding. And on the contrary, how great is the soul’s ability to experience “advance” sympathy for the subject of cognition, so full and voluminous will be this cognition, contact.

The Northern Tradition teaches: just as the soul cognizes any particular object, the Wanderers race cognizes any particular world on the World Tree. In principle, all the worlds of the Tree are accessible to those who own the art of traveling through the worlds. But the degree to which each particular world is accessible is determined by the degree of ability to love the Wanderer race.

This very concept of the Ancients - the degree of accessibility of the world - in our time of a planar idea of \u200b\u200bthe world is perplexing. Let’s explain. According to the teaching of ST, the planet, if you look at it “from the fourth dimension”, is not one, but an unlimited set of concentric (as if enclosed one into another) spheres. And the inhabitants of each sphere believe that it is the only true surface, and below there is only subsoil, and above there is only air. (That is, this is the “scientific” point of view. The “religious” point of view, and it coincides with almost all peoples, believes just that “hellish circles” are located below “this world” and “heavenly spheres” above.) Earth , as we know it, in three-dimensional space there is a body like a ball. In the “four-dimensional”, it is only one of the many sections of the Hypersphere, representing this World on the Tree of Worlds. That is, in “parallel spaces” there are still concentric spheres of a larger and smaller radius. They can be called mirami, Unlike Mira  in general, which they make up.

A trace of this doctrine of the Ancients is preserved in the shamanistic practices of the northern peoples. Using magical techniques, shamans travel to the “lower world” or to the “upper world”. (Note that the shamans' vestments or tambourines always depict the symbols of the World Tree.)

The smaller the radius of the sphere, the narrower the horizon and the poorer the sky. The inhabitants of the lower spheres are not visible to some planets and constellations known to us. On the contrary, those who inhabit the upper spaces (“celestials”, from our point of view) are open to contemplation of the luminary, of which we know nothing.

Further. There are a great many races-inhabitants of the World Tree. But not everyone is accessible to all areas of any world, which they would like to master. From the point of Alva, wanderers fall primarily in the most lower  spheres and most often those are presented to them as monster worlds. (Topic monsters guarding the entrance, topic fighting monsters  - common plots of legends of all nations.)

Not without losses, those who arrived succeeded in creating an outpost at the level they reached. And under the protection of this outpost, a breakthrough to the next level can be prepared - the continuation of the Wandering. Then it becomes possible to transfer to spheres of a wider radius. An outpost should also be organized there so that it is possible to ascend to the next step.

But climbing is not endless. When an alien finds himself in a sphere whose population has a level of sincere warmth (ability to love) no less than his own, further ascent becomes no longer possible. Such is the law of the World Tree: something powerful prevents the entry into the higher spheres of the worlds of creatures that would themselves appear to the inhabitants of their monsters.

Such a force can be called immune. Perhaps a comparison from the field of physics would also be suitable - with the law density. A ball filled with air floats out from under the water and floats on its surface, but does not rise further. Similarly, everything in Creation finds a place corresponding to the “floating density” of its composition. (Perhaps when Aristotle said that everything in the Universe aspires to its “natural place” and occupies it, he had in mind more than the medieval scholastics and our contemporaries found in his writings. It was not for nothing that he was a student of Plato. Which , according to Tradition, he was initiated in St. And not just anywhere, but in the bowels of the Great Pyramid. Some information about this initiation is also given by Manley P. Hall.) Cosmos appears as exactly Cosmos, order, and not as chaos - precisely because The “subtle” is separated in it from the “dense”.

  TREE, TREE  - a symbol of life and a model of the universe.

Different nations tree symbolism  served as a means of describing the world. Tree  isomorphic to the world axis. The ancient Slavs tree roots  - Nav, that is, the underworld, the trunk is reality, that is, the earth, the crown is right, that is, heaven. Another isomorphic character a tree, - a cross. A cross in vertical section corresponds to a tree trunk, and in horizontal - to branches. According to biblical tradition the tree of Life  was planted in the center of earthly paradise. The mythology of the fall is related to another tree growing in paradise - tree of knowledge of good and evil. Having eaten the fruits of knowledge, man has lost the gift of immortality. Cosmology in Jewish Kabbalah is expressed through symbolism sephiroth tree. Like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it has an ambivalent, dual nature. The idea of \u200b\u200bduality is expressed by the symbols “trunk of the left hand” and “trunk of the right hand”, between which the “middle trunk” rises. Guard the way to the tree  life at the entrance to Eden was placed with a fiery sword in the hands of a cherub-tetramorph, symbolizing the synthesis of the four primary elements. According to the medieval legend of the life-giving cross, the cherub was made from tree trunkknowledge. This traces the connection between the idea of \u200b\u200b"fall" and the idea of \u200b\u200b"atonement." Known images of Christ crucified on the World Tree.

Chinese mythology mentioned tree, the branches of which are intertwined in pairs, symbolizing the merging of opposites or the dissolution of the dual in the one. The Chinese ideograms denoting the sunset correspond to the mark of the Sun hanging over tree  at the end of the day, the same combination symbolized the end of the cycle. Tricuspid treecarrying three suns on its branches, in Hindu semiotics was a symbol of Trimurti. The Celtic priests, the Druids, attached particular importance to the mysticism of the tree. It was believed that each person corresponds to a certain type tree. If you correctly establish such a correspondence, you can predict the fate of a person, effectively carry out his healing. In the symbolism of the Apocalypse The tree of Life  brings 12 fruits. In ancient mythology fruit of the tree  life corresponded to the golden apples of the Hesperides garden. The golden fleece of the Argonauts also hung on   treeguarded by a snake or dragon.

Along with the cross equivalent tree  was a mountain. About perception tree  as a symbol of life, the following metaphor of I. Goethe testifies: "Dry theory, my friend, and the tree of life is always green." Most ancient gods tree  was an indispensable attribute of power. So sacred tree  Osiris was a cedar, Dionysus - ivy and pine, Apollo - a laurel, etc.

Tree  It has long been one of the main symbols of fertility and vital energy. It served as a symbol of plant consciousness.

Deciduous treechanging foliage every year is a symbol of the renewal of life. Evergreen tree  - a sign of immortality.

Trees  planted in cemeteries symbolize the victory of life over death.   Different types of trees  used by different peoples as a poetic metaphor. So, the symbol of Russia was birch, Germany - linden, Scandinavia - pine, Canada - maple, etc. The history of the genus is usually depicted in the form of a family tree.

Tree  - Symbolizes full manifestation; synthesis of heaven, earth and water; dynamic life as a contrast to the static stone; simultaneously axis and imago mundi; middle treeconnecting the three worlds, making communication between them possible and giving access to solar forces; omphal and center of the world. Tree  also means feminine; food, shelter, protection and support provided by the Great Mother; the power of the inexhaustible and fertile waters that it controls. Trees often stylized as a female figure. Submerged in the bowels of the earth, in contact with the waters in its center, the tree grows in the world of Time, growing rings as an indicator of its age, and its branches reach heaven and eternity, symbolizing the differences in terms of manifestations of the material world.

Evergreen tree  means endless life, undying spirit and immortality. Summer tree  - this is a world in infinite renewal and expectation, the principle of dying to live, resurrection, reproduction, the world of life. Both tree  symbolizes a different in a single, many branches growing from one root and again returning to a single in the potential of the seed of the fetus. Space Tree  depicted either with diverging and converging branches, or having two trunks and a single root, which indicates the universality of the manifestations of the material world, going from unity to diversity and back to unity. The unity of Heaven and Earth can also be transmitted through two treesconnected by one branch on which the shoot grows, symbolizing the unity of complementary principles (male and female, and t, n,) or androgyne. Two trees  one of which is a reflection of the other, have the same symbolism. As the world axis, the tree is associated with a mountain and a column, that is, with everything that has axial symbolism. Tree, like a grove, grief, stone and water, can symbolize the cosmos in its entirety of its connections.

Cosmic treeoften depicted growing on top of a mountain, and sometimes at the top of a column. Tree symbols  are a column, pole, serrated pole, branch, etc., They are often depicted accompanied by a snake, bird, stars, fruits and various lunar animals. Treesthat bear the fruits of life are sacred. These include vine, mulberry tree, peach, dates, almonds and sesame seeds.

The Tree of Life  and Tree of knowledge  grow in paradise. The first grows in its center and means restoration, return to original perfection. This is the cosmic axis, symbolizing unity beyond good and evil. The second tree is obviously dual, for the fruits of good and evil grow on it. In many traditions, this correlates with the primitive man and his loss of paradise, as well as with the phases of the waning and rising moon, death and rebirth.

The Tree of Life  It also symbolizes the beginning and end of the cycle: it has twelve fruits (sometimes ten), which are forms of the sun and which will appear simultaneously at the end of the cycle as manifestations of the One. Immortality can be gained by tasting the fruit with The Tree of Life (a peach of immortality growing in the middle of the Taoist-Buddhist Western Paradise), or after drinking the moisture obtained from this Tree  (Iranian haoma). Tree  Cognition is often depicted as a vine (in vino veritas). Trees  paradise, strewn with flowers instead of flowers or fruit, are mentioned in descriptions of Indian, Sumerian, Chinese and Japanese paradise. A dying god is always killed on a tree.

Inverted tree  It is a widespread symbol of magical action: its upward roots symbolize the foundations, and the branches - their realization in the manifestations of the material world. At the same time, the high falls and the low rises, which personifies the reflection in each other of the earthly and heavenly worlds, the return of knowledge to their foundations. Moreover, inverted tree  may mean the Sun sending its rays to the Earth, the downward-pointing force of Heaven, inspiration. In initiation ceremonies, it symbolizes the reverse movement and death of the initiate. On the urns with the ashes of the dead inverted tree  symbolizes death. Sephiroth Tree  often portrayed upside down. Tree of lightor shining in the night Heaven treesymbolizes rebirth, and candles and lamps on this tree  - souls. This symbolism can be traced back to buddhist tree  at the festival of the dead, the Christian Christmas tree, the pine of Attis and Dionysus, the Teutonic fir tree of Woden, on which the lights and luminous balls symbolize the sun, moon and stars on the branches Space tree. Gifts hung on such trees, were sacrifices to Dionysus and Attis, Atargitis and Cybele. Woden gave gifts to those who honored him a tree. On its branches a sacred bird is often depicted. Fresh Dew Tree, or Singing tree  located on top of the Sacred Mountain and is the world axis. Tree entwined with a snake, symbolize, respectively, axis mundi and cycles of manifestations of the material world. Snake or dragon guarding tree, mean the difficulty of familiarizing with wisdom. On the other hand, a snake can seduce a man or woman to acquire immortality or knowledge by procuring the fruit of it. tree  for them and for themselves too. Tree, the stone and the altar together symbolize the microcosm, where the stone represents the eternal and unchanging, and tree  - transient and volatile. Tree  can personify any deity and be his herald, like the Dodona oak, the blazing bush of Moses or the sounds at the tops of mulberries (2 Permanent to samarit, 5). Trees with ten or twelve birds symbolize the solar cycle, and with three birds - the moon phases. Climbing a tree means moving from one ontological plane to another, ascending to the gods in Heaven or to a higher reality, gaining esoteric knowledge through going beyond the world. In shamanism, you can reach other areas and gain magical knowledge by climbing poles, creepers, bean stalks or other climbing plants. Curved tree  It is considered sacred and can have a positive or negative magical effect on a person. In alchemy, a tree  means prima materia, the cause and result of the Work. Among the Arabs the zodiac is symbolized fruit tree  with twelve branches, the fruits of which are stars. Australian Aboriginal World Tree  supports the arch of heaven, and its branches are strewn with stars. Buddhists have a fig tree, sacred ficus or bo tree(Ficus religiosa), under which the Buddha gained enlightenment, is the Sacred Center. Tree  - a symbol of the Great Awakening, the Tree of Great Wisdom, the essence of the Buddha. Its roots go deep into stability,. whose flowers are moral acts. whose fruits are virtues (Buddhakarita). In the Celtic epic, different trees are considered sacred: oak, birch, hazel, ash, yew. Druid Oak  and mistletoe  symbolize masculine and feminine. Jesus appears at the willow. Gallic alder and yew are considered sacred trees, and Irish holly, yew and Gaelic mountain ash have magical powers. Kentigern or Mungo is associated with a tree. The Chinese Tree of Life  different trees are considered. Sometimes it is a peach, mulberry or plum, and in Taiwan and among the Miao tribes - bamboo. The tree of Lifeas well Fresh Dew Tree, grows on top of the sacred mountain Kun-Lun and is the world axis. Under the branches Annual tree  depicts twelve beasts symbolizing the constellations and Symbolic Animals of the Twelve Earthly Branches. Trees with pairs of interwoven branchessymbolize the combination of pairs of opposites or pairs of lovers. Ideographic image sun with tree  means sunset; if the sun is resting on a tree  - end of cycle; the sun that has fallen to the roots of a tree, - darkness; a tree with ten suns - the end of the cycle.   In Christianity, a tree  is a person’s image, since it will bear both fruits of good and evil. On the other hand, it is a symbol of resurrection, as it carries renewal through the death of Christ on a wooden cross, which was made of Tree of knowledge, and, thus, salvation and life were found on the same tree, because of which the fall and death occurred, and the conqueror was subdued. The cross is sometimes identified with Middle treeas the vertical axis of the relationship between heaven and earth. In medieval Christian symbolism was known The tree of the living and the dead  bearing the fruits of good and evil, growing on its different sides. His trunk was Christ as the symbol of the central cross at Calvary. it tree  was the emblem of Saint Zenobia. The Egyptians have a Sycamore Tree of Life  has magical hands full of gifts, and pours water from a vessel as a symbol of fertility. Hathor may be depicted as treegiving food and survival. The tree-like heather enclosed the coffin of Osiris. In Jewish Kabbalah, the Tree of God  symbolizes all creation and the material world. The dew of light expires with The tree of life, and with her help the dead are resurrected. In the Sephiroth Tree, the columns of the right and left hand symbolize duality, and the central column balances them and restores unity. Often it is portrayed upside down. The Tree of Life  stretches from top to bottom and is the Sun that illuminates everything (Zohar). This tree has its own rich symbolism. Jewish Tree of Life  growing in the middle of the Holy City. Indians have cosmos - this is a huge tree, whose roots go into the underworld, the trunk is in the earthly world, and the branches are in heaven. Brahman was a tree, Brahman was a tree from which Heaven and Earth were created (Taitti-ria of Brahman). This deity is in a manifested state. Cosmic Tree  sometimes depicted growing from Space eggfloating in the Ocean of Chaos. The Tree of Life  is Aditi, the essence of personality, while Diti (separation) is dualistic Tree of knowledge, or Samsara, who chopped Vishnu with his ax. Aditya, the twelve signs of the zodiac and months of the year, are symbolized a tree with twelve suns,  which will appear simultaneously at the end of the cycle as a manifestation of the One. Sometimes portrayed   two trees with trunks stacked on top of each other: one tree is heavenly and the other is earthly. This means that they are only a reflection of each other, two sides of one essence. Triple tree with three suns  symbolizes trimurti. Burning bush  becomes Cosmic Tree  in the Vedic fiery symbolism of Agni, which is also associated with tree like a sacrificial column.  On Mount Meru grows tree  Para-jita, which fills the whole world with the aroma of its flowers. The Rig Veda mentions inverted Aswatha tree. Iranian Space tree  There are seven branches: gold, silver, bronze, copper, tin, steel and iron alloy. They symbolize the seven stages of history and seven planets, each of which rules the world for a thousand years. The symbolism of two trees can also be traced here: the white haoma, the celestial tree growing on top of the sacred mountain and the axis of the world Alborj, and the yellow tree, which is the earthly reflection of the haoma. The walnut tree is also considered the Tree of Life.  In Zoroastrianism there are also two trees: Solar Eagle Treegrown from the primary ocean, and Tree of All Seeds  - the embryos of all living things. Muslims Tree of blessing, which is neither East nor West, and therefore correlates with the Center and symbolizes spiritual blessing and insight, the light of Allah, by which he sanctifies the earth. This is a tree  - Olive, which provides both food and oil for lamps. Inverted Tree of Happinessrooted in the highest heavens and spread its branches over the whole earth. From this Heaven tree  Tuba or Sidra, growing in the center of paradise, flows four rivers with water, milk, honey and wine.   Tree Lotsymbolizes an impenetrable border. Cosmic tree  grows on top of the Cosmic Mountain and symbolizes the entire universe. The Japanese Tree of Life  - This is the mythological Sakati. Bonsai trees  symbolize nature in its simplicity and wisdom. The peoples of Mexico Cosmic tree  - agave - a cactus that exudes milk, which together with the falcon symbolizes the power of the sun or the liberation of the new moon. In Mithraism   The Tree of Life  - Pine. In Scandinavians it is yggdrazil or ash. Lerad tree  grows against the walls of Valhalla, and the goat Heydrum plucks young shoots on its branches and gives the soldiers honey for drinking. In shamanism, the Tree of Life  - birch with seven branches. Sometimes it can be stylized with a pole with seven marks symbolizing seven planets and seven stages of ascension to heaven, while its branches represent the stellar arch. In the Sumerian-Semitic tradition The Tree of Life  symbolizes cosmic renewal, it has seven branches - seven planets and seven heavens. Around babylonian Tree of Life  the universe revolves, its branches are made of lapis lazuli, and on them are wonderful fruits. The pine tree is dedicated to the Phrygian Attis. Palm - Tree of Life of Babylon, Phenicia and Chaldea.  The vine is dedicated to the Babylonian Siduri and is considered assyrian Tree of Life. Akkadian willow is dedicated to Akkadian Zeus, and palm, pomegranate and cypress - sacred Semitic trees. Syrian Ashtoret and Astarte can be symbolized by a non-conic tree trunk. The Taoists Immortality Tree  - peach. Trees with pairs of interwoven branches or with one common branch  symbolize pairs of opposites, yin and yang in a single Tao. The Teutons have the Tree of Life- Spruce Vodana, and later - linden. Spruce has become a New Year tree.

THE TREE OF LIFE  - Slavic religious symbol.

TREE
   The highest natural symbol of dynamic growth, seasonal dying and regeneration. In various cultures, many trees were considered sacred or magical. Respect for the magical power of trees is based on primitive beliefs that gods and spirits live in them. The symbolism of animated trees has been preserved in European folklore in the images of a human tree or a green man. In fairy tales, trees can both protect and fulfill desires, or obstruct and be frightening and even demonic creatures.
   With the development of mythology, the idea of \u200b\u200ba mighty tree, which forms the central axis of the stream of divine energy connecting the supernatural and natural worlds, has become a symbolic image of the Tree of Life or the Cosmic Tree. Its roots are immersed in the waters of the underworld, and, passing through the earth, it reaches heaven. This symbol is found in almost all nations. The Tree of Life often became a metaphor for the creation of the world.
  In many traditions, it grows on a sacred mountain or in paradise. A source of spiritual energy can flow from under its roots. The snake that has encircled its trunk represents a spiraling energy coming from the earth, or serves as a symbol of destruction. Nests of birds in the crown of a tree are emblems of souls and heavenly messengers. With the help of the Tree of Life, humanity rises from a lower level of development to spiritual enlightenment, salvation, or liberation from the circle of being.
  The medieval images of Christ crucified on a tree, and not on the cross, relate precisely to this, more ancient than Christian, symbolism. Deuteronomy says that the fate of a damned person is to be hanged on a tree. Thus, the crucifixion on a tree reinforces the symbolism of salvation through the crucifixion of Christ, who took upon himself all the sins of the world. This image combines the Tree of Knowledge (Fall) with the Tree of Life.
By its very form, a tree is a symbol of development, its branches, representing diversity, depart from the trunk, which is a symbol of unity. In Indian iconography, a tree sprouted from a cosmic egg represents Brahma creating the material world. On the contrary, the inverted Cosmic Tree, whose roots feed on the spiritual energy of heaven and spread it into the outside world and down, is a favorite image in Kabbalism and other forms of mysticism and magic. An inverted tree is also often used in genealogy schemes.
  In many traditions, the Tree of Life depicts stars, lights, globes or fruits, symbolizing the planets or cycles of the sun and moon. The lunar symbolism of trees is also common - the moon draws water in the same way that juices rise up the tree. The fruit of the Tree of Life can also symbolize immortality. In China, for example, it is a peach. Many other fruit trees are represented as the Tree of Life - sycamore in Egypt; almonds - in Iran; olive, palm or pomegranate - in other regions of Central Asia and in the Semitic tradition. This cosmic symbolism, apparently, comes from more primitive cults in which the trees were the incarnations of the fertile Mother Earth. For this reason, despite their phallic verticality, trees carry female symbolism. Thus, in Egyptian iconography, the sacred fig was identified with the goddess Hathor, who was depicted as a tree giving food and water.

The fertility rites of Mother Earth's fertility spell were usually associated with deciduous trees falling in the fall, their bare branches in the winter and their heyday in the spring - a suitable symbol of the seasonal cycles of death and rebirth. The exception was the worship of Attis in Asia Minor and later in the Greco-Roman world. Attis's emblem tree was a pine, the main symbol of immortality. Attis's death (from castration) and rebirth were celebrated by tearing off the pine needles and wrapping them with wool. Probably, from here comes the tradition of decorating the Maypole - the rite of fertility spell. Dualism in tree symbolism is usually represented by twin trees or a tree with a split trunk. In the legend of Tristan and Isolde, intertwined trees grew from their grave. In the Middle East, the dualistic symbolism of the tree prevails - the Tree of Life grows next to the Tree of Death. This is the biblical Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, whose forbidden fruit, which was tasted by Eve in the garden of Eden, brought to mankind the curse of mortality.
   ACACIA
A symbol of immortality, especially in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Acacias were used in the construction of crayfish and donors in temples. Some believe that it was from acacia that the prickly crown of Jesus Christ was woven. Red and white flowers of acacia symbolize the unity of life and death. A hooked stick made of acacia was used by freemasons in initiation ceremonies and as a mourning attribute.
   BANYAN
   Sacred tree of india; perhaps it was the banyan tree that became the initial model for the “inverted” Cosmic Tree of Hindus and Buddhists. Through the naked "air roots" of the banyan tree, according to their idea, the transcendental spirit of the universe gathers and concentrates. Sometimes among the many "air roots" temples are arranged.

BIRCH
   The healing, protecting tree in the north of Europe and among Asian peoples, the sacred tree of the Germanic gods Thor and Freya, and in the east the main element of the shamanistic rites in which it plays the role of the Cosmic Tree, connecting the earthly and spiritual levels of the universe. The central pole of round Asian tents (yurts) was made of birch, which made it a sacred tree in the rituals of initiation, a symbol of man’s spiritual ascent through life, as well as cosmic energy.
  In Russia, birch symbolizes spring and girlhood, is the emblem of young women; she is planted near houses to summon good spirits. The ability to cast out evil spirits, attributed to the birch, was probably the reason that witches were slashed with birch rods during the rituals of expelling the demon. Birch is the official national tree of Estonia.
   HAWTHORN
   In Europe, since ancient times, the tree and its flowers have been endowed with magical properties and associated with the name of the god of marriage Hymen. Flowers used for wedding wreaths, wood for wedding torches.
  The association between its spring bloom and virginity has led to the popular belief that it advocates chastity. For others, the faint fishy smell of its flowers foreshadowed death if brought into the house.
   Elderberry (SAMBUK)
   In Northern Europe, especially in Denmark, it was considered a magic tree. They believed that making furniture from its wood was a bad sign.
   BRANCH (BITCH)
   The branches carried the symbolism of the tree from which they were cut, which was widely used in spring ceremonies in honor of the fertility gods. Swinging a branch of a palm or olive was considered a sign of triumph during the processions.
White mistletoe branches are a widespread symbol of rebirth, especially in the Celtic regions. The flowering branch was an allegory of logic in Western medieval iconography.
   CHERRY
   The emblem of the samurai, possibly related to the structure of this fruit, is a hard bone under the blood-red skin and flesh. In China, the cherry tree is a symbol of good luck, spring and virginity; the vulva is called the "spring cherry." In Christonography, cherry is sometimes depicted instead of an apple as a fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; sometimes Christ is portrayed with cherries in his hand.
   Ginkgo
   Sacred tree in china; growing near temples, symbolized immortality - thanks to its ancient history and longevity. Ginkgo was especially associated with Japan, where it was a symbol of devotion - according to legend, ginkgo is ready to die for his master. Since it was said that ginkgo helps the appearance of milk in women, it was also considered a happy tree for nursing mothers.
   WALNUT
   Like other nut-bearing trees, it symbolizes fertility and wisdom or prophecy - knowledge hidden inside a solid outer shell. Walnuts were a traditional treat at the December Solstice and the emblem of fertility at ancient Roman weddings. In China, they have been associated with courtship.
   PEAR
   Symbol of love and motherhood. The symbolism originated probably from the shape of the pear, resembling the hip part of the female body or chest. In ancient times, it was considered an attribute of the ancient Greek goddesses Hera (in Roman mythology of Juno) and Aphrodite (Venus). In China, this fruit is a symbol of longevity for the reason that pear trees live and bear fruit for a long time. Since white was considered mourning in China, a flowering pear was a funeral attribute.

Charm Tree of Life every nation has one form or another, but it is in Slavic mythology that it occupies a special position. Its main task is to protect humanity, nourish the family and home with powerful positive energy, the amount of which is almost unlimited, because the earth itself feeds it. Such a Slavic amulet will strengthen love relationships, improve understanding of children and parents, protect the family from ailments, damage and an evil look.

The meaning of the talisman Tree of Life

Preserved the Tree of Life, the description and significance of which in the culture of each nation has its own, it is, first of all, a sign of the unification of worlds - earthly and heavenly. Everything is explained very simply - the branches of a tree stretch upward, receiving solar energy, and the person in this is similar to him - he also needs a constant supply of cosmic energy. The Slavic charm of the Tree of Life, the meaning of which is understandable, is a collective way of life, development, growth. No less often, the symbol of the Tree is comparable with the symbol of the genus, and it is not for nothing that the concept of a "family tree" exists. Each person is connected by an invisible bond with his ancestors, who give him positive energy, protect him from negative influences.

No less often, the meaning of the Tree of Life amulet is interpreted as a symbol of immortality, since nothing disappears irrevocably in nature - everything is reborn, changed, energy still remains, only changing (the classical law of physics is visible). The symbol of the Tree of Life is the connection of the energy of the cosmos with man.

When and who should wear the Tree of Life

The Slavic charm of the Tree of Life is a talisman for protecting the family and home. It gathers the positive energy of the ancestors and the clan. Everyone knows perfectly well that the source of generic energy is inexhaustible, since it is directly connected with the divine principle. The Tree of Life is a universal amulet, since its main purpose is to protect the family and home from ailments, scandals, an evil eye, troubles. It is worth remembering that this symbol has a very powerful positive protective energy, so it’s worth considering the acquisition of such a family talisman.