Tree of life

See also Tree of Life for other meanings of the term.

The Tree of Life is a mystical concept, a metaphor for common descent, and a motif in various world theologies and philosophies.

Hypothetical and fictional "trees of life"

Various forms of "trees of life" appear in folklore, culture and fiction. These often hold cultural and religious significance to the peoples for whom they appear.

Assyria

The Assyrian Tree of Life is represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It is an important religious symbol among these peoples. It is often attended to by Eagle Headed Gods/Priests or the King himself.

China

In China, carvings of a tree with a bird on top and a dragon at the bottom were discovered fairly recently. The dragon, of course, often represents immortality in Chinese mythology.

Germanic paganism

In Germanic paganism, trees played (and, in the form of reconstructive Heathenry and Germanic neopaganism, continue to play) a prominent role in Germanic paganism, appearing in various aspects of surviving texts and possibly in deity names.

The tree of life appears in Norse religion as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree) with extensive lore surrounding it.
Perhaps related to the Yggdrasil, accounts have survived of Germanic Tribes honoring sacred trees within their societies. Examples include Thor's Oak, Sacred groves and the Irminsul.

Hebraic monotheism

The Tree of Life is mentioned in both the Books of Genesis, in which it grants immortality to Adam and Eve, and Revelation, in which it is referred to as the Word of Life. (It is not immediately obvious nor is it universally accepted that the Book of Genesis account and the Book of Revelation account speak of the same tree of life. The apostle John, generally recognized as the author of the Book of Revelation, most likely had in mind Ezekiel 47:12 which also reinforces the idea that the singular tree in the Garden of Eden has now expanded to an orchard of Trees of Life.)
A tree of life in the form of ten interconnected nodes is an important part of the Kabbalah.
The tree of life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi 8:10-12). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23) and sometimes understood as salvation and post-mortal existence.

Japan

In Shinto, trees were marked with sacred paper symbolizing lightning bolts, as trees were thought to be sacred. This was propagated by the fact that after they passed, ancestors and animals were often portrayed as branches on the Tree.

Mesoamerican

In Mayan mythology the center of the universe is associated with a tree of life, Whac Chan, symbolised by a great ceiba tree that is uniting the nine levels of Xibalba, the underworld, with the surface of the Earth and the thirteen heavens.

Modern use

Fiction

In C. S. Lewis "Chronicles of Narnia", the Tree-of-Life also plays an important role especialy in his first book (The Magician's Nephew).
The Tree-of-Life also appears in Larry Niven's Known Space novels.
In the Warcraft unverse, the tree of life is a Night elf tree largely inspired by the Yggdrasil, granting energy to its surroundings.
In the Anime movie Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai) the auditorium in the old sunken part of Newport City shows one of the walls of the building bearing one type of the Tree of Life being shot at by a tank from the base of it up, stopping at "Hominus".
In the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangelion) the tree of life appears many times, both during the intro and in Gendo Ikari's office ceiling and floor.
In Homeworld there is a map called the tree of life, probably named after the distinctive shape that the space dust forms.
The solitary tree in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is often thought to be a representation of the Tree-of-Life.
The theme of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain centers around immortality given by the Tree of Life.

Science

The tree of life (in an evolutionary context) describes the relationships of all life on Earth. Charles Darwin talks about envisioning evolution and ecosystems as a "Tangled Bank" in The Origin of Species however the book's sole illustration is of a branched diagram that is very tree like. See evolutionary tree and phylogenetic tree.
The Tree of Life on the Web is an ongoing Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity, produced by biologists from around the world. Each page contains information about one group of organisms and is organized according to a branched tree-like form, thus showing hypothetical relationships between organisms and groups of organisms.
The phrase the tree of life is often used in association with the DNA molecule, and has sometimes been associated with the maternal placenta.

Physical "trees of life"

The Tule tree in modern times is a real tree in Oaxaca. It can be found in Aztec mythology, as a Tule tree.
There is a Tree of Life in the island country of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.
Disney's Animal Kingdom contains an artificial "tree of life" statue as a centerpiece.

External links

v t e Origin of life
History of research	Panspermia (5th century BC) Spontaneous generation (4th century BC) Primordial soup (19th century)
Prebiotic synthesis	Pseudo-panspermia Miller–Urey experiment Formamide-based prebiotic chemistry Alternative abiogenesis scenarios
Protocells	GADV-protein world Clay hypothesis Iron–sulfur world Primordial sandwich PAH world Peptide-RNA world Quasispecies model RNA world
Earliest organisms	Earliest known life forms Last universal common ancestor (LUCA)
Research	Astrobiology Paleobiology