Tree of Life

A paper given at the International Symposium on the Environment in Seoul, Korea (7 December 2018), where the keynote speaker was His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. After some introductory remarks, my paper focuses on St Maximos the Confessor's interpretation of the two trees in paradise, which figures prominently in his introduction to the Responses to Thalassios.

Scholars have only recently started to study ilanot (lit., “trees”), the cosmographic genre constituted by the wedding of kabbalistic diagrams—the trees of the metonymic name—and large parchment sheets. Differences of kabbalistic opinion naturally found expression in these “maps of God.” The Sabbatean messianic movement of the 1660s and its prolonged and impactful afterlife produced, among other things, a number of distinctive kabbalistic opinions. For the most part, these innovations were tightly integrated with the speculations associated with “Lurianic” Kabbalah based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria (1534–1572). The great Lurianic ilanot were designed and circulated in the second third of the seventeenth century, not long before the emergence of Sabbateanism, but their golden age was “the long eighteenth century”—a British coinage for roughly 1660–1830—and thus coincided with the profound and pervasive absorption of Sabbatean elements in precisely those sectors that produced and consumed these artifacts, including nascent Hasidism. The deceptively simple question at the heart of this article is this: What would it mean to diagram Sabbateanism? Or to put it another way, what would constitute a Sabbatean ilan? How might distinctive Sabbatean ideas have found diagrammatic expression in this genre? Once identified as such, what do Sabbatean ilanot tell us about the meanings of Sabbateanism in the contexts within which they were produced?

The aim of this text is not to prove a linear academic thesis, yet to record a spectrum of homologies and resonances across the history of the tree as a symbolic and logic form. The inspiration for this sort of Warburgian excursus comes from the simple recognition that a plant is found at the centre of ancient cosmologies as much as at the centre of modern epistemologies. The tree form has been adopted to support religious architectures as much as the abstract world of logic. " We're tired of trees " remarked, though, the French philosophers Deleuze and Guattari in 1980, especially after reading Julien Pacotte's book Le réseau arborescent, schème primordial de la pensée (The arborescent network, primordial diagram of thought). Already in 1936 Pacotte explored the abstract tree form in disciplines such as mathematics, biology and chemistry. He believed that the ramifying network is a " universal aspect of intimate reality " and " the very foundation of formal thought ". 1 In any case the enslavement of a natural form says more about political and social structures and hierarchies of human knowledge than about the mind itself. As much as other biomorphic symbols, the tree figure is but a mirror of the human and through the inversion of its branches we discern the society of its time.

This is a commentary on a Fairy Tale, which I believe was written as a commentary on the sacred scriptures.  This Fairy Tale about the WHITE SNAKE is liken to a Catholic partaking of the Eucharist and obtaining Christ consciousness.  This Fairy Tale shows how the initiate goes from living in the real world to living in Christ consciousness.

In 2010, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society released the brochures, "The Origin of Life: Five Questions Worth Asking" and "Was Life Created?" While the focus of this Critique is dominantly on the former brochure, at times reference is made to the latter. The science is complex and well beyond most to comprehend. This Critique, "The Origin of Life: Five Questions Worth Asking" FAILS TO DELIVER, does not venture deeply into the technicalities of the science-it examines how the brochure handles and presents information. Does the brochure do this fairly and openly? Are its conclusions valid? Does the brochure provide the information in the manner that enables its readers to make a genuinely informed decision? This Critique considers information that the brochure did not present but should have.

A tree identified as the Tree of Life appears in 1 En. 24.3–25.6; 2 En. 8.3–7; 3 En. 5.1; 23.18; 48D.8. In (Ethiopic) 1 Enoch, this tree is not called the Tree of Life, but it is described in such sublime terms that scholars at least since Dillmann have identified it as such.  The tree is located at the earthly throne of God. It is superlatively fragrant and inaccessible until the judgement day, after which the righteous and holy will enjoy it, and it will be planted toward the house of the Lord. The tree’s fragrance shall give the righteous long life on earth. In 2 (Slavonic) Enoch, the Tree of Life is indescribably and incomparably excellent and sweet-smelling. This cosmic Tree is in the paradise in the third heaven (8.1), where the Lord rests. In 3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch (5.1), the Tree of Life provides shelter for the cherub upon whom the Shekinah dwelled after the expulsion of Adam. The righteous and godly are to inherit the garden of Eden and the Tree of Life (23.18). The Tree is one of the creations made by the secret of Metatron (48D.8).

In several versions of " Introduction to Aristotle's Categories " (" The Isagoge ") we find very intriguing diagram of the "Tree of Porphyry". This diagram is closely linked with the square of opposition (logical square), natural tree with vegetative ornaments and the anthropomorphic figure. Porphyry took over Aristotle's division into five predicables (quinque praedicabilia) and defined them through five classes (species, genus, differentia, propria, accidentia) and from them he created scala praedicamentalis (Arbor Porphyriana). The Neoplatonic-Aristotelianism of Porphyry influenced the return of interest in Aristotle's logic in the Middle Ages through translations of Boethius and Al-Farabi. Their works of logic were the basis for the study of many topics, especially those related to theology. Later diagrams with the natural tree and human figure (syndesmos) are found in the 13th century in "Tractatus" (" Summulae Logicales ") written by Peter of Spain under different names such as: Tree of Love, Tree of Life, Tree of Science, Tree of Knowledge etc. Christian mysticism (Mystical theology), Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) was deeply influenced by Neoplatonic philosophy and within these mystical traditions we find different variations of the diagram aswell. Under the influence of the concept of Neoplatonic procession and reversion, mystic should be simultaneously involved in both Cataphatic and Apophatic theology to truly understand God. In other words, a spiritual person has to oscillate between affirming claims about the Tree of Life (the Being) and negation of those same claims to be able to have real knowledge of God.

The Introduction and first chapter of Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath, volume one, by Julia Gordon-Bramer (2015, Stephen F. Austin State University Press). To purchase or for review copy: http://www.tamupress.com/product/Fixed-Stars-Govern-a-Life,7831.aspx

This paper goes into the minutia of how the Judeao Christian Scriptures were written from an esoteric perspective: meaning this paper will demonstrate how by studying the numerical patterns in letters and words grand geometric images appear in the text telling a different story of spirituality than that which is told on the surface of the texts.

This essay shows all the most important numbers associated with the 7 magick squares of Cornelius Agrippa, along with others, can be found on an extended ordinal counting sequence version of the Tetractys of Pythagoras. That is by counting out numbers in a triangular form the "triangular numbers" are highlighted in the pattern and this also shows the numbers of magick squares. A detailed look at this numerical Tetractys is given, with interpretations on what it could mean for Pythagoras, the Kabbalistic cube of space, along with cubic numbers and even the Sri Yantra and Chakra systems. (Showing Kabbalistic numbers in the Sri Yantra) Building upon the work of David Fideler and his book "Jesus Christ Sun of God" gematria is used to interpret the biblical parables of 153 fish and the feeding of 5000.  All this shows how magick squares and their associated numerology is the basis for various traditions of number mysticism.  While there is far more to explore in terms of interpreting texts, with the evidence provided, the main thesis shows how the magick squares undeniably fit with the Tetractys and that Polygonal numbers in general are also very important.

E n 1015, l'évêque germanique Bernward d'Hildesheim fait réaliser une immense porte de bronze couverte de seize panneaux narratifs, qui racontent l'histoire du monde à la fois comme un récit factuel et comme une explication de l'avènement des choses. Ces images invitent le spectateur à un voyage initiatique dans la matière et le temps. Elles inter-rogent sur le sens de la vie, la responsabilité, le don, la violence, l'engendre-ment, dans une vision humaniste tissée d'héritages antiques et de croyances propres à la riche culture du haut Moyen Âge. Ce faisant, Bernward propose un chemin de conversion intérieure, de la peur vers la lumière de la connais-sance. Ce parcours est restitué par Isabelle Marchesin en une passionnante enquête visuelle dans laquelle l'auteure scrute aussi bien les personnages que les végétaux et les édifices, les gestes et les substances. Le lecteur y est accompagné pas à pas jusqu'à se voir révéler, par le jeu des ressemblances, des dissemblances et des métamorphoses, la raison d'être d'une telle créa-tion. Une plongée au coeur du Moyen Âge à travers une histoire totale de l'art médiéval et de ses images. Isabelle MARCHESIN, maître de conférences habilitée à diriger des recherches à l'université de Poitiers, est spécialiste des images médiévales. Ses recherches l'ont conduite à s'intéresser à la figuration du son musical dans les enluminures, à l'exégèse visuelle et à la théorie de la vision, à la géométrie proportionnelle et aux liens entre sciences et figurations, en particulier pour l'époque carolingienne et ottonienne. Elle est actuellement conseillère scientifique pour l'art des IV e-XV e siècles à l'Institut national d'histoire de l'art.

Scholars have only recently started to study ilanot (lit., “trees”), the cosmographic genre constituted by the wedding of kabbalistic diagrams—the trees of the metonymic name—and large parchment sheets. Differences of kabbalistic opinion naturally found expression in these “maps of God.” The Sabbatean messianic movement of the 1660s and its prolonged and impactful afterlife produced, among other things, a number of distinctive kabbalistic opinions. For the most part, these innovations were tightly integrated with the speculations associated with “Lurianic” Kabbalah based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria (1534–1572). The great Lurianic ilanot were designed and circulated in the second third of the seventeenth century, not long before the emergence of Sabbateanism, but their golden age was “the long eighteenth century”—a British coinage for roughly 1660–1830—and thus coincided with the profound and pervasive absorption of Sabbatean elements in precisely those sectors that produced a...

Since the beginning of film history, film makers put their efforts to synchronize sound into images. And finally when they achieved that goal, cinema shifted into a whole different level. Now, it is impossible to think movies without sound effects, music or dialogues.

My thesis adapts Immanuel Kant’s theory of sublime within the context of film music and sound. I tried to understand how he would describe cinema and film sound based on sublimity.
Kant’s theories on beauty built on the perfect combination of imagination and understanding. With his revolutionary book Critique of Judgment, he opened up a whole new approach to aesthetics. He called art as the universal pleasure and a way to enlightening. By combining two different concepts as sound and Kant’s aesthetics theory I aim to answer; “Could film sound be the key point on way to achieve sublimity?”.

The subject of the article is the Tree of Life figure in Christianity. The subject is limited to the relationship of the Tree of Life figure with Jesus Christ. The aim of the study is to reveal the value attributed to the Tree of Life in Christianity and the theological relationship of the Tree of Life with Jesus Christ. In the study, it is seen that the Tree of Life is in a symbolism based on Jesus Christ. It is understood that the meanings of Jesus Christ in Christian theology are adapted to the Tree of Life. In the apocryphal texts, the works of the church fathers and the folk stories, it was determined that the adaptation of the Tree of Life-Jesus Christ was made most clearly through the cross. The cross was the most obvious direction in associating the Tree of Life with Jesus Christ. The meaning of the cross in Jesus Christ theology and the fact that it was made of wood-wood was effective in this. The eternal life trait of both the Jesus Christ and the Tree of Life was effective. He removed Jesus Christ from the main sin on the cross and regained what he had lost in heaven. This means liberation, holiness, immortality, unity with God and eating the Tree of Life. So a tree, the cross made of heaven tree  has brought which another tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has lost. The baptism, which means the liberation of the individual, is in the sense of reaching heaven and the Tree of Life. In some stories, the Tree of Life is likened to the Church. Here, the human watered by baptism is likened to the Tree of Life watered by heaven rivers. In the Christian art, the Tree of Life is more related to its relation to the cross.

As interconnected short stories offer flexible shaping and reshaping of subjectivity not
afforded by straightforward linear autobiographical accounts, Fredelle Bruser Maynard
chose to write story cycles to read the world and the self living in the liminal spaces between different cultures. Her collections Raisins and Almonds and The Tree of Life show how story cycles facilitate the perception of a selfhood forever in the making, for they entail narrating the accumulation of interactive experience. By exploiting the techniques of the oral narrative, Maynard draws the readers into her stories. However, her inscription of displacement, discrimination, longing for belonging, consists in a personal attempt at breaking silence rather than in a gesture to raise the consciousness of her contemporaries. Far from a political tool to engage in an exchange with others, storytelling offered the means for Maynard to inscribe the self in its different tentative versions based on fact and fiction.

After humans were created in the second chapter of Genesis, the next chapter describes life in what is known as the Garden of Eden. Contrary to traditional interpretations of this story, life in the Garden of Eden is not viewed as an ideal that humans lost as a result of upsetting the deity, but rather as a life that is very similar to that of any animal that lives on the resources that are naturally available without the ability to use the environment to create their own needs and to supply them. The reason animals cannot develop means to supply their own needs is because they are not endowed with the creativity that is the image of God, ability that only humans are endowed with. In spite of the fact that humans are created with the ability to think and create what is not naturally available in their environment, the exercise of the thinking and of that creativity has to be a self-initiated activity and not a natural function such as breathing, eating, and so on. The moment when humans exercised for the first time their ability to think is described through the story about eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Although humans are informed by God about the presence of such a tree in the garden and the risks that they would take if they decided to eat from it, God does not inform them about what was the purpose of that tree, and they never wondered or asked questions. The first human who obviously wondered what was the purpose of that tree was the woman who came to examine it when a serpent informed her that the purpose of the tree was to enable humans to understand the difference between good and evil and therefore to become like God from this point of view. Since any thinking process involves choosing between alternatives, Eve had to decide whether risking dying was a price worth paying for the privilege of knowing the difference between good and evil, and she decided that the price was worth paying, so that she unhesitatingly not only ate from the tree, but even offered some fruit to her husband. As a result of exercising the ability to think, which is key to any creative activity, humans decided to create something that God had not done and there was no objective need for, that is, to create aprons made from sewn fig leaves to cover their private parts. Therefore, the Bible uses shame and covering the private parts as the first example of what I called reasoned reality. As a result of acquiring the ability to distinguish between good and evil, Adam and Eve had to be expelled from the garden of Eden because such places are ruled by power and the fear of death, for which serpents have always been universal symbols, and where developing knowledge and making discoveries have always been the most serious crimes. It is for this reason that Jesus uses the eating from the tree in the Garden of Eden as a setting for the communion meal before being taken himself from the garden of Gethsemane to be crucified. The reason Jesus had to be killed was because the Garden of Eden represents societies in which the reasoned reality is based on power and the fear of death that cannot tolerate what is good, while Jesus advocated a society in which the reasoned reality is based on service that promotes what is good for everyone. Since religion and temples have been the means by which reasoned reality has been established, Jesus explicitly claimed that he rejected the traditional reasoned reality and advocated a different one by asking for the temple to be destroyed so that he would build a new one.

An Academic Exploration of Marc Chagall’s “I and the Village”
In this study, the information concerning academic criticism was primarily
given and then "I and the Village", a painting by Marc Chagall, was examined as an
example of academic criticism. The examination was carried out by following the
stages of "Pre-iconographic Description (Natural Meaning)", "Iconographic
Analysis (Negotiation of Meaning)" and "Iconological Interpretation (Original
Meaning-Content)".
As in all of the works of Marc Chagall, his work, "I and the Village", is a
reflection of his memories and outlook on life as well. The figures, forms, geometric
arrangements and use of colour in this work contains symbolic meanings. Theare evoked by these constitute a different profoundness on the surface of the twodimensional
painting in terms of form and content. The artist, a Russian of Hasidic
Jewish lineage, has a moderate attitude in terms of religion and politics, however;
he has always remained loyal to his past and reflected this by means of the symbols
on the paintings. His work "I and the Village" is one of these examples. The cultural
past of the artist, his love of nature and human and his expectations from the future
are described in a naïve language in this work.

This study investigates early employments of family trees in the modern sciences, in order to historicise their iconic status and now established uses, notably in evolutionary biology and linguistics. Moving beyond disciplinary accounts to consider the wider cultural background, it examines how early uses within the sciences transformed family trees as a format of visual representation, as well as the meanings invested in them.

Historical writing about trees in the modern sciences is heavily tilted towards evolutionary biology, especially the iconic diagrams associated with Darwinism. Trees of Knowledge shifts the focus to France in the wake of the Revolution, when family trees were first put to use in a number of disparate academic fields. Through three case studies drawn from across the disciplines, it investigates the simultaneous appearance of trees in natural history, language studies, and music theory. Augustin Augier’s tree of plant families, Félix Gallet’s family tree of dead and living languages, and Henri Montan Berton’s family tree of chords served diverse ends, yet all exploited the familiar shape of genealogy.

While outlining how genealogical trees once constituted a more general resource in scholarly knowledge production—employed primarily as pedagogical tools—this study argues that family trees entered the modern sciences independently of the evolutionary theories they were later made to illustrate. The trees from post-revolutionary France occasionally charted development over time, yet more often they served to visualise organic hierarchy and perfect order. In bringing this neglected history to light, Trees of Knowledge provides not only a rich account of the rise of tree thinking in the modern sciences, but also a pragmatic methodology for approaching the dynamic interplay of metaphor, visual representation, and knowledge production in the history of science.

In order to truly be able to understand the phenomenology of Stećak tombstones in its total complexity, the Stećak primarily needs to be viewed through philosophy (Neoplatonism), theology (Cataphatic and Apophatic theology) and through the practice of theurgy and alchemy (work on stone and metal). It is very difficult to understand the symbols on Stećak tombstones without the essential knowledge of the basic principles and philosophy of Neoplatonism and Hermeticism, so even the most dedicated researchers of Bosnian Middle Ages observed Stečak symbols only as a decorative  motifs denying the tombstones' enormous amount of "philosophical and spiritual content" that greatly can help in the study of the religious character of the Bosnian Church in the Middle Ages. To understand the meaning of many symbols of alchemy and theurgy on Stećak tombstones, a researcher of Bosnian medieval spirituality has to relate himself with one world in which mystery and spirituality are central. For example alchemical imagination constantly reminds us that opposing forces in nature have to unite thus forming a special relationships in a way that through their unification the mysterious "third" occurs (Alchemical "Egg","Philosopher's Stone", "Tree of Life") that transcends an ordinary existence.

The phylogenetic interrelationships of animals (Metazoa) have been elucidated by refined systematic methods and by new techniques, notably from molecular biology. In parallel with the strong molecular focus of contemporary metazoan phylogenetics, morphology has advanced with the introduction of new approaches, such as confocal laser scanning microscopy and cell-labelling in the study of embryology. The discovery of new animal diversity

L'iconographie de l'arbre habité par un homme ou la société humaine symbolise la vie terrestre menacée par la mort qui va couper l'arbre à un moment où l'homme n'y est pas préparé. Cette iconographie médiévale de l'impréparation au salut a perduré jusqu'au XVIIIe siècle avec des modalités qui évoluent.

Abstract
Humanity, who has defined so many materials from antiquity to present, has appropriated these for their religion, language, and art by adopting symbols. Even though the symbols, which refer to these materials, have formally transformed through history, their leitmotivs remained unchanged. In the society it shaped, in order to be comprehensible, to differentiate itself and to disseminate knowledge humanity, in the its own belief system, have sanctified certain materials. Tree is one of these certain materials. Having been stylized as it gained divine prominence, tree emerged in Mesopotamia in 4000 BCE. and resurfaced again and again in Egypt, Sumer, Hittite and late Hittite, Assyria, Scythia, Urartu, Phrygia, Ancient Greece, in Aegean Civilizations, Seljuks of Rum, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and in current cultures. While having been named in some cultures as sacred tree and in others as tree of life, its divinity has persisted until today. The reason for this is the cultural continuity, which is a symptom of cross-cultural connectedness. This work aims at contributing to the studies in the field by focusing on the cross-cultural continuity of the underlying divinity of sacred tree or tree of life from antiquity to present in the context of cultural continuity.
Keywords: Cultural Continuity, Antiquity, Sacred Tree, Tree of Life.

In classical traditions of Mysticism special attention was devoted to the detailed study of authoritative religious texts and their allegorical symbolic meaning. However, this was often opposed to dogmatic church doctrines within institutionalized religious organizations which have led to the fact that many mystics were declared heretics and subjected to the inquisition.

L'albero rovesciato, come simbolo cosmologico generale, può essere applicato al mondo nel suo insieme (macrocosmo) oppure all'uomo, che ne rappresenta l'immagine sintetica (microcosmo). Questo studio è rivolto specificatamente all'aspetto microcosmico e in particolare alle interpretazioni di tipo anatomico e fisiologico. Il libro contiene anche un'estesa antologia di testi in lingua originale.

Adam's path took him from enjoying the blessings of the middle of the garden to disobeying the Lord's command and being driven east and out of the garden, away from God's presence. On Yom Kippur, Aaron would reverse Adam's path by going west into the tabernacle, into the presence of the Lord in the most holy place.

ÖZ İnsan muhayyilesinin en eski ürünlerinden olan mitler, bünyesinde bir yandan kültürün kolektif kodlarını barındırırken, diğer yandan sanatçıların şahsi estetiklerine yön vermiştir. Zamanın ötesini yakalayıp evrensel olana ulaşan bu anlatılar, hayatın ve sanatın gayesini zamanı yenmek olarak belirleyen Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar'ın modern estetiğinde önemli bir kaynak işlevi görür. Tanpınar'ın insana ve insan yaşamına ait özel deneyimleri mitopoetik bir tavırla yeniden üretmesi, onun modern bir dil ve evrensel bir estetik yaratmasını sağlamıştır. Tanpınar'ın eserlerinde "ağaç" metaforu çevresinde yapılacak bir yakın okuma, mitolojinin modernitede yeniden üretilme biçimlerinin anlamlandırılması ve Tanpınar estetiğinin farklı yönlerinin ortaya konması anlamına gelmektedir. Onun estetiğinde "terkip" düşüncesi, "zamanı yenme" arzusu ve "evrensel" olanı yakalama isteği büyük önem taşır. O, estetiği ile uyumlu bir dil geliştirmek için mitolojiyi temel bir kaynak olarak kullanmış, bu dili oluştururken estetiğini mitopoetik bir tavırla, ağaç motifi üzerinden geliştirdiği özgün metaforlar çevresinde biçimlendirmiştir. Tanpınar metinleri üzerinde yapılan yakın okumalar, bu tavrın sistematik bir bi-çimde ortaya konması için bilişsel dilbilim ve "kavramsal metafor kuramı"nın verimli bir çalışma zemini oluşturduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Huzur'da Nuran'ın gülümsemesinin Mümtaz'ın iç dünyasında bir ağaç gibi büyümesi AŞK BİRLİKTİR metaforunu ortaya çıkarırken, "Ne İçindeyim Zamanın" şiirindeki "kökü bende bir sarmaşık/olmuş dünya sezmekteyim" dizeleri de İNSANLAR BİTKİDİR ya da İNSANLAR AĞAÇTIR kavramsal metaforlarını etkinleştirmektedir. Tanpınar özgün metaforlar üreterek modernist dilini mitopoetik bir tavırla desteklerken; insanı iç dünyasından başlayarak en derinlerdeki kaynağıyla birleştirmiş ve kendi şahsi mitolojisini inşa etmiştir. Bu da Tanpınar'ın estetiğiyle uyumlu bir dil yaka-lamasını ve kendi deyişiyle kâinat karşısındaki hakiki tavrını almasını sağlamıştır.

Three of life has been a global topic of all cultures since prehistory. My Master of history research paper was planned on tree of life (1980s), and now, when I am reading the work by William Osborne, I am realizing that the interest in this topic in later 20th century was still like a baby in the cradle. I was able to show that one schematic tree of life in the Thracian art was not an accidental motif, but there was a concept of Tree of life in Thracian religion.  At that time I was in professional contacts with I. Marazov , who wrote that most of the Thracian pectorals represented the concept of the Tree of life (as cosmology), so to be with scientific contributions, I even cut this part of my master and limited to the wreath symbolism. However, even the wreath placed on the breasts in the graves functioned as a cosmological symbol related to the tree of life.
W. Osborne's article is  a precious pearl in early 21st century literature on Tree of life. He uses written records and iconography to reveal two aspects of the anthropomorphic symbolism of tree of life. Many prehistorians will find in this article new directions of interpretation of the prehistoric art from the perspectives of the global concept of Tree of life.