Tree of life, Tree ART

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Tree of life – Elämän puu/Fountain/Kalevala- Finnish Epic

English readers, This text is in English after the video.

Olen kiinnostunut elämän puusta, nyt kirjoitan siitä miten se on jotenkin nyt tullut elämääni kiinnostuksen noustessa yhä enemmän. Sain vastikään Veli Martin Keitelin kirjan Väinämöisen puhuva puu Kabbala Kalevalassa -kirjan, ja se oli hyvin mielenkiintoista luettavaa. Sen mukaan suomella ja sumerilaisilla on paljonkin yhteistä, mm. kielemme. Paljon on samalta kuulostavia sanoja jotka jopa tarkoittavat samaa asiaa. 

Tämä kirja pitää lukea varmasti useaan otteeseen että ymmärtää sitä. Se selittää maailmaa, maailman rakennetta monelta kantilta katsottuna. Kirjan takakannessa lukee näin: “Muinaisten egyptiläisten mukaan ihmisellä on henki Ba ja ruumis Ka. Useissa kielissä B ja V ovat yksi ja sama kirjain. Kalevala voidaan kirjoittaa “Ka-le-Ba-la”. Siellä Ka ja Ba yhdistetään, lyhyemmin sanottuna se on Ka-Ba-La, Kabbala. Kabbalaa, Kalevalaa ja suomenkieltä ei ole ennen katsottu tällä tavalla.”

En ole edes lukenut Kalevalaa kokonaan enkä ole rehellisesti sanoen ollut kauhean kiinnostunut lukea sitä, mutta se miten Veli Martin Keitel kertoo Kalevalasta ja muista myyteistä jotka suunnilleen tuntuvat kertovan samaa tarinaa eri nimin, niin olen alkanut kiinnostumaan Kalevalan lukemisesta jotta voisin samalla vertailla sitä muihin myytteihin.

En aio tehdä tästä suurempaa kirjareferaattia, vaan menen eteenpäin ja kerron missä kaikissa yhteyksissä elämänpuu on tullut esiin ihan tässä aivan kuukauden sisällä.

Elämän puu on putkahdellut eteeni moneen otteeseen eri muodoissaan. Kuten eilisessä blogimerkinnässä kerroin elämän puusta ja Xibalbasta, niin juuri tuo the Fountain -elokuva sai minut kiinnostumaan enemmän tästä aiheesta jälleen uudelleen.

Elämän puu on putkahtanut esiin myös toisissa elokuvissa. Sublime (-27)-leffassa naisella oli selkäänsä tatuointuna elämän puu joka odotti kesää, paljasoksainen puu. On myös Puu -niminen australialainen leffa, jossa perheen isä kuolee ja tytär alkaa kuvitella, että isän sielu asuu suuressa puussa. Tulossa on myös Tree of life -leffa pääosassa mm. Brad Pitt. Knowing -leffassakin lapset juoksevat suuren puun luokse. Pääosassa Nicholas Gace. Myös the Legend of the quardians: Quoardians of Ga’Huul -animaatiossa on jättiläismäinen puu jossa pöllöt elävät. Varmasti puu esiintyy jossain lasten saduissakin ja monessa eri muodossa eri elokuvissa ja kirjoissa, mutta nämä olivat tällaisia minulle tulleita viittauksia elämän puuhun tänä päivänä.

Kun tein Tree of life -videota, löysin elämän puun saamelaisen shamaanin noitarummusta, jossa keskellä on elämän puu jakamassa taivaan ja maan ja joka on ohjannut tärkeiden päätösten tekemisessä. Löysin myös kauniita kelttiläisiä elämän puita.

Ja tässä se video johon keräsin näitä kuvia / Here is my video Tree of life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUsqD_yvI8c

Kirjoituksessani on affiliate -linkkejä, joiden kautta tehdyistä ostoista voin saada korvausta Amazonin yhteistyökumppanina. Tekstin jälkeen linkit. Kiitos jos tuet blogini tekemistä. There are Affiliate links, I may have compensation from purchace as Amazon associate. Thank you. Links after text.

Tree of life

I am interested in the tree of life, and now I write about how it is somehow now become an interest more and more. I just recently got Veli Martin Keitel’s book “the Talking tree of Väinämöinen Kabbalah Kalevala”-book, and it was very interesting reading. According to it the Sumerian and Finnish  have a lot in common, for example. our language. Much of the same sounding words that mean the same thing even.

This book will be read several times if one wants to understand it. It explains the world, the global structure of the many points of view. On the back cover reads: “The ancient Egyptians, the people have the spirit of the Ba and the body of the Ka. In many languages, B and V are one and the same letter. Kalevala can be written as” Ka-le-Ba-la. “There’s Ka and Ba combined, briefly put it a Ka-Ba-La, the Kabbala.Kabbalah, the Kalevala and the Finnish language has never before been viewed in this way. “

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  https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906550/

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  https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906681/

I have not even read the Kalevala in a whole, and I have not been terribly interested in it , but it is interesting  how Veli Martin Keitel says that the Kalevala and other myths seem to tell the same story in different names, so I’ve started an interest in reading the Kalevala, when I could at the same time to compare it to other myths.

I’m not going to make this a book summary, instead I’ll go ahead and tell you where the tree of life in all contexts have  popped out over a month.

The Tree of Life has risen several times in various forms. As yesterday’s blog entry factor for the tree of life, and Xibalba, the Fountain -movie made me more interested in this subject once again.

Links:

The Fountain -movie https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906419/

An Illustrated Kalevala:https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906550/

The Kalevala Oxford world classics:https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906681/

DIAMOND PAINTINGS IN THIS TOPIC:

DIY 5D Diamond Painting Kits for Adults Diamond Art White Tree of Life https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703904289/

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Diamond Painting Tree of life: https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703906792

POSTERS AND PAINTINGS about this topic:

Tree of Life Wall Art, Tree Abstract Canvas Large:https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703755394/

Tree of life Life Tapestries https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703908639/

Ambesonne Tree Tapestry, Tree of Life Themed Arrangement with Thirving Jungle Spring Season, https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703908638/

Tree of life with birds canvas https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703908460/

Crystal treehttps://fi.pinterest.com/pin/653584964703908876

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Tree of life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life

Conceptual and mythological “trees of life”

Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism.

Ancient Egypt

• In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart from Shu & Tefnut (moisture & dryness) and Geb & Nuit (earth & sky), are Isis & Osiris. They were said to have emerged from the acacia 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, putting him in a coffin, and throwing it into the Nile, the coffin becoming embedded in the base of a tamarisk tree.
• The Egyptians’ Holy Sycamore also stood on the threshold of life and death, connecting the two worlds.

Assyria

• What is known as the Assyrian 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. Assyrilogists have not reached consensus as to the meaning of this symbol. It is multi-valent. 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 is known to exist.

Baha’i Faith

The concept of the tree of life appears in the writings of the Baha’i Faith, where it can refer to the Manifestation of God, a great teacher who appears to humanity from age to age. The concept can be broken down still further, with the Manifestation as the roots and trunk of the tree and his followers as the branches and leaves. The fruit produced by the tree nourishes an ever-advancing civilization.

A distinction has been made between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The latter represents the physical world with its opposites, such as good and evil and light and dark. In a different context from the one above, the tree of life represents the spiritual realm, where this duality does not exist.^[3]

China

• In Chinese mythology, a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix and a dragon; the dragon often represents immortality. A Taoist story tells of a tree that produces a peach 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 in Sichuan, China. Dating from about 1200 BCE, it contained three bronze 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 found in Sichuan, from the late Han dynasty (c 25 – 220 CE) is another tree of life. The ceramic 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.

Germanic paganism and Norse mythology

• In Germanic paganism, trees played (and, in the form of reconstructive Heathenry and Germanic Neopaganism, 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 as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree) 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, sacred groves, the Sacred tree at Uppsala, and the wooden Irminsul pillar.
• In Norse Mythology, the apples from Iðunn’s ash box provide immortality for the gods.

Jewish sources

Main article: Tree of life (biblical)

• Etz Chaim, 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 yeshivas and synagogues as well as for works of Rabbinic literature. Further, it is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the parchment of a Sefer Torah is attached.
• The tree of life is mentioned in the Book of Genesis; it is often considered distinct from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After Adam and Eve fell from God’s favour by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Remaining in the garden, however, was the tree of life. To prevent access to this tree in the future, two cherubs with a flaming sword were placed at the garden’s entrance. (Genesis 3:22-24)
• In the book of Proverbs the tree of life is associated with wisdom: “[Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that holdest her fast.” (Proverbs 3:13-18) In 15:4 the tree of life is associated with calmness: “A soothing tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a wound to the spirit.”^[4]

 

The Kabbalah Tree of Life derived from the Flower of Life.

• The Tabernacle and The Ark of the Covenant were both made of acacia or shittah-tree (Ex 25:10, 26:15), identified by the Egyptians with the Tree of Life. Traditionally, the burning bush was believed to be acacia.^{[citation needed]}
• The prophet Ezekiel‘s vision of restoration, recorded in chapters 40 to 48 of the Book of Ezekiel, includes: “Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.” (Ezekiel 47:12)
• The Book of Enoch, generally considered non-canonical, states that in the time of the great judgment God will give all those whose names are in the Book of Life fruit to eat from the Tree of Life.
• Jewish mysticism depicts the tree of Life in the form of ten interconnected nodes, as an important part of the Kabbalah. As such, it resembles the ten Sephirot.

Christianity

• In addition to the Hebrew Bible verses mentioned above, the tree of life is symbolically described in the Book of Revelation as having curing properties: “the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
• In Eastern Christianity the tree of life is to love God.^[5] Many Christians consider the acacia the tree of life.^{[citation needed]}

Christian — Latter-day Saints

The tree of life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi 8:10). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23). Its fruit is described as “most precious and most desirable above all other fruits,” which “is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (see 1 Nephi 15:36). In another Mormon scriptural book, salvation is called “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (see Doctrine and Covenants 6:13). In the same book eternal life is also called the “greatest of all the gifts of God” (see Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). Because of these references, the tree of life and its fruit is sometimes understood to be symbolic of salvation and post-mortal existence in the presence of God and his love.

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 (called Ashvatta in Sanskrit), the banyan tree and the peepal 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, 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 events in Hinduism. The sages and seers sit under the shade of the fig tree to seek enlightenment, hold discourses and conduct Vedic rituals. The Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha 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).

Turkic world

 

Tree of Life, as seen as in flag of Chuvashia, a Turkic state in the Russian Federation.

• “World Tree” or “Tree of Life” is a central figure in Turkic mythology and also in Turkish mythology as a branch of it.
• World tree defines “tree worlds cosmology”^{[clarification needed]}

Urartu

 

Fragment of a bronze helmet from Urartu, with the “Tree of Life” depicted.

• In Urartu 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 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 artifacts, such as paintings on the walls of the Erebuni Fortress in Yerevan, Armenia.

Mesoamerica

Main article: Mesoamerican world tree

• Among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican 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 connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.^[6]
• 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, Izapan, Mixtec, Olmec, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of Mesoamerican chronology. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a ceiba tree, and is known variously as a wacah chan or yax imix che, depending on the Mayan language.^[7] The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, whose skin evokes the tree’s spiny trunk.^[8]
• Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in Mesoamerican calendars, and the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden, Borgia and Fejérváry-Mayer codices.^[9] 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.^[10]

Other cultures

• In the Japanese religion of Shinto, trees were marked with sacred paper symbolizing lightning bolts, as trees were thought to be sacred. After they died, ancestors and animals were often portrayed as branches on the tree.
• The Book of One Thousand and One Nights 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 guarded by Al-Khidr. Unable to defeat the guard, Buluqiya has to return empty-handed.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh is a similar quest for immortality. In Mesopotamian mythology, Etana searches for a ‘plant of birth’ to provide him with a son. This has a solid provenance of antiquity, being found in cylinder seals from Akkad (2390–2249 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              2390–2249      end_of_the_skype_highlighting BCE).
• One of the earliest forms of ancient Greek religion has its origins associated with tree cults.
• In a myth passed down among the Iroquois, The World on the Turtle’s Back, explains the origin of the land in which a tree of life is described. According to the myth, it is found in the heavens, where the first humans lived, until a pregnant woman fell and landed in an endless sea. Saved by a giant turtle from drowning, she formed the world on its back by planting bark taken from the tree.
• Contemporary Welsh artist Jen Delyth created a Celtic Tree of Life symbol, in part based on ancient Celtic veneration of trees and traditional Celtic designs.
• The tree of life motif is present in the traditional Ojibway cosmology and traditions. It is sometimes described as Grandmother Cedar, or Nookomis Giizhig in Anishinaabemowin.

Modern interpretations

• In Dictionaire Mytho-Hermetiqe (Paris, 1737), Antoine-Joseph Pernety, a famous alchemist, identified the Tree of Life with the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone.
• In Eden in the East (1998), Stephen Oppenheimer suggests that a tree-worshiping culture arose in Indonesia 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 and the Middle East. Finally the Finno-Ugaritic strand of this diffusion spread through Russia to Finland where the Norse myth of Yggdrasil took root.
• Rastafari movement^[11] and some Coptic Christians^[12] consider cannabis to be the Tree of Life.

Elämän puu on yleinen aihe muinaisen Lähi-idän kansojen kulttuurissa. Tavallisesti kyseessä on myyttinen puu, joka antaa kuolemattomuuden. Ensimmäisessä Mooseksen kirjassa kerrotaan, kuinka Jumala istuttaa Eedenin puutarhaan kaksi puuta: elämän puun sekä hyvän- ja pahantiedon puun.

Elämän puu on kuvattu lukemattomia kertoja muinaisen Lähi-idän ja Egyptin taiteessa. Se on keskeinen symboli muun muassa Kabbalassa, tooran mystisessä tulkinnassa. Vastaavia myyttisiä puuaiheita tunnetaan ympäri maailmaa: sellaisia ovat esimerkiksi germaanisessa ja skandinaavisessa mytologiassa esiintyvä maailmanpuu sekä Kalevalan Iso tammi.

Sisällysluettelo

Elämän puu Paratiisissa

 

Karkotus paratiisista (Gustave Doré).

Ensimmäisen Mooseksen kirjan toisessa ja kolmannessa luvussa on kuvaus Eedenin puutarhasta, jonka Jumala istuttaa luomansa ihmisen asuinpaikaksi (1. Moos. 2). Puutarhan keskelle hän kasvattaa kaksi puuta: elämän puun sekä hyvän- ja pahantiedon puun (1. Moos. 2:9). Jumala kieltää ihmistä syömästä hyvän- ja pahantiedon puun hedelmiä, sillä sinä päivänä, jona siitä syöt, olet kuoleman oma (1. Moos. 2:17). Syntiinlankeemuksessa käärme houkuttelee ihmisen kuitenkin rikkomaan Jumalan kieltoa. Aadam ja Eeva karkotetaan paratiisista, jotta he eivät söisi myös elämän puusta. Jumala asettaa kerubit sekä salamoivan, leimuavan miekan vartioimaan elämän puulle johtavaa tietä, sillä Ihminen on nyt kuin me: hän tietää sekä hyvän että pahan. Ettei hän nyt vain ota elämän puusta hedelmää ja syö ja niin elä ikuisesti! (1. Moos. 3:22.)

Kolmannen luvun kahden viimeisen jakeen päällekkäinen rakenne on antanut tutkijoille aiheen olettaa, että viimeisen jakeen maininta elämän puuta vartioivista kerubeista ja miekasta on myöhemmin kertomukseen tehty lisäys. Samoin jakeen 22 maininta elämän puusta on oletettu samassa yhteydessä lisätyksi. Kerubit, miekka ja ajatus kuolemattomuuden tavoittelusta viittaavat muinaisitämaiseen mytologiaan, josta Vanhaan testamenttiin on ilmeisesti lainattu myyttisiä symboleja.^[1]

Muinaisitämainen mytologia

Elämän puu esiintyy muinaisen Lähi-idän taiteessa kolmannelta vuosituhannelta eaa. alkaen. Tavallisin elämän puun kuva on taatelipalmu, mutta myös muut puut tai kasvit voivat kuvata elämän puuta. Esimerkiksi Gilgamesh-eepoksessa kerrotaan meren pohjassa kasvavasta kasvista, jolla on nuorentava vaikutus. Elämän puun yhteyteen on usein piirretty kauriita tai vuohia, jotka kuvaavat luomakunnan ikuisen elämän kaipuuta. Palestiinasta on löydetty ajalta 1200 – 600 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1200 – 600      end_of_the_skype_highlighting eaa. runsaasti sinettejä, joissa on elämän puun molemmille puolille kuvattu kädet kohotettuina seisova ihmishahmo. Muinaisen Assyrian taiteesta tunnetaan norsunluinen korkokuva, jossa elämän puuta vartioi kaksi siivekästä kerubia. Myös ensimmäisen Mooseksen kirjan salamoiva miekka on lainattu muinaisitämaisesta mytologiasta. Kyprokselta on löydetty rautakaudelle ajoitettu sinetti, jossa elämän puun kummallakin puolella on ihmishahmojen lisäksi miekkaa muistuttava ase.^[1]

Kiinasta on löydetty veistos, joka esittää elämän puuta, lintua ja lohikäärmettä. Lohikäärme on usein kuolemattomuuden vertauskuva. Kiinalaisessa mytologiassa on myös tarina puusta, joka tuottaa persikan kerran kolmessa tuhannessa vuodessa. Tämän hedelmän syömällä voi saavuttaa kuolemattomuuden. Elämän puun tunsivat myös muun muassa asteekit.

Muualla Raamatussa

Raamatussa mainitaan elämän puu myös Sananlaskujen kirjassa: viisaus on elämän puu niille, jotka siihen tarttuvat (San. 3:18). Myyttinen kuolemattomuuden antava puu on tässä pelkistynyt onnellisuuden vertauskuvaksi. Vastaavalla tavalla elämän puuta on käytetty jakeissa 11:30 sekä Vanhan kirkkoraamatun jakeessa 13:12.

Elämän puusta kerrotaan myös Johanneksen ilmestyksessä. Johannes näkee näyssä uuden Jerusalemin: Kaupungin valtakadulla, virran haarojen keskellä kasvoi elämän puu. Puu antaa vuodessa kahdettoista hedelmät, uuden sadon kerran kuukaudessa, ja sen lehdistä kansat saavat terveyden. (Ilm 22:2) Elämän puu on vanhurskaan ihmisen palkka, ikuinen elämä Jumalan yhteydessä. Autuaita ne, jotka pesevät vaatteensa: he pääsevät syömään elämän puusta ja saavat mennä porteista sisälle kaupunkiin. (Ilm. 22:14; myös 2:7 ja 22:19.)

Kabbalan elämän puu

Pääartikkeli: Sefirot

Juutalaisen mystiikassa kabbalassa elämän puuta käytetään Jumalan ja luomisen ymmärtämiseen. Se on eräänlainen kosmologia, tapa jäsentää maailmankaikkeutta. Elämän puu koostuu kymmenestä sefirasta, jotka on yhdistetty 22 polulla.

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