53 § The World Tree
W E have already spoken of the World Tree on a number of occasions and of its axial symbolism. [1] Without repeating here what has already been said, we will add some remarks bearing on certain more specific points in this symbolism, and in particular on those cases where the tree is inverted, that is, with the roots above and the branches below, a question to which Coomaraswamy has devoted a special study, 'The Inverted Tree'. [2] It is easy to understand that the inversion is above all because the root represents the Principle, while the branches represent the deployment of manifestation. But this general explanation calls for certain additions that are more complex, while being likewise based on the 'inverse sense' of analogy to which the inverted position of the tree clearly refers. In this respect, we have already indicated that it is precisely on the basis of the analogical symbol in the strict sense of the term, that is, on the basis of the figure of the six radii of which the extremities are grouped in two ternaries opposite to one another, that the schema of three branches and three roots is constructed, a schema which, moreover, can be looked at from the two opposite directions, which shows that the two corresponding positions of the tree must relate to two different and complementary
points of view, according to whether it is looked at upwards from below or downwards from above, that is, according to whether the point of view is that of manifestation or that of the Principle. [3]
In support of this consideration, Coomaraswamy mentions the two inverted trees described by Dante [4] as being near the summit of the 'mountain', thus immediately beneath the level of the Earthly Paradise, while, when Paradise is reached, the trees are seen to be restored to their normal position; and thus these trees, which seem to be really only different aspects of the one and only 'Tree', 'are inverted only below that point at which the rectification and regeneration of man takes place'. It is important to note that although the Earthly Paradise actually may still be a part of the cosmos, its position is virtually 'supracosmic'; one could say that it represents 'the summit of contingent being' (bhavàgra), so that its level is identified with the 'surface of the Waters'. This surface, which must be considered essentially as a 'plane of reflection', brings us back to the symbolism of the image inverted by reflection, which has already been spoken of in connection with analogy: 'that which is above', or higher than the 'surface of the Waters', namely the principial or 'supracosmic' domain, is reflected in an inverse sense in 'that which is below', or lower than this same surface, namely what is in the cosmic domain. In other words, all that is above the 'plane of reflection' is upright, and all that is beneath it is inverted. If it is assumed, therefore, that the tree rises above the Waters, what we see for so long as we are in the cosmos is its inverted image, with the roots above and branches below. On the contrary, if we place ourselves above the Waters, we no longer see this image which is now-so to speak-beneath our feet; we see, rather, the source of the image, that is to say, the real Tree which naturally presents itself to us in its upright position. The Tree is always the same, but it is our position in relation to it that has changed, and also, consequently, the viewpoint from which we consider it.
This is likewise confirmed by the fact that in certain Hindu texts two trees are referred to, one cosmic and one supra-cosmic. As these two trees are naturally superposed, the one may be considered the reflection of the other; and at the same time, their trunks are in continuity so that they are as two parts of a single trunk, which corresponds to the doctrine of 'one essence and two natures' in Brahma. The equivalent is found in the Zoroastrian tradition with the two Haoma trees, the white and the yellow, one celestial
(or rather 'paradisal', as it grows at the summit of Mt Alborj) and the other terrestrial. The second appears as a 'substitute' for the first, for a humanity remote from 'the primordial abode', just as the indirect vision of the image is a 'substitute' for the direct vision of the reality. The Zohar also speaks of two trees, one above and the other below; and in some representations, notably on an Assyrian seal, two superposed trees are clearly distinguishable.
The inverted tree is not only a macrocosmic symbol as we have just seen; at times it is also and for the same reasons a microcosmic symbol, that is, a symbol of man. Thus Plato says that 'man is a celestial plant, which means that he is like an inverted tree, of which the roots stretch towards the heavens and the branches below towards the earth'. In our times the occultists have greatly abused this symbolism, which for them is no more than a mere comparison the deeper meaning of which altogether escapes them, and which they interpret in the most grossly 'materialised' way, trying to justify this by anatomical or rather 'morphological' considerations of an extraordinary childishness. This is one example among so many others of how they deform those fragmentary traditional notions which they have sought, without understanding, to incorporate into their own conceptions. [5]
Of the two chief Sanskrit terms for the World Tree, one, nyagrodha, gives rise to an interesting observation in our present context, for literally it means 'growing downwards', not only because such growth is in fact represented by that of the aerial roots of the species of tree that bears this name, [6] but also because the symbolic tree itself is considered to be inverted. [7] It is to this position of the tree, therefore, that the nyagrodha strictly refers, while the other designation, ashvattha, seems to be, originally at least, that of the upright tree, though the subsequent distinction may not have always been made so clearly. This word ashvattha is interpreted as meaning 'the station of the horse' (ashva-stha), for the horse, here the symbol of Agni or of the Sun, or of both at once, must be considered as having come to the end of his course and stopping when the 'World Axis' has been reached. [8] We will recall in this connection that, in various traditions, the image of the sun is also linked to that of the tree in another way, for it is represented as the fruit of the World Tree; it leaves its tree at the beginning of a cycle and comes to rest there at the end, so that in this case, too, the tree is indeed the 'station of the Sun'. [9]
There is still something more to add concerning Agni: he is himself identified with the World Tree, whence his name of Vanaspati or 'Lord of the Trees'; and
this identification, which confers on the axial Tree an igneous nature, relates it clearly to the 'Burning Bush' which, as place and support of manifestation of the Divinity, must also be considered as having a 'central' position. We have previously spoken of the 'column of fire' or of the 'column of smoke' of Agni, as replacing in certain cases the tree or pillar as 'axial' representation; the remark just made completes the explanation of this equivalence and gives it all its meaning. [10] In this connection, Coomaraswamy cites a passage from the Zohar where the 'Tree of Life'-which, additionally, is described as 'extending from on high downwards', and thus as inverted-is represented as a 'Tree of Light', which accords entirely with this same identification; and we can add another concordance drawn from the Islamic tradition, and which is no less remarkable. In the Sūrat an-Nūr, [11] a 'blessed tree' is mentioned, that is, a tree charged with spiritual influences, [12] that is 'neither of the East nor of the West', which clearly defines its position as central or axial; [13] and this is an olive tree of which the oil feeds the light of a lamp; this light symbolises the light of Allāh, which is really Allāh himself, for, as it is said at the beginning of the same verse, 'Allāh is the Light of the heavens and of the earth'. It is obvious that if the tree is here an olive, it is because of the illuminating power of the oil which is drawn from it, and therefore because of the luminous and igneous nature inherent in it. Thus the reference is indeed here yet again to the 'Tree of Light'. On the other hand, in at least one of the Hindu texts that describe the inverted tree, [14] that tree is expressly identified with Brahma; if it is identified with Agni elsewhere, there is no contradiction, for in the Vedic tradition Agni is one of the names and aspects of Brahma. In the Qur'anic text, it is Allāh under the aspect of Light who illumines all the worlds; [15] it would indeed be difficult to push the parallelism further, and we have in this one of the most striking examples of the unanimous agreement of all the traditions.