The Tree in the Midst
Another aspect of the symbolism of the cross identifies it with what various Traditions describe as the "Tree in the Midst" or some equivalent term. It has been shown elsewhere that this tree is one of the numerous symbols of the "World Axis ". [1] It is therefore the vertical line of the cross, which represents this axis, that we must chiefly consider here: this line forms the trunk of the tree, whereas the horizontal line (or the two horizontal lines in the case of the threedimensional cross) forms its branches. This tree stands at the centre of the world, or rather of a world, that is, of a domain in which a state of existence, such as the human state, is developed. In the Biblical symbolism for example, the Tree of Life, planted in the midst of the earthly Paradise, represents the centre of our world, as has been explained on other occasions. [2] Although we have no intention of examining the symbolism of the tree in all its aspects, there are nevertheless a number of points connected with it which are relevant to the present subject.
In the earthly Paradise, there was not only the "Tree of Life" ; there was another tree which plays a no less important and even better known part, namely the "Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil ". [3] It is said that the latter was likewise "in the midst of the garden"4; and finally, after having eaten of the fruit of the "Tree of Knowledge", 5
Adam would only have had to stretch out his hand to take also of the fruit of the "Tree of Life". [1] In the second of these three passages, the ban imposed by God relates solely to " the tree in the midst of the garden ", which is not otherwise specified; but if we refer to the other passage where the ban has already been imposed, [2] we see that it is clearly the "Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil" which is meant in both cases. It is doubtless the bond established by this proximity that causes the two trees to be closely united in symbolism; in fact certain emblematic trees have features that recall both trees at once; but it remains to explain in what this bond consists.
The nature of the "Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil", as its name implies, is characterized by duality, for in this name there are two terms which are not even complementary but in truth opposed; indeed it can be said that their whole raison d'être lies in this opposition, for once it is transcended there can no longer be any question of good or evil. The same cannot be said of the Tree of Life, which on the contrary, in its function of World Axis, essentially implies unity. Accordingly, whenever one finds an image of duality in a tree, the implication is that the Tree of Knowledge is being alluded to, even though in other respects the symbol considered may undeniably be a figure of the Tree of Life. This is so, for instance, with the "Sephirothic tree" of the Hebrew Qabbalah, which is expressly termed the Tree of Life, yet in which the "right-hand column" and the "left-hand column" provide a representation of duality; but between the two stands the " middle column", in which the two opposing tendencies are balanced, and the unity of the Tree of Life thus restored. [3]
The dual nature of the Tree of Knowledge moreover appears to Adam only at the very moment of the Fall, since
it is then that he becomes " knowing good and evil ". [1] It is then too that he finds himself driven out from the centre which is the place of the Primal unity to which the Tree of Life corresponds; and it is precisely "to keep the way of the Tree of Life" that the Cherubim (" tetramorphs " synthetizing the quaternary of elemental powers), armed with flaming swords, are set at the entrance to Eden. [2] This centre has become inaccessible to fallen man, who has lost the " sense of eternity", which is also the " sense of unity"3; to return to the centre, by the restoration of the Primordial State, and to reach the Tree of Life, is to regain the "sense of eternity".
Moreover, we know that the cross of Christ is itself symbolically identified with the Tree of Life (lignum vitce), for reasons that are readily understandable; but according to a " legend of the Cross" current in the Middle Ages, the Cross was made of the wood of the Tree of Knowledge, so that the latter, after being the instrument of the Fall, thus became that of the Redemption. Here we find expressed a connection between the two ideas of "fall" and "redemption" which are in some respects opposed to each other, and there is also an allusion to the re-establishment of the Primordial State [4]; in this new guise, the Tree of Knowledge is in a certain sense assimilated to the Tree of Life, duality being effectively reintegrated into unity. [5]
One may mention here the "brazen serpent" which was raised by Moses in the desert, [1] and which is also known to be a symbol of Redemption; in this case the perch on which it was placed is equivalent to the cross and also recalls the Tree of Life. [2] However, the serpent is most commonly associated with the Tree of Knowledge, in which case it is regarded under its maleficent aspect : in fact symbols often have two opposed meanings, as has been shown elsewhere. [3] The serpent that represents life must not be confused with the one representing death, nor the serpent that is a symbol of Christ with the one symbolising Satan (even when they are so closely combined as they are in the curious figure of the amphisboena or two-headed serpent). It may be added that the relationship of these two contrary aspects is not without a certain likeness to that of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. [4]
We saw just now that a tree of ternary form, such as the " Sephirothic tree", may in a certain manner synthesize in itself the natures of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, combining them into a single whole, since the ternary can be split into the unity and the duality of which it is the sum. [5] Instead of one single tree, one sometimes finds three trees joined by their roots, the one in the middle being the Tree of Life and the other two corresponding to the duality of the Tree of Knowledge. Something similar is to be found in the depiction of the cross of Christ standing between the two crosses of the good and bad thief: these are set respectively to the right and left of Christ crucified, as the elect and the damned will be at the "Last Judgment ". While they obviously represent good and evil, they also correspond, in relation to Christ, to "Mercy" and " Rigour", the characteristic attributes of the two lateral columns of the
"Sephirothic tree". The cross of Christ always occupies the central place which properly belongs to the Tree of Life; and when it is placed between the sun and moon, as it is in most early representations, the same still holds good: it is then truly the World Axis. [1]
In Chinese symbolism, there is a tree with branches joined together at their extremities two by two, which depicts the synthesis of contraries, or the resolution of duality in unity. Sometimes we find a single tree with its branches dividing and rejoining, or there may be two trees having the same root and likewise joined by their branches. [2] They depict the process of universal manifestation: everything starts from unity and returns to unity; in the interim there is duality, the division or differentiation from which manifested existence results; the ideas of unity and duality are thus combined here as in the previous representations. [3]
There also exist representations of two distinct trees joined by a single branch (this is known as the "linked tree"). In this case, a small branch issues from the common branch, which clearly shows that we are concerned with two complementary principles and the product of their union. This product may be taken as representing universal manifestation, the result of the union of " Heaven " and " Earth " (the FarEastern equivalents of Purusha and Prakriti), or of the reciprocal action and reaction of yang and yin, the masculine
and feminine elements which all beings proceed from and participate in, and whose combination in perfect equilibrium constitutes (or reconstitutes) the primordial "Androgyne". [1]
To return to the representation of the Earthly Paradise: from its centre, that is, from the very foot of the Tree of Life, spring four rivers flowing towards the four cardinal points and thus tracing the horizontal cross on the surface of the terrestrial world, that is to say on the plane which corresponds to the domain of the human state. These four rivers, which can be related to the quaternary of the elements [2] and which issue from a single source corresponding to the primordial ether, [3] divide into four parts (corresponding to
the four phases of a cyclic development [1] ) the circular precinct of the Earthly Paradise, which can be regarded as the horizontal section of the spherical form previously referred to as representing the Universe. [2]
The Tree of Life stands at the centre of the Heavenly Jerusalem, which requires no explanation in view of the relationship of the latter to the Earthly Paradise [3] : this indicates the reintegration of all things into the Primordial State, by virtue of the correspondence between the end of a cycle and its beginning, as will be explained more fully later. It is noteworthy that in the symbolism of the Apocalypse this tree bears twelve fruits, [4] which are assimilable to the twelve Adityas of the Hindu tradition. [5] The latter are twelve forms of the sun which will appear simultaneously at the end of the cycle, thus re-entering into the essential unity of their common nature, for they are so many manifestations of one single indivisible essence, Aditi, which corresponds to the one essence of the Tree of Life itself, whereas Diti corresponds to the dual essence of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. [6] Moreover, in various traditions, an image of the sun is often linked with that of a tree, as though the sun were the fruit of the World Tree; it leaves the tree at the beginning of the cycle and comes back to alight on it again at the end.? In the Chinese ideograms, the character
denoting sunset shows the sun reposing on a tree at the end of the day (analogous to the end of the cycle) ; darkness is represented by a character depicting the sun fallen at the foot of a tree. In India, we find the triple tree bearing three suns, an image of the Trimurti, as also the tree having as its fruit twelve suns, which, as was just said, are related, like the Adityas, to the twelve signs of the Zodiac or the twelve months of the year; sometimes there are ten suns, ten being the number of cyclic perfection as in the Pythagorean doctrine. [1] In general, the different suns correspond to the different phases of the cycle; they emerge from unity at the beginning of the cycle and re-enter it at the end, which coincides with the beginning of another cycle by reason of the continuity of all modes of universal Existence. [2]