Where Were You Before the Tree of Life? - Horus Centre
Where Were You Before the Tree of Life? - Horus Centre
Where Were You Before the Tree of Life? - Horus Centre
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Chapter 1 - The <strong>Tree</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong>: Archetypes, Metaphors, and Illusion<br />
The <strong>Tree</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong> is a common metaphorical image in <strong>the</strong> mythology <strong>of</strong> just about every<br />
country and race on Earth, in one form or ano<strong>the</strong>r. It is an archetype. Although its meaning seems<br />
to vary from place to place, its central role in such cultural traditions as <strong>the</strong> maypole and many<br />
religious practices, seems to be ubiquitous.<br />
How widespread most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se archetypes are, is startling, in and <strong>of</strong> itself. Renowned writer<br />
and culturist Joseph Campbell tried, in his work, to explain <strong>the</strong> existence and origins <strong>of</strong> such<br />
archetypal images. His major source <strong>of</strong> explanation for <strong>the</strong> commonality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se archetypes<br />
seemed to revolve around ‘independent invention’ ra<strong>the</strong>r than what he liked to term ‘diffusion.’<br />
What Campbell referred to as archetypes are such things as sleeping dreams, death, rebirth, a<br />
child who becomes a savior, virgin birth, <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> a sacred world mountain, <strong>the</strong> great goddess,<br />
time as a cyclical thing, <strong>the</strong> axis mundi or world axis, primeval waters, <strong>the</strong> serpent, certain kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
sacrifice, an awakening, and even something as simple as <strong>the</strong> lotus blossom. These are things<br />
which can be found commonly in so many myths and legends, not to mention cultural and<br />
religious histories, as well as on an individual level as well.<br />
Robert Segal boils down Campbell’s work to <strong>the</strong> all-engrossing question lying at its very<br />
heart, and one that is also very vital to our own forthcoming research into <strong>the</strong> very nature <strong>of</strong><br />
archetypes in our history. He asks, Are <strong>the</strong>se mythical images that we see all around us, <strong>the</strong><br />
archetypes <strong>the</strong>mselves, or are <strong>the</strong>y simply symbols that seek to represent <strong>the</strong> original archetype<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves?<br />
Campbell’s idea <strong>of</strong> independent invention suggests that each culture came up with an<br />
archetype such as <strong>the</strong> <strong>Tree</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong> on its own. This means <strong>the</strong>y were not in any way, shape or<br />
form, borrowed from ano<strong>the</strong>r culture or influence. He argues that <strong>the</strong>re could be two possible<br />
explanations for this coincidence. The first is heredity, which to Campbell is <strong>the</strong> most likely<br />
explanation. The second is experience. Heredity being that a certain image once formulated within<br />
a cultural or religious group <strong>of</strong> some kind, is <strong>the</strong>n handed down from elder to younger and thus<br />
multiplies and divides its influence with that group itself.<br />
If it were experience from which <strong>the</strong>se archetypal images spread, that would mean that each<br />
race or culture that has <strong>the</strong> <strong>Tree</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong> in its mythology, has actually somewhere in its dim distant<br />
past, had an actual experience <strong>of</strong> something that anyone would commonly recognize or logically<br />
symbolize as a <strong>Tree</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong>. This could have been in a physically wakened state, or in a an<br />
archetypal dream shared by many in <strong>the</strong> culture. Dreams are a central storage depot for many<br />
religious visions and images.<br />
Campbell placed a lot <strong>of</strong> importance on dreams. Devoid <strong>of</strong> an “effective general mythology in<br />
our immediate society,” each one us will resort to his own “private, unrecognized, rudimentary, yet<br />
secretly potent pan<strong>the</strong>on <strong>of</strong> dreams” to create for ourselves our own system <strong>of</strong> mythological ideas<br />
and metaphors. As we walk down <strong>the</strong> street, “<strong>the</strong> latest incarnation <strong>of</strong> Oedipus, <strong>the</strong> continued<br />
romance <strong>of</strong> Beauty and <strong>the</strong> Beast, stand this very afternoon on <strong>the</strong> corner <strong>of</strong> Forty-second Street<br />
and Fifth Avenue, waiting for <strong>the</strong> traffic light to change.”<br />
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