The Tree of Life or the Universal Tree incorporates the universal concept of the World. It may be comprehended as the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Fertility, the Tree of Desire, the Tree of Ascent – from the earth up into the heavens, or from the earth into the underworld. The Tree of Life plays the role of a unifying, organizing element in any one of the ancient mythological systems, being in and of itself a kind of coordinate system or axis, within whose embrace all other components and their symbols are encompassed or inscribed. The roots of the Tree of Life penetrate deeply into the subterranean realms. Bridge-like, its trunk reaches out from the Earth to the Sky. Its boughs and branches rise up to the highest planes of the heavenly spheres, attaining the mysterious world of the Source whence all that Is springs forth, where gods and stars dwell. This is the center of the Universe, the core element, around which all the visible and the invisible life of the entire Cosmos arises and propagates.  The shaft of this Tree manifests itself as the Axis of Space and Time; its sap is the Dew of Heaven, the life-creating Ambrosia that bestows the possibility of renascence.

 Whosoever partakes of the Fruit of the Tree becomes immortal, awakening the Spirit-Being hidden within the Matter-Being. The Tree of Life is the dominant Presence, that shapes, determines and defines both content and form of the conceptually coherent space of the Universal Cosmos. The Image of the Tree is so powerful that all ages and all cultures are literally steeped in it, allowing for external, subtle variations of slightest consequence, while retaining its Life-ordering meaning and essence. The Tree is the central axis of the world, linking Heaven and Earth; the Universe with its processes of eternal renewal; the cycles of life, death and renascence; the human being and his or her journey to exalted spiritual states of being; the hidden treasure of Wisdom and the sacramental mystery of the laws of Being.

As a unifying concept of Coherence, the Tree of Life encompasses and integrates within itself all the laws and forms that enable the Cosmos to exist. All natural forms present correspond to the incarnation of those first principles and processes that engendered and sustain them. These principles and processes can only be expressed mathematically. The geometry of the coherent organization or arrangement of naturally arising forms, which constitute an intrinsic part of Nature itself, can be representationally reconstituted through the concept of a torus. In order to see the mandala within it -- (in the Sanskrit, mandala signifies: circle, round, sphere, ball, orbit, ring, circumference, wheel) -- it is necessary to look at the torus in such a way that its axis coincides with the horizontal axis of the viewer. In order to see the mandala as a tree, it is necessary to gaze upon it from the side, in such a way, that the axis of the torus is vertically oriented. Both the Tree, and the mandala, reflect the Universe. If the mandala is to embody the world as the center, the Tree appears vertically. However, all these images relate to mental structures, rather than material or physical structures and objects. The Tree of Life reflects the order of the upper and nether worlds, yet it does not impart an orientation to the horizontal plane. The mandala, on the other hand, lacks a vertical dimension of space: the Heaven sinks down into the Earth not only through the center of the mandala, but indeed throughout all the points that lie within its plane.

It was known in antiquity that the structural principle of coherence organizing both the human body and the tree is one and the same. The human being consists of an infinite multitude of threads of light, gathered into the form of a luminescent egg or cocoon; his or her central, ‘axial’ dense part corresponds to the physical body of a human. The people of yore believed that trees possess great wisdom and that a human person capable of keenly sensing the soul of a tree can learn many things from it. In many cultures, the Tree-Person or Tree-Wight is someone who has come to an understanding and awareness of his or her own wholeness as a coherent essence, and has attained wisdom, a pure and clear vision of the true picture of the world. Many nations considered to the tree to be a feminine being. Thus, for the Daoists, the Tree-Woman is Reason or Understanding, and is alternatively interpreted as a way of being in the Real in which the Female is One with her Male counterpart… Even if she is not completely satisfied with some of his habits or traits… It was once believed that both human and tree can be akin to co-inclusive vessels, so that whatsoever transpires with the one, shall be reflected upon the other. The legends and traditions of many nations tell of the tree becoming a friend of a human, even a “twin brother” of sorts: it would ‘absorb’ and reflect his soul, all the good and the bad in it, even elements that the human person did not recognize or acknowledge as being part of her self or his self. By observing the “tree twin” during the most important moments of the human being’s life, it was believed to be possible to judge whether or not a given choice made had been made correctly, or how his or her destiny might unfold further.