THE MOTHER TREE

In Genesis, we focus on the serpent, on the fruit, & on those two doomed lovers. The real anchor of the story is the tree that sits at the heart of the garden. My viking ancestors note that the whole cosmos is centred on Yggdrasil, the sacred Ash from which Wodin hung. The Buddha came back from ascetic starvation by remembering the fragrance of the rose apple tree of his youth. Of  course he achieved full awareness under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. The tree connects the earth to the sky. In my imagination, the lovers dance, the sun radiates, the dragon curls , furling his angelic wings ,  hurling out blasts of tempering fire. All this drama is calmed to stillness  by the majesty of the eternal Mother Tree that engenders life itself.