Tag: Garden of Eden

  • The Crucifixion, Adam and the Tree of Eden

    The Crucifixion, Adam and the Tree of Eden

    Numerous Christian authors from the third and fourth century onwards made the connection between the crucifixion, Golgotha and Adam. The church father Origen (185 – 254 CE) wrote, ‘I have received a tradition to the effect that the body of Adam, the first man, was buried upon the spot where Christ was crucified.’ (Commentary on…

  • The Garden of Eden

    The Garden of Eden

    The story of the original fall and the Garden of Eden is an easy myth to understand once one realises that a serpent (or dragon) in a tree is a scene that has parallels elsewhere in ancient mythology. The tree has been an important mythological metaphor for the world axis in many religious traditions. The…

  • The World Tree and Holy Mountain

    The World Tree and Holy Mountain

    In religion, many symbols have been used to represent the world axis and the pole. These include the tree, column, ladder, cross, swastika, mountain, mill, whirlpool and hearth. Of these many motifs, the tree has probably been the most historically important, and it’s a simple metaphor to visualize. The trunk represented the central axis of…