The Tree
Arbor philosophica
Growth, rootedness, and the axis of the world.
The Tree: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Jung collected the trees his patients drew and painted, and set them beside the arbor philosophica of the alchemists in a long essay. The tree grows slowly and by stages, rooted below and reaching above, and so became for him an image of individuation, of the Self as a living process rather than a finished state.
It joins the underworld, the earth, and the heavens, and is mother and source as well as ladder.
The Tree: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Yggdrasil, on which Odin hung, the trees of life and of knowledge in Eden, the Bodhi tree of the Buddha’s awakening, the Kabbalists’ tree of the sefirot, the world trees of Siberian shamans.
In the Press’s Books
The acorn that holds the whole oak, the tree present in the seed, is the governing figure of An History Beside Time.
From the Sources
Jung takes the tree of life to be first of all a fruit-bearing genealogical tree, an image of the mother, and notes the many myths that derive man from trees or enclose the hero in a tree.
“The tree of life is probably, first of all, a fruit-bearing genealogical tree, that is, a mother-image. Countless myths prove the derivation of man from trees; many myths show how the hero is enclosed in the maternal tree—thus dead Osiris in the column, Adonis in the myrtle, etc.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter V, "Symbolism of the Mother and of Rebirth". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Bulfinch describes the Norse ash Ygdrasill, believed to support the whole universe, with three roots reaching into Asgard, Jotunheim and Niffleheim.
“The mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support the whole universe. It sprang from the body of Ymir, and had three immense roots, extending one into Asgard (the dwelling of the gods), the other into Jotunheim (the abode of the giants), and the third to Niffleheim (the regions of darkness and cold).”
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne, The Age of Fable, Chapter XXXVIII, "Northern Mythology". Complete in one volume, Project Gutenberg eBook #4928. The text, read in part
Frazer reports that among the Finnish-Ugrian peoples worship took place in fenced sacred groves whose central point was the sacred tree, before which the worshippers gathered and at whose roots the victim was sacrificed.
“The central point of the grove, at least among the tribes of the Volga, was the sacred tree, beside which everything else sank into insignificance. Before it the worshippers assembled and the priest offered his prayers, at its roots the victim was sacrificed”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter IX, "The Worship of Trees", section 1, "Tree-spirits". Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. The text, read in part
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Where to Read
- “The Philosophical Tree” (1945/1954), CW 13
- Symbols of Transformation, CW 5, “The Dual Mother”
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Individuation.
Also among Growing Things
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Tree.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/tree.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Nearby in the alphabet: The Tower: Height, enclosure, and the danger of reaching too high. The Treasure Hard to Attain: What is guarded because it is worth the danger. The Triangle: The three, rising toward a point. The Trickster: The shape-shifter who breaks every rule.