Chapter 3

THE NEW ENDLESS LIFE OF A TREE

In my family there has always been a belief and custom to plant a tree whenever a family member passes away.
As the most explicit symbol of life and growth, seasonal death and revival, trees have always meant to us more than simply being just part of a natural landscape.

The tree constitutes a universal and archetypal image, a powerful symbol that lives and multiplies in space and time and in an infinite variety of forms.

Since ever, trees have been also associated with the graphic representation of the family genealogical structure, branching out for familial relations as it is commonly known and referred to as the ‘Genealogical Tree’.

                             

The essential of spending time in contact with nature, uncontaminated landscapes, with plants, fruits and greenery in general, has always seemed to be a spontaneous but a necessary form of healing and cope with a grief in the family. 
The natural touch and genuine contact of taking care of a greenery, seem to be related to the act of holding patience to heal, as for the act to cope with silence, absence and the delicate comprehension and passage between life and death.

Rooted in both sides, either at the bottom like at the top, a tree represents the union between two worlds: the celestial and the terrestrial, thus joining the bright world of consciousness to the dark and underground world of the unconscious.

The tree, as a symbol of life and perpetual regeneration, is the constant victory over death and the perfect expression of the mystery of life that is continually reborn.