Combs of Wood: The Cosmic Tree

Here I continue what I began in “Combs of Wood: The Anthropomorphic Tree” weaving the image into a larger picture. As we stand in the center of the horizon, so the Tree is a symbol of the Center. Climbing this Tree allows us to enter another reality. The humble comb of wood reminds us of this.

What is a symbol

C.G. Jung defines the symbol as the best possible explanation of facts that are so vast and so deeply felt that they can only be described through analogies with our physical world (Collected Works 6, pars. 814-29). Such words as life and death, love and marriage are symbols because they are much more than mere concepts; they don’t only signify, but they evoke feelings, focus and conetrate the mind in an analogical manner.
With examples from ancient Greece and modern authors (Ursula Le Guin, Terry Prachett) I try to make explain what symbols are about.