“[Derived] directly from the Neolithic heritage . . . the Tree of Life, a classic in the history of religions, [is] often represented from the end of the fourth millennium BC onward in Mesopotamian iconography and, therefore, often mentioned in texts. In fact, almost any plant may be an allusion to it, such as all kinds of trees, primarily whole ones, but also branches, flowers, or shoots. We have to wait until the second millennium BC for its representation to acquire the more or less canonical form of a stylized tree in a set style. First of all, the tree alludes to the blood tie that links human generations over time. From this viewpoint, it can be compared with our own genealogical trees, but, whereas the latter describe the relationships of particular individuals, the former is more abstract. It extends to the whole of humanity, past and present, uniting the living with their mythical parents, like a sort of umbilical cord.”

—The Art and Architecture of Mesopotamia, by Giovanni Curatol, Jean-Daniel Forest, Nathalie Gallois, Carlo Lippolis, and Roberta Venco Ricciardi, 2007.

Has anyone seen the movie The Fountain? They might have called it The Tree for its tree of profound significance, which is somehow launched in a bubble of some sort from a mysterious Mayan temple toward a particular nebular cluster, the site of a soon-to-die star. But I don’t want to give too much away. . . .