Salt Lake City, USA - The blockbuster movie "Avatar" may feature the most remarkable tree in Hollywood history. The Tree of Souls almost steals the scenes where it appears.
But then trees have always been a powerful and attractive spiritual symbol. And the nice thing is, to locate one, you need only look in your own backyard. Trees are used extensively in Christianity and other religions.
What follows is a sampling of what scriptures and other holy books mention about the sanctity of trees.
In the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible, God called fruit trees "good" during the creation of the world.
The Garden of Eden in the Bible contained many trees "pleasant to the sight and good for food" (Genesis 2:9), as well as two particularly special trees — the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eating from the latter changed mankind's eternal destiny.
Later, Noah was commanded to construct an ark exclusively of gopher tree wood (Genesis 6:14), and when King Solomon built his temple (1 Kings 6), it was made primarily of cedar wood — a temple made from trees.
The olive tree became a biblical symbol for Israel and was referred to as a symbol of prosperity (Psalms 128).
The oak tree was also prominent in the Old Testament, with idols being buried under such a tree (Genesis 35:4) and later an angel appearing to Gideon under an oak tree (Judges 6:11-19).
During Jesus Christ's mortal ministry, he used trees to illustrate many soul-searching parables and teachings. For example, "a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Luke 6:43).
Jesus' father was a carpenter (wood worker), and Jesus likely learned that trade, too.
Christians are also promised that to those who overcome sin in the world, God will "give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7).
The Rev. Neal Humphrey of Westminster Presbyterian Church, in Fruit Heights, said, "Kids, particularly young men, need to get out, preferably away from urban settings, into the woods, as a prophylaxis for nature deficit disorder. … It's healing for them. Me, too." He also said trees sing for joy (Psalms 96:12 and Isaiah 44:23), and trees are images of righteousness (Proverbs 11:30 and Isaiah 61:3).
The Rev. Humphrey also said there's something to be learned from the creation story, since God did not place the first humans in a town, but in a garden.
Tree of Life metaphors are used in wisdom literature to extol truthfulness, wisdom and righteousness (Proverbs 3:18, 11:30, 15:4), he noted.
"There is no Christian symbolism directly connected with trees," he said. "Jesus occasionally used fruitful and barren trees as a parabola. The Edenic Tree of Life reappears in John's apocalypse."
John Cowan, associate pastor of Calvary Chapel in Salt Lake City, said that after some research, he's surprised at how you can find a tree, in one form or another, close to the main themes of his faith.
"Why is there suffering in the world? he asked. "Because we chose the Tree of Knowledge above a close, trusting relationship with God" in the Garden of Eden.
He said sin separates us from God.
"How do we restore our broken relationship with God? This brings us to another tree. The Bible, in many places, refers to the cross as a tree (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29, Gal. 3:13) and it was on that tree that my savior gave his life for me so that I might have the unspeakable blessings of a close, personal, daily walk with him."
In scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon contains a richly symbolic story of the prophet Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life (1 Nephi 8).
The Book of Mormon prophet Zenos also told an allegory about a tame and wild olive tree (Jacob 5).
Trees also abound on Salt Lake's Temple Square. In fact, an appropriately named tree, the "tree of heaven" (Elantis altissima) used to be planted outside the temple block wall, along the streets, in 1890. This tree grew rapidly to maturity in about five years but had a fragile nature and a short lifespan, so they were not replanted as they died out in the early 20th century (Church News, April 1, 1995).
Mormons also believe Joseph Smith had his First Vision, in a grove of trees. Trees are also prominent in some other world religions. For example, some of the stories of Buddha have him finding enlightenment beneath a tree located at a place where the earth doesn't move, according to the book "The Sacred Tree in Religion and Myth," by J.H. Philpot.
The book also states that Scientology uses trees as a key symbol.
In some cultures, totem poles, carved from wood, often symbolize sacred natures.
A family tree is often used to illustrate the branching generations of relatives.
According to a dissertation by Tim Partridge, "Yew Trees and Their Interrelationship With Man" (www.ancient-yew.org/treesinmythology.shtml), "Trees are nature's gladiator, who, despite great imbalance in odds, fights to keep a foothold in the most extreme conditions. This strength is one of the characteristics that have led to the symbolic use of trees. The tree has three parts in terms of symbolism — roots, trunk and branches."
The dissertation also says the symbolism of trees is found deep in human expression — the gnarled trunk of a tree is symbolic of those amongst us who have achieved great age.
There's also the Christmas tree, which Christianity may have adopted from the pagan world but is nonetheless a powerful symbol of a major Christian holiday.