THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE TREE OF LIFE. Part 2

The Hebrew word for the tree of Life is "Etz Chaim." The expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively to the Torah itself. Etz Chaim is also a common name for Yeshivas and synagogues as well as for works of Rabbinic Literature. It is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the Torah Scrolls is attached. The Tree of Life is mentioned in the Book of Genesis; it is distinct from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. After the disobedience of the first couple by eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Remaining in the Garden, however, was the Tree of Life. To prevent the man's access to this Tree in the future, Cherubim with a flaming sword were placed at the East of  the garden. (Genesis 3:22-24).
In the Book of Proverbs, the Tree of Life is associated with Wisdom: "Wisdom is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy  is every one that retaineth her." (Proverbs 3:13-18). In 15:4 the Tree of Life is associated with Calmness:"A soothing Tongue is a Tree of Life; but Perverseness therein is a Wound to the Spirit." In the non-canonical Book of Enoch it is stated that in the Time of the Great Judgment God will give to all those whose names are in the Book of Life, Fruit to Eat from the Tree of Life.
In Jewish mysticism the Tree of Life is depicted in the form of 10 interconnected Nodes, as the Central symbol of the Kabbalah. It comprises the 10 Sephirot Powers in the Divine Realm. The meaning
'all-in-God"and the subtle anthropomorphic analogies and metaphors to describe God, interpreted the Torah, Jewish Observance, and the Purpose of creation as the symbolic esoteric Drama of Unification in the Sephirot, restoring harmony to Creation. Kabbalists repeatedly warns and stress the need to divorce their notions from any corporeal, dualism, plurality, or spatial and temporal connotations. Once the analogy is described, its limitations are then related to, stripping the kernel of its husk, to arrive at a truer conception. This is the main reason why Kabbalists tradionally restricts Oral Transmition to close circles, with sincere motives, advanced learning and elite preparation. Understanding the learning through its unity with complete mainstream Talmudic, Halachic and Philosophical proficiency was a traditional prerequisite to avoid false dangers.
In pre-Columbian MesoAmerican Cosmologies and Iconography, the concept of World Trees embodies the 4 Cardinal Directions, which represented also the FourFold Nature of a central World Tree, a symbolic Axis Mundi connecting the planes of the UnderWorld and the Sky with that of the Terrestrial World. Depictions of World Trees are also associated with the 4 Year Bearers in MesoAmerican Calendars, and the directional colors and deities. MesoAmerican sites and ceremonial centers had actual Trees planted at each of the 4 Cardinal Directions, representing the Quadripartite Concept. The Trees are depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth of water, sometimes atop a "water-monster," symbolic of the Underworld. The Central World tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way.
Turkic mythology embraces Tengriist and Shamanist traditions as well as all cultural and social subjects being a nomad folk. After Turkic migration some of their myths were decorated with Islamic symbols. It has many common points with Aegean (Greek) and Anatolian (Hittite) mythologies as well as Mongol mythology. The World Tree or Tree of Life is a Central symbol in its mythology. It is a common motif in carpets representing immortality.