Symbolon Press

Symbolon Press publishes books with new perspectives in Comparative Mythology. Recently released: Tree of Life, Mythical Archetype by Gregory Haynes, which features a Foreword by Michael Witzel, PhD, Wales Chair of Sanskrit at Harvard University, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and President of the International Association of... Comparative Mythology. Witzel states that, "Tree of Life, Mythical Archetype provides the most plausible explanation yet offered of that ancient religious conception known as the World Tree, or Tree of Life. Haynes convincingly argues that the concept of the Tree of Life is based upon ancient observations of an objective phenomenon in the natural world. "But the results of Haynes' investigations are far wider than an analysis of the Tree of Life theme," Witzel says. "He convincingly demonstrates that many cultures represented the same natural phenomenon using widely varying anthropomorphic or zoomorphic images. These variations gave rise to many of the innumerable gods and goddesses, composite animals, and highly imaginative episodes described in the myths. Consequently, a detailed understanding of this natural phenomenon, and of the many guises in which it appears throughout the world, provides for the first time, a simple and powerful key to world mythology."Read More