The Tree of Life

The tree of life is a revitalizing movement of energy connecting the Earth with the Underworld and Heaven; the tribe on the one hand and the world of spirits and ancestors on the other.

When a person dies and his soul embarks on the final journey from this world to the next, it goes laden with the symbols of fecundity; on arrival in the underworld village of its ancestors it is told to fling all these into a tree full of fruit.

The waiting relatives need the fruit to ferment into an intoxicating drink with which to celebrate the soul’s arrival. If it comes with empty hands there would be no celebration, no festive drinking and no continuity of life.