in Berlin is a sepulchral tablet
representing the Tree of Life. This emblem figures the trunk of a tree,
from the top of which emerges the bust of a woman--Netpe. She is the
goddess of heavenly existence, and is administering to the deceased the
water and the bread of life, the latter of which is represented by a
substance in the form of cakes or rolls. The time at which this tablet
was found is not known, but it is supposed to belong to the period of
the XIXth dynasty, or about the time of Rameses II., 1400 years B.C.

There is also in the Berlin museum another representation of the
Egyptian Tree of Life, in which the trunk has given place to the entire
body of a woman. This, also, is Netpe, who is still spiritual wisdom
or the maternal principle. We are informed by Forlong that Diana was
worshipped by the Amazons under a sacred tree.(12) From this symbol
the tree, which grew first into the figure of a divine woman, and later
assumed the form of a divine man, arose the emblem of the cross.

12) Rivers of Life, vol. i., p. 70.

On the Nineveh tablets is pictured a Tree of Life which is surrounded
by winged spirits, bearing in their hands the pine cone, a symbol
indicating life, and which is said to have the same significance as the
crux-ansata, or cross, among the Egyptians.

In later ages, the Tree of Life, i. e., the divine man, or cross, or
both together, furnish immortal food to those who lay hold upon them,
exactly in the same manner as did Netpe, the goddess of wisdom, or
spiritual life, in former times. According to the testimony of Barlow,
this is the subject "most frequently symbolized on early Christian
sepulchral tablets and monuments."(13) Christ's body was the "bread of
life," and his blood was the "wine from the Tree of Life," of which
to partake was life eternal. The cross, as in earlier religions,
represented completeness of life. The jambu tree, the Buddhist god-tree,
is in the shape of a cross.(14)

13) Essays on Symbolism, p. 74.

14) Wilford, Asiatic Researches.

Among the Kelti a tall oak was not only a symbol of the Deity, but it
was Jupiter himself, while the earth from which it sprang was the Great
Mother. Throughout Europe, in all ages, the oak has received divine
honors. The fact that under its branches Jew, Pagan, and Christian
alike swore their most solemn oaths, shows that its veneration was not
confined to any particular nation or locality.

The sacredness