Surely, a lot of people had seen it on Neon Genesis Evangelion OP, and I suppose that it has been referenced on Bleach (although I am not sure since I hadn't watched that anime series ._.U)
But now there's something different. The aforementioned Tree appears on the FMA manga and new anime, more precisely in the Gate.
On the next picture we can see the manga, anime and intro versions of the Tree of Life. It seems to me that the one used in the intro is the same one which Arakawa-san drew on the Gate in the manga version. By the way, that HUGE gate in the middle of a big, blank space, floating as if it were the most natural thing in the world... You mustn't be Edward Elric to feel small in the middle of that immensity.
(Ed: Who is a little atom in the middle of nothing???!!!)
Once an alchemist performs the VERY FORBIDDEN Human Transmutation (I love to write it with capital letters :P), he/she is brought in front of the mysterious Gate, where she/he is greeted by it's friendly (just joking ¬¬) host... Known as the World, the Universe, God, the True Knowledge, the All (something about that I will talk later -_-U) the Truth... YOU or ME!!!
Most known as Truth-kun (they say he's male XD).
This human parts thief is the one who opens the Gate and shows to the alchemist the GREAT knowledge required to perform an successful Human Transmutation... Just up to certain degree.
Do you remember what I had said on the post about the intro of the new series, about the things needed for a Human Transmutation? Truth-kun gives to the alchemists a lot of information, but when they're about to realize what do they lack for an successful Human Transmutation... The Gate is closed.
That's all.
Ok, ok... And why the f**k Truth-kun closes the Gate precisely at that point?
Because if an alchemist gets enough knowledge to perform the succesful Human Transmutation, then this alchemist will be a God!!! Ed wasn't wrong when he was on Leto's Church talking to Rose and told her that alchemist were the ones that are closer to God... Specially those who had seen the Gate.
Oh, yesss... And in this point is where we can talk about the Tree of Life.
To understand it, we must know what it is. To begin, we must know that it is a symbol from the Kabbalah and one of the most important ones for the Judaism. It is a depiction of the path which leads to the comprension of God and - notice it - the way He created the World.
Isn't obvious? Yes, it is!!! Moreover, consider that the Tree of Life is like a "map" about Creation... Or in other words, a kind of "How to perform a successful Human Transmutation".
The worst thing is that comprehending it perfectly (Kabbalah means perfection) it's needed a lot of research, study and an adequate instruction. Like Alchemy, isn't it?
That Tree is composed by 10 spheres called Sephiroth, a hebrew word meaning "path". According to the Kabbalah, those are the ten emanations which God used to create the World.
From top to bottom, the names of the spheres are:
1.- Kether, illumination
2.- Chokmah, wisdom
3.- Binah, comprehension
4.- Chesed, compassion
5.- Geburah, rectitude
6.- Tipheret, beauty
7.- Netzach, strength
8.- Hod, splendour
9.- Yesod, reasoning
10.- Malkuth, power
Plus an independent sphere called Daat, the sephiroth of Knowledge. The realization of this sephiroth in the Four Worlds lead the performer before the Father (no, not THAT Father XD, although it can be if we make an analogy...)
Between each sephiroth there are some links, called Paths, and they are named with the 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet:
1.- Aleph
2.- Beth
3.- Gimel
4.- Daleth
5.- Heh
6.- Vav
7.- Zayin
8.- Cheth
9.- Teth
10.- Yod
11.- Kaph
12.- Lamed
13.- Mem
14.- Nun
15.- Samekh
16.- Ayin
17.- Peh
18.- Tzaddi
19.- Qoph
20.- Resh
21.- Shin
22.- Tau
If we look closely, in some sephiroth there are some symbols associated with planets and the Moon. Just as a fact, remember that in Alchemy those symbols were used to symbolize some metals (for example Sun is gold, Moon is Silver, Venus is copper, etc.). Taking it into account, it can't be strange that the Tree had been studied by the alchemist on ancient times, since they were looking not only the physical perfection but also spiritual.
Now it makes a lot of sense that Arakawa-san had designed the Gate in that way, doesn't it?
And also there exists the dark side of this Tree, called Qlifot, Tree of Death or Infernal Tree. With all it's sephiroth and paths just like the Tree of Life but representing it's negative form. Everything has a bad side.
That's all for now, the truth is that talking about the Tree of Life in a more detailed way could take sooooo long and for now I think that's all about it's relevance with FMA.
In a next post: "All in one, one in All"... The ALL, another well known concept to Hermetism, which also had influenced Alchemy. See ya...
