One interpretation of the name Yggdrasil asserts that it refers to the old norse word ‘yggr’ meaning “terror”. Yggdrasil would then etymologically equate to ‘tree of terror, gallows’. This rich and archetypal symbol runs through the pre-Christian religions and folklore of a number of Nordic and Germanic societies.
Its fruit was connected to human births and it was said to continually grow and be destroyed as it was consumed by the mythic creatures that dwelt in it’s canopy. The Family tree is often, similarly, a tree of terror.
The legacy of our ancestors, their erroneous codes of life, anxieties, traumas, beliefs, auto-curses, misery, poverty, stupidity and emotional cruelty, were engraved on our subconscious before we were born. The dead do not want to die to the end, their last food is those still living. The next generation has to fulfil the demands of the dead, give meaning to their defeat and bring justice to the world. But this me – diation through time and history ends in tragedy and brings only new corpses. The dead eat the living. Obedient to our ancestors we sink into their worlds. Once free no one has a power over us. Free yourself.
– Monika K. Adler, Aeon Rose, 2015
