In Jungian psychology, the image of the tree, or Axis Mundi, fundamentally serves as an allegory for self realisation and the three dimensionally hierarchical structure of the psyche.

Allegorically, Jung, often famously quoted, mentioned that in order for a tree’s branches to reach into heaven, its roots must first reach down into hell. This imagery demonstrates Jung’s strongly held views that an unconscious left unexplored, would act as a preventative measure in an individual’s pursuit towards individuation and self actualisation.

As a representation of the structure of the psyche, the tree’s roots represent the unconscious, the trunk represents the conscious mind, and the branches extending into heaven illustrates the supraconscious mind.

The Axis Mundi, or World Axis, is then the total representation of that which both holds in place the microcosm and macrocosm, and therefore serves as a great reflective mechanisms of the inner and outer world.