“…the tree symbolizes human life and development and the inner process of becoming conscious. One could say that it symbolizes in the psyche that something which grows and develops undisturbed within us, irrespective of what the ego does; it is the urge toward individuation which unfolds and continues, independent of our consciousness…The Self is the tree—that which is greater than the ego in man (von Franz, 1995, p. 43).”
von Franz, M.-L. (1995). Shadow and evil in fairy tales. Boston, MA: Shambhala.