So I have this necklace. It's a pewter pendant with a tree on it. In my mind, it represents Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse mythology. I really like it but don't usually wear it to synagogue because to me it's very clearly a pagan symbol and I don't want to cross the streams. I decided to wear it on the Autumnal Equinox, also Frodo & Bilbo's birthday.
The first person I talked to at my shul, an older woman, said "I love your necklace! I have earrings like that. The Tree of Life. I should give them to you!" Later, another person said the same thing. "I have those earrings. A tree of life. Eitz chaim." In their eyes, in that context, this image of the tree was a Jewish symbol. And of course it is. The Torah is the "Tree of Life" for Jews. Obviously, the tree is one of our oldest human symbols and found throughout world cultures and religions.This image has spirals, again an ancient image, used frequently in Celtic designs. But spirals are also mathematically precise shapes that recur throughout nature as the Golden Spiral. This particular image based on the Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt which I commend unto you. Anyway...
A few days later, I'm in my local Jewish bakery buying bagels and challah. The young man behind the counter looked at me and said "Is that a Tree of Life"? And then proceeded to ask me many questions about it as we was filling my order. Was I aware of all the meanings of the symbol?, as he packed the bagels. Did I know it was important in Norse & Celtic mythology as well Kabbalah?, while getting the challah. When I told him I though of it as Yggdrasil, he stopped in his tracks and gave me a searching look. Was I into mythology? The final question, as he rang up my order, "Are you a pagan?" and he was sad when I said no. All of this in a crowded Jewish bakery on the day before Yom Kippor. Clearly in his eyes, it was strong signifier of an area of knowledge he was interested in and some kind of connection between us. (Indeed on a subsequent visit, I noticed him openly wearing a pentagram, perhaps emboldened by my pendant.)
One image, two very different views which are both rooted deeply in human culture. Conversations and connections. This has struck me particularly during the high holidays because my goal for this year is "integration". I am splitting myself into too many pieces or characters and not being my true self in any of them and not actually enjoying a whole life. Always pretending is tiring. Theatre is evil. To me, wearing this necklace to shul was crossing those boundaries. Letting people I know in my Jewish world know about something I care about in my more authentic self. As simple as this may seem, it was a step for introverted, guarded me and I feel that it was rewarded. These interacations embolden me to continue on this path in the coming year.