Leaf
While GREEN leaves depict hope, renewal, and revival,
dead leaves represent decay and sadness. In general, leaves are symbolic of fertility
and growth, and in the Chinese tradition the leaves of the Cosmic Tree represent
all of the beings in the universe. Leaves also connote people by way of their
vast number, and relate back to dress in context with Adam, who covered himself
with a leaf after first learning the shame of human nakedness. They often give
a scary feeling, as the rustling of nearby leaves can mean evil is lurking near.
The term 'turning over a new leaf' is a Western idiom offering people a chance
to start anew and amend their past mistakes. However, this term does not exist
in cultures that do not isolate time and space, such as the Hopi Indians; to these
people, the self is the culmination of a person's past, and therefore the two
cannot be disconnected.
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