Literature: Alma is clearly describing the tree of life in Lehi’s (and Nephi’s) dream (1 Ne. 8:11). Alma’s allusion to it without further explanation communicates that it was well known to his audience, suggesting that the dream and the image must have been cited much more frequently in religious addresses and writings among those Mormon consulted than would appear from actual citations in Mormon’s record. Somewhere in the culture/religion from which the Zoramites had apostatized was the image of Lehi’s tree of life.
Mesoamerican culture in general also preserved the image of a tree of life with nourishing powers. The concept of the world tree, a central tree symbolically transversing the layers of the world from underworld to the heavens, is one of the oldest discernible religious symbols in Mesoamerica, visible in the Olmec culture dating to at least 2,000 B.C. Annabeth Headrick describes a late Aztec ritual that still preserves the concepts of the world tree:
In his account of the Aztecs, the sixteenth-century Dominican friar Diego Durán wrote about two different tree-raising rituals. One of these concerned a tree put up during rituals Durán calls the Feast of the Waters. In this tree raising, ritualists did not climb the tree; instead, the tree served a more visual, symbolic purpose. According to Durán, on Tlaloc’s feast day, men of all ages set up an elaborate artificial landscape in the main plaza in front of the Templo Mayor. The most important feature of this imitation forest was a central, perfect tree and four smaller trees, one at each of the four corners. The central tree was called Tota, or Our Father. The men found this tree by going to the Hill of the Star, the same hill where they drilled the new fire every fifty-two years, further confirming the calendrical nature of the event. On that hill the chose the largest and most perfect tree, especially favoring a tree with lush, verdant branches. As they cut the tree, the used a series of ropes to keep it from ever touching the ground, which continued as they carried it back to the ceremonial center. Once in town, the celebrants raised the tree in the main plaza of Tenochtitlan. In his illustration and text, Durán explained that ropes connected the central Tota tree to the other four trees. Thus, symbolically, the central world tree was connected by cords to the four cardinal directions. Underneath the trees, the people of Tenochtitlan were said to have held a festival, including song, dance, and games.
Another manifestation of this sacred tree was the Aztec chichiualquahuitl, a “nursing” tree from which infants who die drink milk in the next life.