Like the laurel and ivy, the yew always remains green and is a symbol of eternity, mourning and death.

For the Celts it was the tree of death because of its poisonous needles and fruit seeds. Traditionally, yew twigs were carried at funerals and were stuck in the ground around the grave, sprouting up as a cutting. In Greek mythology, the yew is a tree of the underworld.

The seal of the original Theosophical Society is a variation of the personal seal of the Russian occultist and esotericist Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) and is made up of various symbols that have been in use for centuries. To the theosophical movement, they are "part of the universal mystery language that can convey sacred truths of nature to the mind without words." The seal consists in theosophical sense of the Serpent with its tail in its mouth, the Swastika, the Intertwined Triangles and the Looped Cross, Ankh or Tau. The movement had a large following in Indonesia.

The inverted (burning) torch had been a symbol of extinguished life and attribute of death since ancient times. A burning torch refers to (renewed) life (resurrection). Often two extinguished torches are depicted crosswise.

In Christian iconography the tree is a symbol of the life, and its progression through the annual cycle points to life, death and resurrection. The cross of Christ would later have been made from the wood of the 'tree of knowledge' in paradise, which henceforth became the 'tree of life' for believers. The Tree of Life on a tomb symbolizes the ending of life. Sometimes cut down, including ax, referring to a life cut short too young.

Jewish symbolism. Two hands, with four fingers each divided into two sets of two fingers, is the symbol of a priestly blessing — this signifies a Kohen, a descendant of the biblical high priest Aaron. The plural form of Cohen is Kohanim or Cohanim.