#biblical symbolism

The vine had long been a beloved symbol of Israel… in the Last Supper discourse, on the way to Gethsemane, it acquires a new dimension, the pain of pruning. However, the suffering of Jesus is not the principal point here: [rather, it is that all] disciples of Jesus must be prepared to bear the pain of pruning. The image is a powerful one. To an uninstructed onlooker, the wretched, seemingly lifeless twigs left on the vines appear totally unable to burgeon in a few months into the rich harvest of grapes. The most powerful of all the aspects of the symbol is the sap pulsing through those apparently dead branches. There is all the difference in the world between those docked shoots [still thriving within], and the dead twigs scattered on the ground, [their wild growth availing nothing.Humble] adherence to the vine, to Christ himself, alone gives life to the Church.

Dom Henry Wansbrough; Commentary on John 15

[In] the Book of Revelation…Sophia is described as being clothed with the Sun, with the Moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. This image of Sophia as the soul of the world shows her extended body as encompassing all the planets and stars, and from the entire planetary system she pours down her wisdom upon the Earth to those who are open in heart and mind to receive it.

The Sophia Teachings by Robert Powell