Regarding: Eric Hughes' Tree of Life theory:There were 12 Gods
before one of them was absorbed by "the Other." Thus, even if Anshar doesn't count, shouldn't there still need to be 12 nodes in a symbolic relationship in order for it to match up? My quick Web searches show versions of the Tree with 10 or 11 nodes (usually 10). On the other hand, a quick, naive skimming of Wikipedia (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life_%28Kabbalah%29) reveals, "the beginning of the Universe [...] is not always pictured in reproductions of the Tree of Life"; and maybe that could be the missing 12th, "gentlest of the Pantheon."
Playing devil's advocate, though, there are so many lines of connection between the nodes in the Tree of Life that it seems like it would be easy to make it match many relationships. An admittedly naive skimming of Website overviews of the Tree of Life doesn't make it seem like the nodes' descriptions match up with the Gods of Men.
Still, I also found the snake depiction in one drawing and like how well it symbolically fits Arcanis' theology.
Even if this is way off base, I bet there's some in-game mystic cult that is convinced that this is the truth and the path to enlightenment.