Sacred trees of different nations. Sacred bo tree of sri lanka. Trees can also punish
washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean and its Bay of Bengal. Separated from Hindustan by the Gulf of Manara and the Palk Strait. The so-called Adam's Bridge - a sandbank in the Palk Strait - once completely connected Sri Lanka with the mainland, but, according to chronicles, was destroyed by an earthquake around 1481.
Capital of Sri Lanka
— Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Sacred Bo Tree of Sri Lanka
Story
Having got rid of the annoying British, the inhabitants of Ceylon quickly renamed their country as they saw fit. This is how the state of Sri Lanka came into being. And although the aromatic tea produced here is still called Ceylon, Sri Lanka is as far from Ceylon as it is from Great Britain. It is here that the Bo tree has stood for almost five thousand years. It was under this tree that Prince Gautama achieved Enlightenment and became Buddha. It was here that a giant snake sheltered the meditating prince from the weather under its hood. This is the oldest tree on Earth and it seems that it will yet see the death of this world.
Dambulla
— the ancient complex of cave temples also has its own small but unsolved secrets. It was here that along one of the walls, in the thickness of the stone, a narrow groove was made, in which water runs... upward. It reaches the highest point of the cave and from there, according to the law of gravity, falls down into a large golden bowl.
Tourist paradise
Tourists arriving in this paradise should know and follow some rules. You can't point your finger at someone, it's not just impolite - it's a direct insult. Before entering the courtyard and premises of Buddhist temples, shoes are removed. To photograph a local resident, you must first obtain permission from him. If you mindlessly click your camera left and right, spending most of your vacation at the police station.
Sacred Bo Tree
The Bodhi Tree is one of the sacred objects of worship for millions of Buddhists around the world who come to Anuradhapura, which has retained its fame as a center of historical monuments and holy Buddhist sites.
This tree (one of the oldest in the world) was grown from a scion of the Indian wild fig, a sapling taken from the tree in Budha Goya (Nepal) under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. The shoot was brought to the island in the 3rd century. BC e. nun Sangamitta, daughter of the Indian Emperor Asoka, and was planted in the royal park of Anuradhapura.
Bo is the oldest tree on Earth
Since the Budha Goya tree has not survived in Nepal, Bo is the oldest tree on Earth: its age is 23 centuries.
The tree itself is small and supported by supports. A large protective tree grows next to it.
Thousands of pilgrims come every year to admire the shrine, and even a separate Lankarma temple has been built for worship. To see the Bo tree with your own eyes, you need to go through two security cordons, and then you can come almost close to the golden fence that surrounds the sacred tree. Near this fence you can see Buddhists standing and waiting for the leaves to fall from the sacred tree. They will take these leaves home so that the memory of the pilgrimage to the island of Ceylon, an island of ancient Buddhist tradition, remains. Someone meditates or prays right here - sometimes for days on end.
This plant is located in the city of Anuradhapura, and is known almost throughout the world. His significance is not so much his age or even his size. The reason for such popularity of a seemingly ordinary tree is religion and legends, which may well turn out to be true.
It is here that many Buddhists come every year, for whom this tree is sacred. But just tourists who dream of looking at this unique plant also come here. The reason for this is its history.
This is not just a tree, it is a shoot of an Indian fig. It was taken in ancient times from the tree that gave its shadow to the Buddha at the moment when he gained enlightenment. That tree itself is, or rather, was called Budha Goya. According to ancient texts, it grew on the territory of Nepal. But today it is no longer possible to see it, and the only thing that remains for tourists and true Buddhists is its part, its shoot, which has already become one of the most interesting trees on earth.
Confirmation that this is precisely the shoot of the most sacred of the trees of the world is ancient texts. They directly indicate that one of the daughters of the Indian emperor brought the sprout directly from Nepal. By that time she was already a nun, and this action had no less significance for her than it now has for all those who worship the Enlightened One. It was she, a girl named Sangamitta, who planted it in the ground near the royal palace of the ancient city. Since then it has been growing and taking roots deeper and deeper into this earth.
Ordinary tourists are of little interest in the Buddhist history of this tree; the dating is more interesting. It turns out that today this plant is one of the oldest in the world - it was brought and planted according to ancient texts back in the 2nd century BC, which means that today it is already more than twenty-three centuries old.
Despite this age, the sacred tree itself is small, and it is supported by special supports. But a larger tree grows nearby to protect it.
Every year thousands of pilgrims come here, for whom a separate temple is built.
On all continents, the lives of people and trees have long been closely linked. Humanity has destroyed them, which is why we are so concerned about our future. However, if we are to try to address the very real danger posed by the disappearance of the planet's forests, we need to examine, at least briefly, the connections that existed between people and trees up until this century.
In different parts of the Earth there lives a legend about the forefather of all trees, a giant tree that rose to the heavens from the center of the Earth and was the axis of the Universe. It united three elements, its roots went deep into the soil, and its crown rested on the firmament. It gave the planet air, and all earthly creatures - fruits filled with the sun and moisture that it took from the soil. The tree attracted lightning, which gave people fire, and with the movement of its branches it ordered the clouds frolicking at its top to water the earth with life-giving rain. It was a source of life and renewal. It is not surprising that the cult of the tree was so widespread in ancient times.
In sun-scorched Egypt, the sacred sycamore reigned; in ice-bound Scandinavia, the homeland of the Teutons, the ash tree Yggdrasil reigned. In India, the sacred (Ficus religiosa) is identified with the brahman: at his foot Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment. According to Chinese legends, in the center of the Middle Empire and the whole world there grew an “upright tree” (Kien-mu). Among the Indians who lived in the territory of modern Mexico, the world tree rose in all its glory from the womb of the Earth goddess in the fifth dimension of space, uniting the higher kingdom with the lower. In Africa, until recently, the tree of ancestors, the abode of God and man, was considered sacred (among the Dogon - kilena, among the Bambara - baanza, among the Dahomeans - aze), and in some American communities they generally believe that the sacred tree is the true birthplace of man.
Usually the deity chooses a particular tree and makes it his earthly abode. This is how it becomes sacred. Sometimes the deity communicates with people through trees. Thus, Zeus, with the rustle of oak leaves, revealed the future to the priestesses of the sanctuary in Dodona. But if the gods descend to the earth through the trees, why don’t people climb up their trunks to the celestials, as a Siberian shaman does when he climbs a birch tree, or an initiated young man in the Australian Arunta desert who climbs to the top of a sacred pole resembling a tree without branches ?
Some trees were traditionally associated with a specific deity and were therefore especially revered. In addition, it was believed that all trees have a soul. They served as a container, a body for dryads, hamadryads and caryatids in Ancient Greece, goblin and mermaids among the Slavic peoples (by the way, if you type something, say, Ancient Greece, all about myths, then there will definitely be a lot of myths about trees). That is why the tree could not be touched until the spirit deigned to leave it. To cut down a sacred tree meant to sentence oneself to death. These popular beliefs found an echo in the elegy “To the Lumberjack of Gastin” by the great French poet of the 16th century. Ronsard.
The identification of tree and deity naturally led to the emergence of a new image - the sacred forest, which became an attribute of religion not only of the ancient Greeks, Romans and Celts, but also of the Persians and many other peoples of Asia, Africa and America. Traces of sacred groves can still be found today in India, China and Japan, as well as in northern Africa, where the Berbers live. At one time these were the only sanctuaries. The sacred forest evoked reverence and fear, a whole set of strict taboos were associated with it, but it was under its shade that young men gathered after the initiation rite to learn from the priests the secrets of the universe. The forest became the prototype of the temple, where tree trunks served as columns, and Christian churches even today resemble it with their arches, twilight and soft, rainbow light flowing through the stained glass windows.
From ancient times, courts were held at the foot of the majestic trees. Sometimes the sacred tree was considered the heart and guardian of the city, and although the process of urbanization erased traces of these beliefs, much evidence can be found in written sources dating back to antiquity confirming their existence. In the sacred city of Eridu, the Sumerians, who lived in the third millennium BC, worshiped the world tree Kiskan. In the Athenian Acropolis there grew an olive tree, which, according to legend, was planted by Athena herself, thus taking possession of this land and founding a city here. On the territory of the Roman Forum, a fig tree was guarded, under the shade of which a she-wolf fed Romulus and Remus. According to Tacitus, the death of the tree in 58 was perceived by the townspeople as a bad omen. And not in vain: a year later, Emperor Nero killed his mother Agrippina, after which he indulged in unbridled cruelty and debauchery, which almost led to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
However, trees were associated with the fate of not only cities, but also individuals. A tree could become a double of a person, protect him, transferring his strength and even longevity to him - as you know, trees live much longer than people. Previously, in many countries, on a child’s birthday, a tree was planted, which was considered to be his twin. They believed that they had a common destiny, so they carefully looked after the tree, believing that if it died, the person would also be in danger. Pliny tells how one noble Roman, trying to improve the growth of his tree, watered its roots with wine.
In some traditional societies this custom has survived to this day. In a number of cases, a connection between a person and a tree was established during illness. So, in order to cure a sick child, he was carried naked three times through a cut made in a living tree. Once a widespread remedy for rickets and hernia, this ritual was usually performed at dawn, when the tree had a lot of strength. The sick child drew his energy, and the tree took on the disease. After this ceremony, the incision was tightened and covered with clay. This is how a long-term closeness between the child and the tree arose. If the incision healed, the child was cured; if it remained, the disease continued. If the tree died, the child died too. When the recovered child grew up, he began to take care of his savior. And no one else was allowed to touch him.
It was also believed that trees received the souls of the dead. Among peoples such as the Warramunga of Central Australia, trees were believed to serve as a refuge for souls before their reincarnation. The ancient Egyptians believed that the souls (ba) of the recently deceased take the form of birds and sit on the branches of the sacred sycamore tree, and the mistress of this tree, the goddess Hathor, appears in the foliage and offers them bread and water. But these souls could be evil and dangerous. For example, in Korea and many other countries it was believed that the souls of only those people who died a violent death found refuge in trees.
In a number of countries, they believed that souls settled in trees, left on earth to atone for their sins. The book of the French folklore specialist Anatole Le Braz, “Legends of Death in Southern Brittany,” written at the end of the 19th century, provides interesting examples of such beliefs. Sometimes people heard how the deceased, climbing a tree, moaned and cried there. Then a mass was served in the local parish church, at the end of which the deceased went downstairs and thanked him for being delivered from torment. They also talked about how at night the trees come up to the house and, turning into relatives of the owner, warm themselves by the fireplace.
It was very important to choose the right tree for the cemetery. For example, in Brittany, yew was usually planted on graves, with its roots growing into the womb of the person buried under it. In the Mediterranean countries, cypress was used for this purpose, which was a symbol of mourning back in the days of Minoan culture: with its pyramidal shape it resembles a torch directed into the sky - a symbol of prayer and immortality. In China, cypress or some other evergreen tree, such as pine, was also planted in cemeteries.
To be continued.
For many peoples of Eurasia, trees had a sacred status. The cult of trees was especially developed among the northern peoples: the Celts, Germans, and Finno-Ugric peoples. The Slavs also revered trees.
It is characteristic that the cult of ancestors and the sacredness of trees are interconnected. A tree is a visual metaphor for the connection between generations: roots, trunk, branches. Personal history overlaps with the history of the world. It is rare that a culture does not use the image of the World Tree. Often this image is central to the unfolding of the world plot.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it was the eating of the fruits of the World Tree that led to the beginning of human history: the exodus of man from Paradise. Jesus Christ was crucified on the "tree". In Buddhist culture, the Precious Experience of Enlightenment occurred under the Boddhi tree. In the Northern tradition, the god Odin received the revelation of the Runes while hanging crucified on the World Tree Yggdrassil.
Tree is one of the deepest archetypes. Although man belongs to another kingdom - the animal kingdom, there is a special, intimate connection between people and the world of trees. A tree best conveys the idea of the connection between generations, the idea of development, coordination with natural cycles as a universal process in the Universe. The tree gives hope for Change.
A special property of trees is their direct connection with the Sun; they are fans of the solar cult. The food of the tree is Light.
It is born from the earth, returns to the earth, shares its fruits, lives in light. Who is this? Like this?
Boris Medvid
Below is a photo essay about the northern tradition of venerating pine trees.
Pines - trees of Roda
Modern Finns have preserved the tradition of carving or placing signs on ancestral pines in honor of deceased relatives.
Precisely on pine trees: in the backyard of a house or in ancient cemeteries.
Our Old Believers in Meshchera also had such signs, special memorial signs.
Sacred pine, tied with offerings - scraps of fabric. Northern Finland
Russian culture is recognizable everywhere in these photos. One can recall the numerous revered trees of our North, Karelia, Vologda, Tvershchina, Novgorod region, Volga region, Vyatka.
Holy pines on the vineyard in Gusevo. Novgorod region. Borovichi district
Near the village of Ovino (not far from the village of Tsvylevo) in the former Sugorovskaya volost of Tikhvin district there is a sacred pine tree, it is located next to the mounds.
They said this about her: “... not far from this village there is a pine tree, around this pine tree there is a fence, in the fence there is a cross in a log house. This pine tree has the name “Three-handed” - its trunk has three large branches; it is more than three of my girths. There is the following legend about this pine tree: neither a saw, nor an ax, nor fire can take it. Some Ivan tried to saw it - his hands withered, some Kuzma wanted to cut it down - his legs withered, some shepherd wanted set it on fire - his house burned down. The water that passed through the hollow of this pine tree and flowed down to the roots (a cup is hollowed out below into which the water flows) is considered healing for all diseases. ... women, passing by, cross themselves to the pine tree. The place near this pine tree is a place for the burial of miscarriages. ...here, under the holy tree, he can be buried; “maybe in the next world he will go to heaven”
Until 1523, on the site of present-day Vasilsursk there was the ancient Mari capital, the Tsepel fortress. Numerous sacred groves, trees and sources of pagans have been preserved there to this day.
This is the sacred Mari pine Khmelevskaya, the place of traditional sacrifices dedicated to the ancestors.
Sacred pines on Sharshenga. Vologda
Stump of the sacred Velikoretsk pine. Kirov region. In the Velikoretsky camp of the Khlynovsky district, former Vot settlements were recorded
A few meters from the stump, on the very edge of the steep bank of the Velikaya River, there is another pine tree, its mighty roots extend into an equally strong trunk, intertwining above the ground and forming a grotto. In this place the descent to the river is steep, clayey, slippery even in dry weather. But the pilgrims diligently, slipping and risking sliding down, climb the steep mountain. It turns out there is a belief: if you climb between the roots of that pine tree, you won’t get sick all year. And the especially zealous ones strive, also for health, to gnaw off at least a piece of the already mentioned stump.
The trunk of an ancient sacred pine tree, in the hollow of which, according to legend, St. Hilarion. Chapel in the name of St. Hilarion of Pskovoezersky in the village. Lakes of the Gdov district of the Pskov region.
Sacred trees of the Slavs ====================== Do we often think about the forest? Only when we go there on vacation. How often do we touch trees? Only when we collect their fruits. But with our ancestors everything was different - they loved, respected and took care of the forest.
Our ancestors were surrounded by a more interesting world than us. They knew how to see magic and soul in things that we don’t pay attention to now. They even treated trees as living beings capable of communication and friendship, and the forest was considered a breadwinner. We can find confirmation of this in numerous ancient tales, riddles, sayings, proverbs and songs of our ancestors. With the help of trees, our ancestors knew how to heal: when going into the forest to pick mushrooms or berries, they sat for a long time under “their” trees, talked to them, and touched them. Modern scientists call this practice dendrotherapy, and claim that such walks normalize blood pressure and bring mental and physical relief. In general, our ancestors, like all other peoples who lived in the forest, had a great love for trees. And this could not be reflected in their worldview, where the archetype of the World Tree appears. TREE OF LIFE - WORLD TREE The image of the World Tree was known in the mythology of many peoples. He played a significant role in the worldview of the Slavs as well. This Tree was a symbol of life, space, and time. The sky stood on its branches, and the earth's firmament rested on its roots. The crown of the Tree symbolized the world of light spirits, the roots - the world of dark spirits, and the trunk - the earthly space where people lived. The tree separated these spaces, and while it stood, nothing threatened the universe.
In the mythology of the Slavs, the World Tree was located in the umbilical cord (that is, the center) of the whole world: on an island in the middle of all the seas, on the Alatyr stone. He was depicted as an apple tree, sycamore, but most often as an oak tree. A snake, ermine or other predator sat at the roots of the Tree, and a bird nested in the branches above it. These animals were always at enmity with each other, and their enmity symbolized the struggle between good and evil.
The image of the World Tree was used to decorate clothes, household utensils, and work equipment. In some cases it was supposed to play a protective role, in others it was supposed to attract good luck, health, and wealth. The Tree also appears in riddles and magical conspiracies.
RESERVED FOREST The Slavs most often held their rituals in forests and groves. Each deity had to build a sanctuary among trees of a certain type. Sometimes they were planted on purpose, and then a whole grove was obtained. The place where the sanctuary was located became reserved. It was called the “righteous forest” or “divine forest”. The protected grove was located outside the village. It was strictly forbidden to enter it just like that, or, moreover, to chop wood in it. An inconspicuous path led to the temple, and the sanctuary itself was a round clearing surrounded by a palisade of logs. The altar was located in the center, most often under a large old tree, and wooden idols stood around it. On festival days, the entire village gathered at the sanctuary, they performed rituals and brought gifts to the gods. It may seem strange to us now that among the Slavs, cutting down trees that did not interfere with anyone or anything, or provided shade in the summer, was considered a sin. Trees were respected in themselves, and their pointless destruction was condemned in the same way as excessive cruelty to animals or rude treatment of people. Very old trees were even more revered. They tried not to cut them down unless absolutely necessary and called them the Tsar Tree. And in the most ancient times, the wise men and tribal leaders imposed a strict ban on cutting down certain types of trees that were considered sacred and revered as totems - the ancestors of the tribe. With the adoption of Christianity this went away, but the veneration of special types of trees remained. OAK - THE SACRED TREE OF THE SLAVS In ancient times, the Slavs had a sacred tree - the king of forests. Oak rightfully takes first place in the Slavic arboretum. The Slavs called it Tsar Oak, and, according to legend, the king of birds, the eagle, lived on it. God the Father appeared under the name or in the form of an oak tree. In folk ideas, oak acts as a symbol of masculinity, dominance, strength, power, and hardness.
The power of this tree, Oak, was sung in their songs not only by our ancestors, but also by Europeans. They presented him with gifts, offered prayers and made him an integral attribute of many rituals, sacraments and holidays. They say about the Oak that its wisdom is in its roots, its strength is in its trunk, and its compassion is in its leaves and branches, which is why this tree has become a truly masculine symbol. If you ask the question: what kind of wood did the Slavs build their houses from? Then, of course, the answer to it will be - Oak. It is a fortress and strength, a stronghold and the basis of all things, which is why it is often called the Tree of the World. Our ancestors called him not just a symbol of a tree among the Slavs, but the King of Trees. This element is reflected in all its diversity in the folklore of our people, because often the Oak became the central element of tales and legends. In poems and poems one can find the significance that our fathers endowed oak groves with. The temples of our Gods, in particular Perun and Veles, were built precisely in oak woodlands. A large number of rituals that were performed at the birth of a child or pregnancy included oak branches if the parents wanted to have a boy. The presence of an Oak tree, planted by the father in the courtyard of the house, determined the strength of the family, namely the strength, health and reliability of its men. Therefore, when the oak trees in the yard began to die, it was considered a truly bad sign, prophesying the imminent death of the family. BIRCH - A SYMBOL OF BEGINNINGS AND FRESHNESS One of the most common trees in Rus' is the Birch. And although birch trees grow all over the world, nowhere are they loved and honored as much as in our homeland. This has been the case throughout the centuries. After all, birch in Slavic mythology was also considered a sacred tree.
Our fathers saw purity and the beginning of everything in this tree, that is, the birch embodied the feminine principle. For centuries in our folklore the symbol of a thin and slender birch tree has been associated with the figure of a girl. Any girl is a mother in the future, so amulets and talismans were often made from the bark and branches of this beautiful tree, designed to protect their wearer from troubles and evils in the future. Birch sap can be considered a real healing drug that can cleanse the body and blood of infection. Birch, like the wise Oak, was often used in folk rituals, mainly in those that were in the nature of marriage. For example, ancient fortune telling is known when girls, hoping to find their betrothed, floated birch wreaths down the river. In this matter, according to legend, they were helped by mermaids, who, also according to folklore, sat on birch trees that grow along the banks of ponds, lakes and rivers. The holiday of Rusalia was the celebration of the birth of the Rus. Birth – beginning – motherhood. This is precisely the meaning of these birches among the Slavs. PINE - TREE OF PATH AND FATES Another sacred tree of the Slavs is Pine. The meaning that our fathers assigned to it is one of the most complex and mysterious.
They called the pine tree the axis of the world, a guiding thread, a road, and destiny. Funeral pyres were often made from pine firewood, serving as a symbol of the inevitable fate that awaits each of us. This cult of farewell to bodies refers us to the goddess Mokosh, who is again the goddess of Fate. She is one of the main figures in the Universe, the Goddess of the Cosmos. Pine served mainly in healing and healing rituals. Decoctions and poultices were made from resin, pollen, pine needles and cones. Speaking about the latter, it is again worth mentioning that both female and male cones grow on the tree at the same time, and what can unite a man and a woman into a single beginning? Only fate. By binding together, the pine tree simultaneously led and supported our ancestors. ASPEN - THE TREE OF DEATH AND DEATH Aspen always turns blue in its cut, and our ancestors called the blue color the shadow of death. Despite the fact that this tree was called a symbol of death, the end of the path, it was not at all negative in nature. Aspen, being a symbol of death, is at the same time positioned as a powerful amulet against it. The will of the Gods is sometimes capricious and unstable, and their anger could be directed at those who did not have any evil merits behind them. So that punishment would not befall the innocent, people made aspen amulets that could protect them from anger.
Taking into account the importance and symbolism of this tree, the Slavs made from it not only talismans and amulets, but also weapons and armor. For example, aspen spears. According to folklore, an aspen spear could not only kill a warrior, but also revive him. This once again suggests that aspen did not have a negative connotation at all, but a benign, fair one. That is, the death rendered by the aspen is timely. By the same principle, an aspen stake appeared in folklore as the main remedy for evil spirits, such as vampires and ghouls. It was believed that vampires and ghouls were both alive and dead at the same time; they violated the natural order of things and contradicted it. SPRUCE IS A SYMBOL OF ETERNAL LIFE It is hardly possible to overestimate the importance of Spruce for the Slavs. Spruce acts as one of the most important spiritual keys, being at the same time the purpose of existence, its meaning, and existence itself. After all, Spruce is a symbol of eternal life.
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