CHAPTER III. 



acreiLUree/ ^ pParjt/ o^ tfie (sKaclerjl/. 



LL the nations of antiquity entertained for certain 

 trees and plants a special reverence, which in many 

 cases degenerated into a superstitious worship. 

 The myths of all countries contain allusions 

 to sacred or supernatural plants. The Veda 

 mentions the heavenly tree which the lightning 

 strikes down ; the mythology of the Finns speaks 

 of the celestial Oak which the sun-dwarf uproots ; 

 Yama, the Vedic god of death, sits drinking with companies of 

 the blessed, under a leafy tree, just as in the northern Saga Hel's 

 place is at the foot of the Ash Yggdrasill. 



In the eyes of the ancient Persians the tree, by its changes 

 in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, appeared as the 

 emblem of human existence, whilst at the same time, by the con- 

 tinuity of its life, it was reverently regarded as a symbol of 

 immortality. Hence it came to pass that in Persia trees of unusual 

 qualities were in course of time looked upon as being the abode of 

 holy and even celestial spirits. Such trees became sacred, and 

 were addressed in prayer by the reverential Parsis, though they 

 eschewed the worship of idols, and honoured the sun and moon 

 simply as symbols. Ormuzd, the good spirit, is set forth as giving 

 this command : — " Go, O Zoroaster ! to the living trees, and let 

 thy mouth speak before them these words : I pray to the pure 

 trees, the creatures of Ormuzd." Of all trees, however, the 

 Cypress, with its pyramidal top pointing to the sky, was to the 

 Parsis the most venerated : hence they planted it before their 

 temples and palaces as symbolic of the celestial fire. 



The Oak, the strongest of all trees, has been revered as the 

 emblem of the Supreme Being by almost all the nations of heathen- 

 dom, by the Jewish Patriarchs, and by the children of Israel, who 

 eventually came to esteem the tree sacred, and offered sacrifices 

 beneath its boughs. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Teutons, and 

 Celts, all considered the Oak as sacred, and the Druids taught the 

 people of Britain to regard this tree with peculiar reverence and 



