pfant "bore, "bcgc?^/, anS 1§>ijrie/. 48 1 



PALM. — The Palm-tree is symbolic of vitflory, of riches, 

 and of generation. It was considered by the ancients also an 

 emblem of light, and was held sacred to Apollo. The Palm of 

 Delos was supposed to have existed from the time of the god Apollo 

 himself. Among the Greeks, there existed a legend that the Palm, 

 like the Olive, was brought into Greece by Hercules, on his return 

 from the infernal regions. The Orphics venerated the Palm as an 

 immortal tree, which never grew old ; hence, as a symbol of 

 immortality, and especially of the immortality of glory, it was 



associated "with the goddess Vicfloria, called also Dea Palmaris. 



In India, as amongst the Arabs, the Palm is considered a sacred 



tree. According to an Indian legend, the Palm of the Lake of 



Taroba, in Central India, was only visible during the day ; in the 

 evening it re-entered the earth. It is related that a rash pilgrim 

 climbed one morning to the top of the Palm, but the tree grew to 

 such a height above the earth's surface, that the pilgrim was 

 scorched to death by the sun's rays, and the Palm itself was 

 reduced to tinder. On the spot where the miraculous Palm is said 

 to have once grown stands the idol of the Geni of the Lake, 



called Taroba. Christian legend has associated the Palm with 



the history of Jesus. According to the Apocryphal Gospel, the 

 Virgin Mary, whilst journeying, became fatigued and oppressed 

 with the great heat ; in passing by a great desert, she saw a large 

 and beautiful Palm-tree, beneath which she wished to seek rest 

 and shelter ; so she asked Joseph to drive the ass upon which she 

 was seated towards the tree. When she reached the foot of the 

 tree, she dismounted, and, looking up, noticed that the tree was 

 laden with fruit. Then she said to Joseph : " I wish to have some 

 of the fruit of this tree, for I am hungr)\" To this, Joseph replied : 

 " Mary, I marvel that you should desire to eat of this fruit." 

 Then Jesus Christ, who was seated in his mother's lap, ordered 

 the Palm to bend down, so that his mother might partake of iis 

 fruit at pleasure. And forthwith the tree bent down to the Virgin 

 Mary, and she partook of its fruit, and still the Palm remained 

 bent downwards. Then, Jesus perceiving this, ordered the Palm 

 to resume its natural position, and it immediatel}^ did so. This 

 legend has been widely diffused in Italy and elsewhere, sometimes 

 with the following addendum : "Jesus, after this a(5t of devotion 

 on the part of the Palm, gave the tree his benedi(5tion, chose it as 

 the symbol of eternal salvation for the dying, and declared that he 

 would make his triumphant entry into Jerusalem with a Palm in his 



hand." The Palm was early assumed by the Christian Church 



as the universal symbol of martyrdom, in accordance with Reve- 

 lation vii., 9: "And after this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude 

 stood before the throne, clothed with white robes, and with Palms 



in their hands And he said to me. These are they which 



came out of great tribulation." Hence, in early Italian paintings 

 of the saints, as well as on the sculptured effigies of Christian 



2 I 



