XII 



RELIGIOUS TREES 



"The groves were God's first temples." 



T I iREE worship is probably one of the very earli- 

 A' est forms of divine ritual. Sacred trees ap- 

 pear in the most ancient mythologies and linger in 

 the last remnants of heathenism. Even Christian 

 practices have not failed to recognise man's inherent 

 reverence for the trees. 



No one knows exactly how tree worship started, 

 but it is easy to hazard some very plausible guesses. 

 A belief common to many primitive races is that 

 anything which exhibits life or force must possess 

 consciousness or a spirit. A thing so majestic, so 

 inspiring as a tree, which ordinarily lives so much 

 longer than a man and so is associated with both 

 the distant past and the hazy future, would easily 

 win early man's adoration. It was also the habit 

 of our primeval ancestors to worship the nat- 

 ural sources of their benefits. Inasmuch as the sun 

 which warmed them by day ; the moon and the stars, 

 which lighted them by night ; the rain, which cooled 



160 



