Tree worship can fall prey to political exploitation, especially when a national or ethnic group claims an immemorial attachment to a patch of land.
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He soon realised that an extraordinary variety of cherry trees cultivated during 2,000 years of tree-worship in Japan were in danger of being lost in favour of one, the somei-yoshino.
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Tree Worship in Chikkalli Choranahalli Village Chikkalli Choranalli is a twin village near Mysore city, Karnataka state, India.
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Frazer believes that such customs are a relic of tree worship and writes: "The intention of these customs is to bring home to the village, and to each house, the blessings which the tree- spirit has in its power to bestow."Frazer, James George (1922). The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Chapter 10: Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe.
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Nine deities are the most important ones, and these are often said to be hypostases of the high god Osh Kugu Jumo. The Mari native religion includes tree worship and animal sacrifices.
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In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Germanic mythology as well as Celtic polytheism both appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially grove of oak.Taylor, John W. (1979). Tree Worship, in Mankind Quarterly, Sept.
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Botanomancy is the art of divination by burning branches of trees or herbs. The most common branches used are Vervain and Briar. The fire and the smoke are both read to indicate which course of action should be taken. Botanomancy can be traced back to Druidic tree worship.
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The principles and practises of tree-worship and ophilotary are ancient bases whereupon a later date linga worship seems to have been established.[1] Here all the 9 Navagrahams located towards south in straight line also located in northwest corner of 1st (prakaram). This temple hold the record of having maximum sannithis in India. The temple hosts the annual car festival in March for ten days.
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In general, early Tamil texts reflect the Dravidian cultural tradition. It is logical to conclude that most of the Chera population followed native Dravidian religions. Religious practice might have consisted predominantly of conducting sacrifices to various gods, such as to the pre-eminent god Murugan. The worship of departed heroes was a common practice in the Chera territory, along with tree worship and other kinds of ancestor worship.
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Some scholars meanwhile consider the practice of erecting sacred pillars to derive ultimately from prehistoric tree worship, citing the remains of wooden poles or slabs discovered in various Jōmon period sites in apparently ritualistic contexts as potential parallels to the Suwa onbashira. Diagram of the Three Unities (三合, Japanese: Sangō); the three branch signs under the fire element (三合火局) - Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dog (戌) - are marked in red.
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Of the two, the former is the most ancient, and derives its name from tha anthill(putru), which takes the place of linga in the main shrine. Appar, the 7th-century poet saint, refers to the main deity in his hymn as puttritrukondan(one who resides in the ant hill). The Stala vriksham(temple tree) is patiri(trumpet flower tree). The principles and practises of tree-worship and ophilotary are ancient bases whereupon a later date linga worship seems to have been established.
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The pear tree was an object of particular veneration (as was the Walnut) in the Tree worship of the Nakh peoples of the North Caucasus – see Vainakh mythology and see also Ingushetia – the best-known of the Vainakh peoples today being the Chechens of Chechnya. Pear and walnut trees were held to be the sacred abodes of beneficent spirits in pre-Islamic Chechen religion and, for this reason, it was forbidden to fell them.The Chechens: A Handbook by Jaimoukha, Amjad. Published by Psychology Press 2005. .
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The significance of the Shami tree worship is to seek blessings of the tree (where Lord Rama is also said to have worshipped) for success in the desired avocations (including war campaigns). This festival is also celebrated with lot of fanfare throughout the state, in all villages. In the rural areas, every village and community observe this festival with fervour but there have been conflicts on several occasions as to which community has the first right to perform the Pujas. Generally, the Ayudh puja in villages begins with the sacrifice of sheep and smearing the bullock carts with sheep blood.
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James George Frazer speculated that the figure of the May Queen was linked to ancient tree worship.Frazer (1922), The Golden Bough, ch. 10 "Relics of tree worship in modern Europe"; Frazer quotes Mannhardt: "The names May, Father May, May Lady, Queen of the May, by which the anthropomorphic spirit of vegetation is often denoted, show that the idea of the spirit of vegetation is blent with a personification of the season at which his powers are most strikingly manifested." In the High Middle Ages in England the May Queen was also known as the "Summer Queen".
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The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus (Chechens and Ingush) were Islamised comparatively late, during the early modern period, and Amjad Jaimoukha (2005) proposes to reconstruct some of the elements of their pre-Islamic religion and mythology, including traces of ancestor worship and funerary cults. The Nakh peoples, like many other peoples of the North Caucasus such as especially Circassians and Ossetians, had been practising tree worship, and believed that trees were the abodes of spirits. Vainakh peoples developed many rituals to serve particular kinds of trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.
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For example, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmas time." During the Roman mid-winter festival of Saturnalia, houses were decorated with wreaths of evergreen plants, along with other antecedent customs now associated with Christmas. The Vikings and Saxons worshiped trees.
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In discussions of folkore, some claim that the Christmas tree is a Christianization of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the winter solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship;van Renterghem, Tony. When Santa was a shaman. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1995. according to eighth-century biographer Æddi Stephanus, Saint Boniface (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Thor and pointed out a fir tree, which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to heaven and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the Trinity.
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According to K. K. N. Kurup, it can be said that all the prominent characteristics of primitive, tribal, religious worship had widened the stream of Theyyam, where "even the followers of Islam are associated with the cult in its functional aspect" and made it a deep-rooted folk religion of millions. For instance, Bhagawathi, the Mother Goddesses had and still has an important place in Theyyam. Besides this, the practices like spirit-worship, ancestor-worship, hero-worship, masathi-worship, tree-worship, animal worship, serpent-worship, the worship of the Goddesses of disease and the worship of Gramadevata (Village-Deity) are included in the mainstream of the Theyyam. Along with these Gods and Goddesses there exist innumerable folk Gods and Goddesses.
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While tree worship is not uncommon in Hinduism, the Tulsi plant is regarded as the holiest of all plants. The Tulsi plant is regarded as a threshold point between heaven and earth. A traditional prayer narrates that the creator-god Brahma resides in its branches, all Hindu pilgrimage centres reside in its roots, the Ganges flows within its roots, all deities are in its stem and its leaves, and that the most sacred Hindu texts, the Vedas are found in the upper part of the holy basil's branches. The Tulsi herb is a centre of household religious devotion particularly among women and is referred to as the "women's deity" and "a symbol of wifehood and motherhood", it is also called "the central sectarian symbol of Hinduism" and Vaishnavites consider it as "the manifestation of god in the plant kingdom".
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Professor David Albert Jones of Oxford University writes that in the 19th century, it became popular for people to also use an angel to top the Christmas tree in order to symbolize the angels mentioned in the accounts of the Nativity of Jesus. The Christmas tree is considered by some as Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship; according to eighth-century biographer Æddi Stephanus, Saint Boniface (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an ax to an oak tree dedicated to Thor and pointed out a fir tree, which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to heaven and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the Trinity. The English language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835Harper, Douglas, Christ , Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001. and represents an importation from the German language.
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In the United States, these "German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the Moravians put lighted candles on those trees." When decorating the Christmas tree, many individuals place a star at the top of the tree symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem, a fact recorded by The School Journal in 1897. Professor David Albert Jones of Oxford University writes that in the 19th century, it became popular for people to also use an angel to top the Christmas tree in order to symbolize the angels mentioned in the accounts of the Nativity of Jesus. The Christmas tree is considered by some as Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship; according to eighth-century biographer Æddi Stephanus, Saint Boniface (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Thor and pointed out a fir tree, which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to heaven and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the Trinity.
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