The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-09-26
TREE LORE.
LEGENDS CONCERNING THEM IN
MYTHOLOGICAL STORY.
Worsh:piug the Forest Monarch a.
q Deity - Venerated by the
Ojibway's-The Famous
Soma Tree Myth.


The tree figures in the earliest cos.
mogonies. In the Garden of Eden stood
the tree of life, whose fruit would have
bestowed perpetual youth upon the first
pair, and near it was the tree of knowl'
edge, fatal to them and to the destiny OF
man. A Scotch tradition assigns to the
apple tree the honor Of being the tree OF
knowledge.
In Morse cosmogony the tree plays 6
still more important part. 1t is here the
world tree iggdrasil whose foiiage is
the clouds, the stars its fruit and the ses
its bed. At its foot bubbles the fountain
of life, and from its branches fire was
brought to man. Under it sit the three
Norpes who weave the events of mans
life. Its roots extend into the highest
heaven and into the deepest hell. This
tree was an ash, and another legend says
Odin created Adam from the ash and
Eve from the elm.
Like this is the famous soma tree,
which stands Oil an island in the middle
of the lake, guarded by fish. From 1t is
distilled the soma or anita, the d ink OF
Immortality. Near it stands another tree,
called the inviolate, bearing the seeds of
all plants and flowers. In lis branches
are perchcd the eagles. When one rises
a thousand branches break off, scatter.
ing the seed over the earth.
Like the Morse world tree, the intelli.
gent oak of Dodona had its roots in deep
est purgatory, and fountain at its foot
gave forth the oracular sayings of Jupi-
ter. This evergreen oak spoke its
thoughts, even when cut down, for OF
it was the intelligent PROV Of the Argos
made.
The stree of life" was not merely
figure OF speech in ancient belief. Many
Greek and Persian families claimed de.
scent from trees. Cadmus sprang from
a tree, the Achamenid claimed SINH
lar descent, and even Mars, according to
one legend, was the offspring of tree.
Pliny says there stood before the temple
of G,uirinus, at Rome, two myrtle trees
one the patr;cian, the other the plebeian-
and that as these orders of society grew
or diminished in Importance, its tree
hourished or pined.
Among savage tribes the tree is often
god. The Ojibways thought certain
trees were deities, and made offerings to
them. The Dacotahs worshiped many
trees, especially medicine wood. Caro-
lima Indians venerated the youpon, or
wild fig tree; the Mayas recognized il
divinity in trees; the Tepanecs worshipel
them. and Darwin saw q tribe which
venerated a tree, the home of a deity
called Wailechu. They poured libations
througha hole bored in it, and around it
were the bones Of horses that had beel
sacrificed. Indian tribes generally
worshiped trees, and some thought tina;
they sprang from them. Darien tribcs
descended from trees, and some Of the
Aztecs claimed their origin from two
trees in wooded gorge.
AS the tree was the origin of life. it
was also thought the home of souls after
life ended. Empedocle says scu's OF the
highest write passed into trees The
old tale Of Philemon and Baucis assigned
them a final home in trees rs Il reward
for charity shown to Zou' Another
tradition says the penitent Myrrha be-
came tree, and the drops which full
from the bark (myrrh) are her tears.
Dante traversed leafess wood, in the
bark of every tree of which was i'm
prisoned suicide. and he spoke TO Pie
trodelle Vigne. The Greek Dryads were
tabled to have their abodes in trees.
Ojibway Indians thought trees pos ess, i
souls, and never cut them, some fearing
to pain them. In many places in / er.
many trees are thought to be the first
abodes of infants.
The tree of knowledge also occurs in
popular lore. In North Germany, when
the master dies, some one must 20 into
the garden and stand under tree and say:
"Master is dead" for if the tree is not
informed there will be another death.
An Ojibway tale represents a tree rs
whispering a tale of love to a cert.
maiden who dedicates herself to it, dies,
and is often seen wandering in the Tor
est. According to Maori myth. heaven
and Garth were once oincd in an embrace
so close that their children had NO place
to dwell. But Tanemahuta, father of
trees, pushed them asunder with his
branches. These ideas concerning the
divinity of trees led to their worship in
primitive times.
In the deepest groves abide the gods.
Primitive nations inhabited the forest,
and the tree was their first shelter. The
centre of the early Greek as we'll as of
the Teutonic dwelling was tree, around
which spread the house. Grove: were
The first temples, and the Gothic church
is but grove turned into stone. In old
German dialects temple and grove are
The same word. Tree worship was the
foundation of Germanic and Celtic re-
ligion. Down to the introduction Uf
Christianity i'll the North, the deit;cs
were worshiped in sacred groves, and on
the boughs of the trees hung the heads
Of sacriiced animals. As late as the
eleventh century trees were worshipcd
in many places. The Druids, as is we'll
known, worshiped and sacrificed in
gro 'es, and the oak was sacred tree to
them.-S'. Loui, Globe Democrat.