The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-12-15

Ind grun des Lebens goldner Baum.
Faust
The sacred books of the Buddhists
4 prove that i'll the early days of their
\ religion "A question which deeply agi
! tated the minds of the learned was
whether or not the trees had souls, says
writer in the Philadelphia Ledger
The controversy ragged strongly, for the
/ belief was widespread that in injuring
or mutilating tree proportionate pain
was inflicted on It's spirits nature.
| The same idea ereeps out again and
again IN Greek aud Roman mythology,
and the folklore of every country and
people in Europe is full of it, and at
such seasons as Christmas these print
tive customs arc actually practced.
The numerous German and English
songs and offerings to the apple trees
are still heard and seen on every Christ
mas. Ovid in his 'Metamorphoses" tells
the beautiful story of Eriscthon S im-
pious attack on the grove of Ceres and
how the Greek dryad5 and hamadryads
had their lives linked to tree and as
''this withers and dies they themselves
fall away and cease To be. Any injury
to bough or twig is felt as a wound, and
"a wholesale hewing down puts an end
to them at once A cry If anguish es-
capcs them when the cruel AK comes
near.
1t was this established belief that
produced such lines a-:
Loud through the ar re-aunds the woodmans
When, iai voice breaks from the proaning
aak.
Spare, spare my lif... a trembling virgin sparei
Oh listen 10 the E4HHdry4a3 : 15raycr,
No longer lot that fearful al re-auud.
Preserve the tree To WAC - Life T. bound.
Scr from TIN ,,rlt my blood "a torrents flows.
/ faint, l sink, perish from your blows.
Accepting, then. this prevalent faith
in the actual life and soul of the trees,
wemust pass on to the subjects on hand
the golden bough or miatletoe-the
classic gloomy vale and its locality,
wherein the legend of Bladder the Beau
tiful and his death by the mistletoe
shaft are in touch with the ancient doc
trines of tree worship.
1t is often stated that Virgil gave this
name of the golden bough to the mistle
toe, whereas he only compares it with
the mistlctOc.
In the sixth book of the 'Eneid' he
tells us how two doves, guiding Eneas
to the gloomy vale, i'll whose depth grew
the golden bough, alighted upon tree
"whence shone Pickering CLEAN of
gold. As in the woods III winter cold,
the mistletoe-a plant not native to its
tree--is green with fresh leaves and
twines its yellow berries about the
boles. Such seemed upon the shady oak
the leafy gold, SO rustled in the gentle
breeze the golden leaf" Virgil does not
say it is the mistletoe, and yet what
else? Its ntitication Is perfect.
The poet locates the gloomy vale in
the neighborhood Of Lake Ayernus, but
Italian tradition, Is recorded 10y Servi-
us. points to the grove of Nemi. Aricia.
Now the story of this Arician grove is
embodied in Macaulay 3 lines:
The still. CLASSY lake that sleeps
Beneath Aricla ~ trees
Those trees in whose dim shadow
The CHASTITY priest doth reign,
Thu priest who slew the slayer
And shall himself be slain.
In days Of antiquity in this beautiful
grove grew wonderful tree, round
which prowling figure, sword in hand,
seemed TO be constantly expectant OF an
attack from some enemy. Yet he was
the priest of the grove, and, by the or
der of his office, he would some day be
killed by the claimant who wished to
succeed him. To gain his position he
had slain his predecessor, and, IN course
of time, must himself be slain Such is
q brief context of Strabo's version. The
branches Of the tree might not be bro
ken, except Ivy runaway slave, This
bough gave him the right to challenge
the priest, and if successful, to assume
the title of liking of the wood. y Ira
dition tells that this was the bough
which AGneas plucked before he jour
neyed to the lower world.
In the familiar story from Morse
mythology of Bladder the Beautiful we
recall the facts that he first dreamed
and had great foreboding of evil, yet he
belonged neither to earth nor heaven.
His fellow gods, anxious to protect him,
took an oath from fire, air, earth and
water, stones, trees and plants, sick
nesses and poison, birds, creeping things
and four footed beasts that they should
not injure Bladder.
Being thus invulnerabe, the gods
amused themselves by throwing stones
and logs at him. Then Loki, the inis-
chief maker, discovered that east of
Walhalla grew the mistletoe that
seemed too young and innocent to
swear. Pulling 1t, he placed branch
i'll blind Hodur's hands. who threw and
struck Bladder dead. Then his body was
placed ON his great ship Ringhor, the
funeral pyre WAS lit, his faithful wife.
Nanna-Whose tears had fallen on the
fatal branch and been turned INTO
pearly berries--and his warhorse We're
burned with hm as the ship drifted
away toward the northern sky edge,
Now, when we recall that the sacred
sacritieial fires were kindled periodical
ly, we can read plainly and clearly the
myth of Balder. lie was the tree spirit,
the beautiful sacred oak winch could
not be injured or wounded by the axes
or weapons of mortalS But the oak
must be cut down for the sacred fire,
and only in its heart lfe-the mistetoe
could it he wounded. When it was
plucked, the mighty tree tottered and
fell.
Moisture In Cellars.
AS rule, says the Iowa Homestead,
western cellars are too dry to winter