The Sacred Tree; or, the tree in religion and myth

by Mrs. J. H. Philpot

Athena also had her special tree. According to mythology she sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus, but research into the origins of the gods makes it much more probable that her true pedigree was from the olive, which grew wild upon the Athenian Acropolis, the chief seat of her worship. Mr. M‘Lennan even inclined to regard the olive as originally the totem of the Athenians.[82] At any rate their connection with that tree dates from an ancient time. “The produce of the olive-tree had an almost religious value for the men of Attica, and the physical side of Greek civilisation much depended on it.”[83] From the era of Pericles onwards the coins of Athens were stamped with the olive-branch, amongst other usual accompaniments of the tutelary goddess. Every sanctuary and temple of Athena had its sacred olive-tree, which was regarded as the symbol of the divine peace and protection. Naturally a legend arose to explain the connection. Athena and Poseidon, being at variance as to which of them should name the newly-founded city of Athens, referred the question to the gods, who in general assembly decreed the privilege to that claimant who should give the most useful present to the inhabitants of earth. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a horse sprang forth. But Athena “revealed the spray of the gray-green olive, a divine crown and glory for bright Athens.”[84] And the gods decided that the olive, as the emblem of peace, was a higher gift to man than the horse, which was the symbol of war. So Athena named the city after herself and became its protectress. This myth, which, according to Mr. Farnell, is one of the very few creation-myths in Greek folk-lore, was a favourite subject in art, and is frequently represented on late Attic coins.[85]

Other gods had their sacred trees: Dionysus, the vine; Dis and Persephone, the poplar, which was supposed to grow on the banks of Acheron. The cypress, called by Greeks and Romans alike the “mournful tree,” was also sacred to the rulers of the underworld, and to their associates, the Fates and Furies. As such it was customary to plant it by the grave, and, in the event of a death, to place it either before the house or in the vestibule, in order to warn those about to perform a sacred rite against entering a place polluted by a dead body.[86]

In regard to the number of trees which they held sacred the Semitic nations rivalled the Greeks. They venerated “the pines and cedars of Lebanon, the evergreen oaks of the Palestinian hills, the tamarisks of the Syrian jungles, the acacias of the Arabian wadies,” besides such cultivated trees as the palm, the olive, and the vine. But there is no clear evidence to prove that they ever coupled a particular species of tree with a particular god. In Phoenicia the cypress was sacred to Astarte, but it was equally connected with the god Melcarth, who was believed to have planted the cypress-trees at Daphne. “If a tree belonged to a particular deity, it was not because it was of a particular species, but because it was the natural wood of the place where the god was worshipped.”[87] It is true that the Chaldaeans regarded the cedar as the special tree of the god Ea, but the association was probably borrowed, like the god himself, from the non-Semitic Accadians, while the connection of the Nabataean god, Dusares, with the vine may be traced to Hellenic influence.

Outside the Semitic area individual gods are often found, as in Greece, linked with particular kinds of trees. In Persia the cypress was the sacred tree of the god Mithra, while in Egypt the acacia was intimately associated with Osiris. On an ancient sarcophagus an acacia is represented with the device, “Osiris shoots up.”[88] And in mortuary pictures the god is sometimes represented as a mummy covered with a tree or with growing plants. In both cases the idea of life arising out of death is probably implied.

Fig. 19.—The Bodhi-tree of Kanaka Muni (Ficus glomerata).
(The Stûpa of Bharhut, by Major-General Cunningham, Plate xxiv. 4.)

In India each Buddha was associated with his own bodhi-tree or tree of wisdom. The trumpet-flower, the sâl-tree, the acacia, the pippala, and the banian all belonged to different Buddhas, and are so depicted on the Stûpa of Bharhut. Here in the case of the earliest of the Buddhas whose bodhi-tree has been found, the Buddha Vipasin, the particular tree represented is the pâtali or trumpet-flower. In front of it is placed “a throne or bodhi-manda, before which two people are kneeling, whilst a crowd of others with joined hands are standing on each side of the tree.”[89] The Buddha Gautama’s tree was the pippala or Ficus religiosa, which is much more elaborately treated at Bharhut than any other bodhi-tree. In the sculpture representing its adoration, “the trunk is entirely surrounded by an open pillared building with an upper story, ornamented with niches containing umbrellas. Two umbrellas are placed in the top of the tree, and numerous streamers are hanging from the branches. In the two upper corners are flying figures with wings, bringing offerings of garlands. On each side there is a male figure raising a garland in his right hand and holding the tip of his tongue with the thumb and forefinger of his left. In the lower story of the building is a throne in front of a tree. Two figures, male and female, are kneeling before the throne, while a female figure is standing to the left, and a Nâga Raja with his hands crossed on his breast to the right. This figure is distinguished by a triple serpent crest. To the extreme right there is an isolated pillar surmounted by an elephant holding out a garland in his trunk. On the domed roof of the building is inscribed, ‘The Bodhi-Tree of the Buddha Sâkya Muni.’”[90] In another sculpture elephants old and young are paying their devotions to a banian-tree, while others are bringing garlands to hang on its branches. The important bearing of these sculptures on the history of tree-worship is obvious.

Fig. 20.—Wild elephants paying their devotions to the sacred banian of Kâsyapa Buddha.
(The Stûpa of Bharhut, Plate xv.)

It may be noted in passing that neither in the many sculptured scenes at Bharhut and Buddha Gaya, all of which are contemporary with Asoka (circa 250 B.C.), nor even in the much later sculptures of Sanchi dating from the end of the first century A.D. is there any representation of Buddha, the sole objects of reverence being stûpas (representations of the tombs of holy men), wheels, or trees. At a later date the tree appears to have lost its organic connection with the venerated personage, and to have preserved only a ceremonial and symbolic significance, for the Bo-tree, under which truth gradually unfolded itself to the meditating Gautama, is regarded as sacred by Buddhists in much the same way as the cross is by Christians.