Tree worship has long existed in the cultures of virtually every nation in the world. It arose long before the emergence of the main world religions. Many centuries ago, wood was used to make weapons, build houses, and fuel; people made clothes and shoes for themselves from bark and leaves. Therefore, for our distant ancestors, the tree symbolized life, served as the support of the universe, connecting the upper, middle and lower, or underground, worlds. People asked the trees for health and good harvests, an addition to the family and answers to complex questions of life.
Gradually, the external manifestations of the cult of trees changed, but many today believe in the power of our green fellows on the planet.
Crime and Punishment
I must say that in many countries, respectful and respectful attitude towards trees was sometimes manifested in a rather cruel way. For example, the ancient Germans had a custom: a person who dared to tear off the bark from a living tree was subjected to painful death. The abdomen was cut open and the intestines were wound around the damaged trunk.
But in fact, such executions were extremely rare. The belief that a tree is capable of itself punishing not only the offender, but also his entire genus, reliably guarded green spaces from intruders. For broken branches, for damaging the trunk, or even for foul language near the shrine, the punishment would certainly overtake the criminal. Sometimes it happened instantly. So, the inhabitants of Gurzuf, where in the last century a sacred turpentine tree grew, whose age exceeded a thousand years, such a case is known. The drunken reveler began to scold, going up to the giant's trunk. People who were nearby saw that the foul language immediately lost its legs and tongue.
Our ancestors believed that sacred trees retain their strength and, after being cut down, turned into boards or other products. Therefore, many peoples have customs that prescribe in every possible way to pacify the disturbed spirits of trees in order to fearlessly use their abode for their own purposes. The inhabitants of the island of Celebes, having built a wooden house, still sacrifice a goat or other animal and smear their home with their blood, and on the island of Borneo, the owners of a new wooden building do not go hunting for a year - as a sign of repentance for chopping down the forest.
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Temple Elder's Revenge
Now, of course, morals have changed, trees are no longer worshiped. However, the strength of our green friends does not diminish from this. This is what happened not so long ago in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. On the way of the road builders was an ancient temple, inside which a sacred tree grew. The iconic structure was quickly dismantled in order to lay the highway further, but the tree seemed not going to give up. First, the crane, which was supposed to uproot the century-old giant, failed its task and collapsed The next morning, having arrived at work, the crane operator refused to continue uprooting: all night he was tormented by a nightmare in which he was pursued by snakes. However, the master ordered the crane operator not to invent, but to get down to business. The worker went dejectedly to the crane and literally at the same second was stung by a cobra.
Then the construction management decided to blow up the tree. But the truck carrying the dynamite exploded on the way. Rumors of strange events spread quite quickly, and it became simply impossible to find workers willing to remove this obstacle to progress. From all over the country, pilgrims reached out to the tree, from whom the enterprising management of the construction began to charge a fee in order to somehow compensate for the project's stoppage. It is not yet known how the sacred tree reacted to this turn of events, but it is possible that the confrontation did not end there.
Green healers
To commit such "acts-trees are forced with too aggressive human behavior. Usually, they demonstrate their strength by giving comfort to people and healing those in need. Medicine has long been using everything that plants generously share with us, but scientists still cannot explain the nature of some miracles. However, while some are puzzling over a logical explanation of the phenomena, and others simply deny the "inconvenient" facts, many simply believe in the power of trees and receive healing for their faith.
Thousands of people visit the sacred mahua tree in the suburbs of New Delhi. Until recently, no one suspected of its healing properties. They appeared after the tree was seriously endangered. The gardener decided to cut down the old mahua, but after the first blow he heard a voice telling him to stop, and a dark red liquid appeared at the place where the ax damaged the trunk. Terrified, the gardener threw down the ax and fled. And soon it became known that the tree is able to heal patients with tropical fever, polyarthritis, and heart ailments. The local press also reported on the cure of an adult woman who was speechless in early childhood: what doctors had been trying to achieve for years, the tree was able to achieve in just an hour.
People often turned to sacred trees with prayers for health and strength. To this day, an old cherry tree has survived, which grew at a sacred source in the cave city of Kachi-Kalion in the Crimea. Its branches are hung with strips of fabric - it is the pilgrims who leave scraps of their clothes so that diseases remain with them.
Shelters for souls
According to the beliefs of some peoples, trees can be not only a refuge for all kinds of forest spirits, but also a temporary refuge for the souls of people. Koreans believed that trees contained the souls of those who died from the plague, as well as travelers and women who died during childbirth. A creaking tree is a tree with the soul of a sinner locked in it. Squeaking is the only way a soul can ask the living to pray for it. If, after praying under such a tree, you fall asleep, then in a dream the traveler will see the deceased, who will tell him his story.
Many people still believe that the souls of our ancestors live in trees. It is no coincidence that the custom of planting trees near graves is so widespread. You can ask such a tree for help in solving some difficult everyday problem.
And so did the young Estonian woman, who had to choose between two suitors. Young people had long courted her, but the girl could not give preference to one person: both candidates seemed worthy to her. Reflecting on this topic, she once wandered into the grave of her great-grandmother, where a tall pine tree grew. The girl sat down under a tree and did not notice herself dozing. What she dreamed, she did not remember, but upon awakening, she realized that the decision had been made. In the evening, she agreed to one of the proposals and, as time has shown, she was right. Although her chosen one was inferior in beauty and physical strength to his competitor, he turned out to be an honest and thorough person. On the other, it soon became known that he simultaneously courted a girl from a neighboring village and left her in an "interesting position."Now the Estonian woman who has married so successfully is sure that she escaped shame only thanks to the advice of her great-grandmother, conveyed to her through the pine tree that grew by the grave.
Cherry tree blooming on the 16th day
It turns out that if you wish, you can put your own soul in a tree. There is a beautiful Japanese legend. The Yu-Roku-Sakure tree, which blooms on the 16th day, grows in the province of Iyo. It differs from other trees in that it is covered with flowers on a strictly defined day, much earlier than the deadline set by nature. The Japanese believe that the soul of a samurai lives in it, so the tree had the right to choose the time of flowering itself.
Legend has it that sakura used to bloom along with all the trees in the garden. This tree "remembered" several generations of the family of one venerable samurai, so he treated sakura with special feeling. Moreover, it was the only joy in the life of an old man who happened to outlive his children.
But one day in the spring, Sakura did not put on her pink outfit - the old tree withered. The neighbors wanted to comfort the samurai and planted a young sakura, but it did not please his eyes as much as the old cherry tree. And then one day he figured out how to revive a dead plant. The samurai went out into the garden on the 16th day of the first moon and asked sakura: “I beg you, descend to my request, start blooming again. I want to die in your place. He spread a white blanket under the tree and performed the hara-kiri rite. At the same hour, the sakura blossomed, and since then it blooms every year on the 16th day of the first lunar month.
Perhaps we Europeans will never be able to understand the beliefs and traditions of our eastern neighbors, but this touching story of devotion and love for wood makes us remember values long forgotten in our pragmatic age. Regardless of whether souls live in trees or not, we must respect everything that surrounds us.
Natalia Ivanova. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" No. 37 2010