Sacred Tree

Altman, Nathaniel, Sacred Trees, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1994. 

N781 Plaque, fragment depicting sacred tree Nimrud 9-7 Century B.C. 

Helicostylis tomentosa H pedunculata Bark of this sacred tree may b e the source of the entheogen takini of Surinam, used by Karib and Arawak Indians (Reis Lipp 1982 Schultes Rafiauf 1990). Takini is the latex of H. tomentosa or H. pedunculata—fumes of latex of both trees were used with tobacco in shamanic initiation among coastal Arawak tribes of South America the Carina Indians of Guiana give newly-initiated tobacco shamans two small gourds of takini latex (Wilbert 1987). 

N. Na aman and N. Lissovsky, Kuntillet Ajrud, Sacred Trees and the Asherah, Tel Aviv 35... 

We have noted that the function of shamanic initiation in the primitive society is to effect the transformation of the shaman from a profane, human condition to a superhuman, sacred one. But while the shaman may carry out activities such as divining and prophesying, and occasionally sorcery, these are not his major functions, and often fall within the province of other types of practitioners. The shaman s primary functions are those of healer and psychopomp. This is related to the specific nature of the shamanic ecstasy not all forms of mystical ecstasy are shamanic, for this, like initiation, has its own peculiar nature. The shamanic ecstasy is one in which the shaman is supposed to leave his physical body and journey to the Center of the World, which connects the earthly realm with the celestial world above and the infernal regions below. This axis mundi may be symbolized as a tree, mountain, tent pole, ladder, liana, or something similar the shaman is able to make the journey and return safely because he is a master of ecstasy and possesses the guidance of helping spirits along... 

Originally published in 2004 by Four Trees Press, a division of Green Earth Foundation, under the title Teonandcatl Sacred Mushroom of Visions... 

Wherever a bay tree is, there is protection. Sacred to Apollo and used in worship confers gift of prophecy chewed as drug to procure visions leaves, berries and oils are narcotic the incense is burned as an offering. 

Associated with thunder gods tree of life sacred to Zeus, Jupiter. 

CASCARA, Rhamni purshiani cortex Cascara bark is more widely used than Frangula as a laxative in the USA since the trees of Rhamnus purshianus DC, family Rhamnaceae, are cultivated in Northwestern USA and Canada. Cascara has also been known as Cascara Sagrada from the Spanish name for sacred bark. Like the closely related Frangula bark, fresh Cascara bark contains reduced emodin-based glycosides. In order to convert these to milder oxidised forms the bark must either be stored for 1 year or heat treated. 

The tribal chieftain said that he felt sorry for the tribesmen, but that the Tradition was sacred. He condemned the commander to death without honor. Rather than being killed by a blade or a bullet, he was hanged from a dead palm tree, where his body twisted in the desert wind. 

The sky is green, yellow, and red, as if it were an apple-tree in full bearing and the Sun, cut by the horizon like a crimson half-apple, meets his death dramatically in the western waves. When the Sun is gone, Hesperus appears. This star was sacred to the Love-goddess Aphrodite,... 

Islam also considers olive-tree a sacred plant (Holy Koran, sura XCV, 1 sura LXXX, 29 sura XVI, 11). 

Hosea specifies that the sacred prostitutes practised their art under the trees, where the shade is good (4.13). Ezekiel speaks of some kind of full-length veil by which they ensnared souls (13.18). The Holy Plant had not be uprooted under cover of darkness, lest the act be seen by the woodpecker of Mars (perhaps a folk-name for the red-topped Amanita Muscaria), or the sun and moon. The sexual power of women was vital to the mystery cults and accounts in large measure for the attractiveness of cuts to women from the earliest times. It also has much to do with the antagonism towards sexuality generally and the distrust of women displayed by the laser Church, and the readiness with which supposed witches were hounded by Christians until quite recent times. The telepathic control over people s minds exercised by such females, known the world over as the evil eye, came originally from this ability to arouse men s passions. 

The poetry of the unadulterated sacred marriage is purely a fertility rite of Ishtar or Astarte, as the tree cipher in the text clearly reveals ... 

Only the apple tree mythically entangles the sacred white unicorn. It is the tree of immortality through Wisdom. The apple tree represents the pure virgin called Wisdom. It is therefore the Tree of Knowledge and symbol of consummation. ... 

Olive oil is obtained from the fruit of the olive tree. It is an important component in the diet of Mediterranean people and in Mediterranean cuisine. About 80% of total olive oil production comes from the European Community, with the Near East contributing ca. 7% and North Africa supplying about 11%. The cultivation of the olive tree is known since biblical times. It is one of the oldest signs of civilization in the world. The Mediterranean world has regarded the olive as sacred for thousands of years. In many religions and... 

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