20 p f a n t Tsore, Tsege'r^/, a n il Tsqnc/’,
There is another somewhat similar Greek legend, in which
Abraham takes the place of Adam, and the Pine supersedes the
Olive. According to this version, a shepherd met Abraham on the
banks of the Jordan, and confessed to him a sin he had committed.
Abraham listened, and counselled the erring shepherd to plant
three stakes, and to water them carefully until they should bud.
After forty days the three stakes had taken the form of a Cypress, a
Cedar, and a Pine, having different roots and branches, but one
indivisible trunk. This tree grew until the time of Solomon, who
wished to make use of it in the construction of the Temple. After
several abortive attempts, it was at length made into a seat for
visitors to the Temple. The Sibyl Erythraea (the Queen of Sheba)
refused to sit upon it, and exclaimed: “ Thrice blessed is this wood,
on which shall perish Christ, the King and God.” Then Solomon
had the wood mounted on a pedestal and adorned with thirty rings
or crowns of silver. These thirty rings became the thirty pieces of
silver, the price of Judas, the betrayer, and the wood was eventually
used for the Saviour’s Cross.
u
C H A P T E R HI.
a c r e i L U r e e / ^ p P a r j ' t / t f i e jK a c I e r ^ ' l / .
L L the nations of antiquity entertained for certain
trees and plants a special reverence, which in many
cases degenerated into a superstitious worship.
The myths of all countries contain allusions
to sacred or supernatural plants. The Veda
mentions the heavenly tree which the lightning
strikes down ; the mythology of the Finns speaks
of the celestial Cak which the sun-dwarf uproots ;
Yama, the Vedic god of death, sits drinking with companies of
the blessed, under a leafy tree, just as in the northern Saga Hel’s
place is at the foot of the Ash Yggdrasill.
In the eyes of the ancient Persians the tree, by its changes
in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, appeared as the
emblem of human existence, whilst at the same time, by the continuity
of its life, it was reverently regarded as a symbol of
immortality. Hence it came to pass that in Persia trees of unusual
qualities were in course of time looked upon as being the abode of
holy and even celestial spirits. Such trees became sacred, and
were addressed in prayer by the, reverential Parsis, though they
eschewed the worship of idols, and honoured the sun and moon
simply as symbols. Ormuzd, the good spirit, is set forth as giving
this command :—“ Go, O Zoroaster! to the living trees, and let
thy mouth speak before them these words : I pray to the pure
trees, the creatures of Ormuzd.” Of all trees, however, the
Cypress, with its pyramidal top pointing to the sky, was to the
Parsis the most venerated : hence they planted it before their
temples and palaces as symbolic of the celestial fire.
The Oak, the strongest o f'all trees, has been revered as the
emblem of the Supreme Being by almost all the nations of heathendom,
by the Jewish Patriarchs, and by the children of Israel, who
eventually came to esteem the tree sacred, and offered sacrifices
Deneath its boughs, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Teutons, and
Celts, all considered the Oak as sacred, and the Druids taught the
people of Britain to regard this tree with peculiar reverence and