- "Mystic Trees and Flowers" in "Fraser's Magazine," Nov., 1870, p. 590.
The association of the temptation of Eve with the apple is traditional, and not scriptural. The conception of a divinely-endowed tree guarded by a serpent makes its appearance in the myths of many ancient races. In Russia the vine is sometimes represented as the Tree of Knowledge. In India it is also a climbing plant, the soma (Sarcostemma viminale), which is identical with the homa of the Persians. He who drinks of its juice never dies. Some authors have identified it with the Tree of Life which grew in Paradise.
- See “Tree and Serpent Worship,” by W. Ferguson, F.R.S.
The sanctity of the oak has a remote antiquity. From the oracular oak of Dodona to the sacred oaks of the Druids it was held profoundly sacred. "The tree under which Abraham was said to have received his heavenly visitors, the 'oak of mourning' under which Deborah was buried, the oak under which Jacob hid the idols at Shechem—the same probably with that near the sanctuary under which Joshua set up a stone—the oak of Ophra under which the angel sat that spoke with Gideon, the oak on which Absalom hung, that under which Saul and his sons were buried—all preceded the period when Isaiah had to rebuke those who carved idols from oak, and when Ezekiel proclaimed the wrath of Jehovah against the idols standing under every thick oak."
The cypress, of which idols were carved, was sacred as an evergreen. It received respect in Persia, and amongst the American Indians it is recorded that an aged cypress was held sacred and loaded with offerings. In Greece the cypresses were the daughters of Eteocles, hated by the goddesses they rivalled.
The myrtle has a sanctity that precedes that of any Christian saint. It was the emblem of Mars, and afterwards became the wreath of Aphrodite, because, after rising from the sea, she was pursued by satyrs and found refuge in a myrtle thicket. It is still sacred in the east. The Jews gather it for their feast of Tabernacles, and the Arabs say it is one of the three things that Adam brought with him out of Paradise.
The ash, in northern mythology, was the "tree of the universe." In Germany the linden, or lime, was the tree of the resurrection. The fir and the pine were held sacred by many races. In France, when St. Martin was permitted to destroy the temples, he was compelled to spare the holy fir groves.
The olive has become inseparably connected with one of the earliest records of the human race, and repeated references are made in the scriptures to its beauty. It probably needs an educated eye to appreciate the effect of its silver-like leaf, but it must be refreshing to ride through one of these groves when clothed with flowers, or when bowed down with fat and oily berries. Of all fruit-bearing trees the olive is the most prodigal of its flowers, but not one in a hundred comes to maturity. The tree is of slow growth, and except under peculiarly favourable circumstances, it bears no berries until the seventh year, nor is the crop worth much until the tree is ten or fifteen years old; then it is extremely profitable, and continues to yield fruit to extreme old age. There is little labour or care of any kind required, and, if long neglected, it will revive when the ground is dug or ploughed, and begin afresh to yield as before. The fruit is indispensable for the comfort, and even the existence, of the mass of the community in such places as Palestine, where the berry, pickled, forms the general relish to the dry bread. Early in the autumn the berries begin to fall. They are allowed to remain under the trees for some time, guarded by a watchman of the town. Then a proclamation is made by the governor that all who have trees should go out and pick what has fallen. Previous to this not even the owners are allowed to gather olives in the groves. The proclamation is repeated once or twice, according to the season. In November comes the final summons, when no olives are safe unless the owner looks after them, for the watchmen are removed, and the orchards become alive with men, women, and children. The shaking of the olive, which is always accompanied with much noise and merriment, is the severest operation of Syrian husbandry, particularly in the mountainous regions. The olive undoubtedly stimulates in the mind of Israelite and Christian thoughts of momentous times and events; it is equally venerated by them for its history, but is so little a sacred or a mystic tree that perhaps even this passing allusion can scarcely be justified. The same may be said of flowers and plants alluded to in our Lord's teachings, or associated with His journeys. They have an interest, but not a superstitious interest, although in times past some of them have come to be regarded as mystic flowers.
As several species of true lilies and allied flowers grow in the plains around the Mount of Beatitudes, westward of Gennesaret, we cannot be sure what flower of deepest interest our Lord pointed to when He bade His hearers "consider the lilies of the field." Sir J. E. Smith, the great botanist, suggested that it was the amaryllis (Sternbergia lutea), whose golden flowers outshone "Solomon in all his glory;" others have preferred to award the honour of having suggested the famous comparison to the "lily of Byzantium," or scarlet martagon lily, which decorates the plains of Galilee in early summer, when the Sermon on the Mount is believed to have been delivered, with floral pyramids of scarlet which are beautiful and conspicuous even at a distance. It matters but little which particular flower, or whether both were alluded to, in the injunction; but it is some satisfaction to know that there are two flowers to be found at the spot, either of which would answer all the purposes of an illustration.
The monks in the middle ages were in the habit of carefully tending the lily of the valley, in the belief that it was the true "flower of the field," and it has always been in the folklore of England an emblem of purity, and connected in some way with holiness, as, for instance, in the legend of St. Leonard, who fought with a dragon for three days, and lost much blood in the encounter, and wherever the blood of the saint fell lilies of the valley sprang up, where they still grow wild in the forest of St. Leonard. The lily of the valley was introduced early into England from Southern Europe, and was largely employed in the decoration of churches in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. When the devotion of the rosary was instituted by St. Dominic, the "Lady Chapels" erected in honour of the Virgin Mary were adorned in the season with lilies of the valley.
The "Rose of Sharon" was not the rose of England, but the yellow-flowered Narcissus, common in Palestine and in the East generally, of which Mahomet said, "He that hath two cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for some flowers of Narcissus, for bread is the food of the body, but Narcissus is the food of the soul." It had been the flower-crown of the goddesses long before the period of its fame and high esteem. The Scripture "rose" is sometimes the oleander, sometimes the rhododendron.
There is a curious monkish legend extant of the origin of the rose, although there is a prior one which dates from classic times. Sir John Mandeville relates that "a Christian maid of Bethlehem, blamed with wrong and slandered, and about to be martyred, prayed the Lord to spare her, and immediately red roses grew from the burning brands, and white roses from the wood which was not on fire, and these," says Sir John, "were the first rosaries and roses, both white and red, that ever man saw," and henceforth the rose was the flower of martyrs, as well as an emblem of the Virgin. It has also been claimed for Mahomet that he created the rose.
Apropos of monkish legends, there is one, of Spanish origin, associated with a singular flower, current in Central America, of which Mr. J. K. Lord has given the following graphic account. He says: "One of the most singular flowers growing in this pretty garden (of the Panama Railway Company) was an orchid (Peristeria), called by the natives 'Flor del Espiritu Santo,' or the 'Flower of the Holy Ghost.' The blossom, white as Parian marble, somewhat resembles the tulip in form; its perfume is not unlike that of the magnolia, but more intense. Neither its beauty nor fragrance begat for it the high reverence in which it is held, but the image of a dove placed in its centre. Gathering the freshly-opened flower, and pulling apart its alabaster petals, there sits the dove; its slender pinions droop listlessly by its side; the head inclining gently forward, as if bowed in humble submission, brings the delicate beak, just blushed with carmine, in contact with the snowy breast. Meekness and innocence seem embodied in this singular freak of nature; and who can marvel that crafty priests, ever watchful for any phenomenon convertible into the miraculous, should have knelt before this wondrous flower, and trained the minds of the superstitious natives to accept the title, the 'Flower of the Holy Ghost,' to gaze upon it with awe and reverence, sanctifying even the rotten wood from which it springs, and the air laden with its exquisite perfume? But it is the flower alone I fear they worship; their minds ascend not from 'nature up to nature's God;' the image only is bowed down to, not He who made it. The stalks of the plant are jointed, and attain a height of from six to seven feet, and from each joint spring two lanceolate leaves; the time of flowering is in June and July."
The "snipe orchis" will at once recur to us in this connection, as reminding us of a flying bird, represented in the centre of the flower, but, in this instance, without any mystical association (see fig. 45 ante).
We may allude, also, to the flowers which have been associated with the dead. The Greeks used amaranth, polyanthus, parsley, and myrtle to decorate tombs, and roses were prominent amongst funereal flowers. The latter also are planted on graves by the Chinese. In Upper Germany the graves are often covered with Dianthus Carthusianorum, whilst in France the box is common in graveyards. In Switzerland and Tuscany the periwinkle (Vinca minor) is associated with the dead, and in many parts of Italy is called the "flower of death."
In Goethe's "Faust," Margaret plucks a flower, and picks off the petals, one by one, saying meanwhile, "He loves me, he loves me not!" This custom is a revival of an old one recorded by Theocritus, who says that the Greeks took the petal of a corn poppy, and laying it on the thumb and forefinger of one hand, slapped it with the other. If it gave a crack, it was a sign that their lovers loved them, but if it failed, they were disappointed. This was called a telephion, and a goatherd laments that he had tried whether his Amaryllis loved him, but "the telephion gave no crack."
The association of passion flowers with the passion of our Lord (as the name indicates) dates from monkish times. Dr. Masters is of opinion that the species called Passiflora incarnata "is the one in which the semblance of the parts of the flower to the instrument of our Lord's passion was first observed. The cross, the scourge, the hammer, the nails, the crown of thorns, even ten of the apostles—Judas, who betrayed, and Peter who denied, being absent—all may be seen by the imaginative in these flowers. Monardes (1593) was the first to call attention to this peculiarity. Soon afterwards the plant was in cultivation at Bologna and at Rome. There is some little confusion as to the exact date, but it may safely be said to have been in cultivation in Italy before 1609. Thence it probably was introduced into Belgium, and is known to have been grown in this country in 1629. Parkinson figures it under the name of 'Maracoc sive clematis virginiana—the Virginia climber.' He associates it with clematis, because, as he says, 'unto what other family or kindred I might better conjoin it I know not.' He calls it the 'surpassing delight of all flowers;' but he had very little sympathy with the imaginary description of Monardes, as will be seen from the following extract: 'Some superstitious Jesuite would fain make men beleeve that in the flower of this plant are to be seene all the markes of our Saviour's passion, and therefore call it "flos passionis," and to that end have caused figures to be drawne and printed, with all the parts proportioned out, as thornes, nails, speare, whippe, pillar, &c., in it and all as true as the sea burnes, which you may well perceive by the true figure, taken to the life of the plant, compared with the figures set forth by the Jesuites, which I have placed here likewise for every one to see; but these bee their advantageous lies (which with them are tolerable, or rather, pious and meritorious) wherewith they used to instruct their people; but I dare say God never willed his Priests to instruct his people with lyes, for they come from the author of them. . . . . In regard whereof I could not but speake (the occasion being thus offered) against such an erroneous opinion (which even Dr. Aldine, at Rome, disproved and contraried both the said figures, and the name), and seek to disprove it, as doth (I say not almost, but I am afraid altogether) leade many to adore the very picture of such things, as are but the fictions of superstitious brains; for the flower itself is far differing from their figure, as both Aldine, in the aforesaid booke, and Robinus, at Paris, in his "Theatrum Floræ" doe set forth; the flowers and leaves being drawne to the life, and there exhibited, which I hope may satisfie all men that will not be perpetually obstinate and contentious.'"