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In lots of cultures of the world, together with our personal, timber are thought-about the ancestors of humanity – personal our ancestors.
Timber are related with nice goddesses all through antiquity. We see this within the bible the place, as I’ve famous earlier than, the Tree of Life is Eve’s tree for the phrase Eve means life. It’s, in essence, the Tree of Eve. Goddesses in timber feeding people had been frequent themes in historical Center Jap artwork. The tree was Hers to offer freely of as she wished.
Anthropologist and spiritual scholar, Mircea Eliade writes extensively concerning the associations of timber ancestral connection to people. He calls them each mystical and legendary.[1] His examples embrace the Miao teams of Southern China and Southeast Asia who “worship the bamboo as their ancestor.” He additionally notes Australian tribes who view the mimosa as their progenitor. And there’s a tribe from Madagascar, referred to as Antaivandrika which suggests “individuals of the tree,” who thought-about themselves descended from the banana tree.
Our connection and relationship to timber seems within the English language. All of us have a household tree which has its roots and its branches. The connection can also be obvious in Hebrew. The phrase for tree is ets. If we add the quintessential breath syllable (ha or ah) to ets we get ets-ah which suggests backbone. Our backbone is our personal private Tree of Life. We’re associated to timber in and out.
I’ve already mentioned Proverbs 3:18 in relation to the nice Goddess Ashera at this blogpost.
I’m revisiting the identical passage on this submit to look at its knowledge concerning timber. Right here is the verse from King James
She is a tree of life to them that lay maintain upon her:
and blissful is each one that retaineth her.
As I wrote within the blogpost referenced above, the phrase for blissful is asher which is the foundation of the goddess title Ashera. Typically asher is translated as blessed.
I consider that most of the passages about timber are very outdated ones that had been included into the biblical library of books. Their unique messages had been most likely too well-liked for the rising priesthood to disregard or take away, so that they sought to cover them both by verbiage or by means of translations. Right here is my translation of the passage:
She is a tree of life to those that stream in her wake
Those that embrace her are blessed.
As per my idea that outdated data was hidden behind translations, the roots of the names of two goddesses are talked about on this one passage – Ashera and Eve. Asher translated as blissful or blessed and Eve translated as life. Asherot (plural of ashera) had been groves of timber that the authorities of the time vociferously labored to chop down as a result of their goddess associations.
Deuteronomy 20:19 is one other verse which I consider has a a lot older message hidden among the many descriptions. The passage itself discusses conflict and sieges so it’s odd that praises of timber discovered their method into it. As I’ve written earlier than, I additionally consider these are glimmers of knowledge from pre-patriarchal instances that didn’t get fully scrubbed out by the male-controlled order that did its finest to erase all traces of earlier, goddess intensive instances.
In Deut. 20:19, the dialogue is what to do (or not) within the case of a siege of conflict. The persons are admonished to not reduce down the timber . . . “for the tree of the sphere is man’s life.” It’s odd that the bible ought to instantly be so involved with “man’s life” when two passages earlier than (Deut 20:17) it says this:
However thou shalt completely destroy them;
particularly, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites,
and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;
because the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
Right here is Deut 20:19 in full for context.
When thou shalt besiege a metropolis a very long time,
in making conflict in opposition to it to take it,
thou shalt not destroy the timber thereof by forcing an axe in opposition to them:
for thou mayest eat of them,
and thou shalt not reduce them down (for the tree of the sphere is man’s life)[2]
to make use of them within the siege:
I’m solely going to handle the road in parentheses for translation as a result of I believe that it’s an older line than the remainder. KJV has it in parentheses. It’s three phrases: Ha-adam ets hassadeh. Ets as we’ve seen means tree. Adam is apparent as a result of it’s additionally a well-recognized title, and hassadeh is the land or fields. We’ve seen Adam in relation to timber and meals earlier than within the bible and that, after all, didn’t end up so nicely. It’s ironic that the grand deity, who had as soon as punished Adam is now advocating for consuming the fruit of the timber. There may be some confusion of message.
I’ve seen translations of those three phrases reminiscent of “man is the tree of the sphere.” However that’s not proper both apart from the truth that it likens humanity to our ancestral timber. Right here is my poetry that’s not translation however fairly my expression of the that means of those three phrases.
Our sister/brother timber
Echo all through our our bodies
Vibrating pulses all through the land.
I’ll finish with two passages that make the connection palpable. I’ve not translated them presently. You may inform it’s a standard verse, particularly King James, due to pronoun “he” is used. Even with this translation, although, the connections between human and tree are made crystal clear.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf additionally shall not wither; and in any respect he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:3
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
Jeremiah 17: 8
[1] Eliade, Mircea Patterns of Comparative Faith, translated by Rosemary Sheed, College of Nebraska Press, 1996; 300-301.
[2] My underline, KJV’s parentheses.
BIO: Janet Maika’i Rudolph. “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE QUEST.” I’ve walked the spirit path for over 25 years touring to sacred websites all over the world together with Israel to do an Ulpan (Hebrew language research whereas engaged on a Kibbutz), Eleusis and Delphi in Greece, Avebury and Glastonbury in England, Brodgar in Scotland, Machu Picchu in Peru, Teotihuacan in Mexico, and Giza in Egypt. Inside these travels, I’ve participated in quite a few shamanic rites and rituals, attended a thriller college primarily based on the traditional Greek mannequin, and studied with shamans all over the world. I’m twice initiated. The primary as a shaman practitioner of a pathway often called Divine Humanity. The second ordination in 2016 was as an Alaka’i (a Hawaiian non secular information with Aloha Worldwide). I’ve written three books: When Moses Was a Shaman, When Eve Was a Goddess, (now accessible in Spanish, Cuando Eva period una Diosa), and One Gods
Classes: Asherah, Bible, Earth-based spirituality, Feminism, Feminism and Faith, Feminist Awakenings, Basic, Herstory, Nature, Poetry, Shamanism, Textual Interpretation, Girls’s Voices
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