Oak

Day 5,334, 11:04 Published in South Africa Belgium by Cindy Jay

Oak
live life
Young and old,
As of oak
Bright in spring
living gold
History
Since time immemorial, the oak has been regarded as a highly acclaimed cult tree. Many are the stories and tales about this majestic giant who has both a sacred and royal character - mainly among the Aryan peoples, including the Indo-Aryans, the Iranians, etc.
In ancient Greece, the oak was called 'the first of the mothers', because the Greeks believed that oaks were the fathers of mankind. He was dedicated to the Greek supreme god Zeus. Thus we read from the Roman poet Virgil that the first Romans sprouted from this stately tree and that the oak was consecrated to Jupiter.
If we look to the far north, we read in Ingram James' Anglo-Saxon chronicle that the first human pair arose from oak. Mind you, the ash remains more plausible from a North Germanic perspective. The Roman Tacitus, in turn, wrote that the Germans had no temples, but had sacred forests in which our Germanic ancestors judged, made sacrifices and even buried their dead there. This interment took place under -and among- the most majestic oaks dedicated to Donar. And as you know, thunder and storms are typical of Wodan's son. It is striking that lightning strikes oaks more often than other trees - even today. This phenomenon can be explained by the high presence of starch in the trunk, which makes it a good lightning conductor.
Closer to home in the early 8th century, Boniface recorded the felling of a sacred oak known as the Donarseik or Thorseik. Do we see an offshoot of place names such as Maaseik? Are they vague yet powerful memories of our pagan past? Further from home, at Geismar-Hesse, an oak bears the name 'Thors oak' and in Ireland we find a sacred oak forest called Coill Tomair (Thor's Grove). Not far from the Norse Gaelic city of Dublin, this forest was deliberately cut down during the midwinter period of AD 1000 with the aim of undermining the pagan rite allowing Christianity to prevail.
The Mistletoe
When the sun is low and the shadows have free rein, we behold the mistletoe in all its glory, attached to the leafless oak crown. It seems to have no roots, nor the ability to get food or water… Yet it remains an evergreen plant, while nature seems lifeless. But, against all odds, it is suddenly in bloom. It takes us to the North Germanic god Balder who one night dreams that he is dying whereupon his mother Frigg consults the elements, the plants, animals and everything else she can think of to promise her that her fair son will never do anything. is affected. Unfortunately, she forgets about the Mistletoe because it seems too weak to harm Balder. Nothing could be further from the truth… Balder's shrewd enemy Loki crafted a poisonous arrow from the Mistletoe and slew the fair god – who will happily return.
Today, mistletoe still enjoys great popularity. We see remnants of it in today's Christian Christmas. And where the mistletoe as decoration was once banned in the church because of its pagan connotation, it still remained in churches to this day. And certainly during the midwinter period – where mistletoes still hang on the doors of the old beguinages with their evergreen leaves.
To the Celts, the oak was considered a most sacred tree. The Druids even claimed that acorns were animated by fairies that brought good luck. Moreover, from this conviction arose a new custom among the Druids: once a year, clothed in white robes, they climbed the Oak with their golden sickles to cut out the mistletoes. If the mistletoes fell down by themselves, they were collected in white cloths to be distributed among the people. These branches adorned home and hearth, just like with the Germans.
And speaking of acorns; Do we perhaps also see a connection here between acorns and the boar? After all, swine were dedicated to the Celtic god Taranis who was also known as 'thunderer'?