 |
 |
Heather Law wrote: > I would think you'd want to take at least a cursory look at > pre-Christian Greek practices - the olive has a looooong history, > associated with Athena originally, in Greek mythology and culture. <sigh> actually, that is one of many places I have already been... Suprisingly, despite the Athena connection, which seemed obvious to me when this all started, there is not quite so much evidence as I had hoped. The olive tree was first domesticated in the Levant, in either Syria or Palestine, in neolithic times. Athena herself has Libyan roots... Both these cultures make more use of the Date Tree in their religious ceremonies and iconography, from what i've discovered. This tradition is carried forward in the ceremonies associated with Palm Sunday (one of many examples). Athena's association with the Olive is quite prominent, and most early christian writings that mention the Olive, set it down next to her name, generally in a list of Pagan Gods that ought not to be worshipped. The other set of writings, which is what I am focusing on, makes use of the image of Christ as the Olive Tree, particularly in baptismal settings. Ephraem the Syrian's Virginal Hymns (4-7) are a particularly impressive example of the symbolism involved. My real problem right now is that I can see the glaring Athena imagery, and the equally present Christ imagery, I have explored phoenician connections and the Asherah, and I cannot find any links that are strong enough to make me comfortable with the statement that the olive tree represents a common mediterranean spirituality (though I definitely see connections to tree worship in general). Likewise, I have been unable to find the reasons behind the symbolism employed (it seems too simple to say that the olive was the tree of life, literally, because so many other trees are given greater attention- the date, the persimmon, the juniper- which do not have as many useful properties). Another concern of mine is that these images seem to be concentrated in the Levant, in the 4th Century. My initial interest in the subject came from North African archeological evidence of a 2nd Century Martyr buried on a bed of olive branches.... but I digress. I am looking for the particular use of Olive Branches to sprinkle holy water, because one aspect of my research has been to talk with the elderly in my father's villiage in rural lebanon, and to compare what they remember of the pre-industrial culture to what I have found in earlier writings. If there is a connection here, I would have one more area in which the role of the Olive and its Oil have not changed significantly in thousands of years. Dr. East's suggestion that the olive was at hand is logical and useful. I shall return to the library and see if I can find mention of this in a liturgical manual of some sort. thank you again, Rabia %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%