Valery Flint mentions the olive tree on p. 207 of The Rise of Magic in
Early Medieval Europe. She cites a reference in Pliny (Natural History iv,
Loeb Classical Library, 1945) 4-5.
On Thu, 11 Nov 1999 08:29:20 -0500,
[log in to unmask] wrote...
>
>
>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
>
>
>
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