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Article ON THE RELIGION OP THE CELTS, AND THE CU... ← Page 5 of 7 →
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On The Religion Op The Celts, And The Cu...
Vulg . ) . Abimelech ( Judg . ix . 6 ) " was made king by the Plain of the Pillar that was in Sechem" ( juocta quercum , Yxdg . ) . Saul
( 1 Sam . x . 3 ) is told by Samuel , " that he shall come to the Plain of Tabor " ( ad quercum Tabor , Vulg . ) . Joshua ( Josh . - xxiv . 26 ) " took a great stone , and set it up there under an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord" ( suiter quercum , Vulg . ) . Previous to the battle with the Philistines ( 1 Sam . xvii . 2 ) , " Saul pitched by the Valley of Elah" ( in Vallem Terelinthi , Vulg . ) - Eeference is made
to the same tree ( Eccles . xxiv . 16 , Vulg . 22 ) , " As-the turpentinetree , I stretched out my brancbes " . ( JEgo , quasi terelinthus , extendi ramos ineos ) . The oaks of Basan ( quereus de Basan ) are enumerated in the account of the timber used by the shipbuilders of Tyre ( Ezek . xxvii . 6 ) , It is therefore evident , that two trees of the above
description were comprised under tbe same name , and there is the sanction of antiquity for tbe pine of the Alps being held as an object of religious interest amongst the Celts , by whom it was believed to be gifted with supernatural intelligence , an idea which may perhaps be ascribed to the properties stated to have been lodged in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil , and the Tree of Life , in the G-arden of Eden .
"When the three angels visited Abraham previous to the execution of the judgment on the guilty cities ( Gen . xviii . 4 ) , they were requested by him " to rest tbemselves under the tree " ( sub arlore Vulg . ); it is afterwards said ( Gen . xxi . 33 ) , "that he planted a groye at Beersheba ; " and in the purchase of a field at Machpelah , as a burial place for Sarah his wife ( Gen . xxiii . 17 ) , " the trees that
were in the field , and in the borders round about , " are particularly named in the treaty . These references all tend to prove that a degree of sanctity was annexed to trees ; and mention is frequently made of groves , as near the structures erected to the false gods under the dynasties of tbe Kings of Israel and Judah .
The deference paid to the mistletoe , as growing on the body or limbs of the oak is so well known , that it hardly deserves any observation ; but as the following quotation from Pliny ( lib . xiv . c . 44 ) explains the reason of this worship , it is given at full length from Oampden ' s " Britannica" ( p . 15 ) .
" The Druids held nothing more sacred than the misselto , and the tree on which it grows , provided it be an . oak . Therefore they choose out solitary groves , wherein are no trees but oaks , nor perform any ceremonies without the branches or leaves of that tree . Prom thence , if we regard the Greek signification dpvg , an oak , they may be supposed to have taken the name ' Druidoo . ' Indeed , whatever they find growing to or upon an oak , they take to be sent from heaven , and look upon it as a certain sign that the Deity hath for himself made choice of
that particular tree . In these ceremonies they principally observe that the moon be just six days old , —for the moon is their guide in the computation of their months and years ; and they fix : on the sixth day , because they reckon the moon is of considerable strength when she is not as yet come to her half . This product of the oak , they call by a name answering to 'Heal-all ; ' and when they come to it , they prepare a sacrifice of two white bulks ; this done , the priest , habited in white vestments , climbs the tree , and , with a golden pnining-knife , cuts off the misselto , which is carefully received in a white woollen cloth hy them that attend
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Religion Op The Celts, And The Cu...
Vulg . ) . Abimelech ( Judg . ix . 6 ) " was made king by the Plain of the Pillar that was in Sechem" ( juocta quercum , Yxdg . ) . Saul
( 1 Sam . x . 3 ) is told by Samuel , " that he shall come to the Plain of Tabor " ( ad quercum Tabor , Vulg . ) . Joshua ( Josh . - xxiv . 26 ) " took a great stone , and set it up there under an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord" ( suiter quercum , Vulg . ) . Previous to the battle with the Philistines ( 1 Sam . xvii . 2 ) , " Saul pitched by the Valley of Elah" ( in Vallem Terelinthi , Vulg . ) - Eeference is made
to the same tree ( Eccles . xxiv . 16 , Vulg . 22 ) , " As-the turpentinetree , I stretched out my brancbes " . ( JEgo , quasi terelinthus , extendi ramos ineos ) . The oaks of Basan ( quereus de Basan ) are enumerated in the account of the timber used by the shipbuilders of Tyre ( Ezek . xxvii . 6 ) , It is therefore evident , that two trees of the above
description were comprised under tbe same name , and there is the sanction of antiquity for tbe pine of the Alps being held as an object of religious interest amongst the Celts , by whom it was believed to be gifted with supernatural intelligence , an idea which may perhaps be ascribed to the properties stated to have been lodged in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil , and the Tree of Life , in the G-arden of Eden .
"When the three angels visited Abraham previous to the execution of the judgment on the guilty cities ( Gen . xviii . 4 ) , they were requested by him " to rest tbemselves under the tree " ( sub arlore Vulg . ); it is afterwards said ( Gen . xxi . 33 ) , "that he planted a groye at Beersheba ; " and in the purchase of a field at Machpelah , as a burial place for Sarah his wife ( Gen . xxiii . 17 ) , " the trees that
were in the field , and in the borders round about , " are particularly named in the treaty . These references all tend to prove that a degree of sanctity was annexed to trees ; and mention is frequently made of groves , as near the structures erected to the false gods under the dynasties of tbe Kings of Israel and Judah .
The deference paid to the mistletoe , as growing on the body or limbs of the oak is so well known , that it hardly deserves any observation ; but as the following quotation from Pliny ( lib . xiv . c . 44 ) explains the reason of this worship , it is given at full length from Oampden ' s " Britannica" ( p . 15 ) .
" The Druids held nothing more sacred than the misselto , and the tree on which it grows , provided it be an . oak . Therefore they choose out solitary groves , wherein are no trees but oaks , nor perform any ceremonies without the branches or leaves of that tree . Prom thence , if we regard the Greek signification dpvg , an oak , they may be supposed to have taken the name ' Druidoo . ' Indeed , whatever they find growing to or upon an oak , they take to be sent from heaven , and look upon it as a certain sign that the Deity hath for himself made choice of
that particular tree . In these ceremonies they principally observe that the moon be just six days old , —for the moon is their guide in the computation of their months and years ; and they fix : on the sixth day , because they reckon the moon is of considerable strength when she is not as yet come to her half . This product of the oak , they call by a name answering to 'Heal-all ; ' and when they come to it , they prepare a sacrifice of two white bulks ; this done , the priest , habited in white vestments , climbs the tree , and , with a golden pnining-knife , cuts off the misselto , which is carefully received in a white woollen cloth hy them that attend