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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • Dec. 1, 1856
  • Page 5
  • ON THE RELIGION OP THE CELTS, AND THE CU...
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Dec. 1, 1856: Page 5

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    Article ON THE RELIGION OP THE CELTS, AND THE CU... ← Page 5 of 7 →
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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

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1856-12-01, Page 5” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 10 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/frm_01121856/page/5/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
ON THE RELIGION OF THE CELTS, AND THE CUSTOMS THENCE DERIVED. Article 1
LA VENDEE. A DRAMATIC POEM. Article 7
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. Article 10
A LOVE-TOKEN". Article 11
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 12
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 16
METROPOLITAN. Article 28
PROVINCIAL. Article 34
EOYAL ARCH. Article 49
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 51
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 51
MARE MASONRY. Article 52
SCOTLAND. Article 52
IRELAND. Article 57
COLONIAL. Article 59
INDIA. Article 61
AMERICA. Article 63
SUMMARY OF NEWS FOE NOVEMBER Article 64
Obituary. Article 68
NOTICE. Article 71
TO COEEESPONDENTS. Article 71
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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

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