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| − | "Trees were once the sacred precincts of the Gods, and, following
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| − | ancient established rituals, country places even now dedicate an
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| − | outstandingly tall tree to a God. Even images of shining gold and
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| − | ivory are worshipped less by us than forests and their silence.
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| − | Different types of trees are dedicated to their own deities and these
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| − | relationships are kept for all time. For example, the Italian holm
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| − | oak is sacred to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva,
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| − | the myrtle to Venus, and the poplar to Hercules. We also believe that
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| − | the Silvani and Fauni and various goddesses are, as it were, assigned
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| − | to forests by heaven (G. Plinius Secundus, Hist. Nat. 12.3)."
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| − | The first sacred shrine to be dedicated at Rome was said to be that
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| − | of Jupiter Feretrius (Livy 1.10.7). This was "an oak which the
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| − | shepherds held sacred" on the Capitoline Hill. Offerings and votives
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| − | were hung from trees, "an oak hung with horns, a beech with animal
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| − | skins… a tree trunk in which a hatchet has carved a divine effigy
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| − | (Florides 1.3-4)." Apuleius mentioned similar rustic shrines and
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| − | Horace dedicated a shrine to Diana beneath a pine tree overhanging
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| − | his villa (Carmina 3.22.1-8). An estate would hold several such
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| − | shrines, while others were near boundary markers between neighbors,
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| − | or else near crossroads. "I devoutly worship the tree stump in the
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| − | depths of the countryside or an ancient stone garlanded with flowers
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| − | where paths cross (Tibullus 1.1.11)."
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| − | Among the many taboos placed on the flamen Dialis, one was that "the
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| − | nail parings of the Dialis and his hair trimmings are buried in earth
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| − | under a fruitful tree (Gellius, Noctes Atticae X.15.1-25)."
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| − | "The beneficial trees (felices arbores) are thought to be the oak,
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| − | the forest oak, holm oak, cork tree, beech tree, hazel, service berry
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| − | tree, white fig, pear tree, apple tree, the vine, the plum tree,
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| − | cornel (red dogwood), cherry tree, and the Italian lotus (Macrobius,
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| − | Saturnalia 3.20.2)." The iurglans> was the beechnut, or chestnut of
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| − | Jupiter, whose fruit "they esteemed worthy of the Gods (Gavius
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| − | Bassius, GRF fr. 5)."
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| − | Other trees were dedicated to the Di inferi and thus were to be
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| − | avoided as "arbores infelices". These are various ferns, and the
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| − | black fig, and whatever other trees have black branches or black
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| − | fruits. Others are acrifolium, the wild forest pears, red plums and
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| − | others that were thought to bring forth evil omens and bad prodigies.
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| − | Certain trees were regarded as protective, purifying, or beneficial.
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| − | The whitethorn was carried in bridal processions as one means to
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| − | protect the bride from the evil eye of onlookers, and was later hung
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| − | over the lintel of the groom's house as a means of guarding against
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| − | evil influences. The "Sabine herb" mentioned in marriages rites and
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| − | rites of purification was a variety of juniper. The groom and bride
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| − | would exchange boughs of pine that they would then place in the fire
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| − | atop an altar as an offering to Juno. Certain religious articles
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| − | were required to be made from specific trees. The fetiales carried
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| − | spears made of cornel (Livy I.32.6-14). The fasces were rods made of
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| − | elm (Plautus Asinaria 262-4). The lituus of augures was made of a
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| − | single tree branch, without knots, and having a natural curl, taken
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| − | from one of the "fruitful" trees (arbores felices)mentioned by
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| − | Veranius, in Ex Pontificalum Quaestionum Libris, and quoted by
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| − | Macrobius.
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| − | The molucum refers to the special manner in which tree limbs were
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| − | stacked to form the focus on an altar. They were placed one on
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| − | another, moving is a clockwise direction to build up a square tower.
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| − | Certain woods were preferred, depending on the deity for who the
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| − | sacrifices were made. In the case of sacrifices to the Di inferi,
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| − | arbores infelices might be used, but on a round altar often set down
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| − | in a pit, with the wood leaning up on one another in a circle, like a
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| − | camp fire. The molucum was used only for the celestial Gods. To use
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| − | arbores infelices on an altar to the celestial Gods would render the
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| − | altar impure and unusable until it could be purified. Appropriate
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| − | firewood would be selected according to which deity was being invoked.
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| − | There was the idea, as Pliny mentions, that certain types of trees
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| − | held the numen of a particular deity. Bringing a tree limb into a
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| − | shrine or house, or into a ritual, therefore meant bringing along the
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| − | God's or Goddess' numen as well. So care was made on which trees to
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| − | use in any ritual matter. Wooden images of the Gods were
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| − | specifically made of an appropriate wood for this very reason, that
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| − | the numen natural to the tree might attract a more powerful numen of
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| − | the deity and thus bless whatever place in which it was placed. A
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| − | number of amulets, charms and statues made of appropriate woods and
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| − | herbs were placed throughout a house for the same reason, to fill it
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| − | with numina of the Gods. Care was especially given to the windows of
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| − | rooms where children slept, charms hung over them to ward off evil.
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| − | Pliny's Natural History is filled with information on such charms,
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| − | and a great deal more about the Romans' use of trees.
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| − | [[Category:Roman religion]]
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