Show THE CHRISTMAS TREE observances la to Jl dlo countries la which a Dc decorated orated tree Is I 1 ancil of course tha the drusill ash and the irman saule are geographically the nearest archetypes of the german christmas trees that have spread BO so much over england since the marriage of our present sovereign but on that pair of grand symbol givers it la is not needful here minutely to dwell here at home perhaps the only genuine native instance of the christmas tree now easily discovered by ua us was the wassail or wessel or wesley bob that Is bunch of holly and other winter greens put together like a bower hung with oranges apples and colored ribbons and sometime i Jn inclosing closing a pair of dolls also decked with ribbons which was still carried about on a stick on christmas day in yorkshire some momo forty or fifty years since let ua its therefore in default of better take A flight to japan where we shall find a dozen centuries ago in ita its sacred book the the then doubty doubtless M most ancient legend ct of the adorable five hundred told saku arce which the gods pulled up by the roots root on tho the heavens mountain and they then hung as to its top branches with sacred jewels a mirror and blue and while white peace offerings to the shining goddess of the heavens devoutly reciting a grand ritual the while this might almost have come from lucian where he described those trees covered with ornaments aria AAR sacred attributes which nv were ere brought each year to ba be burnt ofte offerings rings in the temple of the goddess goddem at Illera polls of syria and he gave us nn an even more savage though coexistent type in the great trees loaded with goats sheep garments and cold zoil and silver objects object is to tho the I 1 i Z 4 10 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 diate 1 asa anc aim T r 1 before die syro gods at tho the same festival the pine of cybele and alun attis as still to be seen ou on the ancient bas is 13 hung with bells a reed flute a wheel and so or 0 and there arc are sacred birds among tho the branches and a ram and bull standing for sacrifice uce beneath pictures and other votive objects were attached to the laurel of apollo the central theory that I 1 propound pro pound for all this and all other tree worship is that the tree that was really worshiped of 0 which all these decorated cx ex vetold trees were mere idola idols was the abstract universe tree whose trunk was the cosmic axis whose roots were in tha the under world and whose branches spread aloft into the skies and bore up tho the heavenly hostess everything in nature grew on was a fruit of this tree which was the hindmo pari jat jata a and yielding all the objects of desire alias 14 every mortal thing and also the iranian the tile tre tree 0 of all eeds dut but before dealing any further with eastern instances instance let us bark hark back to england and look at one of the strangest survivals of this tree which survival Is not in any way connected by date with christmas remember remembering in the besant which until 1830 was carried In procession ilon with music at shaftesbury bury alias on the monday before ascension thursday it was a trophy some four feet high constructed ted on a framework and covered with ribbons flowers and peacocks talt tait feathers around it were hung jewels coins and other objects of value lent by the local gentry tor for the purpose ilis history of dorset said wild in ISM that this beson or byzant was sometimes valued at as much aa 1500 it is futile to theorize any but a sacred pagan ritualistic origin for tills this puzzling and for the matter in important observance ober ofer vance and if we now go eastward again and change the scene to buddhist siam siani alabaster shall show us at cremation ceremonies a framework made to represent a tree whereto are tied lines and nutshells nut shells instead of which aro are put lottery tickets androney and money these which are called kara lara fruits are scrambled for by the crowd after the ceremony and tho the scavenger caste of upper india have processions professions process ions of their deity zahir pir in which they carry a bamboo pole decked with bright colored cloths claths and crowned by a huge bunch of peacocks tail tall feathers at the top fensand fans and bunches of cocoanuts cocoa nuts are also slung from the pole the conventional vent ional made up tree that we see on endless babylonian cylinders was doubtless a similar artificial christmas tree or may latin majus and one of the bilingual hymns translated by professor describes how the place of the tree of which these idols were inevitably symbols is the central spot of the earth while its fruits obviously the stars star sare are of brilliant brillian u crystal and reach into the liquid vast national observer |