What symbolic meanings does the image of the willow have in the traditional cultures of the East and West? How and why is the willow associated with the motif of death and funerary cults? What does the willow symbolize in the Christian tradition, including in Russian Orthodoxy?
Willow is a plant that is common in many countries and in various climatic zones. Thanks to this, as well as her elegant and expressive appearance, special qualities of wood and healing properties the willow has been mythologized and poeticized in numerous cultures. For various peoples, this tree had its own cultural and mythological interpretations, often opposite.
East and West has not quite same values, although the main semantic positions generally coincide.
The Ancient East
First of all, I saw in this tree a feminine fertile principle and a sign of natural strength. At the same time, many eastern ethnic groups associated willow with death and burial. However, there is nothing unusual in this antinomy of meanings, because life and death in any beliefs go side by side, give rise to each other.
In the Sumero-Akkadian tradition and Babylon this tree was considered charmed and associated with lunar deities who patronize women, especially women in childbirth. In ancient Akkad, willow was seen as the World Tree and associated with Zeus the Creator. And in Babylon, where there were many weeping willows (which later became known as Babylonian), because of their beauty, they were considered festive trees of fun, good luck and happiness and dedicated to the god of fertility and the shepherds Tammuz.
The ancient Chinese considered the willow primarily a tree of the spring flowering of nature and the feminine (Yin), including sexuality. A young girl in folk poetry is often compared with a willow - a sign of grace, charming meekness and femininity. During the spring village holidays, Chinese women wove a willow twig into their hair to add attractiveness to the opposite sex and at the same time protect themselves from evil forces. This tree was also considered a talisman against demons. Staffs from it were given to state officials who were transferred on duty to another province by their friends to protect them from the evil energy of new places. And the lovers before parting exchanged magical signs from willow branches. They had to protect their love from insidious evil spirits and preserve the power of feeling. In addition, the willow was considered the tree of the goddess of the patroness of women, motherhood, love, beauty and mercy Kwan-yin. She is depicted with a willow branch, which sprinkles the world around her with living water. This water gives strength to the world, as well as willow leaves, containing a strengthening and invigorating substance - tannin. Chinese peasants drank a decoction of them.
In Tibet, willow was also revered as a protector from evil spirits. Its branches were hung in front of the entrance to the dwelling and on the walls inside it. In such a house, according to people, happiness, goodness and good luck often looked. And willow leaves washed with water, according to the Tibetans, could purify the body and karma. Doctors were convinced that with the help of willow wood blindness could be avoided and eyesight improved, and foliage could save from dysentery, cure rheumatism and goiter.
The Japanese saw willow (especially weeping) as the personification of meekness and at the same time patience and perseverance, since even severe weather cannot break the flexible branches of this tree. Ancient Japanese mythology emphasized that the spine of the very first man was made of wicker, so the tree is the relatives of people, and you can turn to it with a request for help.
The Mother Goddess of the Buryats, who created the Earth and put it on the back of the Whale, was born at the roots of the Golden Willow - the World Tree, which was before all things.
Among the Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks and some other ethnic groups Central Asia willow staffs were attributes of the funeral rite. The elders of the clan (and sometimes all its adult male representatives) went to the cemetery during the funeral, leaning on these staffs and crying. After the grave was almost completely closed, they were thrown into the side burial chamber so that the grief would remain there. Sometimes staves were stuck into the grave, and it was considered good sign if they eventually took root and turned into a tree.
Goddess patroness of women, motherhood, love, beauty and mercy Kwan-yin.
Kanzashi - hair ornaments used in traditional Chinese and Japanese hairstyles that imitate flowering plants, including willow.
Japanese garden. Engraving.
European mythological systems
also give the willow image important meanings. They associate this tree with the appearance of a person, his protection from the forces of darkness and death.
Scandinavian mythology tells that the great aces created the first people from wood. Somehow the gods walked on sea coast and found two decks - ash and willow. From the ash tree they created Ask, a man, and from the willow, Embla, a woman. So the willow remained among the northern Europeans as a female tree associated with procreation.
Ancient Greek Artemis, the goddess of the moon, the life-giving forces of nature and at the same time death, dedicated willow twigs. They were considered symbols of childbearing, which was patronized by Artemis. In Sparta, these sacred rods were used for a special sacrifice of youthful blood. At the main temple of the goddess, future young warriors were subjected to a cruel test: flogging with willow rods. No matter how blood gushed from the torn bodies, the young men were not supposed to make a single plaintive sound. Some of them even silently died on sacrificial platforms, which was a great honor for their family.
The Greeks considered the willow also a tree. underworld and his gods. Weeping willows figured in the description of the landscape of the realm of shadows: they grew along the banks of the rivers Lethe, Cocytus, Styx and Acheron. One of the wands of the god Hades, according to legend, was made of willow wood, and the wife of Hades Persephone was sometimes depicted with a bunch of willow branches in her hand. Willow branches also appeared in rituals dedicated to the goddess of moonlight and witchcraft, the mistress of monsters Hekate. The magical smoking of Hekate, which caused prophetic visions and gave the blessing of the goddess, includes the bark of this tree in its composition. Obviously, such a connection with the world of the dead weeping willow received because of its sadly drooping branches. Therefore, among the Greeks, it became a tree of lamentation and sorrow. It, along with cypress, was customarily planted at the graves. And willow wreaths were worn on the heads during the funeral as a sign of deep grief. However, the willow was in ancient world and the tree of healing, since the god of healing Asclepius (Aesculapius) loved her very much, who considered the medicine from willow bark useful for many diseases.
Among the Slavs, willow (willow, willow and willow, as they were identified with each other) was revered from time immemorial. It was used in numerous rituals, primarily associated with the arrival of spring. Willow is the first tree that wakes up after the cold. It was considered a sacred plant of the solar Yarila. The Slavs believed that this tree had great power, so they always willingly wore amulets woven from its branches on their bodies. traditional healers were convinced that the willow is a conductor of healing magic. A patient with a fever, for example, healers girded with a straw bundle, which, after reading the necessary spells, was tied to the trunk of a young willow. So the disease passed from man to tree. The Belarusians, on the other hand, considered the old hollow willows to be a refuge for evil spirits. Other The Slavs also claimed that on the full moon, any evil spirits can nest on the branches of the willows growing along the banks of reservoirs. Mermaids especially love to ride them. But on the holiday of Kolyada, the bandage of willow branches becomes the cleansing signs of this solar god of farmers.
Embla is a woman created by the gods from willow. Scandinavian mythology
Willow, willow, willow - a symbol of the World Tree
Willow - Slavic pagan symbol of water magic and evil spirits.
The image of the willow in Judaism and Christianity
largely retained its significance, especially in folk culture.
The representatives of Judaism this tree was considered mournful. The Bible describes the weeping of the Jews driven from their land. They hung harps on the branches of weeping willows of Babylon and lamented about their fate.
Christian understanding willow is no less symbolic. First of all, this plant is associated with the feat of virginity (since it seemed that it was not capable of producing mature seeds, that is, it was not fertilized). Therefore, in medieval Europe the willow was identified with the monastic choice of chastity. The fact that this tree continues to grow, even if its branches are cut down and broken off, made it possible to compare it with the Gospel of Christ. It spreads among different peoples, and its essence still remains unchanged. The fact that willow can easily grow and multiply in almost any climatic conditions and it is not easy to destroy, makes it a symbol of eternal rebirth. Therefore, this tree is often planted in Christian cemeteries as a sign of hope for eternal life souls.
In Rus', festive services dedicated to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem are not complete without the consecration of willow branches. They replace palm trees for lack of the latter, they are symbols of God's glory and power. Palm Sunday is one of the brightest holidays in Russian Orthodox Church. Willows consecrated on this day, in folk beliefs, have great power and bring joy, vigor and health. For example, it is customary for them to lightly whip children so that they do not get sick and grow well. It is believed that such a willow protects from evil spirits, cures many diseases, makes bountiful harvest and livestock offspring. She can stop the storm and put out the fire, protect the crops from hail, if you stick a cross made of willow branches in the field. On the wedding celebrations the young hid in their wedding dresses the consecrated willow, which was supposed to protect them from the evil eye and witchcraft.
Tree of Life. Great Synagogue. Budapest
THE BIBLE DESCRIBES THE SOBBING OF THE JEWS EXPIRED FROM THEIR EARTH. THEY HANGED HARPS ON THE BRANCHES OF WEEPING BABYLON WILLOWS AND LAMENTED ABOUT THEIR FATE.
and is associated with many other traditional mythological and religious images that you can read on the Danila-Master website. There is also an extensive catalog of models of monuments from Karelian gabbro-diabase.
On the sixth Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday preceding Easter, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This day is known as Palm Sunday. The solemn entry into Jerusalem was the Lord's entry into the path of suffering on the cross. All four evangelists - Mark, Luke, Matthew and John - narrate about this event in their Gospels.
The historical roots of this event go back to the time when the Jews had a custom to meet with solemn hails with palm branches in the hands of the winners who entered Jerusalem on horseback or donkeys. That is how Christ entered, not as an earthly king or conqueror, but as the King of the unearthly world, as a conqueror of death and sin. Entering Jerusalem, in anticipation of suffering and death on the cross, Christ showed people the way of salvation from the slavery of sin.
The crowd noisily welcoming him, expects from him, first of all, salvation from the invaders of the Romans, but not from the fetters of spiritual sins. Seeing the delusion of those who gladly welcome him, not rejecting the enthusiasm of the crowd, Christ is trying to find something completely different - the conversion of human hearts to love, kindness, God.
In Russia, the symbol of palm branches, with which the Jewish people greeted Christ, were the branches of willow trees - willows, willows, willows, which bloom in the first spring. Therefore, Palm Sunday has such a name. Its real name is the Week of Vay, the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem or Flower-bearing Sunday. Willow branches should help the believer organize and purify his thoughts. Think about the significance and value of spiritual and earthly blessings.
Holiday Palm Sunday Since the 16th century, it has become especially revered and magnificently celebrated in Moscow. A religious procession was organized along a certain route (from the Assumption Cathedral to the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed), the established prayers were held at the frontal place. According to the tradition that existed at that time, in addition to wearing during procession crosses and icons, fussed on a sleigh huge tree, decorated with fruits of dates, raisins, etc. The cost of such trees (usually German work) was quite high - several hundred rubles. At the end of the procession, the tree and decoration of the sleigh were given to the people. In 1678, an expensive tree was replaced by three wagons of willow, which were purchased by Order for distribution to people in the Assumption Cathedral.
There was a custom - upon arrival from the church, beat the parents of their children with willow branches, while saying: “I don’t beat - the willow beats. Willow whip - beats to tears. This is believed to have helped better growth children. Willow whipped not only children, but also cattle.
There are many folk signs and beliefs associated with this holiday.
The wind blowing on this day will be predominant throughout the summer.
Bright, sunny day, good weather on Palm Sunday - to a rich harvest of fruits and cereals.
Windy or frosty weather on Palm Sunday - to good harvest spring.
Blooming willow buds have magic power and healing properties. Swallowing them protects against diseases, drives away ailments, and cures female infertility.
A willow branch thrown into the fire - pacifies the flame, thrown against the wind - prevents a storm. A bundle of consecrated willow placed on the windowsill pacifies the hail.
The dough nuts baked on this day by the hostess give health to households and animals.
A peg of consecrated willow, driven into the wall of the house, drives away the natural human timidity of the person who has driven it.
The consecrated willow is stored until next year. On this day, the use of fish dishes is allowed (despite Lent). It is desirable to decorate your house with willow branches.
Female generic name of trees, many species, Salix; willow, willow, vine, nonsense, broom, milkweed, novg. verbina. In asters. they say willow, willow, instead of a tree in general, in St. Petersburg there is a birch and a fir-tree, and in other places there is an oak. S. acuminata… … Dictionary Dalia
Folk names of some species from the family woody plants Willow. For example: goat willow, wolf willow, holly willow. Program for cryptographic protection of information. Verba, Sydney American political scientist Verba, Otto Rudolfovich ... ... Wikipedia
VERBIN VERBOLOZOV The surname Verbin was formed from a non-church name or nickname Verba. Willow. As a rule, Ukrainian surnames are characterized by a form without a suffix. This surname is derived from the name of the willow plant. (Source: Dictionary of Russian Surnames. ... ... Russian Surnames
See willow, willow... Brockhaus Bible Encyclopedia
Verbochka, seals, willow Dictionary of Russian synonyms. verba n., number of synonyms: 14 nonsense (14) vayia ... Synonym dictionary
willow- (wrong verba; found in dialect speech) ... Dictionary of pronunciation and stress difficulties in modern Russian
WILLOW, species of trees or shrubs of the willow genus ... Modern Encyclopedia
Types of trees or shrubs of the willow genus ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
VERBA, s, female. Tree or shrub fam. willow with fluffy buds. | adj. verbal, oh, oh and willow, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
Species from the genus willow. Most often V. naz. wolf willow, or yellow husk (Salix daphnoides), high tree. up to 15 m or a shrub with white silky (young) or light green and even dark chestnut (older) branches with a bluish bloom. Leaves … Biological encyclopedic Dictionary
Willow - a shrub or tree, in folk culture symbolizing rapid growth, health, vitality, fertility. Young, especially consecrated on Palm Sunday, willow protects from natural Disasters, evil spirits, diseases, etc., while the old willow is considered a refuge for devils, water and other "unclean" and a place where diseases can be sent.
As a symbol of growth, willow appears in spells, good wishes and other rituals. The Serbs wove willow wreaths on St. George's Day, "so that the profit in the house grows like a willow in the spring." Wed Eastern Slavic magic formulas such as "Grow like a willow", pronounced on Palm Sunday when beating a willow.
On the day of the Forty Martyrs among the Serbs in Aleksinatsky Pomoravie, a shepherd whipped cattle with willow and dogwood branches, saying: “Be healthy like dogwood and grow like a willow!”, And girls and boys walked together to the willow thickets, whipped each other with willow branches and recited the same spell.
Whipping with a willow branch consecrated on Palm Sunday was carried out at Eastern Slavs on St. George's Day. Then this branch was stuck in a field, thrown into a pond, plugged behind icons, etc. In Bosnia, on St. George's Day, Serbian girls girded themselves with willow in order to be with a "belly" next year, that is, to get married and become pregnant. They girded a pail with a willow twig, "so that milk would come."
On Easter Monday in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Poland, boys beat girls with woven willow twigs, and on Tuesday girls beat boys. In the Moravian Zagorje, on Spirits Day, equestrian competitions were held for possession of a willow wreath; the winner was called "king".
In Volyn and Podolia, girls decorated a tree or a willow branch with flowers for Ivan Kupala and danced around them, and then the guys broke into the girl's circle, grabbed the willow and tore it apart.
In Slovenia and Croatia, on Innocent Infants Day (December 28), sometimes called "whipping day", boys walked around with willow sticks, beat adults and demanded a ransom from them.
Serbian dodols often dressed up almost exclusively in willow branches and walked with willow or with willow sticks in their hands.
Willow branches, consecrated on Palm Sunday, were used to protect against thunder, thunderstorms and storms. The Russians believed that a willow thrown against the wind drives away a storm, thrown into a fire pacifies it, and planted in a field protects crops (Tambovshchina), that branches thrown into the yard stop hail. Belarusians put a bundle of consecrated willow on the windowsill during hail (Vitebsk region); in the Carpathians, during a thunderstorm, a consecrated willow was broken and burned in the stove, “so that the smoke would ward off the thunderstorm and the devil would not hide in the chimney.”
The Poles, during a storm and hail, sprinkled a cloud of consecrated willow and holy water and burned willow branches, put them on the windowsill. The Bulgarians also burned the consecrated willow from thunder and hail, the Croats burned small willow branches, and the hostess of the house baptized a thundercloud with a large burning willow branch, “so that it dissipates.” In many places (among the Serbs, Poles) crosses were made from consecrated willow; they were stuck in arable land to protect crops from hail.
The first pasture of cattle and the first plowing usually did not do without a consecrated willow. She beat cattle on St. George's Day and among the Russians at the first pasture of horses at night (most often on St. Nicholas of the Spring), then all day the horses were whipped not with a whip, but with a willow. In Belarus, with the consecrated willow, they went out to the first plowing of the spring field, and to the plowing of virgin lands.
The consecrated willow was considered a healing remedy by all Slavs. Serbs and Macedonians girded themselves with it during the harvest, “so that their backs would not hurt”, Vitebsk Belarusians fumigated sick cattle with it, rubbed it into powder and covered their wounds, made a decoction from it and juniper and drank with a sore throat, stomach, fever, used for lotions from tumors and bruises.
Among the Poles, the patient passed on his illness to the willow: at first he girded himself with a straw baldric, and then, secretly from everyone, went to the young willow and girded it with the same girdling; the willow dried up, the fever passed. Among the Serbs, healing from an illness was interpreted as the wedding of an illness with a willow: "I married my sickness with a willow." At the same time, a lit candle was placed on the willow, equal circle patient's head.
The Serbs first pronounced the newly learned conspiracy “on the willow”, and then they started talking to people and cattle. This was done “so that the conspiracy would be accepted as easily as willow is accepted.”
The old willow was considered a cursed tree in some areas of Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Poland. In the region of Skopje (Macedonia), the willow was called cursed because it did not bear fruit or shade.
The Bosnian Serbs said that the willow was cursed and therefore it was usually rotten from the inside. She was shot with a bow and cursed by St. Sysy; he aimed at Satan, who was hiding in it. The Poles in Warmia and Mazury believed that willow was an evil tree: according to an etiological legend, nails were made from willow for the cross on which Christ was crucified. As a punishment for this, the willow became barren, rotten and with a crooked trunk.
According to Belarusians, the devil sits on the willow from Epiphany until Palm Sunday (before that, he lives in the water, in the vine, and after Palm Sunday on the maple and in the life). The Slovaks believed that the merman often sits on the highest willow and looks out for his prey, while the Bulgarians thought that samodivs (vils) live on willows and other trees.
According to Belarusian beliefs, the devils “warm up” on the willow in the spring, and after the willow is blessed on Palm Sunday, they fall into the water, so from Palm Sunday to Easter you can’t drink water scooped up under the willow. At the same time, devils, according to Belarusian and Polish beliefs, prefer dry, hollow willow, cf. Polish and Belarusian proverb: “I fell in love like hell with a dry (old) willow” (N.I. Tolstoy, V.V. Usacheva).
Ukrainian folklore texts are known that directly or indirectly connect the willow with the sky and the sun: explaining to the children at the beginning of Lent where the fast food went, they were told: ) she put it there on the willow. The willow is mentioned in children's spells addressed to the rain: a pot of borscht is placed on the willow (as well as on the oak or generally “upstairs”), which falls along with the tree or the birds take it away with them: “Don’t go, don’t go, plank, / I’ll make a borscht, I’ll put it on a willow, / Sob the gorobs drank .. "
In Ukrainian spring songs (marking the end of the daytime allotted for singing) the sieve (symbol of the sun) is also placed on a willow, cf. such a spring:
Spivals girls, spivals,
They put songs in a sieve,
Putavyly on the willow,
Lybydi flooded like that.
And zvilyly reshyto to the bottom.
It's time for you, girls, to go home.
with a wedding song: “The sun bowed to the bottom. An hour for us, gentlemen, to go home.
In Ukrainian riddles, the willow is the sun: "The willow stands in the middle of the village, spread the nakedness to all Podolia." In northern Russian wedding songs, “golden willow” directly correlates with the temple: “On a high mountain ... Golden willow grew ... In the middle of the golden willow, the Most Pure Savior was written off mother of God Mother of God". In conspiracies, willow, along with oak and some other trees, is the World Tree, which is the center of the universe: queen…”
In Slavic folklore and beliefs, willow turns out to be involved in the sphere of the miraculous; pear willows will give birth to us”), known in Western Ukrainian folklore. In an East Slavic fairy tale, a willow grows up to the sky on a horse. In the south of Poland and in Galicia, stories are known about a wonderful pipe that can be made from a willow growing in the very depths of the forest, where it has not been touched. Sunshine and where she had never heard a cock crow or running water. With the help of such a pipe, you can cheer up a sad person, make someone who has never done it dance, you can attract other people's bees to your hives, expose a villain and a murderer, etc.
Willow and. generic name of trees, many species, salix; willow, willow, vine, nonsense, broom, milkweed, novg. verbina. In asters. they say willow, willow, instead of a tree in general, in St. Petersburg there is a birch and a fir-tree, and in other places there is an oak. S. acuminata (phlomoides), verbal blight; S. acutifolia, sheluga, sheluzhina, krasnotal (thal, willow in general, small willow, brushwood); S. alba, willow, willow, willow, vine; S. amygdalina, whitethal, redthal, willow, lomash; S. sarrea, willow, willow, tal (and not tala), bredina, verbalosis; S. cinerea, vine, chernotal, chernoloz, willow, willow, gray willow; S. divaricata, tal schist; S. fragilis, willow, willow, willow, willow; S. gmellini, whitehead; S. herbacea, tall dwarf?, tall dwarf dwarf; S. incubacea, small willow; S. myrtilloides, tall yernik; S. nigricans, brednik (brednik?); S. pentandra, blackthal, recruiter, sinethal, lomashnik; S. purpurea, yellowweed; S. repens, nicellose (composed by scientists), broom; S. rosmarinfolia, gray willow, netala?, sandy willow; S. viminalis, talaschanik, rakita, belotal, basket maker, carpenter, vyazinnik, verbalosis. Jerusalem willow, Salix babylonica or Elaeagnus, agnova branches, goof, goof, oil willow; kavk. Armenian dates. Willow grass, Lythrum Salicaria, plakun, wild cornflowers, oak tree, pitted pine, hemorrhagic. Willow does not beat, old sin. He says a pear on a willow, he's lying. You will wait, as from willow apples. Where there is water, there is willow, where there is willow, there is water. Whoever plants a willow, prepares a spade for himself, will die when it will be possible to carve a shovel out of the willow. A German is like a willow: no matter where you poke, then he began! Verbeshka sowing. willow and similar earrings, color and seed. Werbniak is collected. willow, vetlovnik, vetelnik, broom, willow grove. Willow, willow, willow, willow, willow; made from a willow, belonging to a willow, related to it. Verbnitsa arch. bonfire palm week, vay week; the sixth of Great Lent; Palm Sunday preceding Easter. On the eve of Palm Sunday, Saint Lazarus climbed for willows. Lazarus, Lazarus, come and eat our jelly, they say on Lazarus Sunday. Willow whip, beat to tears, it's not me who beats, willow beats; or: Red willow beats in vain; the white willow beats for the cause, etc. they sentence, whipping with a sleepy willow. Cattle are driven out into the field for the first time (on Yuria) by willow since Palm Sunday. If the palm week is bucketful, with matinees, then the yari will be good, yarosl. On palm frost - spring bread will be good, Novg. The roach rubs for the first time on the willow, in another, when the birch blossoms, in mpemuy - on the ascension, south. Willow porridge, willow blossom, earrings boiled in porridge and eaten on this day. Willows, willows, all kinds of branches, decorated with artificial flowers and handed out on this day, in remembrance of the past. Loosestrife m. Zavalnaya grass, Lysimachia plant. Verbishnika m. plant. Verbascum Thapsus, royal candle, scepter, mullein, cloth, cloth, archer, barn, bear's ear. Recruitment m. Plakun plant, Lythrum. Lying camels (distorted upper belly?) adv. symb. about children supine, stretched out straight on the back, as for example. they say to stand on your haunches, to lie down, and so on. Verbock, recruiter, verbich m. yuzhn. a bream that rubs or spawns at the time of the willow blossom, when the willow is in fluffy catkins.
