Chrysalis Angel

Chrysalis Angel
Becoming an Angel is the work of humans.

CHRYSALIS WELCOMES EVERYONE

Chrysalis' year begins the first Sunday after Labor Day in September. Services are held each Sunday at 10AM to 12 Noon. There will be no services held during August 2014. First meeting in the fall will be September 7, 2014.

Sunday Services from 10 am to 11:30 am each week
805 Mercer's Fernery Road
DeLand, FL (the white 2 story farm house)
Pastor - Skuli Thorhallsson

For more information or counseling phone (386) 478-9201

Email questions or requests to chrysalisgarden@gmail.com

Chrysalis Spiritual Center is a Swedenborg based congregation that studies non-deno
minational topics based on the value of certain writings and speech to society as a whole. Services are frequently presented by guest speakers. No denomination is excluded from meeting with us. We welcome all religions, ages, genders and beliefs.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

AMAZING "TIME"

Saturday, March 17, 2012

MEDITATION

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Sign Up For This Unique Horoscope

http://home.ezezine.com/3_11/3_11-2012.03.05.10.45.archive.html

Follow the link above for the Free Will Astrology newsletter. This is a great sign-up. I highly recommend the philosophy and themes that Rob advances for his book Pronoia the antidote to Paranoia.

He will send you a horoscope for your birthday and offer links to great works of wisdom, including his own writings. He also has a video on YouTube.


Monday, March 5, 2012

Dance of the Planets


Illustration of the dance of the planets connecting the orbits to show the pulse or rhythm of the solar system. This sample uses the orbits of Earth and Venus. The result is a Fibonacci  phenomenon.

SACRED THOUGHT

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
~ Steve Jobs


The following is edited and adapted from http://sern.ucalgary.ca/courses/seng/693/W98/alang/minor.html

It is intended to supplement personal understanding and enhance critical self-examination of yourself as a communicator.


Styles of Thinking

“How do people think about things?”  Harrison and Bramson, through their research detailed in their text The Art of Thinking, found that in Western society there are five distinct styles of thinking.  Most people show a marked preference for one or two of the styles. These styles are referred to as “Inquiry Modes.”  The five styles of thinking are:

 





  1. Synthesists

   2. Idealists

   3. Pragmatists

   4. Analysts

   5. Realists 


Synthesists


“Synthesists are apt to appear challenging, skeptical, or satirically amused, even when you can see no cause for any of that.”  They like to speculate and enjoy being the “devils advocate.”  You may find them difficult because they tend to enjoy conflict and argument simply for the sake of argument.

A Synthesist can juggle both arguments and counter arguments mentally and recognize the validity of each and form new ideas from that conflict.

The first common strategy of the Synthesist is that of “Open Argument and Confrontation.” Synthesists realize that this fires creativity.  They will openly confront antagonists and appear aggressive or abrasive. 

Their second common strategy is “Asking Dumb-Smart Questions.”  This means that they will often, ask a question to which they already know the answer in order to get the respondent to open up.  What better way to get someone to agree with your argument than to get the other person to think it was his argument and that he is convincing you?

Synthesists like to be observers of conflict.  They can learn more by starting a debate and then observing how other people behave than by participating themselves.  They will “throw out” the challenging questions that they know will ruffle some feathers just to get a reaction.

The ability to look at opposing viewpoints and not pass judgement is indicative of a Synthesist.  “Suspending Opposing Ideas” is the mark of a mature intelligence.  This seems to go hand in hand with the idea of being observers and the understanding that people see situations from a personal perspective, and that much can be learned from looking at a situation from another viewpoint.

Synthesists like to speculate.  They are the champion of the “What if?” questions.  They recognize the fact that these types of questions fuel creativity and cause the thinker to look in different directions for answers.  “Brainstorming” sessions are an attempt to formalize this type of strategy and can make the non-synthesist see the value in this way of thinking.  Hand in hand with this type of speculation is the proposing of “far out” solutions.  Synthesists  may speculate in areas where a non-synthesist has a hard time seeing the connection.

Even when Synthesists make  recommendations, such thinkers challenge their own ideas.  They are masters at “Negative Analysis,” playing the devil’s advocate, which gives them a far clearer picture of what an idea totally entails.

To be a Synthesist is to be someone who strives on conflict and uses it to fuel creativity.  The ability to speculate can cause problem when dealing with the mundane processes of everyday existence, however.  Synthesists don’t like to be bothered by facts or details and sometimes those very details can be the thing that will bring them down to earth.  “Don’t look to a Synthesist for caution or moderation.  They like to do things in a big way or not at all.”

Idealists

“Idealists look and respond attentively and receptively,” giving the impression that they are truly interested in what you are saying and value your opinion.  From the standpoint of conflict they are the exact opposite of the Synthesist.  They shun conflict and are always trying to be accommodating.  As an Idealist, they try to think holistically.  Wholesomeness and assimilation are two very strong traits for an idealist.

One of their prime strategies is to “focus on the whole”; in other words, to take the holistic approach.  For Idealists, nothing is in isolation.  This viewpoint can open up new areas of discussion but can also distract from the specific details of a particular problem.

Idealists also tend to take a much longer view of things.  They tend to be greater planners and are convinced that the world can be a better place if only people started thinking about the future and planning more.  The fact that the Idealist is more prone to plan may delay important decisions from being made or actions from being taken.  Yet, it can also defer impulsive action as well.  This will give everyone more time to plan and set goals and standards.

Idealists also tend to be very receptive listeners.  They aren’t interested in listening to a lot of data or facts, however.  They are more interested in “people” and “feelings.”  Because of this, they can be very good at gathering information.  People relate to them and feel that they can trust them.  Due to their interest in people and relationships, Idealists will try and humanize an argument.

Unlike the Synthesist

Pragmatists

“Pragmatists often show a good deal of humor, a quickness to agree with others’ ideas.”  Unlike  Idealists, they don’t shy away from conflict but neither do they relish it like the Synthesist.  They realize it is useful and necessary and they make use of it.  They like to experiment and brainstorm and can be very creative.

The Pragmatists’ motto appears to be “Whatever works.”  They are not ones for long range plans and tend to be short range, practical thinkers.  They tend to employ an incremental or piecemeal approach to life.  This may put them in conflict with someone who has long range goals, but the advantage to the Pragmatist approach is that it produces demonstrable results quickly.

In being focused on the short term and the quick payoff, Pragmatists tend to be very creative and innovative.  They, more than any other thinking style, realize that even the longest journey begins with a single step.

In keeping with the idea of quick payoff and short term thinking, Pragmatists tend to be good tacticians.  If people are not concerned about long range plans but need something accomplished tomorrow or next week, the Pragmatist is usually the person who can find a way to make it happen.  The Pragmatists believe in their way of thinking and are good at convincing others of its validity.  In this way, they are good marketers of ideas.  They understand their audiences and understand how to package their proposals to make them sell.

Pragmatists seldom get caught in the trap of finding themselves stuck with no direction to turn. They are good at contingency planning.  If they find one path blocked, they will look for another one.  This can often be seen as intimidating by the more conservative elements of society.  Their best advantage is their creativity and ability to cope with change.  The problem with the Pragmatist is in giving the impression of working “off the cuff” or not working to any plan or in any direction.

Analysts

“Analysts tend to appear cool, studious, perhaps distant and hard to read.”  They look at things logically and are data and fact centered.  They believe in reason and rules and “one correct way” of doing things.  They can appear very dry and disciplined, without much of a sense of humor. It’s not that they don’t have a sense of humor, it’s just that it’s more cerebral.  Their basic strategy is one of methodology and the scientific method.  If an Analyst has a task to perform, she will write it down and methodically plan how to accomplish it. 

Analysts thrive on data.  They are “Number Crunchers.”  If an Analyst doesn’t feel comfortable about a decision, she will gather more data. 

One of the prime methods used by the Analyst is that of “Conservative Focusing.”  This is a type of decomposition such that when an Analyst is presented with a problem, she will try and break it down into its components.  The key to solving any problem can be found in isolation.  If the thinker can isolate and examine each of the components of a system separately then she can systematically solve any problem.

Analysts make lists.  They make lists of lists.  They feel that clarity can be gained by looking at something when it’s written down.  Analysts also thrive on detail and precision.  They will proofread documents and tend to be nit-pickers and perfectionists.  Their life must be orderly and that is a skill which must be properly utilized. 

Realists

“Realists tend to have a direct, forceful, frank appearance, not necessarily aggressive, but sometimes that too.”  They are no-nonsense people.  The main strategy employed by a Realist is that of “Empirical Discovery.”  They like things concrete and rely very much on their senses to tell them about the world.

The Realist will ask the hard questions and believe that in order to accomplish anything he must first set objectives and come up with an agenda for accomplishing his goals. Realists like to have a clear picture of where they’re heading.  The Realist relies on fact but not in the same way as the analyst.  The analyst is more of a “data” person. 

The Realist understands the resources that they have at hand and has a solid grasp of just what can be accomplished with them. He likes to simplify things.  The more he breaks down complex problems into simpler problems the easier they are to solve and the clearer they become.  Realists also have a much better idea of their limitations.  They won’t hesitate to bring in outside expert help when it’s required.

Harrison and Bramson talk about there being a lot of Realist qualities in mothers and nurses. What they’re getting at is the fact that everybody has a Realist component and that there are circumstances where these qualities have to emerge.  Certain situations demand a Realist response.  Practically any other response will fail.  The Realist will take immediate corrective action under these circumstances when any other response could be disastrous.

Realists are people with strong opinions and are “matter of fact” people.  They have a low tolerance for ambiguity and prefer immediate facts.  Their main strength comes in setting clear, near term objectives.

Summary

The key to influencing people as a communicator appears to be in presenting an argument in terms that other types of thinkers from the kind you are can relate to. This means understanding thinking styles and recognizing that everyone has her own style or combination of styles and making adjustments to fit that.  Understanding what the other person is looking for and how they are viewing something will go a long ways towards helping any individual get the point across.

Using Your Strengths

Every thinking style has its strengths and its weaknesses.  The first step in using your strengths is understanding and accepting them.  Stop thinking that you are different or think differently.  Everyone is “different” and thinks “differently.” 

If your primary thinking style is that of the Synthesist then you are probably someone who enjoys conflict, or being asked to come up with solutions to the “unsolvable” problem.  You have a tendency to look at a problem from many different perspectives and can usually come up with some pretty creative solutions.

If you are an Idealist then your strengths lie in setting goals and in a “coaching” style of leadership.  As a leader you are a “nurturer” as opposed to a “director.”  Your leadership style tends to relieve stress rather than cause it.  You work better in a more supportive and participatory style rather than in a highly structured, hierarchical organization.

The Pragmatist, like the Synthesist, is a very resourceful and creative individual.  You are problem solvers and creators of solutions.  Your solutions do tend to be a bit riskier than those of the Synthesist but they are more innovative and have a better payoff.

Analysts are specialist troubleshooters and thrive on detail. You deal best with methodologies and facts.  You will do the best job possible with a task that requires a well thought out process and stepwise completion.

The Realist is someone who can provide a practical solution to a problem quickly.  You will call a spade a spade and not mince words. You will have a very good grasp of a situation and react accordingly.

Extending and Augmenting your Thinking Strategies

Once you understand about thinking styles and the fact that all people think in a variety of different ways and combinations of ways, then you can take steps to improve the way you communicate.  The text, The Art of Thinking, suggests a number of exercises which can be done in order to improve your ability to think with a different style.  The more you can adjust your thinking to adapt to different styles the better off you will be in dealing with different people and situations.

The following suggestions for augmenting thinking styles are intended to be done by people who are not of that primary style and are intended to give you a better insight into that thinking style.

If you want to improve your Synthesist skills, practice listening for conflict and disagreement. Become a good listener and try to listen for what is not being said.  Try and determine the underlying stress, tension and emotion in a conversation.  Try and find relationships between things that have no apparent connection.  Take a more holistic viewpoint.  Develop a tolerance for eccentricity by taking part of deliberately viewing activities that you would normally think are “not your style.”

To improve your Idealist skills try taking a more holistic approach to things.  Think more about the whole then the parts.  Try and make some long range plans for yourself and think about the future.  What will things be like 5, 10 or even 100 years in the future?  Look for what goals and values are being represented in other things.  Write a personal “mission statement” and talk to others about what their long range goals and values are.

In order to improve your Pragmatist skills practice thinking incrementally.  Experiment with an “off the wall” idea and try being a bit more playful with ideas and plans.  Think more about “marketing” in order to “sell” your ideas.  Think about how you can communicate your ideas and plans in such a way that they will appear more attractive to the listener.

Analyst skills are improved, oddly enough, through analysis.  Study statistics if possible.  Learn to draw flowcharts and think in terms of cause and effect; how one thing flows from another. Pay greater attention to detail by proofreading everything you write and double checking calculations even though it’s tedious.  Deliberately set yourself to a task, such as investigating buying a new car, and begin to gather data.  You may normally make a purchase of that sort instinctively but this time do it analytically. 

In order to start improving your Realist skills, start focusing on concrete results.  Examine what is required in order to complete a project.  Start to plan more and look at resources.  Learn to be more precise in what you say and write.  Paraphrase more.  Try to accurately express your thoughts using fewer and fewer words.  Use short declarative sentences whenever possible.



Bibliography

This entire paper is based on a lecture given by Dr. Brian Woodward at the University of Calgary on Dec. 1st, 1997 and the following text, Harrision, A.F. and Bramson, R.M., The Art of Thinking, Berkeley Book, New York, 1984.



SACRED IMAGES

WATER AND THE SACRED

Water is a primordial element which underlays creation myths and stories around the world. The Egyptian Heliopolitan creation story recounts that the sun-god Atum (Re) reposed in the primordial ocean (Nun). In Assyro-Babylonian mythology, first the gods and subsequently all beings arose from the fusion of salt water (Tiamat) and sweet water (Apsu). The holy books of the Hindus explain that all the inhabitants of the earth emerged from the primordial sea. At the beginning of the Judeo-Christian story of creation, the spirit of God is described as stirring above the waters, and a few lines later, God creates a firmament in the midst of the waters to divide the waters (Genesis 1:1-6). In the Koran are the words We have created every living thing from water.

Water divinities of various kinds appear in the mythologies of many cultures. And not surprisingly, the world abounds in sacred springs, rivers, and lakes. Even within the Judeo-Christian tradition, which generally avoids the veneration of the various phenomena of Nature, there are numerous examples of sacred springs or wells, and rivers. In most cases, the spring or river has acquired sacredness through connection with a significant or miraculous event. The water of the River Jordan is sacred because Jesus Christ was baptized in it by Saint John the Baptist. The spring at Lourdes is sacred because of its healing properties in connection with the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette. In some cases, such as the holy well at Chartres, or the Chalice Well at Glastonbury were probably already sacred in pagan times.

While sacred in their own right, sacred springs also draw attention to the sacredness of water itself, reminding the Christian, for example, that water is a symbol of grace (and as such is used for baptism). Water is also one of the four elements possessing fundamental characteristics. In the Canticle of the Sun, St. Francis of Assisi praises God for water: Praised be Thou, O Lord, for sister water, who is very useful, humble, precious, and chaste. In many cultures, water appears as a reflection or an image of the soul. In Japan, water prefigures the purity and pliant simplicity of life. It can be both calm and animated, and the Japanese may contemplate the unruffled surface of a temple pond or make pilgrimages to waterfalls. The lotus-stream of the Buddha or Boddhisattva rises up from the waters of the soul, in the same way the spirit, illumined by knowledge, frees itself from passive existence.

In India, the sacred River Ganges embodies for Hindus the water of life. Bathing in the Ganges frees the bather from sin, the outward purification serving as symbolic support of inward purification. The source of the Ganges lies in the Himalayas, the mountains of the Gods, and descends to the plains of India as if from Heaven.

The identification of the sources of rivers, streams, springs, and wells as sacred is very ancient. Springs and wells were perceived as the dwelling place of supernatural beings, and stories and legends grew up around them. Often it was claimed that the waters healed the injured or cured the sick with the result that well or stream came to be regarded as a sacred shrine. The Roman philosopher Seneca declared that Where a spring rises or a water flows there ought we to build altars and offer sacrifices. This was frequently undertaken.

In some cases wells or streams were oracular. Pausanias (VII, 21. 11) [see BIBLIOGRAPHY] reports that a sacred stream in front of the sanctuary of Demeter at Patras served as an infallible mode of divination using a mirror. Wells and springs inhabited by spirits with the gift of prophecy were places of pilgrimage. The Celts venerated natural springs of water for their sacred and medicinal value and many examples of holy wells are known, many of them were later Christianized through re-dedication to a saint. This practice of venerating sacred wells continued into the Christian era in the West, though they were now referred to as wishing wells.

Springs and wells also took the form of sacred fountains which were claimed to be the Fountain of Youth, or the Fountain of Immortality, or the Well of Knowledge. A Fountain of Youth was believed to exist in the newly-discovered Americas, and the Spanish conquistador Ponce de Léon set out in 1513 on an expedition to find it in Florida. In China, the water of the fountain at Pon Lai was believed to confer a thousand lives on those who drink it, according to Wang Chia, writing in the Chin Dynasty (265-420 CE), and a similar reputation was attached to the springs of Mount Lao Shan.

Wells and springs were often associated with a god or goddess and the sacred water dispensed there could ensure life, health, and abundance. The Babylonian moon goddess, Ishtar, was associated with sacred springs, and her temples were often situated in natural grottoes from which springs emanated. Sacred springs were enshrined by the Ancient Greeks who erected artificial basins and placed icons of the deity or deities nearby. Goddesses and nymphs were connected with certain rivers, springs, and wells by the Celts and Romans. Often the river was named after the goddess, such as the Shannon River, after Sinann,and the Boyne, after Boann, in Ireland, and the Seine, after Sequana, in Gaul (France). In 1963, at the Gallo-Roman Fontes Sequanae sanctuary at the source of the Seine, 200 wooden figures were excavated carved from the heart wood of oak to represent all or part of the human body (heads, limbs, trunks; with internal organs carved in relief on wooden plaques). These ex votos indicate that the goddess of the sacred spring was believed capable of curing a whole range of infirmities.

A special sacred significance was attached to springs and wells whose waters could heal. In the New Testament, St. John (5:2) describes the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, surrounded by five covered colonnades, where a great number of disabled people used to lie -- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed waiting to be the first to enter the pool when the water is stirred. When in the mid-19th century soon after Bernadette’s vision of the Virgin Mary, the water issuing from the grotto at Lourdes began to bring about cures in people, the spring was designated a place of miracles.

From these underground sources also bubbled forth mineral water which could be imbibed or bathed in to effect cures. Later, these springs became baths and spas. The hot (120 degree Fahrenheit / 46.5 degrees Celsius) mineral springs at Bath in England were already being used 7000 years ago. The Celts subsequently established a shrine there dedicated to Sulis, and later the Romans built on the same spot a temple to Sulis Minerva (and renamed the town Aquae Sulis).

The Romans also developed other mineral springs. In Germany the waters at Aquae Aureliae became the famous spa of Baden-Baden (bath bath). In 218 CE, after defeating the Romans, Hannibal and his armies stopped to imbibe the waters at Perrier in the south of France. The water at Evians-les-Bains, on the southern side of Lake Geneva, was discovered in ancient times; in 363 CE, the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Jovianus stopped there on his way to Germany. The natural spring waters at Evians-les-Bains are marketed today as Evian. The waters at San Pellegrino in Lombardy in northern Italy have been known since Roman times. Rediscovered in the 12th century, one of the famous pilgrims (pellegrino means pilgrim) who came to take the waters there was Leonardo da Vinci. The spa was established there in 1848, and bottling of the water begun in 1899.

FROM BLOG
AGE OF REASON


“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics. You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded. Because the elements, the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars. And the only way they could get into your body is if the stars were kind enough to explode. So forget Jesus. The stars died so you could be here today.”
from ESPL: Dances of the Planets

The planets in the heavens move in exquisite orbital patterns, dancing to the Music of the Cosmos.  There is more mathematical and geometric harmony than we realize.   The idea for this article is from a book Larry Pesavento shared with me.  The book, ‘A Little Book of Coincidence’ by John Martineau, illustrates the orbital patterns and several of their geometrical relationships.  .

Take the orbits of any two planets and draw a line between the two planet positions every few days.  Because the inner planet orbits faster than the outer planet, interesting patterns evolve.  Each planetary pairing has its own unique dance rhythm.  For example, the Earth-Venus dance returns to the original starting position after eight Earth years.  Eight Earth years equals thirteen Venus years.  Note that 8 and 13 are members of the Fibonacci number series.

    Earth:     8 years * 365.256 days/year  =  2,922.05 days                  
    Venus:  13 years * 224.701 days/year  =  2,921.11 days (ie. 99.9%)

Watching the Earth-Venus dance for eight years creates this beautiful five-petal flower with the Sun at the center.  (5 is another Fibonacci number.)


STONES AND THE SACRED


Stones of various kinds and sizes have been invested with sacredness from the earliest times. The worship of stones can be found in most ancient cultures, while sacred stones can be found in most of the world’s religions.

According to Pausanias (VII, 24. 4) [see BIBLIOGRAPHY], In olden times all the Greeks worshipped unwrought stones instead of images and describes thirty square stones near a spring sacred to Hermes [cf. Water and the Sacred] ar Pharae in Greece.

Beginning as early as 5000 BCE, large stones (megaliths - Greek mega, great, and lithos, stone), either unwrought or roughly worked were erected across prehistoric Europe to stand in lines or in circles (such as at Stonehenge in England), or otherwise arranged in conjunction with earthworks usually identified as burial mounds (such as at Newgrange in Ireland). Little is known the purpose or meaning of these megalithic constructions, but it is universally agreed that they mark or embellish a sacred place in the landscape.

Examples of megalithism can also found in countries around the world, such as the Beforo monument near Bouar in the Central African Republic, the Tatetsuki stone circles standing the summit of a tumulus at Okayama in Japan, and the moai statues on ceremonial platforms on Easter Island [see Jean-Pierre Mohen in the BIBLIOGRAPHY].

The moving and arranging of massive stones into a building or some other configuration in a sacred context also characterizes many early cultures around the globe, from the Inca in South America, to the Egyptians and Mycenaeans.

Smaller individual stones can also become invested with the sacred. The Stone of Scone, also known as the Coronation Stone or the Stone of Destiny, until very recently rested on a shelf beneath the seat of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey in London (it has now been returned to Scotland [see The Stone of Destiny]. It is said that the stone could identify a rightful ruler of the country by emitting a loud cry. Since the 13th century, every British king or queen (except for the first Mary) has been crowned monarch while seated in this chair over this stone. The stone had been brought to London by order of King Edward I from Scotland in 1297. In Scotland the stone had been kept at Scone Palace in Perthshire where 34 successive Scottish kings had been crowned while seated upon it. According to tradition, the stone had been brought to Scotland from Ireland where, up to that time the newly crowned kings of Ireland had been crowned upon it on the Hill of Tara. Legend further explains that the stone had come to Ireland from Judah in the 4th century BCE when the daughter of the last king of Judah married into the Irish royal family. Previously, the stone had been kept in the Temple of Jerusalem (cf Dome of the Rock) when the kings of Judah had been crowned upon it. Traditionally, the stone is believed to be that which Jacob used as a pillow when he had his dream of angels at Bethel.

Another example of a holy stone is the very sacred Black Stone (reddish black, with some red and yellow particles ) inside the holy shrine of the Ka’ba [1. Ka’ba] at Mecca. It is thought that the Black Stone, now in pieces (three large parts, with smaller fragments which are tied together with a silver band), may be a meteor, or a piece of lava, or a piece of basalt. Its original diameter is estimated to have been 30 cm. Besides the Black Stone, built into the western corner of the Ka’ba is less sacred Stone of Good Fortune.

Stones and rocks in Japan were initially seen as symbols of mononoke (supernatural forces which permeate matter and space). Later, an abstract, undifferentiated mononoke was replaced by more definite animistic and space). Later, an abstract, undifferentiated mononoke was replaced by more definite animistic deities which resided in the stones and rocks. These rock abodes are called iwakura. All over the precinct of the Shrine at Ise are rocks and stones which are venerated as the abodes of deities, such as the subsidiary shrine at the Naiku called Takimatsuri-no-kami. Elsewhere in Japan are many stones and stone arrangements representing the male and female principle, such as the stone circle at Oyu in Akita Prefecture in Northeastern Japan. The emotional attachment to natural stones, originally religion-inspired, has persisted in Japan and is manifest today in the creation of richly symbolic and spiritual stone gardens.


THE SACRED CAVE
The CAVE is a cavity inside the earth which may be either natural or artificial in origin. Natural caves come into existence by the action of water or tectonic displacement. Both natural and artificial caves have served humankind in various capacities since time immemorial.

Caves are ambiguous spaces, offering both protection and shelter but can also trap and imprison. Because of its location within the earth, which many cultures have identified as female, the cave has been identified as the womb of Mother Earth, and associated with birth and regeneration. Although sacredness may have been invested in many other natural forms and objects (such as trees, mountains, etc.) during the prehistoric period, the earliest known sacred places are naturally-formed caves, such as that at Lascaux in France. In various cultures, caves have been location for the celebration of diverse cults and mysteries, and this was most likely the case at Lascaux.

Natural caves have long been a focus of veneration and appear frequently in both mythological and religious stories. The Greek god Zeus was born in a cave on Mount Ida (or Mount Dikte) on the Island of Crete. When excavated in this century, both caves were filled with votive offerings. Sacred caves are found throughout Greece, such as the Corycian Cave at Delphi sacred to the nymph Corycia and Pan [see Pausanias, BIBLIOGRAPHY]. Rites associated with the Phrygian Mother Goddess Cybele took place in caves.

A sacred cave may also contain a sacred spring (cf. Water and the Sacred) which may possess special healing or divinatory properties (cf. Lourdes).

Famous sacred caves are found in India, at Ajanta, Ellora, and Elephanta which have been embellished with carvings and frescoes [see 1. The Caves of Ajanta and Ellora, 2. Ajanta and Ellora, in German, 3. Elephanta, 4. Ajanta, 5. Ellora].

Besides naturally occurring caves, artificial caves were dug into mountains (cf. Mountains and the Sacred or cliffs (cf. Abu Simbel). Often the mountain itself was also artificial. The pyramids in Egypt were man-made sacred mountains inside of which were created artificial caves (cf. Giza, Egypt). It may be argued that a number of prehistoric megalithic ‘burial’ mounds, such as Newgrange in Ireland were built to ‘house’ an artificial cave. Conceived along the same lines are Myceneaen tholos tombs and Etruscan tumuli.

The Neoplatonist Porphyry (234-305 CE) explains that before there were temples, religious rites took place in caves. In this sense, it may be argued that temples in ancient Greece and Rome were in some respects man-made substitutes for the cave. It can be pointed out that the cella or naos of a classical temple was not provided with windows, so that the interior space was dark and cave-like (cf. the Athenian Acropolis). One set of doors provided the only access and the only source of natural light. The doors would have been opened on religious occasions, and perhaps at times when the location and angle of the sun (and because the temple was so oriented in the first place) permitted sunlight to penetrate directly into the otherwise dark interior space (such as occurs at Abu Simbel and Newgrange).

A cave-like environment is also experienced in Christian Romanesque churches; their dark, gloomy ‘Mediterranean’ interiors contrasting with the impression of a light-filled forest grove (cf. Trees and the Sacred) which characterizes North European Gothic architecture (cf Chartres).


MOUNTAINS AND THE SACRED


Mountains loom large in any landscape and have long been invested with sacredness by many peoples around the world. They carry a rich symbolism. The vertical axis of the mountain drawn from its peak down to its base links it with the world-axis, and, as in the case of the Cosmic Tree (cf. Trees and the Sacred), is identified as the centre of the world. This belief is attached, for example, to Mount Tabor of the Israelites and Mount Meru of the Hindus.

Besides natural mountains being invested with the sacred, there are numerous examples of mountains being built, such as the Mesopotamia ziggurats, the pyramids in Egypt [cf. Giza Plateau, Egypt], the pre-Columbian teocallis, and the temple-mountain of Borobudur. In most cases, the tops of real and artificial mountains are the locations for sanctuaries, shrines, or altars.

In Ancient Greece the pre-eminent god of the mountain was Zeus for whom there existed nearly one hundred mountain cults. Zeus, who was born and brought up on a mountain (he was allegedly born in a cave [cf. The Sacred Cave] on Mount Ida on Crete), and who ruled supreme on Mount Olympus, was a god of rain and lightning (to Zeus as a god of rain is dedicated the sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios on Hymettos). Mountains figure a great deal in Greek mythology -- the Muses occupy on Mount Helikon, Apollo is associated with Parnassos [cf. Delphi], and Athena with the Athenian Acropolis.

In Japan, Mount Fuji (Fujiyama) is revered by Shintoists as sacred to the goddess Sengen-Sama, whose shrine is found at the summit. Named after the Buddhist fire goddess Fuchi, the mountain is believed to be the gateway to another world. The mountain was originally sacred to the Ainu, the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan.

In China there are nine sacred mountains, 5 Taoist and 4 Buddhist; all are sites of pilgrimage. According to Toaist belief, mountains are a medium of communication through which people communicate with the immortals and the primeval powers of the earth. Chinese sacred mountains are believed to be especially powerful sites of telluric power, a sacred force or energy known as the dragon current which runs through the earth itself. It is studied by practitioners of feng shui (also called geomancy). The dragon current is of two kinds: the yin (or female) and yang (male). Mountains are regarded as embodying primarily the yang force.

In Tibet, Mount Kailas, one of the tallest peaks in the Himalayas, near the source of the Ganges, is venerated by, and is a pilgrimage site for, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Buddhists regard the mountain as a mandala.


TREES AND THE SACRED

From the earliest times, trees have been the focus of religious life for many peoples around the world. As the largest plant on earth, the tree has been a major source of stimulation to the mythic imagination. Trees have been invested in all cultures with a dignity unique to their own nature, and tree cults, in which a single tree or a grove of trees is worshipped, have flourished at different times almost everywhere. Even today there are sacred woods in India and Japan, just as there were in pre-Christian Europe. An elaborate mythology of trees exists across a broad range of ancient cultures.

There is little evidence in the archaeological record of tree worship in the prehistoric world, though the existence of totems carved from wood that may have held a sacred significance is suggested by the pole topped with a bird’s body and head which appears next to the bird-headed, ithyphallic male figure in the so-called well scene at Lascaux.

In the early historical period, however, there is considerable evidence that trees held a special significance in the cultures of the ancient world. In Ancient Egypt, several types of trees appear in Egyptian mythology and art, although the hieroglyph written to signify tree appears to represent the sycamore (nehet) in particular. The sycamore carried special mythical significance. According to the Book of Dead, twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate of heaven from which the sun god Re emerged each morning. The sycamore was also regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis, and especially of Hathor, who was given the epithet Lady of the Sycamore. Sycamores were often planted near tombs, and burial in coffins made of sycamore wood returned the dead person to the womb of the mother tree goddess.

The ished, which may be identified as the Persea, a fruit-bearing deciduous tree (and which, incidentally, Pausanias [ V, 14. 4 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY] describes as a tree that loves no water but the water of the Nile) had a solar significance. Another tree, the willow (tcheret) was sacred to Osiris; it was the willow which sheltered his body after he was killed. Many towns in Egypt with tombs in which a part of the dismembered Osiris was believed to be buried had groves of willows associated with them.

The terraces of the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-bahari (c. 1480 BCE) were planted with myrrh trees [1. the Temple of Hatshepsut]. While the inner sanctuary is located inside the cliff [cf. The Sacred Cave], the temple’s outer sanctuary of terraced gardens recreated the Paradise of Amon, an earthly palace for the Sun-god in imitation of the myrrh terraces of Punt, which was the legendary homeland of the gods. A special expedition to Punt -- probably at the southern end of the Red Sea -- was organized by Hatshepsut’s architect and councillor, Senmut, to get the myrrh trees. Besides the terraced gardens of myrrh trees, two sacred Persea trees stood before the now vanished portal in the wall of the entrance forecourt, while palm trees were planted inside the first court [see Earl Baldwin Smith in the BIBLIOGRAPHY].

In perhaps a similar fashion, it is believed the ramped terraces of the Mesopotamian ziggurats [cf. The Sacred Mountain] were also planted with trees, and sacred trees were the principal feature of the so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.

In the desert environments of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia trees, and especially fruit trees, assumed a special importance. The head dress worn by one of the women buried in the tomb of Queen Pu’abi at the Sumerian site of Ur (c. 2500 BCE) includes in the elaborate decoration clusters of gold pomegranates, three fruits hanging together shielded by their leaves, together with the branches of some other tree with golden stems and fruit or pods of gold and carnelian. [see P. R. S. Moorey in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]

In Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of eternity. For later cultures, the palm branch also served as an emblem of fecundity and victory. For Christians, the palm branch is a symbol of Christ’s victory over death. It also signified immortality and divine blessings and is often seen as an attribute of Christian martyrs. It also denotes particular Christian saints such Paul the Hermit and Christopher, as well as the Archangel Michael. The palm tree is also a symbol of the garden of paradise.

Trees also figure prominently in the culture and mythology of Ancient Greece. Pausanias [see BIBLIOGRAPHY] describes the sacred groves of Aesculapius at Epidaurus (II, 27. 1), of Argus in Laconia (III, 4. 1), and a sacred grove of plane-trees at Lerna (II, 38, 1, 2, 8). In the land of Colophon in Ionia was a grove of ash-trees sacred to Apollo (VII, 5. 10), and a sacred grove at Lycosura included an olive-tree and an evergreen oak growing from the same root (VIII, 37. 10). Perhaps the most famous grove, of plane-trees, was that sacred to Zeus, known as the Altis, at Olympia (V, 27. 1, 11).

The oak tree was also sacred to Zeus, especially the tree at the sanctuary of Zeus in Dodona which also served as an oracle; it would seem the rustling of the leaves was regarded as the voice of Zeus and the sounds interpreted by priestesses. The oak was also sacred to Pan [see Pausanias BIBLIOGRAPHY], while the myrtle-tree was sacred to Aphrodite. In the Pandrosium near the temple known as the Erechtheum (421-405 BCE) on the Athenian Acropolis, besides many other signs and remains of Athens’ mythical past -- a salt-water well [cf. Water and the Sacred] and a mark in the shape of Poseidon’s trident in a rock -- could also be seen a living olive tree sacred to the goddess Athena.

In several Greek myths, women and men are frequently transformed into trees: Atys into a pine tree, Smilax into a yew, and Daphne into the laurel, which was sacred to Apollo.

In numerous cases the spirit of trees is personified, usually in female form. In Ancient Greece, the Alseids were nymphs associated with groves (alsos, grove), while the Dryads were forest nymphs who guarded the trees. Sometimes armed with an axe, Dryads would punish anyone harming the trees. Crowned with oak-leaves, they would dance around the sacred oaks. The Hamadryads were even more closely associated with trees, forming an integral part of them. In India, tree nymphs appear in the form of the voluptuous Vrikshaka.

In Ancient Rome, a fig-tree sacred to Romulus grew near the Forum, and a sacred cornel-tree grew of the slope of the Palatine Hill. Sacred groves were also found in the city of Rome. In Book 8 of The Aeneid, Virgil relates that:

    Next after this he shows the spacious grove
    Which fiery Romulus the Refuge named,
    And ‘neath its cool cliff called the Lupercal
    By Arcad custom of Lycaean Pan,
    Points too to sacred Argiletum’s grove

    [and on the Capitoline Hill...]
    The place with its dread sanctity was wont
    To awe the frightened rustics; even then
    They trembled at its wood and at its rock
    This grove, said he, this hill with leafy crest
    A god inhabits -- who that god may be,
    Is all in doubt; Arcadians believe
    That they themselves Jove oftentimes have seen...

According to the Roman authors Lucan and Pomponius Mela, the Celts of Gaul worshipped in groves of trees, a practice which Tacitus and Dio Cassius say was also found among the Celts in Britain. The Romans used the Celtic word nemeton for these sacred groves. A sacred oak grove in Galatia (Asia Minor), for example, was called Drunemeton (Strabo, Geographica, XII, 5, 1). The word was also incorporated into many of the names of towns and forts, such as Vernemeton near Leicester in England.

The names of certain Celtic tribes in Gaul reflect the veneration of trees, such as Euburones (the Yew tribe), and the Lemovices (the people of the elm). A tree trunk or a whole tree was frequently included among the votive offerings placed in ritual pits or shafts dug into the ground. Others shafts had a wooden pole placed at the bottom. The Celts believed trees to be sources of sacred wisdom, and the hazel in particular was associated with wisdom by the Druids.

Perhaps not surprisingly, trees appear at the foundations of many of the world’s religions. Because of their relative rarity in the Near East, trees are regarded in the Bible as something almost sacred and are used to symbolize longevity, strength, and pride. Elements of pagan tree cults and worship have survived into Judeo-Christian theology. In Genesis, two trees -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- grow at the centre of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Scriptural and apocryphal traditions regarding the Tree of Life later merge in Christianity with the cult of the cross [cf. Sacred Shapes and Symbols] to produce the Tree of the Cross. The fantastic Story of the True Cross identifies the wood used for the cross in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as being ultimately from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Other stories claim that Adam was buried at Jerusalem and three trees grew out of his mouth to mark the centre of the earth [see F. Kampers in the BIBLIOGRAPHY].

In the Old Testament, trees are also associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, sought to suppress and replace. The cult Asherah and her consort Baal was evidently celebrated in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains [cf. The Sacred Mountain], where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (or the Asherahs; in the past Asherah has also been translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were evidently located. In Deuteronomy 12:2, the Israelites are directed to “to destroy all the places, wherein the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire.”

In Ancient Assyria, contemporary with the ziggurats, trees, fruit trees especially, were associated with fertility. The significance of trees in Ancient Assyria is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil.

Some trees become sacred through what may have occurred in their proximity. It was under a pipal tree that Siddhartha Gautama (born 566 BCE) meditated until he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) and became the Buddha. The Bodhi or Bo (Enlightenment) tree is now the centre of a major Buddhist sacred shrine known as Bodh Gaya.

For the ancient Celts, the Yew tree was a symbol of immortality, and holy trees elsewhere functioned as symbols of renewal [see Brosse in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. A tree scarred by lightning was identified as a tree of life, and, according to Pliny [see BIBLIOGRAPHY] the Celtic Druids believed that mistletoe grew in places which had been struck by lightning. The Druids performed rituals and ceremonies in groves of sacred oak trees, and believed that the interior of the oak was the abode of the dead. In India, it is believed that the Brahma Daitya, the ghosts of brahmans, live in the fig trees, the pipal (ficus religiosa), or the banyan (ficus indica), awaiting liberation or reincarnarnation. Among the eight or so species of tree considered sacred in India, these two varieties of fig are the most highly venerated.

The identification of sacred trees as symbols of renewal is widespread. In China, the Tree of Life, the Kien-Luen, grows on the slopes of Kuen-Luen, while the Moslem Lote tree marks the boundary between the human and the divine. From the four boughs of the Buddhist Tree of Wisdom flow the rivers of life. The great ash tree Yggdrasil of Nordic myth connects with its roots and boughs the underworld and heaven.

In Japan, trees such as the cryptomeria are venerated at Shinto shrines. Especially sacred is the sakaki, a branch from which stuck upright in the ground is represented by the shin-no-mihashira, or sacred central post, over and around which the wooden Shrines at Ise are built. The shin-no-mihashira is both the sakaki branch and the pillar confirmed in the nethermost ground, like the heaven-tree in many Japanese legends.

Sacred forests still exist in India and in Bali, Indonesia. The holy forests in Bali are annexed to temples that may or may not be enclosed in it, such as the Holy Forest at Sangeh [see Vannucci in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. The general feeling of respect and veneration for trees in India has produced a great variety of tree myths and traditions.

One of the Five Trees in Indra’s paradise (svarga-loka), which is located at the centre of the earth, is the mythic abundance-granting kalpa-vriksha. An image of the kalpa-vriksha carved in sandstone in Besnagar in Central India may originally have stood as an emblem capital on top of a monolithic pillar or stambha, possibly one of the 36 or so pillars erected by the Buddhist emperor Asoka (268-232 BCE). The pillars has been interpreted as replicas of the axis mundi [see John Irwin in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. The stone kalpa-vriksha capping the pillar may therefore be identified as the Cosmic Tree or world-tree, an emblematic variation of the symbolism of the stambha as axis mundi [see Jan Pieper in the BIBLIOGRAPHY].

Single pillars made of tree trunks called Irmensul (‘giant column’) representing the ‘tree of the universe’ were set up on hilltops by some German tribes. A highly venerated Irmensul in what is now Westphalia was cut down by the Christianizing Charlemagne in 772.

With the encouragement of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th century CE, a common practice among proselytizing Christians was to graft Christian theology onto pre-existing pagan rites and sacred places [see Flint in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. In the case of pagan tree cults, this may initially involve the destruction of the sacred grove or the cutting down of a sacred tree. However, it would appear that frequently a church would be built on the same site, thereby co-opting it in the service of Christian conversion. The process effectively Christianized the sacred powers or energies of the original site. Examples of this include the medieval Gothic cathedral of Chartres, which was built on a site which was once sacred to the Celtic Druids (acorns, oak twigs, and tree idols in the scultural decorations on the South Portal of the cathedral may allude to the original Druidic oak grove: [see Anderson in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]). And before the Druids, during the Neolithic period, the same site may have been a sacred burial mound.

Trees and Architecture

The Egyptian temple was conceived essentially as a stone model of the creation landscape. The orders of columns, however, were designed not as direct representations of plant life (the palm, lotus, and papyrus bundle), but as stone reproductions of idealized landscape features.

The palmiform column, for example, which appears already fully developed by the 5th Dynasty (2465 - 2323 BCE) and used constantly for the next 2000 years, shows the palm tree as a circular column as if it were the trunk of a palm tree with the topmost section ornamented with palm leaves shown as if tied with a thong around the column.

A famous passage in Vitruvius [see Vitruvius in the BIBLIOGRAPHY] describes the origin of columns in Greek and Roman architecture (cf. the temples on the Athenian Acropolis) as derived from tree trunks, a not entirely fanciful explanation given both the tree-like tapering of the classical column (even the flutes may be stylized representations of ribbed tree bark), and the belief that stone temples in ancient Greece were based upon earlier types made of wood. It is known for a fact that the Temple of Hera at Olympia originally had columns of oak, two of which (the others having having been replaced by stone columns as they wore out) were still in place when Pausanias visited Olympia in the 2nd century CE [Pausanias, V, 16. 1 - see BIBLIOGRAPHY].

A similar architectural tradition identifies the origin of Gothic pointed arches and vaults in the interlacing of tree branches, and likens the view down the nave of a Gothic cathedral to a path through a wood of tall overarching trees. The suggestion can be made that the arches and vaulting of Chartres Cathedral may deliberately resemble the path to the sacred grove that stood on the original site, with the crossing of the church symbolizing, or perhaps actually located at, the central clearing in the grove where Druidic rituals formerly took place.