Aspects of tree veneration around the cult of John the Baptist in medieval Syria and Spain (10th–14th centuries CE). Issue 2 (3rd July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Duque, Adriano
• Is Part Of: Mediterranean historical review. Volume 37:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 133
• Page End: 149
• Publication Date: 2022-07-03
• Subjects: sacred trees -- tree veneration -- religious beliefs and practices -- Mediterranean -- Spain -- North Africa; Mediterranean Region -- History -- Periodicals; 909.09822
• DOI: 10.1080/09518967.2022.2115746
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0951-8967

Abstract

Abstract : The practice of tree veneration is often either dismissed as a superstitious "magical" rite or relegated to the realm of idiosyncratic belief. This article proposes a way of understanding tree veneration as a meaningful social practice. Taking the veneration of John the Baptist in Mandean, Christian, and Islamic religion from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries CE, the paper first gives a phenomenological analysis of the different rituals around Saint John's sacred trees. Then, guided by the legend of John the Baptist, it develops a phenomenology of tree substitution, showing that the act of prayer builds on and essentially modifies ordinary cases of shared veneration, and how rituals convey different significations and symbolic meanings.