Rituals, ceremonies and customs related to sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

Dafni, Amots

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-3-28

Cited by 37 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…The incense has had a continuous religious significance throughout the history from the first civilization to the present day. It is used to purify and to please gods and as an offering to the Heaven [18]. In traditional beliefs, ritual plants are spiritual mediums to connect human beings with invisible force [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: a case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Geng

Ranjitkar

et al. 2017

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundConservation of biodiversity is primary important of today’s critically vulnerable environment. Efficient conservation can be possible only with the long-term participation and understanding of the communities. Ritual beliefs of the indigenous people are one of the important tools to understand the local communities and aid the nature conservation. In this paper, we documented contemporary ritual practices and ritual plant uses among the Naxi people and discussed the importance of traditional knowledge on ritual practice in the conservation of plants in the mountains presenting a case study of the Dongba culture.MethodsThis study was carried out from July in 2013 to July in 2014. To document and analyze the present state of the ritual plant used by the Naxi people we conducted an ethnobotanical survey. We interviewed local people including Dongba priests using the semi-structured questionnaire. During the field study, we participated in the local religious activities to witness the use of different plants in ritual activities of the Naxi people. We interviewed twenty-two key informants and eleven of them were male. All the specimens of documented species were collected and deposited at the herbarium of Kunming Institute of Botany.ResultsThe survey results revealed the Naxi people possessed sound knowledge of the traditional ritual plants and great diversity of plants used in many of Naxi rituals and festivals. From the survey, we documented 32 ritual plant species belonging to 24 genera of 17 families used in various ritual activities. The ritual plants were grouped into two categories, namely those burned as incense, and those used for decoration. The incense plants like Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata and Pistacia weinmanniifolia were probably promising natural aromatic resource. Plants of genus Quercus were the most frequently used species. The places for ritual activities were diverse, such as the incense burners inside and outside the house and sacred trees at the Baishuitai. Local people except the young generation had an abundant of traditional knowledge.ConclusionsOur study shows the live ritual activities and the beliefs of the residents are keeping the plant diversity and the entire forest preserved as sacred mountains. Our study emphasizes traditional belief and an alternative view of conservation that is not led mainly by governmental policies, as local practices and ritual plants uses play as constant reminders to the Naxi on nature conservation. However, further research is recommended for in-depth understanding the role of traditional belief in biodiversity conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: a case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Geng

Ranjitkar

et al. 2017

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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show abstract

“…Various religious and supernatural beliefs and folklores help in the prevention of destruction of plants. There are several examples of trees worship traditionally in many parts of the world under all religious and beliefs (Sinha, 1979;Gupta, 1980;Sane and Ghate, 2006;Jha and Goel, 2006;Dafni, 2006Dafni, , 2007. Observation of various worship and rites are different from place to place and caste to caste.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Medico-religious plants used by the Hajong community of Assam, India

Sharma¹,

Pegu²,

Hazarika³

et al. 2012

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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“…5. Trees, spaces and spirituality: In many developing countries, there are cultural and religious beliefs around particular individual trees, species or places (Philpot, 2004;Ouinsavi et al, 2005;Dafni, 2007). They are revered and venerated in rural and urban settings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there no urban forestry in the developing world?

Shackleton¹

2012

Sci. Res. Essays

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Urban forestry and greening offer a multitude of benefits to the inhabitants of towns and cities. However, the nature and magnitude of these frequently depend upon the context. Yet, at first glance, the developing world context around urban forestry debates seems to be poorly represented in the international peer-reviewed literature. This is examined in this paper, followed by a brief outline of ten key research areas for urban forestry in the developing world. A survey of the peer-reviewed literature confirms that almost 80% of articles come from the developed world context. This correlates with the greater availability of research finance and personnel from developed regions. However, there are urban forestry questions and issues that require examination in the developing world because they cannot simply be transferred from knowledge gleaned from and tested in a developed world context. Ten of these are briefly outlined as a catalyst towards greater attention to urban forestry in the developing world and their contributions to global debates and models.

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Rituals, ceremonies and customs related to sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

Cited by 37 publications

References 88 publications

The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: a case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, Southwest China

The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: a case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Medico-religious plants used by the Hajong community of Assam, India

Is there no urban forestry in the developing world?

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