The Palm tree: myth and omens
An article by Vincenzo Battista, on il Messaggero, Abruzzo edition of 15 march.
Battista traces the cultural history of the palm leaves - offered by the Greeks to game winners and warriors as a symbol of victory. Then changed into the tree of life for the Christians, a symbol of martyrdom, as the victory of faith, carried by Christ in his hands when entering Jerusalem. And the omens connected to the Palm Sunday in the peasants' folk traditions: if the day is clear, the harvest will be rich; if rainy, the summer will be dry and poor. The palm leaves of the previous year were to be burnt in the fireplace, crosses and candles were to be placed in the fields to help the rebirth of Nature.
Battista traces the cultural history of the palm leaves - offered by the Greeks to game winners and warriors as a symbol of victory. Then changed into the tree of life for the Christians, a symbol of martyrdom, as the victory of faith, carried by Christ in his hands when entering Jerusalem. And the omens connected to the Palm Sunday in the peasants' folk traditions: if the day is clear, the harvest will be rich; if rainy, the summer will be dry and poor. The palm leaves of the previous year were to be burnt in the fireplace, crosses and candles were to be placed in the fields to help the rebirth of Nature.
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