Sacred trees are easy to dismiss as a simplistic, weird phenomenon, but this book argues that in fact they prompted soph
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English Pages 342 [348] Year 2016
Table of contents :
Cover
Half-title
Series information
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of contents
List of figures
Acknowledgements
1 Rooting in
What is a sacred tree?
Thinking theologically through trees
Roman religion: sources and methodology
A plan for growth
2 A brief history of tree thinking
Tree thinking: getting back to roots
Arboreal ardour
Arboreal analysis
Tree thinking: propagating the tradition
Tree thinking today
3 How arboreal matter matters
Tree worship
Sacred wood
Memorial matter: the many faces of the ficus Ruminalis
The secret history of the ficus Ruminalis
The sacrality of the ficus Ruminalis
4 Arboriculture and arboreal deaths
Approaching arboriculture
Piacular pruning in the Arval grove
Conceptualising crises
Conceptualising crises (again)
5 Confronting arboreal agency
Numina and nymphs
Arboreal portents
6 Imagining the gods
Gods and tree types
Arboreal epithets
Arboreal statues
Trees in cult space
7 Branching out
Appendix
Bibliography
Index