Motif
Animate tree with soul
animate_tree_with_soul
A motif of the External Soul and Life-Token family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
comparative
-
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) PREFACE. / J. G. FRAZER. / CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY.; lines 1607-1683 confidence: high
Trees are said to have souls; the Wanika treat destruction of a cocoa-nut tree as matricide, and Siamese monks avoid breaking branches because destroying things dispossesses souls.
The passage repeatedly states that trees and crops are thought to possess souls, feel pain, drink, marry, become pregnant, bleed, or embody the dead.
read in the book →