Faces in the Trees
Keywords:
Tree worshipAbstract
Consideration of tree worship was once central to theories of religion, which tended to view this practice as a primitive form of anthropomorphic animism that has no place in a civilized modern world. How might we regard tree worship once it is liberated from the cultural evolutionary views of the nineteenth century? Neem trees have long been associated with the goddess Shitala in Hindu religious culture. This essay examines the worship of individual neem trees in northern India, which in some cases involves clothing the tree and attaching a human-like facemask to it. Ethnographic evidence suggests that this remarkable form of anthropomorphic activity can be best understood as an intentional strategy for establishing more intimate relationships with the nonhuman world. Although it is not the explicit goal of most tree worshipers in India, this practice may serve as a possible resource for the preservation of trees.
References
Bekoff, Marc. 2002. Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart (New York: Oxford University Press).
Conrick, John. 2001. Neem: The Ultimate Herb (Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press; Indian reprint: Varanasi: Pilgrims Book House).
De Bernieres, Louis. 2005. Birds without Wings (New York: Vintage International).
Evernden, Neil. 1992. The Social Creation of Nature (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press).
Goodall, Jane. 1988. In the Shadow of Man (New York: Houghton Mifflin).
Guthrie, Stewart. 1993. Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press).
Hume, David. 1992 [1757]. The Natural History of Religion (New York: Macmillan).
Kennedy, John. 1992. The New Anthropomorphism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). doi:10.1017/CBO9780511623455.
McGregor, Ronald S. 2004 [1993]. The Oxford Hindi–English Dictionary, 15th Impression (New Delhi: Oxford University Press).
Malla, Bansi Lal. 2000. Trees in Indian Art, Mythology and Folklore (New Delhi: Aryan Books International).
Masson, Jeffery M., and Susan McCarthy. 1995. When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (New York: Delacorte Press).
Patnaik, Naveen. 1993. The Garden of Life: An Introduction to the Healing Plants of India (New York: Doubleday).
Philpot, J.H. 1897. The Sacred Tree or the Tree in Religion and Myth (London: Macmillan & Co.).
Tylor, Edward B. 1958 [1871]. Religion in Primitive Culture (New York: Harper & Brothers).
White, Jr., Lynn. 1967. ‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’, Science 155, no. 3767: 1203-7. doi:10.1126/science.155.3767.1203.
________. 1973. ‘Continuing the Conversation’, in Ian G. Barbour (ed.), Western Man and Environmental Ethics (Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley): 55-64.
