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Trees in mythology
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<p>Trees are significant in many of the world's <a href="/facts/Mythology/kG8UTfem">mythologies</a>, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages. Human beings, observing the growth and death of <a href="/facts/Tree/HVVn3srN">trees</a>, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death and rebirth. Evergreen trees, which largely stay green throughout these cycles, are sometimes considered symbols of the eternal, <a href="/facts/Immortality/nDAb6CKo">immortality</a> or <a href="/facts/Fertility/5S7Xull5">fertility</a>. The image of the <a href="/facts/Tree_of_life/RAwmonf0">Tree of life</a> or <a href="/facts/World_tree/AC9xEDhA">world tree</a> occurs in many mythologies. </p><p>Examples include the <a href="/facts/Banyan/q3qLlmQ6">banyan</a> and the sacred fig (<i><a href="/facts/Ficus_religiosa/NHhb4l26">Ficus religiosa</a></i>) in <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hinduism</a>, <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a> and <a href="/facts/Jainism/h0glxhjH">Jainism</a>, the <a href="/facts/Tree_of_the_knowledge_of_good_and_evil/fMqs2t1m">tree of the knowledge of good and evil</a> of <a href="/facts/Judaism/tjQ5Tgs6">Judaism</a> and <a href="/facts/Christianity/nKyJHlqq">Christianity</a>. In <a href="/facts/Folk_religion/JQCCczgY">folk religion</a> and <a href="/facts/Folklore/hcBN8qcd">folklore</a>, trees are often said to be the homes of <a href="/facts/Tree_spirit/90CNaDWt">tree spirits</a>. <a href="/facts/Sacred_trees_and_groves_in_Germanic_paganism_and_mythology/N5atpJrx">Germanic mythology</a> as well as <a href="/facts/Celtic_polytheism/FKgV8XEV">Celtic polytheism</a> both appear to have involved cultic practice in <a href="/facts/Sacred_grove/kLEvkPy2">sacred groves</a>, especially grove of <a href="/facts/Oak/1NJJzkzB">oak</a>. The term <i><a href="/facts/Druid/BVkmDmtJ">druid</a></i> itself possibly derives from the <a href="/facts/Celtic_languages/edRrGrMF">Celtic word</a> for oak. The <a href="/facts/Egyptian_Book_of_the_Dead/DWfrbKtG">Egyptian Book of the Dead</a> mentions <a href="/facts/Ficus_sycomorus/gbTelg9u">sycamores</a> as part of the scenery where the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose. </p><p>The presence of trees in myth sometimes occurs in connection to the concept of the <a href="/facts/Sacred_tree/gDNDXDvS">sacred tree</a> and the <a href="/facts/Sacred_grove/kLEvkPy2">sacred grove</a>. Trees are an attribute of the archetypical <i><a href="/facts/Locus_amoenus/JA2xXKBp">locus amoenus</a></i>. </p>