Holy Basil and Other Sacred Plants Quiz

Answer: oak and mistletoe

The English, or pedunculate, oak (Quercus robur) was sacred to many ancient European peoples, in particular those of Scandinavia (where it was associated with Thor, the god of thunder), Western Europe and the British Isles. In Book XVI of his "Natural History", a massive, encyclopedic work written in the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder describes a number of trees native to the various regions of the Roman Empire, commenting on their practical and cultural uses. The final chapters of the book are dedicated to two notable parasites of trees, the ivy and the mistletoe. The Gaulish ritual of the oak and mistletoe is described in the very last chapter of the book.

In spite of being the only mention of this religious rite, Pliny's description has left such an imprint on the imagination of later generations as to be frequently identified with Celtic religion as a whole. Pliny is also the only author to suggest that the name "druids" given to high-ranking Celtic priests may be etymologically related to the Greek word for the oak tree. In Pliny's account of the ritual, it is also stated that the growth of a mistletoe plant on an oak is such a rare occurrence that is viewed as a sign of the gods' favour. Conducted on the sixth day of the moon, the ceremony consists in a white-robed druid climbing the tree (as shown in the painting in the photo, by French artist Henri-Paul Motte) and cutting down the mistletoe with a golden sickle. Two white bulls are then sacrificed beneath the tree.

Reverence for nature is a major component of Druidry, a modern spiritual or religious movement inspired by the practices of Iron Age druids - which, however, were largely reconstructed in later eras due to the lack of written records.

Answer: Sukkot

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (corresponding to September-October in the Gregorian calendar), and lasts for seven days. One of three Pilgrimage Festivals (the other being Shavuot and Passover), it is referred to as a harvest festival in the book of Exodus. The festival's name comes from the Hebrew word "sukkah", denoting the temporary huts with thatched roofs in which farmers lived during the harvest.

On each of Sukkot's seven days, the faithful perform a ceremony in which four kinds of plants - collectively referred to as the Four Species ("arba'at ha-minim") - are waved in the four directions, plus up and down, while reciting a blessing. Branches of date palm ("lulav"), myrtle ("hadass") and willow ("aravah") are tied together in a bundle (as shown in the photo) and held in one hand, while a citron fruit ("etrog") is held in the other. This religious precept ("mitzvah") is laid out in the book of Leviticus (23:40), one of the five books of the Torah. A number of theories have been suggested to explain why these four plant species were chosen, as none of them are widespread in the Land of Israel, but rather occur in different parts of the land.

Answer: olive

Palm Sunday falls a week before Easter, commemorating Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and marking the beginning of Holy Week. Though the event is mentioned in each of the canonical Gospels, only the Gospel of John (12:12-13) specifies that the people of Jerusalem went out to meet Jesus with palm branches. The synoptic Gospels simply mention that they cut branches from trees and spread them and their cloaks on the ground. A symbol of victory in the Greco-Roman world, as well as one of the plants prescribed by the Book of Leviticus for the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the palm later became associated with Christian martyrs as a symbol of triumph over death.

In both Western and Eastern Christianity, palm fronds and branches of various trees are blessed and distributed to the faithful before or after the Sunday service. In Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, whose climate is too cold for palms to grow, willow branches are often used, while in Italy and other Mediterranean countries it is customary to use small olive branches. People often keep these blessed olive branches at home for a whole year. The ashes of the previous year's branches (olive or otherwise) are traditionally used on Ash Wednesday to sprinkle on the faithful's heads as a mark of repentance.

Answer: Vishnu

Ocimum tenuiflorum, known in the Indian subcontinent by the Sanskrit name of tulasi or tulsi (probably meaning "immeasurable"), is a species of basil native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Oceania. Though also used in cooking and as an insect repellent, this highly aromatic plant is cultivated in India for religious purposes and for its uses in the traditional Ayurveda medicine system. It is believed to have been used as a healing herb in the Indian subcontinent for over 5,000 years.

In particular, tulasi is held sacred by the followers of Vaishnavism, the Hindu tradition that worships Lord Vishnu as the supreme being. In fact, two of the varieties of tulasi commonly grown in India and Nepal are named after Rama and Krishna, the seventh and eighth avatars of Vishnu. The goddess Tulasi is regarded as an avatar of Lakshmi (Shri), Vishnu's spouse, the goddess of wealth and beauty. Not surprisingly, this apparently humble plant is grown in many Hindu household, where it is the centrepiece of a shrine called a Vrindavana (from Vrinda, another name for the goddess Tulasi), usually in a courtyard. The women of the household take care of the plant, make offerings of food, flowers and incense, and light candles or lamps near it.

Answer: fig

The genus Ficus comprises over 850 species, many of which are trees that grow to impressive sizes. The type species, the common fig (Ficus carica), is native to the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin, where it has had a major role in culture and religion for thousands of years. Fig trees are mentioned several times in both the Old and the New Testament: in the book of Genesis (3:7), Adam and Eve cover themselves with fig leaves when they become aware of their nakedness. Sura 95 of the Koran bears the title of "al-Tin" (Arabic for "the fig"), as it opens with an oath "by the fig and the olive".

However, the most significant member of the fig species from a religious point of view is the peepul, or bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa), also known as the sacred fig. Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment ("bodhi") after meditating under one of these large trees for seven weeks. Though bodhi trees can be found in many Buddhist shrines throughout Asia, the original one is located in present-day Bodh Gaya, in the Indian state of Bihar. This tree, shown in the photo, is part of the Mahabodhi temple complex, and is believed to be a descendant of the actual "tree of enlightenment". In Hinduism, the peepul is called "ashvattha", and has often been associated with the concept of the world tree.

The banyan (Ficus benghalensis), or strangler fig, is also significant in various Asian religious traditions. The national tree of India, it is also regarded as sacred in Hinduism, and temples are often built near these massive trees.

Answer: Shinto

Cryptomeria japonica, also known as Japanese cedar or Japanese redwood, is the only species in its genus. This large evergreen tree is endemic to the archipelago, though it is also widely cultivated in China. Prized for their durable, pleasantly scented wood, Cryptomeria trees are also very long-lived, and a number of trees estimated to be thousands of years old can be found in various parts of Japan. Many of these trees were planted around or near religious sites: a well-known example is the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō, a route lined with 13,000 sugi trees leading to the city's famed complex of temples and shrines. The photo shows a detail of of another famous tree, the Great Sugi of Kayano, one of four sacred trees planted on the grounds of the Sugawara Shinto shrine.

The Shinto religion originated in Japan around 300 BC. It is based on the veneration of a multitude of deities known as "kami", which include elements of the natural landscape such as mountains, bodies of water, and of course trees. Shinto shrines are often set within gardens, tree groves, or even forests - all places where kami are believed to reside. Trees or woods that are worshipped as repositories of kami are called by the collective name of "shinboku" (sacred trees). Besides sugi, other trees of note often planted in or around Shinto shrines are the hinoki (Japanese cypress) and the sakaki (Cleyera japonica, a flowering tree), both evergreens. The trees whose timber will be used to build a shrine are also treated as sacred.

Answer: peyote

Psychoactive substances used for religious or spiritual purposes are known as entheogens - a term that means "generating the divine within". This modern definition is regarded as more respectful than "hallucinogenic" or "psychedelic". Though many religions frown on the use of substances that can alter consciousness (including, in some cases, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine), entheogens are essential to most forms of shamanism and other indigenous religions. The fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) was regularly consumed by Siberian shamans to induce a trance-like state, while the highly poisonous jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) was used in the religious rituals of various cultures for its hallucinogenic properties. The association of cannabis with the Rastafari religion of Jamaica is well known: in addition, an edible cannabis preparation known as "bhang" has been consumed by Hindus for thousands of years.

Peyote (Lopophora williamsii) is a small, spineless cactus native to southern North America, which contains the powerful alkaloid mescaline, known for its psychoactive properties. Native American peoples have been using peyote for medicinal purposes, as well as an entheogen, for thousands of years. The Native American Church, or Peyotism, founded in the late 19th century in the Oklahoma Territory, is a syncretic religion that blends elements of Christianity with Native American spiritual beliefs. The ingestion of peyote (whose effects can last up to 12 hours) is regarded as a sacrament that allows the adherents of the religion to connect with the spiritual world.

Answer: Tibet

Though both are aquatic plants with beautiful, showy flowers, the Indian, or sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and the blue lotus (Nymphaea nouchali) are not related. However, in spite of their taxonomical differences, these plants share a privileged status in the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Known as "utpala" in Sanskrit, the blue lotus is often featured in Buddhist art as an attribute of Tara, a goddess especially revered in Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism. The latter, known for its esoteric rituals, is the main form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet. Venerated as a mother and saviour figure, Tara ("star" or "planet" in Sanskrit) has forms of different colours: in her Green Tara form (depicted in the photo), she is often shown holding a blue lotus. In some Hindu scriptures, the blue lotus is mentioned in association with the cult of Lord Shiva.

The blue lotus found in Egypt is a variety of Nymphaea nouchali (var. caerulea). In Egyptian mythology, it symbolized the sun and rebirth, as the flowers close at night and open again in the morning. The blue lotus was often depicted in reliefs, paintings and architectural motifs; its petals have also been found in pharaohs' tombs, including Tutankhamen's. It is also believed that the flowers were used in religious rituals because of their psychoactive properties.

Answer: agarwood

Also known as oud, agarwood is an intensely fragrant, dark resinous wood that forms in the heartwood of trees of the genus Aquilaria when they are infected by a parasitical mould. The resin is secreted by the tree to combat the infection, imparting a unique scent and dense appearance to the wood. Native to tropical Asia and Oceania, Aquilaria trees are also called lign-aloes, though they bear no relation to the aloe vera plant, which is a succulent. Agarwood has been used for thousands of years as incense to be burned in religious rites, or to prepare corpses for burial. In fact, in the Gospel of John (19:36) it is said that Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus' body prior to burial, according to Jewish custom. Aloes is also mentioned in Psalms, Proverbs and the Song of Songs.

Though there are no specific mentions of agarwood in the Koran, other Islamic texts make it clear that the wood was highly prized in the Muslim world for religious and medicinal purposes, and that its scent was associated with Paradise. Today, high-grade agarwood chips are burned in mosques, as well in homes to welcome guests. Hindu and Buddhist scriptures also make ample mention of the use of agarwood and other aromatic substances in religious ceremonies. In particular, there are several references to aloes in the Sanskrit epic "Mahabharata".

The name agarwood is thought to have derived from the Tamil "akil", while the name of the thickening agent known as agar-agar comes from the Malay word for the red algae from which it is obtained.

Answer: West Africa

Today the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is known for the environmental impact caused by its widespread cultivation in tropical regions. However, this tree native to West Africa has had a major role in the cultures of that part of the world, where it is believed to have been domesticated about 5,000 years ago. In the traditional religion of the Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria, Benin and Togo, the nuts of the sacred oil palm - known as "ikin" - are essential in the divination system called Ifá, designated by UNESCO in 2005 as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. This ritual, performed by initiates known as "babalawos", involves throwing the nuts (usually 16 in number - one for each of the books of the Yoruba scriptures) on a wooden divining tray such as one shown in the photo, and interpreting their configuration according to a complex set of rules.

The Yoruba religion worships Olódůmarč, the Supreme Being and creator of the world, and a large number of spiritual entities, the Orisha, believed to be intermediaries between the creator and humankind. Each Orisha has control over a specific aspect of nature. Most of the African diaspora religions (such as Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodun and Brazilian Candomblé) that originated in Latin America as a consequence of the Atlantic slave trade are based on the syncretism of the Yoruba religion with Christianity, Spiritualism and various indigenous religions.