Chapter I: Tree-Worship—its Distribution and Origin

Primitive conception of the tree-spirit—Illustrations of the evidence
for tree-worship: from archaeology, from folk-lore, from
literature, from contemporary anthropology—Earliest record of
tree-worship, the cylinders of Chaldaea—The symbol of the sacred
tree; its development—Meaning of the symbol—Tree-worship amongst
the Semites—Canaanitish tree-worship—The _ashêra_—The decoration
of the Temple at Jerusalem—Tree-worship in ancient Egypt—The
sacred sycamores—Survival of the worship in the Soudan and in
Africa generally—Osiris, originally a tree-god; compared with
other vegetation spirits—Tammuz, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus—The
sacred trees of the Persians—Tree-worship still existent in India;
evidence of its ancient prevalence—Its incorporation in
Buddhism—Other instances of tree-worship in the East—The evidence
from America.

Greek and Roman tree-worship—The German religion of the
grove—Persistence of the belief in tree-spirits in Russia, Poland,
and Finland—Sacred trees in mediaeval France—The rites of the
Druids—Evidence of tree-worship in Saxon England; its survival in
May-day customs—General conclusions as to the ancient prevalence
of tree-worship—Its origin; views of Robertson Smith, Herbert
Spencer, and Grant Allen Page 1