Tern. Blackthorn. Sacred Plants. Symbol Of Faith. History. Legends And Legends. A Photo

The blackthorn reaches a height of four to eight meters. Its branches are studded with thorns, the leaves are not wide, the flowers are small, white. The blackthorn berries are dark blue in color. Blackthorn grows in the taiga, the desert, and in the mountains. This tree is drought-resistant and winter-hardy.

For thorns and resistance to adversity, thorns glorify the sacred traditions of different peoples. The Irish consider the blackthorn to be one of the eight "chieftain's trees." And today thorns are planted around houses or hang a branch over the door to scare away evil spirits. The ancient Romans believed that the branch of the white thorn bush was able to scare away “trouble and attack” from the home. This thorny tree in Celtic and German-Scandinavian sacred traditions is on a par with oak and ash. In the Middle East, thorns are planted as a fence. In myths and fairy tales, the blackthorn is not only an obstacle to the secret, but also a house in which mysterious creatures live. For example, fairies, so they say in Ireland on the Isle of Man. On the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, the most famous blackthorn grows outside the walls of the monastery of St. Catherine. Old Testament traditions say that Moses,to one who fled from Egypt, God himself appeared from a burning bush. At this place, behind the altar of the monastery church of the Most Holy Theotokos, there is the side-altar of the Burning Bush, which is considered the most holy place of the monastery. The Burning Bush itself grows near the wall of the chapel named after her.

Christians around the world consider the turn as a symbol of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the Spanish city of Oviedo, there is a linen cloth that covered the face of Christ after it was taken from the Cross. Traces of blood appeared because it was attached from the back of the head by the thorns of the Crown of Thorns. The most famous fragment of the Crown of Thorns is kept in the Church of Sainte-Chapelle - it is a woven bunch of thorns without thorns. The thorns are kept in various monasteries and temples.

Another sacred relic that is associated with the Crown of Thorns is located in Glastonbury Abbey - Saint Thorn on the Hill of the Weary Travelers. The legend says that on Christmas day 60, Joseph stopped here for a halt and stuck a staff into the ground. The wandering staff was carved from the trunk of that thorny tree, from the branches of which the Romans weaved the Crown of Thorns of Christ. A miracle happened - the staff took root, spread its branches, turned green with leaves and bloomed with white flowers as a sign that the goal of the path was achieved. But it was snowing, and ice bound the earth. And to this day, this blackthorn blooms twice a year: in May and at Christmas. Every Christmas, the flowering branch of the blackthorn is cut and sent to the Queen of England. The British believe that the British monarchy is safe as long as the Glastonbury Turn is alive. In Brazil, the giant Temple of the Crown of Thorns for four thousand parishioners was built by the architect Oscar Niemeyer. A crown made of reinforced concrete ribs in the form of tongues of flame symbolizes the purifying fire of faith. Niemeyer, creating the Temple of the Crown of Thorns, brilliantly showed that there is no future without God.