Etymologisch

Geschiedenis

Hierbij zou het niet altijd de intentie geweest zijn om de heirbanen te beplanten met deze bomen, maar waren het eerder de soldaten die na het eten van een kers de pitten uitspuwden tijdens hun lange dagwandelingen. 

Kelten

Geografisch

Azië

Japan

In Japan wordt de kersenbloesem of 'sakura' vereert en vinden dit terug in verscheidene gedichten en kunst. Al vanaf de zevende eeuw worden er feesten en festival zoals 'Hanami' georganiseerd, waarbij men de komst van de kersenbloesems viert. Hanami is vooral een familiefeest waar er over het ganse land picknicks plaatsvinden temidden van de kerselaars. In de huidige digitale leefwereld is het zo dat de mensen de bloeiperiode kunnen meevlogen via de media zodat ze van de korte, maar intense bloei kunnen genieten. Van het warmere zuiden in januari trekt de bloei naar het koudere noorden om daar rond maart op te houden. Vroeger werd er vooral plaatselijk veel feest gevierd, momenteel zien we vaker dat de Japanners meereizen met de bloesems naar het noorden.   

Europa

België

Groot-Brittannië

De kers en dan beter de kersenpit was een veel gebruikt medicijn en pijnstiller bij de Britten in de 15de eeuw. Deze pit werd ook gegeten als behandeling van buikpijn en infecties aan de borstkas. Een andere behandeling, één tegen nierstenen hield in dat men 6 pitten per dag moest opeten. Ook de lange stelen werden verwerkt in thee als remedie tegen bronchitis.

Fantasie en magie

Heksen

Symboliek

Vergankelijkheid

De korte maar intense bloeiperiode is in Japan een metafoor voor het even kortstondig en vergankelijk leven, Japanners volgen de levenswijsheid dat het belangrijk is om te genieten van ieder moment, voor het weer voorbij is. Het is beter te genieten van de lente, dan alsmaar te klagen over de andere seizoenen. 

In Japan staan vele bomen ook in relatie met andere elementen, zo heeft de kers ook een wolk als symbool. Wanneer je de bomen volledig met witte bloesems bekijkt dan is dit zeker verstaanbaar.

The fruit is a popular ingredient in Pagan lovespells and is traditionallyregarded as an aphrodisiac,which may be how theeuphemism for losing one'svirginity came to be knownas popping your cherry.

Wigilia dnia św. Łucji, noc czarownic – the Eve of St. Lucia Day (the night between the 12th/13th December), ‘the night of the witches’.

In the Polish folk beliefs the night preceding St. Lucia Day (the evening of 12th December) was traditionally believed to be a night of the witches’ gathering, a ‘boundary’ time when the earthly and otherworldly realms are getting much closer. It used to be commonly known as the ‘night of the witches’.

Snowstorms are a sign of the witches fighting for the power: for the leading role during the upcoming year. They are also coming close to the human settlements and it is extremely dangerous for both the people and the livestock to be outside on that night. It was forbidden for the kids or the young maidens to go out – the highlanders believed that they might get stolen. Mothers protected their newborns, often staying awake by their cradles for the whole night: their infant might be stolen and replaced with an odmieniec (changeling).

People feared also that the witches could throw charms on their cattle: for example cows might cease to give milk (which is the main food resource among many highlanders, used for producing cream, butter and cheese that are vital for survival during the winter season). People protected their wood: if some planks were stolen, they believed that the witches would later use them to cast dangerous spells during the Christmas night.

People believed that the places of the witches’ meetings on that night are certain geological points of unique features. For example, it could be a place where three streams are coming together (as believed in the village of Sołonka) or a clear-cut edge of a forest. It could also be a location where borders between certain clearly designated areas are relatively close to each other, like a field between two villages that are located not far from one another.

People protected themselves in many ways. It was common to fasten thorns and protective herbs to the doorsteps of the houses and to the tresholds to the barns, and inside the buildings. It was extremely important to remember what kinds of herbs and in which locations did one leave the bundles: if there was something new, it meant a witch had sneaked into the property and left a cursed bouquet. In some areas the cattle was ‘bathed’ in smoke from garlands that had been blessed on the Day of the Divine Mother of Herbs earlier that year. Wise men and wise women were whispering calming speels to the ears of the livestock.

Those beliefs were found among Polish villagers from numerous regions across Poland, but they were particularly vivid in the culture of the regions north to the ranges of the Tatra Mountains and some parts of the Beskidy Mountains, and a lot of tales about that special night survived in the folktales of the highlanders from the northern slopes of Babia Góra (meaning literally: Mountain of the Crones). Most of the Polish Górale (higlanders) living in those mountainous parts of southern Poland had a particularly strong belief in the ‘night of the witches’, shaped quite literally by the local geographical conditions. That night marked the time when the Sun starts sinking so low above the horizon that it hides behind the local mountains quite early in the afternoon and makes the night much longer for the local highlanders this way.

The next day – 13th December – was seen as the best for divinations. For example, in many villages young girls were ripping off a cherry branch and putting it into a vase in their rooms. If the branch bloomed by the beginning of January, it was a good sign for the upcoming year: designating a marriage, prosperity or general success. The 12 days until Christmas were closely observed: each day predicted events or weather for a respective month in the upcoming year.

Signatuurleer

Kunst