|
|
Article: Africa's Tree of Life - Legends, Uses, and Traditions of the Baobab.
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Many cultures claim to remember a time when great and ancient trees cloaked vast areas of the earth. The enchanting original forests and foreboding gigantic trees were of mythical dimensions and proportions. Jonathan Rosen, a writer with the New York Times, has described such stories as part of the power of the "eternal ground of time." The African baobab is a living embodiment of timeless affinities with nature common to many peoples throughout the continent. It serves as a metaphoric window into Africa's real or imagined past, through which we may view practices said to be of great antiquity. Of gargantuan bulk and primitive appearance, it is central to many myths, ...