Miracles of plants

Holy places are, by their very existence, prone to miracles and wonders that occur near them, from supernatural healing to various strange miracles that go beyond everyday reality. In this way, holy graves and holy trees are not inferior in their powers and wonders to other holy sites. In the village of Jat, there is a story about "one woman who was entangled in her ways and was buried under the holy tree of Sheikh Abu Arus, by her family members who wanted to demonstrate her lineage. After the burial, the woman's body was thrown several dozen meters away from the grave. The family members thought it was a prank, returned the body to the grave and guarded it. After midnight, an explosion was heard and the grave opened again, and this time the body flew 200 meters away. Then the family members realized that the woman was not pure and buried her far outside the village."

The holy righteous man whose spirit resides in the sacred tree jealously guards his territory both from desecration and from physical harm. Stories are especially common about heavy equipment such as tractors and bulldozers that tried to damage a sacred tree during development work or approached the tree and then: "The shovel got stuck in front of the tree and the shovel split in two," "The bulldozer that was working near the tree broke," or "The chainsaw burned out several times." Similar stories are common throughout the country, especially about the graves of sheikhs and not necessarily about sacred trees. When the road from Karmiel to Majdal Krum was widened, the equipment approached the sacred grove of Sheikh Saris and each time the blades of the bulldozer broke or the engine stalled. They brought clerics to the site, one of whom called the Willi (the holy man) and returned with his answer. "Step 70 steps away from me and everything will go smoothly." Only after they changed the route and thus fulfilled Willie's instructions could the heavy tools continue working as before.

When God appeared to Moses in the bush, it is explicitly stated, "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, and the bush was not consumed." The divine revelation is embodied in the miracle of the tree, which fire has no power over (Exodus 1925:XNUMX). Sacred trees are considered to be resistant to fire, both in the past and in our day. Sheikh Badr Qassem of Horfaish explains the immunity granted to certain trees from fire, "The blessed tree receives divine immunity because the prophet sat under it and it cannot be cut down or burned." A typical story is brought from southern Lebanon about the blessed Atlantic goddess of Ein Kinya in the Hatzavia region. In XNUMX, the year of the Druze uprising against the French in Lebanon and Syria, the French bombed the Hatzavia area and neighboring villages, and all the trees in the area were completely burned, leaving only a huge oak tree in the village of Shawia. The residents of the area learned that this tree was blessed with the blessing of Sheikh Al-Fadl (who used to pray under it) and decided to build a house of prayer in his name.

Rabbi Yitzhak Hilo tells of his journey in 1333 in the Galilee: "One Sabbath night an incident happened (here in a nutshell), because the number of candles was so great that a flame caught on one of those trees, in the grove of the tomb of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach. The whole world (those gathered) refrained from extinguishing the fire. The Jews refrained so as not to desecrate the sanctity of the Sabbath, and the Ishmaelites refrained so as to imitate the Jews. And the tree burned all that night, and the next day, when they went to visit this holy tomb, they saw to their amazement that neither the trunk nor the branches were damaged, and this was an obvious miracle." A similar story is narrated by Issachar Ben Ami in his book "The Righteous of Morocco and Their Wonders": "Among the saints who bear the name of the tree near their burial place, one can mention Rabbi David Halevi Dara, who is buried next to a palm tree... Many traditions are associated with this palm tree. It burst through the ceiling when they built a roof over the tombstone; people climb the palm tree and hold it in order to turn to the saint; a sick person is tied under it during the night; two doves are seen on the palm tree; candles are lit next to the palm tree and it never burns." Other traditions, also from Morocco, tell of the tree (which resembles an olive tree) at the burial place of Rabbi Amram Ben Diwan, which was not harmed by the large fire that visitors light under it.

The miraculous powers of the sacred tree  

The awe and fear of the power of the Willi, whose soul resides in the sacred tree, are so great that it was customary to deposit objects under the tree and those who deposited them were sure that no harm would befall them. Just as the saint guards the tree and prevents damage to it, so great is its power to protect objects placed for safekeeping under it. A sacred tree may protect property even if it was not deposited under it. A gang of thieves who were engaged in robbing goats and cows once passed with their loot near the sacred jujube tree (in Sheikh Radwan in the village of Mazraa, Western Galilee).

They walked and walked all night and in the morning they found themselves near the grave where they got stuck around the tree and could not move. Since then they have not dared to come to the village again. Near the mulberry tree at the entrance to Nabi Sabalan there used to be (early twentieth century) a huge oak tree. One day a man stole goats near the grave of the prophet and as he passed by the tree he became paralyzed and remained standing until morning. Only after dawn did someone pass by and ask the meaning of the matter and the paralyzed man told what had happened. The passerby swore to him not to steal again and when the thief swore, his strength returned to him.

In the past, it was customary to deposit property under the enormous Atlantean goddess, Il Muntar, who was in the cemetery of the village of Toba-Zangaria. Among other things, they placed tools there for safekeeping. In Buina Nojdat, in the Netufa Valley, it is said that jackals and foxes that came to the sacred tree and tried to inspect the harnesses (which were made of leather) died on the spot, as did the birds that were on the tree and would defile it. In the morning, the carcasses of the predators and birds would be found under the tree.