PALM SUNDAY

The Palm Tree is the Tree of Life
Palm stems represented long life to the Ancient Egyptians, and the Goddess Isis was often shown holding a palm stem in one or both hands. The palm was carried in Egyptian funeral processions to represent eternal life. The Kingdom of Nri (Igbo) used the omu, a tender palm frond, to sacralize and restrain.
In Ancient Rome there was a festival of the Magna Mater (Great Mother Cybele or Rhea) included the Arbor intrat (entrance of the tree) on March 22, An imported goddess from Phrygia, Magna Mater was installed in Rome in 204 (at the time of Hannibal) where she grew in importance. A palm tree was made to represent the dead Attis for the day of the entrance of the tree. The Dies sanguinis “Day of Blood” followed on the 24th of March and the “Cleansing” on the 27th. Attis was a Phrygian god of vegetation, and in his self-mutilation, death, and resurrection he represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring. Attis shared this attributes with Osiris and Jesus Christ.