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annetanne

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BNR Radio Bulgaria Folklore

  • Palm Sunday, or popularly known as Flowers' Day or Willow’s Day,

Trees for Life - Mythology and Folklore of the Willow

  • In Britain the more recent, 'Christianised' use of willow to symbolise grief probably originated with Psalm 137:





    'By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept

    when we remembered Zion.

    There on the willow-trees

    we hung up our harps.'



    (Biblical scholars point out that these 'willow-trees' were probably Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica) and not the weeping willows (Salix babylonica) which originated in China.) During the 16th and 17th centuries the association became particular to grief suffered by forsaken lovers, who also adopted the custom of wearing a cap or crown made of willow twigs and leaves.

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