ACORNS, from the Greek Goddess Cybele to John Lennon & Yoko Ono and in-between
Acorns, steeped in folklore and symbolism have far surpassed existing solely as the nut of an oak tree.
“from little acorns mighty oaks grow”, Thomas Fuller 1732.
They are in fact deeply imbued with meaning, tradition and have transcended through time and space, constantly relevant and always talked about. They’ve been explored through many forms from whisper (to later writing), sculpture through to worship… to name a few.
After years of practice I have finally perfected my acorn locket - a concept I thought of many moons ago and now adorns the neck of family friends and strangers united by lore.
Today we will be exploring the acorn from ancient Greece, the druids of the 1700’s right through to the 1970’s and a few tales, artworks in between.
The ancient Greek Goddess Cybele, considered as the great mother of the gods associated with motherhood, nature, fertility and agriculture. Cybele is believed to channel her powers through the use of her talisman, the acorn. Warding off evil powers through the acorn the land remains at peace, fertile and bountiful through her watch.
Through time Acorns have been used as symbols of protection and appear in a variety of artworks and apparent protagonists of many tales.
〜 Acorns as a symbol of patience 〜
A favourite folktale of mine about the acorn, is one with Germanic heritage.
A farmer who has promised his soul to Satan, outwits him by relying on the nature of the oak tree and the time that it takes to fruit - a symbol of patience. The farmer strikes a deal with Satan in which he will give him his soul as soon as his crops come to harvest, the farmer choosing the oak tree wisely giving himself time to live his life whilst sticking to the deal. The farmer plants rows and rows of acorns, which grow into oak trees and only begins to bear seeds after 40 years.
This tale conquers Satan through the use of the Oak, a true testament to its brilliance.
Now... let us think about the Druids, a religious (or spiritual) sect consisting of many intellectuals, dominating the 1700's and consisting of many philosophers, priests and judges. The etymology of the word druid comes from the Latin druids and the Greek dries, both meaning oak. A spiritual movement with its fundamental principles revolving around the Oak tree and its fruits. A key part of the worship and ritual aspect of the druids revolved around the Oak, praying beneath it, dancing around it, climbing it to retrieve the fruit and leaves for medicinal purposes and the core believe that these amazing trees came straight from heaven. The most sacred of trees.
Now we shall skip through the next few hundred years and reach 1969, the year that John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married. After their Bed-in stint they mailed pairs of acorns to the world's most important leaders, asking if they could plant them in solidarity and support of world peace. This was inspired by a film, directed by Lennon in the previous year entitled A Love Story, where one performance enlisted himself and Ono to plant two acorns on the grounds of England's Coventry Cathedral a symbol of Peace in itself after being bombed in WW2 was rebuilt with the sole purpose of emphasising peace and rebirth.
The act of mailing the acorns gained a lot of attention and resulted in an array of replies from the Queen of England, a confirmation of the planning from Malaysia and South Africa to name a few but the list could go on. This act helps us understand a bit more into some of the lyrics within the song The Ballad Of John and Yoko (one of my favourites)...
"Caught the early plane back to London
50 acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, "We wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back"
This act was heroic and one of their first publicity stunts for world peace by the couple.
