Since it’s clearly evident by now that I’m expecting to review gins and gin-based drinks for the foreseeable, inevitably we have to take a look at the deity from which the chief ingredient of gin - Juniper - got its name.
Now anyone familiar with the Roman pantheon will of course insist immediately “It’s Juno!” - and you’d be right. The Roman equivalent of the Olympian Hera, was so closely associated with the berry-bearing tree, that the names of the tree, the berries, and the goddess became synonymous.
Gosh, that made for a very short pos-! Okay! No! I’m certainly not going to end it there!
Well, I am actually aiming to keep these articles shorter - partly for audience engagement, but also partly because Google’s Blogger interface gets very awkward, once your article goes past what it views as the margins for a single side of A4!
Gosh, that made for a very short pos-! Okay! No! I’m certainly not going to end it there!
Well, I am actually aiming to keep these articles shorter - partly for audience engagement, but also partly because Google’s Blogger interface gets very awkward, once your article goes past what it views as the margins for a single side of A4!
For these reasons, I will break my posts into more than one, when I’ve written enough. But anyway....
See, the thing about where one understands the association of any aspect of nature - even just one plant or fruit - to a deity, is that your journey cannot simply stop at the youngest etymology, or the nearest point in time. Natural things like Juniper trees - especially when they’ve been cultivated and treasured for so long by civilisations - are far older than, say, the religion of ancient Rome. Gin is indeed said to have originated in Italy, only around five centuries ago. But when Juniper has such old roots, and gin has so many varieties, why settle for honouring your G&T to only one goddess?
As I’ve said, Juniper was traded across the Mediterranean since Bronze Age civilisations developed all around it. With such trade and development, one can speculate a certain prizing of Juniper came with a reverence for goddesses, usually with very similar aspects. The Canaanites and Phoenicians would call her Ishtar and Astoreth. But the growth of her cults came when the Greeks imported her around Anatolia, and named her Astarte.
See, the thing about where one understands the association of any aspect of nature - even just one plant or fruit - to a deity, is that your journey cannot simply stop at the youngest etymology, or the nearest point in time. Natural things like Juniper trees - especially when they’ve been cultivated and treasured for so long by civilisations - are far older than, say, the religion of ancient Rome. Gin is indeed said to have originated in Italy, only around five centuries ago. But when Juniper has such old roots, and gin has so many varieties, why settle for honouring your G&T to only one goddess?
As I’ve said, Juniper was traded across the Mediterranean since Bronze Age civilisations developed all around it. With such trade and development, one can speculate a certain prizing of Juniper came with a reverence for goddesses, usually with very similar aspects. The Canaanites and Phoenicians would call her Ishtar and Astoreth. But the growth of her cults came when the Greeks imported her around Anatolia, and named her Astarte.
It’s still speculative as to how such an old goddess came to be worshipped for the benefit of fertility, sexuality and love - and therefore of course sacred prostitution through her temples, priestesses and eunuch priests - but also for the benefit of war and martial victory. And with few written records pertaining to her worship, we may never truly know why these aspects came together. The origins of this goddess’s worship are most likely rooted in the planet Venus.
So it’s here that I’ll link us on to the next article...
So it’s here that I’ll link us on to the next article...
Comments
Post a Comment