The Lamp-post

Once agian, I am so excited to share my latest thoughts, therefore I must right them down before I forget.  On Wednesday,  we were assigned to write about a childhood book and it took me a few days to decide which story is most memorable for me.  Finally, decided on a series that was read to me over and over, and of which my mother still reads to us.  Strange that at my age I would still have my mother read to me at times, but I cant help it.  Between first and eighth grade, I was homeschooled and as a part of our morning routine, my mother would read a devotional passage from the Bible followed by a chapter from the Chronicles of Narnia.  My siblings and I nevered tired of these books and would beg every morning for another chapter, though sometimes I wonder if it was partly to delay the onset of the schoolday.

In class on Friday, though, I was once again reminded of the importance of trees in all myths and I realized that C. S. Lewis also incorporated trees.  In fact, he uses trees multiple times throughout the series.

 In his sixth book,  "The Magician's Nephew", Lewis tells the prelude story of Narnia, discussing the creation story of this world.  It is a story similar to the biblical creation story.  While Narnia is just being created, characters from another world are transported into it.  One of the individuals brought with is a witch with the desire to mold this new world into a land of her own accord.  In order to prevent her from accomplishing this, one of the children from the story, Digory, must bring an apple from a sacred garden.  Once again, the biblical story of Eve and the snake seems similar to Lewis' s version, changed only by the witch eating the forbidden fruit and Digory refraining.  This fruit is planted at the borders of the country and keeps the witch from entering.  A fruit from this tree is plucked and given to Digory to take home to his mother in order to heal her from her illness.  Digory plants the seeds and another tree grows.  From it's wood, a magic wardrobe is built.  This is the same one that is used in the first book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I have to admit, it took me by suprise how many different elements from class were in these books.  As mentioned above, the story of forbidden fruit, an Ex Nihilo creation story, along with trees involved.  It is one more eye opening example of how much mythologies do play a role in everyone's lives, even at a young age