Vegetation Deities: Myth or Truth?

Vegetation or Fertility Deity. What does this mean and how is it related to Agriculture?

Image of a Relief of libation to a Vegetation Goddess.- Image by Unknown - Jastrow (2006), Public Domain, Wikimedia commons
According to Wikipedia paraphrased, "Vegetation or Fertility deity" is defined as deities of nature whose life or death is said to embody or affect the growth circle of plants/crops/seeds."

Do not forget that the word "Deity" represents a supernatural or divine being that is held sacred.

These nature deities are believed by nature worshipers to have control over certain natural forces and phenomena. The vegetation deity is accredited with the sustenance of Agriculture and is believed by some ancient cultures to play a vital role in the planting, growing and harvest time of the plants.

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These planting and harvest times are believed to be controlled by a number of factors such as, the death and regeneration of the deities. Seeds are buried to die and in correspondence to their deaths, they are expected to germinate and be ready for harvest because they regenerate at that period.
There are basically three processes the vegetation deity goes through, as documented and kept through time by ancient religious rituals or traditional folklore in such cultures; and they are the process of "Dismemberment, Scattering and Reintegration."

Many believe that for seeds to be buried to become useful, there must be some spiritual intonation to it; hence the Parable of the Sower as seen in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15 comes into mind.

I strongly believe that the process of seed planting is more spiritual than science. Hence, the coining of the "vegetation deity". One very familiar name that is associated with vegetation deity is the term ‘Mother nature’, which is accepted globally and others such as Osiris- Egyptian heritage; Ba’al- Canaanite; Adonis- Greek; and Hou Ji- Chinese.

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Image: Wikimedia.org CCO.- Men sowing seed by hand in the 1940s

Traditional folklore

Let’s talk about the traditional myths of European and Egyptian extractions and then, the biblical illustration of the Parable of the Sower and the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ to drive home my point.
Take for example the story of the European folklore, where it is said that, a woman’s fertility has some influence on farming.
So it is safe to say that, farmers will always tend well to a fertile woman. They can even prefer the fertile woman to lead the planting session every season.
Also, the Ancient Egyptian Folklore where one brother kills the other out of envy and the wife had to bury each part of his body in various location causing it to bear good vegetation in those regions.

There really is something mysterious about the process of seed planting and how it transforms from a seed buried in the earth to one that actually is able to feed a nation. If you are like me who had the awesome experience of growing up in a farmhouse, you will agree that there is so much wonder within the farmland and also there are forces that enable the growth and future prosperity of plants.

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I Feel Blessed!

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The religious aspect.

In the story of the Parable of the sower, Jesus Christ talked about the need to sow our seeds in the right soil if we expect to have a good season. Likewise in the farming seasons, seeds are not sowed in unsuitable soils, the land is cleared and tilled properly to ensure the seed find the right place to be buried and then germinate.
So, suffice it to mean that, there are spiritual undertone/forces to the whole seed time and harvest time practice.

Even with the vegetation deity in place, farmers still need to ensure the lands must be properly cultivated. Read the Parable of the Sower to understand the associated concepts to how the need for seed time works. There must be a god or gods that enables prosperity in the farming seasons.

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Why is it called a vegetation deity?

It is called a vegetation deity because it suitably explains why seeds die and regenerate after a period as plants which go on to becomes profitable to the human race. In some countries around the world, communities come together to offer sacrifices for a better planting season and you will wonder to whom.. Well, the deity that is in charge of the vegetation of course.

In whatever way we look at it, it is more about the processes and procedures used and how well these farmers and people relate with it.
Is there really a vegetation deity or is it just some mythical belief? That remains to be answered after you do your own research.

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My understanding of Vegetation deity and why I think it is real

• My grandparents did stuff.
  As a child growing up in a farmhouse, I remember vividly how my grandpa, ma and some members of the farming community would offer some sorts of sacrifices at the beginning of every farming season before stepping into the farmland. They would kill some doves and use the blood to purify the land and then, they will slaughter the best goat or sheep in the barn and serve it in the farmland with roasted yams and palm oil. We would eat and be merry all through that day with no one taking up their hoes or cutlasses.
  Between themselves, these adults will offer some prayers and libation at a particular corner of the farmland and after the merriment, it returns to business as usual.

I was mostly there for the meal that was so much and usually sweet.

• New Yam festival.
  In most communities around Nigeria, we celebrate the New Yam festival to thank the gods for a good harvest season and is done at the end of the rainy season awaiting the new planting year. Now you will agree that there is a vegetation deity somewhere that enables good planting seasons and harvest so the need for a thankful period. Yam is served with palm oil, traditional drinks like schnapps are offered to the gods in libation and prayers offered.
  I am sure there are other such festivities around the world that lends credence to the existence of the vegetation deity.

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In whatever way you look at it, both of these explanations, Traditional and Religious have a cyclical pattern based on its themes of immortality, resurrection, and reincarnation.

Whatever is imagined is real somewhere back in time or in the present.

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Make the world a better place for someone today!

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Reference: Wikipedia.org- Vegetation Deity