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The supernatural powers of sacred trees.
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The supernatural power
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Druze (n= 27)
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Arabs (n= 24)
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Bedouin (n = 34)
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References from the Middle East
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References from other regions
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1. Punishing of the tree violators
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88.8
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91.6
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91.1
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See Table 3
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See Table 3
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2. Granting a divine blessing (barake); petitions for health/wishing tree/tree as mediator to God
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77.7
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91.6
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82.3
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[Palestine (40:107:108), (41: passim) (42: passim), (111:48,51)]
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[Estonia (173:4); Sierra Leone (174:48); East Africa (175:4); Chad (176; 248); Japan (177:23), (16:10); Australia, New Zealand (23:164)]
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3. Breakdown of machinery or vehicles
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47.0
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62.5
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41.1
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[Palestine (111:69)]
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[India (90: 219–220)]
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4. Punishing for false oaths
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14.8
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44.4
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23.5
|
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[India (186:266)]
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5. Protection of properties deposited underneath.
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22.2
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25.0
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29.4
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[Palestine (43:215), (40:102), (178:138)]
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6. Cure of ill domestic Animals (circumambulation around the tree)
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33.3
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8.3
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2.9
|
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[Scotland (179, II:184–185)]
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7. Parts of the tree used as medicine
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29.6
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20.8
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17.6
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Palestine (87: 66);, Egypt (46:56)]
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[Pagan Europe (35:276) East Africa (180:278, 279)]
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8. Parts of the tree used as a talisman
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22.2
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12.5
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11.7
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[Palestine (181:129); Egypt (182:11)]
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Ancient Celts (51:199); Ireland (20:36,38); East Africa (Kikuyu, 175:5); India (27:590,(6:24)]
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9. Food/objects are placed under the tree to absorb the barake
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18.5
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25.0
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11.6
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[Palestine (111:52)]
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10. Shelter from violence/revenge/
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18.5
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16.6
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11.7
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[Ancient Greece (53:173, (37:335), (53:173), (13:51), (17:221–228); Rome (133: passim),(50:68); Ghana (183:149), (184;129) India (100:241,252)]
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11. Sleeping/resting under the tree as a barake/medicine
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14.8
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0
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0
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[Palestine (74:I:448); Arabia (14:50), (91:331), (185:30)]
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[Many countries (179, II:169–173)]
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12. Crawling under the tree/through the split in the trunk for a cure
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0
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0
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0
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Lebanon (122:16),(67:2430; Syria (28: 179)]
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Ancient Celts (51:331); Pagan Europe (179, II: 173,169–171), (14:50); Britain (187:129)]
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Dafni Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007 3:10 doi:10.1186/1746-4269-3-10
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