The Seba library treats Laurel in 8 passages, across 7 authors (including Julian Jaynes, Harrison, Jane Ellen, Alexiou, Margaret).
she established contact with the god through his sacred tree, the laurel, much as conscious Assyrian kings are depicted being smeared by tree-cones in the hands of genii.
Jaynes argues that the Pythia's ritual contact with laurel was a structural mechanism for accessing the bicameral, sustaining divine voice, directly parallel to Assyrian royal anointing practices.
, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, 1976thesis
it is through Aelian that we realize that this bringing in of the new laurel, this carrying it and wearing it in wreaths, gave to the Festival its name 'Stepterion, Festival of Wreathers.'
Harrison demonstrates that the laurel branch was the ritual centre of the Stepterion, its carrying by the new year-king constituting the festival's entire identity and its name.
, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912thesis
laid on vine, myrtle or laurel leaves. The head, which at this stage was uncovered, was decorated with garlands of laurel and celery.
Alexiou documents laurel as a ritual substance placed in direct contact with the corpse and used to adorn the head of the dead, marking its function at the threshold of mortality.
, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, 1974supporting
The laurel wreath, the serpent, and the Self have disappeared. The animus (or anima) has had to make way for a fairy (!), and the serpent has become a sort of squid.
Hamaker-Zondag identifies the laurel wreath as a Jungian symbol of the Self in Tarot iconography, its absence in variant decks marking a critical impoverishment of symbolic depth.
, Tarot as a Way of Life: A Jungian Approach to the Tarot, 1997supporting
in historical times, in the Thargelia, Daphnephoria, etc. it was associated with the worship of, it was 'sacred to,' Apollo. This is natural enough for Apollo, as Aguieus and as Kouros, was the young male divinity, the source of fertility.
Harrison traces the historical assimilation of the apotropaic, fertility-bearing laurel branch into Apolline worship, connecting it with the god's role as Kouros and agent of seasonal renewal.
, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912supporting
Better known is the magic protective power of the daphne. It is of use against pharmaka and phantasmata, and is therefore hung up on the doors en tois enagismasi.
Rohde documents the apotropaic and purificatory power attributed to the laurel (daphne) in Greek magical and religious practice, particularly its deployment against daimonic forces and pollution.
, Psyche: The Cult of Souls and the Belief in Immortality among the Greeks, 1894supporting
the arrows and of the leaves of the laurel spray in its talons, while the number of the feathers of its tail is 9.
Campbell notes the laurel spray as one element within the American eagle iconogram on the dollar bill, reading it as part of a theologically charged national ideogram rather than engaging its depth-psychological resonance directly.
, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion, 1986aside
Oauxmon· euKauotov fuAov Md>vqs 'well-burning wood of the laurel'.
Beekes provides etymological evidence linking the laurel to combustion and sharp sensory qualities, noting the gloss 'well-burning wood of the laurel' as evidence of Mediterranean origin for the plant name.
, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2010aside