What does the walnut symbolize? Nut encyclopedia signs and symbols

Good afternoon my dear nature lovers! Who among us doesn’t know how tasty and healthy nuts are? That is why today, during the season when the collection of walnuts has just begun, I will tell my story specifically about them, I will tell you about their benefits, where they are used and how walnuts grow.

Among forest fruit plants, in terms of a number of beneficial properties for humans, the walnut occupies, if not first, then one of the first places.

In his practice, a person uses this plant as a whole:

• unripe green walnut,
• walnut kernel shell,
• walnut peel,
• walnut shell,
• internal partitions of walnut,
• green and dry walnut leaves,
• walnut wood,

and in this sense he has no equal. But the most valuable thing is yourself.

To satisfy a person’s daily need for vegetable fats, 15-20 nuts per day are enough; the high calorie content of walnuts contributes to rapid restoration of strength. So one kilogram of nuts is equal to:

• 4 kilograms of bread,
• 15 liters of milk,
• 4 kilograms of beef.

Consequently, on 1 hectare of nut plantation you can harvest 30 centners of nuts, equivalent to 120 centners of bread. From this amount of nuts you can get as much oil as sunflower yields from 6 hectares.

It is no coincidence that it is believed that 1 hectare of walnut plantings gives 5 times more profit than 1 hectare of wheat.

Walnut fruits are of particular value because they contain:

• 80% fat,
• 20% proteins,
• quite a lot of trace elements and minerals,
• almost the entire set of vitamins.

100 grams of nut kernels contain 50 times more vitamin C than, for example, lemon. There is especially a lot of it in unripe fruits.

Benefits of walnuts

Not only are walnuts themselves tasty and healthy, but there are countless dishes using them. Nuts with honey are popularly called royal food. The benefit of walnuts lies in the fact that a person receives and uses for his needs:

• nut oil,
• nut halva,
• nut tincture,
• various culinary dishes using walnuts,
• and nut cake is in high demand.

Walnut oil is very rich in carotene and is not inferior to the best Provençal varieties. Essential vegetable oils are also isolated from the concentrated oil: rose, violet and others, which are used in the confectionery and perfume industries.

Walnut wood is very hard and waterproof, almost does not warp, and polishes well. The shells of nut kernels contain a lot of tannins and therefore are used in the processing of hides; the shells are used to make grindstones, linoleum, roofing felt, they are ground and used as fertilizer, and burned into coal with high adsorbing properties. The bark and roots make an excellent, long-lasting brown dye.

The walnut tree actively influences the improvement of the external environment, as it contains essential and biologically active substances.

It has been established that microorganisms falling on a nut leaf die within 12-18 seconds. Even dry walnut leaves repel moths; they are used to cover fur clothes, woolen items and carpets. Beekeepers use them in the fight against wax moths by sprinkling leaves on honeycombs.

A decoction of walnut leaves is an effective remedy in the fight against spider moths of fruit trees. But that's not all. It is not necessary to use chemical dye to color your hair; it acquires a fairly good black color after washing it with a decoction of the shell, and if you wash it with cold water with an extract from the soft shells, the hair will become darker.

Walnut. Shares with all types of nuts a symbol of hidden wisdom, as well as fertility and longevity. Walnuts were served at weddings in Ancient Greece and Rome as a symbol of these qualities. He represents strength in adversity, but at the same time, selfishness, since nothing grows under him. Caryatids are nymphs of nuts.

The shade from the walnut tree is heavy and harmful to both people and plants, says Pliny’s Natural History (23-79). The nut itself, in many fairy tales and legends a vessel with mysterious benefits, plays a significant role in symbolism, since its precious content is enclosed in a hard shell.
In the Jewish commentary on the +Bible (Midrash (???)a-(???)a"elam) the Holy Scripture is compared to a nut. The shell corresponds to the historical facts mentioned in it, which contain symbols and secrets.
In St. Augustine (354-430) the nut represents three essences, namely: the skin-like flesh of the larva, the “bones” of the shell and the core of the soul. The mask is also the flesh of Christ with the bitterness of suffering, the shell is the wood of the cross, the kernel is the sweet core of divine revelation, which nourishes and also gives light with its oil.
The popular expression “hard nut” means a problem difficult to solve, and “empty nut” means a worthless person.
Symbolism in the spirit of hidden sexual meaning (hiddenness, fertility) is evident from the custom of giving nuts for a wedding and from the custom of throwing nuts (today often rice grains) at the newlyweds, mentioned by Sextus Pompey (???)estus (2nd century).
In France, it is believed that a year with a good harvest of nuts portends great luck for children; obviously, the psychological symbolic interpretation is similar. “A dream about nuts may refer to a difficult problem with a very valuable kernel. But more often this fruit, comparable to crude drawings on the walls, is an image of the female genital organ” (Eppley).
A symbol of fertility, water, supernatural powers of divination and wisdom.
In Northern Europe and the Celtic world, the walnut rod was a tool of wizards and fairies, fortune tellers and gold hunters.
According to ancient tradition, it was the rod of Hermes, the messenger of the gods.
The source of its mystical symbolism can be sought both in its deep roots (mystical powers of the underworld) and in its fruits (secret wisdom).
Besides its use in witchcraft, the nut was a powerful symbol of fertility and rain; it was believed to bring good luck to lovers and, according to Scandinavian folklore, a cow driven with a walnut rod would produce abundant milk yield.

The landings were guarded. Leaves harvested in May-June and unripe fruits (milk maturity), as well as pericarps and ripe ones have long been used as medicinal raw materials in folk medicine. nuts. Ripe kernels walnuts nuts used as a tonic in weakened patients, for the prevention of atherosclerosis, heart disease, gastric and duodenal ulcers...

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Marshall in Huntington, West Virginia. This variety nuts contains omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, flavonoids and phytosterol - elements that help reduce the possibility of disease, as well as slow down tumor growth. Total 56.7 g. nuts per day is enough to achieve a similar result. In addition, the use walnuts nuts has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, making arteries more...

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Vitamin F (PUFA). In the plant world, the leader in the content of this vitamin is oil. nut walnut it contains 92% of this vitamin. Part walnut nut contains more than 80 elements that a person needs every day, including polyunsaturated fatty acids - vitamin F..., especially consumed with raisins and figs, and is very useful for older people. In the kernels walnuts nuts a lot of magnesium, which has a vasodilator and diuretic effect, as well as a lot of potassium, which can remove sodium...

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He says: “We found out that walnuts nuts superior in all respects to peanuts, almonds, pistachios and other varieties of edible nuts. Twice - in terms of antioxidant content, in particular. Unfortunately people underestimate walnuts nuts, which simply must become integral... 2 types. Dr. Vinson continues: “Another benefit walnuts nuts- the fact that people eat them raw, and other types nuts must be subjected to heat treatment. At high roasting temperatures, the quality...

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The priests will become smarter... Thank God, now everyone can eat nuts which ones he wants and how many he wants. For example, walnuts. If you think that walnuts nuts originally from Greece, then you are mistaken. This is the same as considering Bonaparte the author of the Napoleon cake. Motherland walnuts nuts- Asia Minor. However, they grow well in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central...

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Researchers studied a group of 22 healthy adults with high cholesterol levels. They discovered that walnuts nuts and nut butters included in the diet helped reduce blood pressure, both at rest and... The results showed that blood pressure was significantly reduced during diets containing walnuts nuts and butter walnuts nuts. Nuts- a rich source of fiber, antioxidants, and unsaturated fatty acids, especially alpha-linolenic...

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Affects pathogenic bacteria. Why is the kernel useful? walnut nut? First of all, it contains a significant amount of fat, proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins. By nutritional value nut not inferior to meat, fish, bread, potatoes and a liter... the decoction is used as an adjuvant, since it promotes better absorption of glucose. Fresh crushed leaves walnut nut applied to wounds or ulcers for rapid healing. Oil tincture (50-80 grams of fresh chopped...

On a September night
the nut fell so loudly
branch to the moon...(c)
Walnut(lat. Júglans régia) - a species of trees of the genus Walnut of the Walnut family (Juglandaceae).
Aura: - warm
Planet: - Sun
Element: - fire
Main properties: - against infertility, healing
Common name: - tree of vice, Voloshsky nut, royal nut.

Economic use. Walnut wood is of rare beauty; it has been highly valued by cabinetmakers since ancient times. Dense, durable, resistant to pests, it is perfectly polished, does not crack and does not change its volume when heated.
The leaves contain bitter and aromatic substances, the fumes of which cause headaches for some. They are used in Transcaucasia to stupefy fish (trout) in mountain rivers.
K. E. Tsiolkovsky called the walnut the tree of the future, and I. V. Michurin called it a plant tree, because all its parts go into use. The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl, preparing for his long and unsafe expeditions, always included walnuts in his diet. During the flight, astronauts eat paste and cream made from walnuts. Confectioners widely use them to make cakes, bread, pastries, and ice cream. The oil is used not only for medical and food purposes, but also in printing, perfumery, and painting - it forms a transparent, durable film on the canvas that does not crack over time. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Goya, and Rembrandt mixed their paints with this oil.
The nut cake is used to make halva and kozinaki. Very durable black and brown dyes for wool and silk are made from the outer shell of the fruit, and tannins used for leather processing are extracted. Walnut shells are used in the production of linoleum, roofing felt, and in grinding...

In mythology: Juglans regia L. Juglans - from the Lithuanian Jupiter (Jupiter) - the supreme deity of the Romans (identified with Zeus), glans - acorn; Latin regius - royal.
The walnut is almost older than Ancient Greece, for the first mention of it appeared more than four thousand years ago. Clay tablets with inscriptions were found in Mesopotamia, from the contents of which it follows that walnuts grew in the famous hanging gardens of Babylon. So it would not be an exaggeration to call the walnut one of the wonders of the world, since the Babylonian gardens were considered such. In ancient times, it was believed that walnuts stimulate mental activity. This explains why the priests in Babylon forbade mere mortals to eat walnuts.
One of the first descriptions of the walnut belongs to the “father of botany” Theophrastus. This plant is mentioned in the works of Cicero, Dioscorides, Pliny, Virgil, and Hippocrates. The distant resemblance of the nucleus to the human brain gave rise to many legends about this plant. Thus, the Greek philosopher Plato quite seriously argued that fruits have the ability to think, move, and jump from branch to branch. And the Swedish scientist and traveler Sven Eden (Gedin) was sure that nuts that are torn green squeak and cry.
According to legend, when Alexander the Great During his campaign against Sogdiana, he stopped in the area of ​​modern Khojent, where he built the fortress of Alexandria Extreme; he sent reconnaissance detachments to the east to search for a route to India. Soldiers returning from campaigns brought wonderful nuts from the Fergana Mountains, which helped rid the Macedonian phalanxes of an unknown disease. Therefore, on the way back, Alexander ordered the nuts to be taken with him as one of the most valuable trophies and planted in Greece.
The nut was dedicated to the goddess Artemis Caryatis. According to legend, Karyuya, the daughter of the Laconian king and the beloved of the god Dionysus, was turned into a walnut tree. Where this happened, the town of Carius grew up with the famous sanctuary of Artemis. According to another legend, the nymphs of the Caryatids, dancing in a circle around the sacred tree of Artemis, were frightened by the satyrs and rushed under its protection. The goddess turned them into nuts hanging on the branches of a powerful nut.
Thanks to its unusually long-term fruiting, the drupe symbolizes longevity, abundance and prosperity. Therefore, in Hellas it was customary to present nuts to each other on special occasions.
There was also a curious custom in Rome. For the time being, a supply of nuts was kept in the house of every young man. When getting ready to get married, the young man went out into the street and scattered these nuts among his younger friends. By giving away the nuts, he seemed to be parting with his fading youth. Wanting to ensure a rich harvest, the Romans “fertilized” the fields with nuts during the Cerealia celebration (April 19).
In ancient times, the nut was credited with an antidote effect. There is a legend that says that when Pompey defeated King Mithridates, he found in his palace a recipe for a remedy that was enough to take in the morning on an empty stomach to protect himself from the effects of the most terrible poisons. This amazing remedy consisted of two walnuts, 2 wine berries with leaves and salt. This legend has existed for many centuries. Hippocrates and Dioscorides used a decoction of the green pericarp to expel worms.
In the Jewish commentary on the Bible, the Holy Scripture, replete with incomprehensible metaphors and allegories, is very successfully compared to a nut, whose shell symbolizes the text, and the kernel - the true hidden meaning, accessible to not every understanding.
In Christian iconography, a split walnut similarly personified Christ himself. The shell of this allegorical nut symbolized the tree of the Holy Cross, the outer green shell symbolized the body of Christ, and the core symbolized his incomprehensible divine nature.
In some countries of the African continent, in particular in Nigeria, the cult of Ifa, the god of palm nuts used in fortune telling, has acquired great importance. The priests of Ifa, who performed fortune-telling rituals, enjoyed unquestioned authority among the local population; Without their advice, fished out from under a nut shell, the superstitious Yoruba could not take a step.
In military affairs, since the Northern War (1700-1721), a tough nut to crack has become associated with a powerful citadel surrounded by impregnable walls. In 1702, liberating the northwestern lands from the Swedes, the troops of Peter I approached Noteburg (as the Swedes called the ancient Russian city of Oreshek) - a strong fortress at the source of the Neva, surrounded by high and thick walls. For two weeks, Russian artillery bombarded them incessantly, trying to make at least one breach. When this was finally achieved, the Russian soldiers launched an attack. The assault, fierce and bloody, lasted for 12 hours, but in the end Oreshek fell. Peter, delighted by such a glorious Victoria, joked about this:
“It’s true that this nut was extremely tough, but, thank God, it was happily chewed up!”
One of the Turkic legends says that walnut forests are the remnant of the gardens of paradise, which the Almighty bequeathed to protect and cultivate a certain righteous person, endowing him with eternal life for his work.
In Rus', walnuts were cultivated in monastery gardens nine centuries ago. According to scientists, the earliest centers of this culture were the Vydubetsky and Mezhegorsky monasteries, located along the Dnieper above and below Kyiv - the first bastions of Christianity in Rus'. Apparently, along with their faith, the Greek preachers brought this plant with them, which determined its Russian name. True, clergy did not always treat walnuts favorably. It was noticed that there was no vegetation under the canopy of the tree. Christian preachers explained this fact by saying that evil spirits supposedly nest in walnuts and harm people and plants. In fact, its leaves produce a special substance, juglone, which is toxic to other plants; Thus, it inhibits the growth of tomatoes, alfalfa, and potatoes. The Walnut tree was also considered dangerous because a person who fell asleep in its shade was susceptible to a variety of diseases (the prohibition of sleeping under a walnut tree was found in medieval European herbalists).
Among the Serbs, Macedonians and Bulgarians symbolizes chthonic forces and the world of ancestors. The Balkan Slavs are almost universally aware of the belief that a person who plants a Walnut will die when the tree becomes as thick as that person’s neck, his waist, or when the first fruits appear on it. This belief explains the popular prohibitions among the Southern Slavs from planting a Walnut tree near the house, replanting the walnut from place to place, etc.
According to South Slavic beliefs, vilas, samodivas and veshtitsa and other mythological creatures liked to gather on large walnut trees, which also made it unsafe to stay under it.
In the islands of western Scotland there is a white variety of walnut. Children are given necklaces made from such nuts to wear: it is believed that when a child is in danger of spoilage, the nuts darken.
In the Caucasus, the walnut is considered a sacred tree. A thousand-year-old giant stands in the Georgian village of Martkobi. According to legend, in its vast shadow during the Battle of Martkob there was the headquarters of George Saakadze (1580-1629), the leader of a major popular uprising in Kartli and Kakheti against the Persians

In folk medicine: The energy value of the walnut kernel is more than 2 times higher than that of premium quality wheat bread, and walnuts are also rich in fats. The fruits of five trees exceed the oil yield of a hectare of sunflower. Nuts were recommended for nursing mothers and the sick.
In the book "Yogic Therapy" Saraswati wrote: "Nuts contain five times more nutrients than eggs, more fat than butter, more protein than meat, but they require much more gastric juices for digestion." For better absorption, the author advises soaking the nuts in water. In autumn, winter and early spring it is necessary to regularly eat walnuts, but at the same time sharply limit the consumption of vegetable oil so as not to overeat fats.
Avicenna and Hippocrates sang the praises of the walnut: “useful for indigestion, strengthens the main organs: brain, heart; liver; sharpens the senses, especially when combined with figs and raisins; beneficial for older people."
Shelton and other naturopaths classify walnuts as a complete food. Those who adhere to a vegetarian diet or are on the way to it need to eat more nuts. However, the body is not able to absorb more than 100 grams of walnuts at one time; this is the daily requirement of complete protein.
It is very useful to combine walnuts with all kinds of greens; the healing and nutritional effect increases several times. Nuts must be thoroughly chewed or crushed in a meat grinder, which makes digestion much easier and requires much less “gastric juice” for digestion. Naturopaths persistently remind that nuts are evening food and do not mind their somewhat liberal use, but no more than 7-8 pieces per day. Just three nuts eaten daily will give you 7 extra years of life. To preserve nuts longer and better quality, you need to store them peeled.
Walnut leaves are harvested in June. They are used in folk medicine as an anthelmintic, for skin diseases, against scrofula in the form of an infusion, in the treatment of lupus, eczema, skin tuberculosis, for edema, as a diaphoretic. The infusion is prepared by brewing 1 teaspoon of crushed leaves with a glass of boiling water. After settling, filter and drink 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.
A decoction of the leaves is used to gargle for sore throat. Tea from the leaves is recommended to be drunk for scurvy and diabetes.
Walnut oil promotes wound healing. It is used in the treatment of conjunctivitis and inflammation of the middle ear. For chills and nervous diseases, take vodka tincture from thin walnut partitions, 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.
Walnut kernels are effective for restoring male sexual function. It is recommended to eat a dozen nuts per day. Nuts are especially effective in combination with honey and dried fruits. The recipe is simple: chop the nuts, pour honey and three to four tablespoons of the mixture three times a day. Nuts also work great in combination with milk.
In addition to restoring potency and preventing prostatitis, it is advisable to use nuclear adenomas for various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and kidneys.

In magic: The nut has long served as a sacred magical symbol. Manipulation with it, according to legend, could cause rain, heal infertility, give a person wisdom, or, on the contrary, deprive him of his sanity.
Carry the nut in the shell to cure infertility, strengthen the heart and get rid of rheumatism.
In the past, witches danced during their rituals under the shade of a walnut tree. Now this custom is a thing of the past. Watching the witchcraft dances under the walnut tree, people began to treat it with suspicion, and since then the old popular name “tree of vice” has been preserved. To check whether a person is a sorcerer, you need to drop a walnut on his lap. If he or she has witchcraft power, he or she will not be able to get up from the chair. This was one of the ways to test for witchcraft during the witch hunts.
If someone gives you a bag of walnuts, you will see all your wishes come true.
If a woman getting married wants to protect herself from “unexpected surprises,” she should place exactly as many nuts on her body as the number of years she wants to wait to have children. She should do this on her wedding day.
The Celts raised salmon in sacred ponds, supposedly feeding on wisdom nuts from nine sacred trees. They had spots on their backs, corresponding to the number of nuts they had eaten. Anyone who, having caught and cooked such salmon, did not eat it, but was burned by the hot juice, became a sage... In the magic of the ancient Celts, a walnut rod served as a magic wand. This wonderful tool was used not only by fairies and sorcerers, but also by treasure hunters, who used it to discover the location of hidden treasures. A walnut rod is the best tool for drawing a magic circle. Not only the servants of Satan are afraid of him, but also amphibious reptiles. According to legend, St. Patrick, waving a walnut rod, cleared the “Emerald Isle” of snakes, driving them into the sea. Since then, there have been no snakes in Ireland.
It was customary to tell fortunes using nuts, and this tradition still exists. Europeans used walnuts for this purpose, Asians - chestnuts, Indians - pecans, Africans - coconuts.
The simplest way is to take a handful of nuts and scatter them on the table, making a wish.
An even number will appear - the wish will come true, an odd number - it will not come true.
They're guessing at Epiphany So. Take a handful of nuts and crack one. If it turns out to be empty, the coming year will bring crop failure and illness; if it is full, it will bring health and prosperity.
In the old days in Rus' wondered about the betrothed. Two girls each took half a walnut, inserted a small candle into them, lowered them into a bowl of water and lit them. The one whose candle burns out faster will go ahead and get married. Nowadays it is still used, slightly modified (they also use pieces of paper with names)
In England, if a girl wants to know whether she will be happy in love, she takes two nuts, names them with her name and the name of the person she wishes for, and throws them into the flame. If both nuts light up at the same time, they are destined to be together. Otherwise they will separate.
If you have on hand different varieties of nuts, put them in equal quantities in a bag and pull one out at random. Then look at the interpretation.
Brazil nut and chestnut foretell love.
Walnut - health, well-being.
Pecan - work.
Almonds - wealth, wisdom.
Hazelnuts - protection from misfortunes.
Cashew - communication with new people.
Fortune telling about the profession of the future spouse. Chop one walnut and one hazelnut and grate a piece of nutmeg. Mix everything with a small amount of dough or bread crumb, roll into small balls and swallow them all before going to bed. The dream will present a clear symbol of what your future spouse will be doing.
In China, love amulets were made from the fruits and wood of this tree. Twigs of any nut can become a talisman. Tie them crosswise with a red ribbon and place them in your home wherever you see fit. This symbol will quietly give you mental strength, heal, and relieve loneliness.
The following conspiracy is known in healing: “Noble walnut, There is strength in you, There is change in you, Let (the name of the patient) be healthy.” In money magic, walnut shells are used to attract money.
Place a few nuts in a vase or plate and let them be there all the time - moths, flies and mosquitoes cannot stand the smell of nuts. Inhaling the smell of nuts in small doses is pleasant to a person, but in large doses it causes a headache.
It is impossible to ignore the Christian holiday - the Third Savior, which is popularly called the Savior on Canvas, Canvas, Bread, or Nut.
It was called nut because from that day on Christians were allowed to eat nuts from the new harvest.
Bread - since the day before the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated, with which the end of the grain harvest was associated.
A bountiful harvest of walnuts foreshadowed a harsh winter and good prospects for the grain harvest next year.
Walnuts are a sign that foreshadowed the joys and favor of Fate. A dream in which you had to eat rotten walnuts proved that expectations would turn into bitterness and disappointment. If a young woman saw in a dream that her hands were stained with walnuts, it means that her lover will shift his attention to another, and she will regret her unreasonable behavior.
The calendar value of the nut is the first half of the third month after the summer solstice.

), glans – acorn; Latin regius - royal.
In Ancient Greece, walnuts were called the acorns of the gods. The walnut was brought to Russia from Greece along the ancient trade route “Izvariag to the Greeks,” which is where its name came from. In the symbolism of this wonderful representative of the green kingdom of Flora, three important meanings can be distinguished, corresponding to its three hypostases: tree, branches and fruits. The hazel, like any other tree that produces a bountiful harvest of fruit, is a symbol of fertility and abundance; Since ancient times, flexible hazel branches have been regarded as a natural magical tool for divination, and the extremely useful and nutritious fruit, protected by the strong armor of the shell, has become an allegory of secret wisdom, which is not easy to master.
In Irish mythology, the role of the biblical Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was played by a hazel tree that grew over a sacred stream and dropped its precious fruits into its clear waters. The hero Maccumhaill, who tasted those nuts, discovered all the secrets of the universe.
In the myths of the southern Slavs (Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians), there is a connection between the hazel tree, which has its roots in the very heart of the Earth, and the underground Kingdom of the Dead. On the eve of Trinity, the souls of deceased ancestors, in their opinion, move into its branches, so under no circumstances should they be broken before the end of Trinity Week.
The walnut has gained notoriety among the southern Slavs. Pitchforks, seductive winged female spirits who have taken a liking to this tree, from time to time throw a bachelorette party on it. A man who decides to relax in the shade of a walnut may dream of unusually bright and sweet erotic visions, but they threaten him with loss of strength and health. In the religions of many peoples, there were rituals and customs accompanied by the scattering of nuts responsible for fertility. The Romans, wanting to ensure a rich harvest, “fertilized” the fields with nuts during the celebration of Cerealia (April 19). The Slavs showered happy newlyweds with nuts to make their marriage fruitful, and unmarried girls put nuts in their chests to stimulate the accumulation of a dowry.
In the Jewish commentary on the Bible, the Holy Scripture, replete with difficult-to-understand metaphors and allegories, is very successfully compared to a nut, whose shell symbolizes the text, and the kernel - the true hidden meaning, accessible not to every understanding.
In Christian iconography, a split walnut similarly personified Christ himself. The shell of this allegorical nut symbolized the tree of the Holy Cross, the outer green shell symbolized the body of Christ, and the core symbolized his incomprehensible divine nature.
In the magic of the ancient Celts, the walnut rod served as a magic wand. This wonderful tool was used not only by fairies and sorcerers, but also by treasure hunters, who used it to discover the location of hidden treasures. It was they who laid the foundation for dowsing - a method of searching for water, metals and treasures, based on the observation of a sensitive magical vine.
A walnut rod is an ideal amulet against evil spirits and the best tool for drawing a magic circle. Not only the servants of Satan are afraid of him, but also amphibious reptiles. According to legend, St. Patrick, waving a walnut rod, cleared the “Emerald Isle” of snakes, driving them into the sea. Since then, there have been no snakes in Ireland.
Not only hazel branches have great magical power, but also the blessed tree itself, which protects from lightning strikes, as well as its miraculous fruits. Latvians believed that wealth could be provided by jumis - two twin nuts fused together. In the German Christmas tale E.T-A. Hoffmann's victims of the Mouse King could only be bewitched by Krakatuk - a magical nut with a shell covered with magical writing. The mystical properties of the nut were also fully used in mantika. Europeans used nuts to tell fortunes on the night before Christmas. The techniques of the “village” mantika, like the villagers themselves, were distinguished by their exceptional simplicity. The owner of the house took one nut out of the bag at random and cracked it. An empty nut foreshadowed a hungry year, illness and misfortune for household members; full, respectively - a rich harvest, excellent health and complete well-being.
In some countries of the African continent, in particular in Nigeria, the cult of Ifa, the god of palm nuts used in fortune-telling, has acquired great importance. The priests of Ifa, who performed fortune-telling rituals, enjoyed unquestioned authority among the local population; Without their advice, fished out from under a nut shell, the superstitious Yoruba could not take a step.
In military affairs, since the Northern War (1700-1721), a tough nut to crack has become associated with a powerful citadel surrounded by impregnable walls. In 1702, liberating the northwestern lands from the Swedes, the troops of Peter I approached Noteburg (as the Swedes called the ancient Russian city of Oreshek) - a strong fortress at the source of the Neva, surrounded by high and thick walls. For two weeks, Russian artillery bombarded them incessantly, trying to make at least one breach. When this was finally achieved, the Russian soldiers launched an attack. The assault, fierce and bloody, lasted for 12 hours, but in the end Oreshek fell. Peter, delighted by such a glorious Victoria, joked about this:
“It’s true that this nut was extremely tough, but, thank God, it was happily chewed up!”
In modern folklore, the expression “a tough nut to crack” refers to a difficult task. Addressed to a person, the same metaphor means a strong and strong-willed man - a fighter whom you cannot take with your bare hands.