Adonis, Gardens of
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Adonis, Gardens of: In the ancient Greek cities founded in Sicily and Magna Graecia, the worship of the nature/vegetation god, Adonis, was very popular. A ritual to this deity was known as the Gardens of Adonis. These so-called gardens were actually baskets or pots filled with earth, in which wheat, barley, lettuces, fennel, and various kinds of flowers were sown and tended by women for eight days. Although the plants sprouted quickly and flourished, they lacked a root system and withered and died at the end of eight days. The dead plants were then bundled with images of Adonis and brought to the seashore or to a sacred spring, where they were flung into the water. After the rise of Christianity, the ritual of the Gardens of Adonis survived to become part of the Easter celebrations. As the holy day approached, women sowed wheat, lentils and canary seed in plates, which they kept in the dark and watered every two days. When the plants grew tall enough they were tied together in bundle with red ribbons. On Good Friday the plants in their plates were brought to both Catholic and Greek Rite churches where they were then placed on sepulchers with effigies of Christ. This practice, known as the “Gardens of Gethsemane” has survived into modern times in Sicily as well as at Cosenza in Calabria.