And now…
RELIGIOUS LEGENDS
We start with the Hindu religion, which has a fascinating history involving Ocimum tenuiflorum
aka.
Tulsi Basil
aka.
Holy Basil.
O holy basil, your taste is truly scrumptious.
Tulsi basil is in fact considered to be the most holy plant in the whole Hindu religion.
And it all starts with this big guy.
Now.
I’m am obviously not a religious historian.
So if I get anything terribly wrong about this story please let me know in the comment
section down below.
I am not trying to offend anyone.
Alright, depending on which story you hear, Vrinda
and Tulasi or Tulsi are two different people.
But from most sources I saw, Vrinda actually turns into Tulsi.
We'll get into more about that later.
The story starts with Vrinda out for a leisurely walk one day
She sees Lord Ganesha and thinks
mmm mmm mmm!
That boy is fine!
Ooo!
I gonna marry him right there that’s what I’m gonna do. Oh yeah.
So Vrinda asks Ganesha if he wanted to get hitched, but he politely refused.
Unfortunately she doesn't take this very well and
she curses Lord Ganesha to get married against his will.
he he hee
Which of course led to Ganesha cursing her back, cause, he’s a god, and he can’t
let her get away with a mean spirited curse.
So he curses her to marry the Demon King Jalandhar.
Who was born out of the fire from Lord Shiva’s third eye!
Cool.
Unfortunately, Vrinda's chastity and her devotion to Lord Vishnu
are so pure and awesome
that she gives Jalandhar
super powers!
And Jalandhar decides he wants to kill the gods.
maybe because they didn’t let him
play kick ball with them when he was younger,
or I don't know, he was probaby too drink drank drunk on his power.
Either way,
he picks a fight with Lord Shiva.
Which is weird because he’s actually part of Lord Shiva.
Oh…
Nega Shiva!
Can you defeat, yourself?
Nega scott!
The rest of this story has several versions.
but essentially Vishnu comes down from the heavens
and decides to break up the fight
by destroying Vrinda’s virtue.
Damn.
That's cold.
So he comes down from the heavens
and either, gets a little freaky deaky with her
or has a nice G rated hug.
either way, breaks the curse.
Once Vrinda realizes Vishnu’s trick…she kills herself…
by fire…
or by drowning.
But, not before wielding her curse powers one more time
and turning Vishnu, into a rock,
the Shaligram stone to be specific.
So Lord Vishnu was feeling you know
quite a bit guilty about screwing over his number one disciple
so he decides to turn her a symbol to be worshipped for her faithfulness.
So he transfers her body into the ground,
or just goes, poof there she is
and truns Vrinda into tulsi
remember, we were talking about before where Vrinda's getting turned into tulsi
this is it, tulsi basil
thanks to Vishnu, Tulsi Basil is now known as a symbol of love, eternal life, purification
and protection.
Hindus hold the herb sacred and ask forgiveness when they touch it.
Every morning the woman of the house offer water, incense and flowers to the Tulsi plant
In the evening oil lamps are lit in front of it.
Hindus also have Tulsi plants in their house to act as the protecting spirit of the family.
Rosary beads can even be made from the woody stems of the tulsi plant.
It’s even is used in burial rituals and planted around temples.
Because of its holiness, the British empire at one time actually used Tulsi Basil as a substitute for
a Bible, upon which,
Indians would take an oath in a court of law.
Bam!
Basil rules.
Do people still say bam?
Speaking of Bibles…
Christianity and Basil
Say what?
what you talking about Erick
I ain't never heard of no basil in Christianity.
Well then you should know that basil is often used as a substitute
in many branches of Orthodox Christianity
when an aspergillum isn't available
that’s the thingy they used to sprinkle holy water
But it’s even holier than that.
Basil is tied to the ceremony of the Elevation of the Cross, of Jesus Christ.
St. Helena,
she’s Emperor Constantine’s mom,
you do know him right?
Right?
Well, if you don’t, you should.
He’s the guy who legitimized Christianity in the Roman Empire allowing it to spread
across the globe.
He also called the Council of Nicea.
Which is responsible for a little book called,
the Bible.
Well, his mom St. Helena,
is said to have been lead to the True Cross of Christ by a
trail of basil.
Once she arrived at the location, a patch of basil marked the exact spot where Jesus
and the two thieves crosses were buried.
But, because there were three crosses St. Helena was like, huh?
How do I tell which one it is?
So she very cleverly got an ailing woman to kiss all three of the crosses.
and when she kissed the True Cross, guess what?
Boom!
She was healed.
The story in some accounts
she used a dead guy
and when he touched the True Cross of Christ
well, he came back to life
There are even some accounts that say basil
was growing out of the cross while Jesus was still on it.
Basil, not just a pretty tasty herb folks, it’s biblical.
And this is why many Christian faiths still use basil today for the Feast Day of the Elevation
of the Cross of Jesus Christ,
which is held annually on the 14th of September.
It is also used for water consecration during the celebration of Jesus’s baptism.
In Eastern cultures, young girls are supposed to place a thread of basil under their pillow
on the Eve of Jesus Baptism
This of course is supposed to make them dream about their future spouse.
come on everybody, lets put some basil under our pillows
and dream about your future spouses…unless we've already got one
I guess we'll just dream about who you’re with then?
I hope.
Thanks so much for watching.
if you liked this video please make sure to
click the like button and share it with your friends.
also, if you want to learn more about basil and religion,
please go ahead and look at the links in the description below
My question for today is,
have you ever used basil in a religious ceremony?
If so, please say so in comment section down below.
Until next time, be kind and use basil.