Table of contents : Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Dedication Table of contents List of figures Acknowledgements 1 Rooting in What is a sacred tree? Thinking theologically through trees Roman religion: sources and methodology A plan for growth 2 A brief history of tree thinking Tree thinking: getting back to roots Arboreal ardour Arboreal analysis Tree thinking: propagating the tradition Tree thinking today 3 How arboreal matter matters Tree worship Sacred wood Memorial matter: the many faces of the ficus Ruminalis The secret history of the ficus Ruminalis The sacrality of the ficus Ruminalis 4 Arboriculture and arboreal deaths Approaching arboriculture Piacular pruning in the Arval grove Conceptualising crises Conceptualising crises (again) 5 Confronting arboreal agency Numina and nymphs Arboreal portents 6 Imagining the gods Gods and tree types Arboreal epithets Arboreal statues Trees in cult space 7 Branching out Appendix Bibliography Index