I think trees have a special place in human imagination. Forests have mythical status, offering protection, or harbouring threat. It’s probably partly because trees can live for so many more years than humans can. During the “great flu” early in the twentieth century which killed millions of people, sangomas in Africa, and shamans in Alaska claimed that the villages which were built around great trees had far fewer deaths from flu than those which weren’t. I don’t think that’s ever been shown to be true, but it shows how the myths of the protective power of trees is universal. A great tree can have protective powers, can be a source of healing. I could tell you a couple of really interesting stories about healing trees, but I’ll leave them to another post.
My grandfather would talk about “The Big Tree” and I have a very clear image in my head of a black and white photo of him standing under “The Big Tree”. It’s a tree growing in one of the main streets of Kirkwall, in Orkney. I also remember seeing that tree enclosed in iron railings. I always thought that was a bit sad, as if the tree was imprisoned, although I suspect the railings were there to protect the tree.
The Man Who Planted Trees, by Jean Giono, is one of my most favourite books. It’s a true hero story, a narrative of the power of one person’s actions in transforming the world. American readers are probably familiar with Johnny Appleseed, which has similar narrative characteristics. I can also recommend The Story of Yew, by Guido Mina di Sospiro, whose narrator is a tree. It’s botanically informative, opening your eyes to the amazing wonder of trees, and it’s a thought-provoking tale which makes you think about life. The third book on my bookshelf about trees is Eucalyptus, by the Australian author, Murray Bail, a kind of classic fairy tale of the man who wants the hand of the princess and has to complete the challenge set by her father to do so. The challenge is to name every one of the hundreds of Eucalyptus trees he has planted on his ground.
So, in the light of that, have a look at this photo –
I expect you can see lots of trees around Stirling Castle here, but there’s one, right up there by the castle which catches your eye, isn’t there?
That tree is one of my all time favourites. I see it probably every day. Have you got any favourite trees? Like to tell me about them?
What a fascinating photo, the way that light seeps into the tree tops like a fog is amazing.
I grew up in the woods of Oregon, and when I was little I felt like they each had personalities, and they knew I was there playing next to them. Old growth forests are really amazing, like those ancient trees that are monstrous living in Japan, I’d like to see those one day.
Do tell the stories of healing trees in a post soon, I’d love to hear about them 🙂
I so have a tree like that, a tree which I saw everyday as I woke up in the first year of my marriage.
A tree which stood tall on a hill covered with trees, a tropical tree tall, tall, so slender with a white trunk and branches only near the very top.
I have so many pictures of that tree.
It was my friend when I spent lonely afternoons fiddling about the house, and it was my comfort on those rare lonely nights when my husband was away, its outline clearly seen ever so reassuringly against the background of the starlit skies.
There is a huge, beautiful willow tree on a lawn down the street from me that I adore. I’d post a photo but my pictures do not do it justice. I used to think of trees as the “humans” of the plant world…until I realized that might not be a compliment. 😉 Love this article; you are a man after my own heart.
[…] 27, 2008 by bobleckridge In an earlier post I wrote about significant trees and said I’d tell a couple of healing tree stories. Here’s one of […]