THE SACRED OAK - A BRIEF OVERVIEW

If you had to go online and look up Oak symbolism the first thing that will pop up is: “Since the earliest ties between humans and oaks, a very strong symbolic image of oaks has developed in which these trees have become associated with longevity, strength, stability, endurance, fertility, power, justice, and honesty.” Personally, that ticks me off. Because there is just so much more to this topic. If you decide to read the paragraphs below, you will be taken on a journey that goes beyond the haze of new age spiritualism and misinformation. For your sake, I hope you do.

Briefly introducing the Oak

Because the Oak was so prominent in Celtic history, it is common to imagine druids worshipping around it in some sacred meadow or grove. However, Oak symbolism and belief in its power is quite widespread across Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean and pre-colonial America, to say the least. The Catholic church and the Roman empire destroyed many Oak groves during the Christianization era, and now these sacred trees are under threat from hordes of modern developers who are running out of space to meet the demands of an exploding population. One tenet of the Sky god (who formed the base religion of the Jewish and Christian faiths) is that the Earth exists for the express purpose of meeting the needs of man. This belief was in clear opposition with the beliefs of the pagan people who were quite sympathetic to nature, and I think that this has at least indirectly led to the careless and exploitative attitude of modern humans towards the Earth. Those who recognized the links between Gaia and humankind and therefore opposed the patriarchal Judeo-Christian belief in the domination of nature were persecuted and suffered torture and death. It was only in 1997 that Bartholomew I, the head of the Greek orthodox church at the time stated that it is a sin to degrade nature. But that is beside the current point. The Oak tree is widely distributed, and wherever humans have come across it, it has been viewed as sacred and linked to the divine. The Oak was extremely important in the reality of pre-industrial humans. Acorns were a food source for many tribes and mistletoe (an aromatic parasite that lives in the higher branches of the tree in specific regions) was valued by druids and used as a cure for many health related conditions. Druid could very well be derived from the Indo-European word “druwid” which translates into “oak-wise.” Even though we are now tragically removed from our mystical past, the Oak is still highly revered.

Oak in the Bible

The Oak is mentioned 21 times throughout the Bible. I will reference a select few in the article and attach the rest at as a separate post. “Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak” (Genesis 35:8) (KJV). Saul was also said to have been buried under an Oak. Keep in mind that in various [pagan] beliefs, being buried under an Oak was indicative of being an important individual or even a king. Jacob also buried amulets and idols of strange gods of his household under a tree, and in some translations this tree is an Oak (Genesis 35:4). In his work, The Golden bough, Sir James Frazer mentioned similar practices – he wrote that during mid-lent it was common to bury death under an Oak 1 and in Croatia, witches were buried under old trees in the forest so that their souls could pass into the trees. 2 Druids buried some of their esteemed dead under trees as well, despite most having being buried in tombs, barrows or pits. In Celtic lore, the souls of human beings enter the trees above them at death as a way to make sure that they return to their origins. 3 Up until the late middle ages in Germany, burying corpses in hollow trees was common. It is now widely believed amongst anthropologists that this is where the wooden coffin originated from.

Further biblical references to the Oak include the mighty Oak tree which caught the hair of Absalom, pulling him up to the heavens and earth: “And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.” (2 Samuel 18:9) (KJV). [Possible links to the world tree? See the last bit of paragraph 11 for further context.] In the middle east, many Oaks were regarded as inhabited oaks, including the venerated tree sometimes referred to as Balutat-Ibrahim, or Abraham’s Oak.

It is commonly believed that the Oak is symbolic of Jesus Christ (many components of the Oak tree can be likened to Him and if you would like, I can go through them one by one in a separate post), however, I am not completely convinced that this is why it appears so often in both the old and new testament. This is because in the Bible the Oaks are often treated in two opposing ways – they are understood to represent evil but they are also holy. In early books of the Bible, Oaks are sacred because the early worshippers of Yahweh, the sky god, were still familiar with many pagan beliefs. Abraham was rumored to have built an altar for God in an Oak grove and was visited by God, who appeared as three men in the shade of an Oak tree – look back to Genesis 12:6 and 13:18. Early Jews would sacrifice children to Moloch, meaning king (often used in connection with Yahweh or Astarte, even though Astarte is a goddess) though it was later forbidden. In sacred Oak groves, Oaks were smeared with the blood of sacrificed children before they were burned. Moloch’s grove was situated outside of Jerusalem’s walls.

In later writings, we see a shift in Jewish beliefs about the Oak. Isaiah, Hosea and Ezekiel - all Levite priests - claimed that the sacred groves were heathenish, therefore condemning them. However, the belief in the sacred Oaks at Hebron persisted long into the Christian era.

Many early Christian leaders made a point of preaching near sacred trees. This was often done to further the shift in pagan symbolism to the newer Christian theology. Statues of crucifixes, and of the Virgin Mary were even placed on and near sacred trees, for example the Allonville Oak which was turned into a Catholic church in 1969 and consecrated to the Virgin Mary. This tree is over 1000 years old, with a trunk circumference of over 45 feet, and it is still alive in France. “Allon” is the Hebrew word for Oak and often appears in relation to a type of Oak common in the Mediterranean regions (I find it quite interesting how language connects the old world and the new in so many cases.) Storytelling was another way that the church turned public opinion against the Oak. A story goes that when Jesus’ crucifixion was planned, all the trees met and agreed that they would not be part of the crucifixion. As the laborers tried to build the cross, each tree was splintered into thousands of pieces except the Ilex oak. This made the Oak a traitor, as bad as Judas, so the Oak was then condemned and people were not allowed to bring any part of the tree into their homes, and woodsmen were no longer allowed to cut the tree down. In his book Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants 3 Charles Skinner brought us a kinder version of the Ilex Oak: “...but though it thus became accursed, Jesus forgave it as content to die with Him, and in the shade of an Ilex he reappeared to the saints.”

The divine connection to the Oak is ancient. In Italy, Romans viewed Oaks as something sacred to Jupiter 4 , as they were to the God Zeus in Greece. In The Golden bough, Sir James Frazer wrote that “Perhaps the oldest and certainly one of the most famous sanctuaries in Greece was that of Dodona, where Zeus was revered in the oracular Oak.” Until 219 BCE, Dodona was one of the most revered places in ancient Greece. In A history of Greece, the Dorians “destroyed instead of adopting the civilization which they found.” 5 Dodona then became a secluded outpost, but the sacred Oak was still reportedly standing in 180 CE. Priestesses also continually used the site until 180 CE. Interestingly enough, this sacred Oak was also an Ilex Oak. Aeschylus described the Oak as “a lofty and beautiful tree, an incredible wonder...regarded as the Tree of Life.” 6 Being located in Epirus, Dodona contained a temple dedicated to Zeus near the oracular Oak. Epirus had more storms than anywhere else in Europe and was sacred to Zeus for obvious reasons. Gongs were even hung from the huge Oak and were used to produce sounds similar to thunder when the wind rose. People believed that Zeus was present when the leaves rustled, and his messages were transmitted through the leaves. Abrahams oracular Oak was also used similarly - the rustling of the leaves and the calls of birds were thought to hold divine messages. According to the Slavs, the Oak was sacred to their God Perun – the god of rain, harvest, war and thunder. In 1961 an outdoor shrine to Perun was found - a central mound surrounded by a ditch filled with charcoal, leading to speculation amongst archaeologists that the idol had once stood surrounded by divine fires. 7

Before the patriarchal Gods of the Greek, Roman and Judeo-Christian mythology, there was The great mother, The Goddess of all that was, is and ever will be and this tree is associated with The great mother as well. In his work The Great Mother: An Analysis of the archetype, Eric Neuman wrote: “The Great Mother who brings forth all from herself is eminently the mother of all vegetation. The fertility rituals and myths of the whole world are based upon this archetypal context. The center of this vegetative symbolism is the tree...The protective character is evident in the treetop that shelters nests and birds. In addition, the tree trunk is a container, “in” which dwells its spirit, as the soul dwells in the body.” The female nature of the tree is demonstrated in the fact that treetops and trunk can give birth, as in the case of Adonis and many others. However, in pagan belief, the Goddess is part of The One's dual nature. The universe, like the rest of nature, is made up of both male and female elements. In this sense, the tree reflects the male and female aspects of the Ancient Divine. Although the tree is female, housing nests and birds in Her branches and bearing fruit, it is also male. The tree is also “the Earth phallus, the male principle jutting out of the Earth.” 8 Much of the reason for Judeo-Christian condemnation of the sacred tree stems from the age-old pagan belief in the tree's spiritual duality, which can be found throughout nature. The female aspect of the tree, as well as its general existence, was demeaned, maligned, and vilified. If patriarchal leadership is to survive and thrive, it must replace matriarchal pagan values with their own patriarchal values. The female element of the tree, and the tree's overall existence, was disparaged, demonized, and made subordinate so that the male aspects could overtake. In The Great Mother, Neumann summarized this struggle. 9 Patriarchal teachings, like those found in Christianity, portray the spiritual tree as being reflected by its connections to heaven rather than the Earth, which has nurtured it. Mircea Eliade wrote: “...we find the symbols of the Cosmic Tree and of the center of the world incorporated into the symbolism of the Cross. The Cross is described as a “tree rising from earth to Heaven,” as “the Tree of Life planted on Calvary,” the tree that “springing from the depths of the Earth, rose to Heaven and sanctifies the uttermost bounds of the universe.” 1

More on pagan association with the Oak

Despite the abovementioned perspectives, these deliberate attempts to change the narrative do not dispel long-held pagan beliefs about the Oak. The ancient Greeks referred to the Oak as "The Mother Tree," believing that its branches created the first men. In certain parts of the world, it is believed that the souls of the unborn reside in trees until birth, along with the souls of women who die during childbirth. Neumann, in The World Tree of all living things implies that the world tree/ mother tree is a universal myth.11 I do agree…keeping in mind that I do not mean myth in the condescending sense, but rather as an enduring mythology comprised of a universal memory relating to the natural and supernatural world.

The Oak has historically been linked with other mystical entities. Fairies were said to live in Oak tree hollows. These hollows were known as "fairy doors," and it was believed that by touching them, you could be healed of any illness or disability. The Celts believed that the tree could be either the home of a deity or the deity itself. Individual trees were thought to have their own spirits, but they could also hold the spirits of humans, fairies, or demons. "When an oak is falling, before it falles, it gives a kind of shriekes or groanes that may be heard a mile off, as if it were the genius of the oake lamenting," wrote John Aubrey. 12 Farmers used to milk their cows by passing their hands through clefts in trees when the cow's milk production had dropped off, according to Wayland D. Hand in his book Magical Medicine. 13 It was hoped that in doing so, the farmer would be able to access the supernatural powers left behind by the "fairy folk" who had used the cleft as a portal between worlds. The Oak, like many other hardwoods, was a popular means of disease transmission. "Even in our country," Skinner observed, "we find survivors of that belief in the curability of diseases by pushing the patient not through the 'fairy doors,' but through the forks of an Oak, or a gap artificially constructed with axes, and afterwards to be repaired with loam." 14 In America, folk medicine recommended boring a hole in an Oak and plugging it with a child's hair to treat asthma, or blowing into the hole and jamming it to treat chills. 15 The Druids, however, had strict laws preventing the harmful treatment of any tree in a sacred grove. Frazer accounted: “for such as dared to peel the bark of a standing tree.... the culprit’s navel was to be cut out and nailed to the part of the tree which he had peeled, and he was to be driven round and round the tree till all his guts were wound about its trunk. The intention of the punishment clearly was to replace the dead bark by a living substitute taken from the culprit; it was a life for a life, the life of a man for the life of a tree.” 16 Throughout the world, the Sacred Tree was regarded as a representation of the gods themselves , and "anyone wounding it was thought to have inflicted the injury on the god himself, which merited the most severe retaliation." 17 The Oak was considered sacred in every place in which forests obscured huge tracts of land, and the Oak was dedicated to the God of thunder in each case. The Romans believed that it was sacred to Jupiter, the Germans Donar, the Greeks Zeus, the Slavs Perun, the Celts Lugh the Norsemen Thor and the Lithuanians Perkuns. Frazer wrote that “The Druids esteemed nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the Oak on which it grew; they chose groves of Oaks for the scene of their solemn service, and they performed none of their rites without Oak leaves” and theorized that the mysterious bloom was actually mistletoe. The belief in the Oak as a totem in Britain and Gaul is accepted to have arrived started between 1600 and 1400 BCE, roughly 500 years before the first Celtic intrusions into the region. Perhaps it is this belief in the Oak as a totem that has kept certain forms of folklore alive in the twenty-first century that would otherwise seem out of place. Additionally, "In Westphalia, the peasantry are accustomed to formally announce to the nearest Oak any death that may have occurred in the family, with the words, 'The master is dead," Thompson writes. 'The master is dead; the master is dead!" 19

A little extra

Placement of sacred groves was most likely an attempt to preserve the ancient psychic unity provided by forests. Forests covered vast areas of land in Gaul and the western parts of Europe. Caesar described Germans traveling for two months through one such forest known as the Hercynian. A forest of redwood stretched from the west coast of America to the Mississippi River. Attempts to save the last few hundreds or thousands of acres of old growth trees from the chainsaw have failed. Many Oak groves in America have been replaced by housing developments or shopping malls with names that incorporate the "soul" of the Oak: The Oaks, Lost Oaks, Oak Tree Manor, Oak Haven, Oakwood Village, and so on. Pennick wrote: “The natural forest symbolizes the untamed, wild part of the human soul: it is an archetype of wildness. Wildness, however, is not a state of being out of control; rather it signifies innate naturalness existing in balance with natural principles. Eternal, elemental powers reside in the forest, and those who seek may come into contact with them.” 20

Despite all of this, the Oak is still revered for its strength and majesty. One example is Connecticut's Charter Oak. The massive oak was 400 years old when Columbus first set sail, according to legend. When the first Dutch explorers discovered it in 1614, the Indians had revered it for generations. The English Monarchy demanded the return of the Connecticut Charter, which had granted the colony some of the most liberal rights of any of the colonies, sometime after 1660. In order to keep the charter, some of the colonists hid it in the crevices of the Oak trunk, where it remained safe. The Oak grew up until August 21, 1856, when it was toppled in a storm. David Phillips wrote: “Then did the city of Hartford, indeed all of Connecticut, begin a period of civic mourning. On the day the Charter Oak fell, an honor guard was placed around the remains, Colt’s Band of Hartford played a funeral dirge, an American flag was attached to the shattered trunk and, at sunset, all of the bells of Hartford sounded in mourning knell.” 21 Direct descendants of the Oak were then grown/ are still growing in a forest nourished by the tree's acorns.

Personal Reflection

In Celtic Sacred Landscapes, Pennick wrote: “The wild wood is the place in which we can restore our conscious link with our inner instincts by contacting the “wild man” within all of us. When we are supported by the elemental powers of the wood, a rediscovery of forgotten things can take place.... But this can only happen when the untouched wild wood still exists. Once it is destroyed, then the wild part of the human soul is no longer accessible. Reintegration is no longer possible, and the Wasteland comes.” 22

Even in the current modern state of our world, humans crave the sight, company and presence of vegetation and nature. Do we, in some ways, require the wilderness to survive in order to survive in spirit? I believe that losing our connection to the sacred groves was instrumental in us losing our connection to our archetypal past.

---

FOONOTES:

1. Frazer, Sir James. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions LTD., 1993, 309

2. Porteous, Alexander, The Lore of The Forest. London: Senate, 1996, 166

3. Skinner, Charles M. Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants In All Ages and In All Climes. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1911, 194.

4. Frazer, op. cit. 160

5. Bury, J.B., A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great. New York: The Modern Library, no date, 49-50

6. Porteous, op. cit. 59

7. Phillips, Charles & Michael Kerrigan. Forests of the Vampire: Slavic Myth. New York: Barnes & Noble Books 1999, 37

8. Neumann, Eric. The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963

9. lbid. 50

10. Eliade, Mircea. Rites and Symbols of Initiation: The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1958, 119.

11. Neumann, op. cit., 52

12. Aubrey, John. “Remaines of Genilisme and Judaisme” in Folklore Society, No. IV 1881, 247.

13. Hand, Wayland D. Magical Medicine: The Folkloric Component of Medicine in the Folk Belief, Custom, and Ritual of the Peoples of Europe and America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980, 134.

14. Skinner, op. cit., 196-197

15. Hand, op. cit., 84, 99.

16. Frazer, op. cit., 110.

17. Ibid., 217

18. lbid., 160

19. Thompson, C.J.S. The Hand of Destiny: Everyday Folklore and Superstitions. London

20. Pennick, op. cit., 24.

21. Philips, David E. Legendary Connecticut: Traditional Tales from the Nutmeg State. Willimantic: Curbstone Press 1992, 141

22. Pennick, op. cit

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INSPO:

VARNER, G. R. 2006. The mythic forest, the green man and the spirit of nature: the re-emergence of the spirit of nature from ancient times into modern society, Algora Publishing.