TREES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO LIFE, DEATH AND TRANSFERENCE

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As previously touched on in previous articles, forests and trees have a lot of folklore and mythology surrounding them. Folk medicine is still a thriving component of this cannon.

Transference and other medicinal folk practices are common in relation to powerful trees and tree sites around the world. Diseases caused by spirits were distinguished by leaving clothing from the patient near the trees that were associated with the spirits (blackthorns, willows or roses), and then praying there. If the clothing is displaced the next morning, it was taken as confirmation that the victim had been enchanted.

In Canada, a conjuring doctor performed an interesting ritual for diagnostics: first the doctor went into an orchard to cut off 9 tiny ends of 9 twigs from 9 different apple trees. She then put the pieces into a basin of water. If the pieces sank, the disease was fatal, but if some stayed afloat it was not serious (Wintemberg,1952). And even the Síd would carry a branch from an apple tree with them on their journeys into the human world, because the leaves made a chiming sound that would put humans to sleep and cure their pain (Davidson, 1998).

Until the end of the 19th century it was common for children to be passed through natural gaps in stones and trees to cure diseases. In 1876, a news article in said that passing through a wood at Spitwich could cure infants because their illness would be transferred to the tree when the infant went through the gap, and there were 5 other trees that could do the same thing. Other methods of transference included the ancient roman tradition of hammering nails into trees to pass on the pain of toothache and tying pieces of cloth worn by diseased people to a tree to transfer the illness.

Coins, needles, and pins were traditionally placed in the bark of various trees in England as offerings to the local spirit or Fairy – especially trees with holy wells nearby. In 1877, Queen Victoria is said to have placed silver coins in the bark of a tree growing alongside a holy spring dedicated to St. Mourie on Loch Maree. The tradition of laying offerings on sacred trees in exchange for healing is mentioned in both the Odyssey and Ovid's Metamorphoses.

These ceremonies are not exclusive to the Old World. The Medicine Tree, a gigantic Ponderosa pine, is associated with similar traditions among the Salish Indians of Montana's Bitterroot Valley. According to tribal legend, Coyote entices a malevolent bighorn ram that has murdered everything in its path to knock the tree over. When the ram smashed into the tree, one of its horns entered the trunk and stuck out the other side, trapping it. Coyote then hacked the ram's head off and flung it far up on a steep hillside, where, according to lore, it left the impression of a human face. Coyote said that the visage "will be a sign of his doings here" and that "this tree will be a place for human beings to leave offerings of their prized possessions, and to give thanks, and to pray for their well-being, for good fortune and good health" (Anon, 1999). The tree is now over 350 years old and native Americans still hand offerings from the trees branches.

In England and Scotland, it was thought that each person had a "double soul" that lived within a tree (Mackenzie, 1996). Traditionally, a tree was planted when a child was born, and the kid's spirit was inextricably bound to the tree. In these circumstances, a person may die if their tree is chopped down, or the tree may shrivel up and die when the person does. Similar stories have emerged from the United States, where "birth trees" of oak were planted when a child was born. The idea was that as the oak grew stronger, so would the child, who would be safeguarded for the rest of its life. A similar piece of folklore recorded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1958 stated that the garments of a "weakly child" should be draped on "strong" trees, such as oaks, to impart some of the tree's power to the child.

A Japanese story tells of a young man who adored a willow tree growing in the center of his hamlet. One day, he met a girl under the willow tree and fell in love. After some time, they got married. One day, the Emperor ordered that the willow tree be cut down to make way for a new temple. The young man attempted to save the tree but failed. According to the story, after the tree was cut down, "his wife told him that it housed her spirit." He held on to her, but neither physical nor spiritual love could keep her with him, and she died as the tree fell to the ground (Piggot, 1982).

In German folklore, babies were born from hollow trees, with the hollowed sections presumably signifying a route to the underworld, allowing the soul from this mystery realm to grow into a baby in the upper world. In several cultures, humans were supposed to have evolved from trees, or vice versa. According to J.H. Philpot, a nineteenth-century folklorist, the locals of Malabar told an Italian pilgrim in the 14th century about trees that produced pigmy men and women instead of fruit. They stayed fresh and robust as long as the wind blew, but once it stopped, they faded and dried out (Sahi, 1980). In India, childless men and women continue to worship in holy trees and pray for children (Riggern, 1972).

According to ancient Akkadian literature, people have long believed in the ability of certain trees and plants to produce human progeny. The unfinished tale of Etana, one of the first rulers of the Sumerian city of Kish, talks of his hunt for "the plant of birth" to enable him have children. According to legend, this mysterious plant flourished solely within the confines of heaven.

In the South Pacific, there is a wealth of oral history about sacred trees that serve as the "roadway" for the souls of the deceased to go from the physical world to the underworld. Typically, the tree grows from a gap in the rock on a steep bluff, which is known as the "leaping off" or "casting off" point where the soul takes its first leap from the realm of the living. By climbing onto and carefully following the tree branches, the soul can finally reach heaven and one's forefathers. By gripping the incorrect branch, the soul may descend into the realm of the dead.

Lore from around the world tells of trees that were either home to ghosts or souls waiting to enter the bodies of lone females passing by. According to the Semang of the Philippines, the deceased travel to a wondrous island where the Tree of Life, the Magic Tree, can be found. Here, "the recently deceased become real spirits and may eat the fruits of the tree." This, of course, is a wondrous tree and the wellspring of life, for at its roots are breasts full of milk, as well as the spirits of infants—possibly the souls of the still unborn" (Wilbert, 1974).

It is believed that fresh spirits are waiting here to be born again. The Yupa Indians of Venezuela remember a time when "most trees were human beings." However, these eventually broke into two tribes that quarreled, as one did not want the other to live in the plains. After a protracted struggle, both groups gave up, and the mountain trees let those on the plains to dwell in peace.

It is customary in modern Scotland, as it was in the past, to nail branches of rowan over the entryway of homes and barns to protect residents from bad witches and travelers from fairies with evil intentions. Rowan was so powerful that it was and continues to be carried by travelers to keep them safe during their journey. Elder is another type of wood that protects against witches, spirits, and evil. The Druids constructed their wands out of rowan and yew wood. Rowanberries were supposed to have magical characteristics that could "abolish sickness and renew youth" (Rutherford, 1993). Mackenzie claimed that red rowanberries "contain in concentrated form the animating influence of the deity" and could cure disease, restore youth, or protect those who had them as charms against evil (Mackenzie, 1996). Rowanberries were referred to as "luck-berries."

The hazel tree, too, produces miraculous fruit. Hazelnuts eaten from the tree next to the Well of Segais, near the Boyne River's source, bestowed the gift of poetry or prophecy. Divining rods have traditionally been made from hazel tree wood. Druidic bards etched their poetry into hazel wood.

Hunting "superstitions" refer to old taboos and traditions. One Kansas hunting ritual described in 1965 is that each animal species hunted has its own sort of tree. "When a hunter shoots an animal, he is to break off a twig from that tree, dip it in the animal's blood, and put it in his hat" (Koch, 1963). This practice is comparable to the Native American tradition of saying a prayer of thanks to the animal before killing it, but the ritual is completed afterward.

While the death of trees may signify the death of a person it was also believed that the soul of a departed person would manifest as a small, clear flame near great, sacred trees.

As I mentioned previously, the Druids imposed a particularly severe punishment for anyone who peeled the bark from holy oak trees. In later years, anyone who cut down a tree—any tree—faced death. Such an act, it was reported, "was held to offend the Tree Spirits, which were worshipped (and of which, incidentally, the May Day festivities are a survival)." The Radfords wrote that if a man cut off a branch of a tree, he would lose a limb (Radford, 1946).

The Karok Indians of California would cut limbs from fir or pine trees to use as "sacred fuel" in "assembly chambers". This deed, however, was not performed without ritual or prudence. According to 19th-century anthropologist Stephen Powers, the Karok climbs a tall fir or pine and trims all the limbs until he reaches the top, leaving two and a top-knot resembling a man's head and arms outstretched. During this process, he weeps piteously and sheds real tears (Powers, 1976).

The planned arrangement of the limbs into the outstretched head and arms of a man is a clear attempt to recognize the spirit of the tree, and the tears were shed in sadness for the sacrilege.

Sentient trees

Sir John Mandeville, a 14th-century knight, wrote about the Trees of the Sun and the Moon in his famous journey journal, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. These trees, supposed to have spoken to Alexander and informed him of his impending death, were said to be located in the Middle East, presumably near the modern-day Bahrain islands in the Persian Gulf. “Some say’, wrote Mandeville, “that the people who look after those trees eat the fruit of them and the balm that grows there, and live four or five hundred years… (Mandeville, 1983).”

Other sentient, talking trees are mentioned in mythology all around the world. According to 19th century ethnologist James Mooney, the Cherokee thought trees and plants could communicate in the past (Mooney 1995). The belief that trees have souls led to a further expansion of the concept to encompass speech. "Naturally, when a soul was given to a tree," Porteous wrote, "it was also equipped with the ability to speak. This communication is typically in a strange, metaphorical, or silent language, but it makes itself heard..."Many trees have even adopted human speech... (Porteus, 1996)."

The Indians of British Columbia shared similar ideas. According to Porteous, "among some of the Indian tribes…the belief prevails that men are transformed into trees, and that the creaking of the branches in the wind is their voice."

According to Yaqui legend, a talking tree appeared to the original race of Little People who lived on Earth. According to John Bierhorst, "One day, a tree started speaking in a weird language. Except for one little girl, none of the surem (dwarves) understood what it was saying. She stated that the tree foreshadowed the arrival of white people, who would bring new weapons, railroads, and carnage. Wary of the possibility of such violence, the surem withdrew underground to live, and they are still there today (Bierhorst, 1990).

At times, the spirits of humans and trees appear to connect and converse with one another. In The Spirit World by the editors of Time-Life Books, a Lenape (Delaware Indian) herbalist named Touching Leaves Woman had such an interaction as a young child. "She was riding a horse with her aunt in the woods when the elder woman collapsed unconscious on the ground. It was nightfall, and the small girl was scared by the darkening forest. Suddenly, she noticed that the trees had become practically human. As a gentle breeze rustled their leaves, they smiled and talked softly to her, promising her no harm. They kept their promise. The girl and her aunt were quickly found, and the elder woman fully recovered."

Philpot writes that "the spirits inhabiting the three trees of the Hesperides gave advice to the wandering Argonauts (Philpot,1987)" According to Philostratus, Apollonius commanded a tree to address him in a distinct feminine voice. When the Gauls besieged Rome, a voice from the grove of Vesta urged them to repair their fortifications or the city would fall (D’Alviella,1956). In addition, we have the oracular trees at Delphi and Dodona, through which the gods spoke with humanity.

Many civilizations have long believed that climbing certain sacred trees would lead to heaven. This is true for Indian tribes in South America, Polynesians, and certain groups in India. D'Alviella also claimed that "the Khasias of India take the stars to be men who scaled heaven by climbing up a Tree, and were obliged to remain in the branches, their companions, who had stopped on earth, having cut down the trunk."

In the Samoan Otherworld, the Tree of Life stood, providing all of the underworld's requirements. A tree stood on the beaches of the Water of Life in the Melanesian Land of the Dead. The soul was able to dive into the subterranean sea of life after leaving the tree (Anderson 1969).

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 REFERENCES

• Wintemberg, W. J.  Folk-Lore of Waterloo County, Ontario. Ontario: National Museum of Canada, Bulletin No. 116, Anthropological Series No. 28, 1950, 22

• Davidson, H.R. Ellis. Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press 1988, 180

• Cizmár, Josef. Lidové lékarství v Ceskoslovensku. Vol. 1. Czechoslovakia: Melantrich, A.S. 1946, 158

• “Medicine Tree Needs Powerful RX” in Montana Magazine, Sept-Oct 1999

• Lesley, Craig. River Song. New York: Picador USA 1989, 127

• Mackenzie, Donald A.  Ancient Man in Britain. London: Senate 1996, 190 (A reprint of the 1922 edition by Blackie & Son Limited, London)

• Piggott, Juliet. Japanese Mythology. New York: Peter Bedrick Books 1982, 71

• Philpot, Mrs. J.H. The Sacred Tree in Religion and Myth. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. 2004, 74-75 (A reprint of the 1897 edition published by Macmillan and Co., Ltd. London and New York)

• Sahi, Jyoti. The Child and the Serpent: Reflections on Popular Indian Symbols. London: Arkana 1980, 151

• Ringgren, Helmer. Religions of the Ancient Near East. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press 1973, 75

• Wilbert, Johannes. Yupa Folktales. Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Volume 24, Latin American Center, UCLA 1974, 143-144

• Rutherford, Ward. Celtic Lore. London Aquarian/Thorsons 1993, 73

• Mackenzie, op cit 180

• Koch, William E. “Hunting Beliefs and Customs from Kansas” in Western Folklore, Vol. XXIV, July 1965, Number 3. Published by the California. Folklore Society, UCLA. pg. 173

• Radford, Edwin and Mona A.  Encyclopaedia of Superstitions. New York: Philosophical Library 1949, 244

• Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Berkeley: University of California Press 1976, 25. A reprint of the 1877 publication Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. III published by the Department of Interior, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
  

• Mandeville, Sir John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Trans. by C.W.R.D. Moseley. London Penguin Books 1983, 181 (A translation of the 1356 publication).
  

• Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 1995, 231 (A reprint of the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98 published in1900 by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington).
  

• Porteous, Alexander. The Lore of the Forest: Myths and Legends. London: Senate 1996, 152 (A reprint of the 1928 publication, Forest Folklore published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. London).
  

• Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of Mexico and Central America. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1990, 9
  

• Anon. The Spirit World. Op cit. 105
  

• Flavius Philostratus who, in 216 CE by request of the Empress Julia Domna, wrote a biography of the 1st century Greek philosopher/mystic Apollonius of Tyana.
  

• Philpot, op. cit.  101-102

• D’Alviella, The Count Goblet. The Migration of Symbols. New York: University Books 1956, 171

• Anderson, Johannes C.  Myths and Legends of the Polynesians. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle Company: Publishers 1969, 420