Chapter 3
Although the majority of contemporary society may have seemingly forgotten the meaning and sacredness of the tree, the magick of the tree continues to thrive and influence us today. Here are a few modern examples to ponder:
The Yule Log: Yule is a Pagan holiday of pre-Christian origin in celebration of the winter solstice and the return of the sun. Since the winter solstice is the longest night of the year, it marks the time when the light of the sun will begin to last a bit longer each day until the summer solstice. In earlier times, before we had indoor plumbing, heat, electricity, cars, supermarkets, etc., the common folk relied on farming and hunting for survival. For many, depending on where one lived, winter was a time of dread, and only those who gathered and stored enough food and firewood to endure the long, hard, and brutally cold winter months survived. The return of sunlight meant the promise of warmth, light, and easier access to food. It only stands to reason that the return of the sunlight and warmth was certainly something to celebrate and to be thankful for. For many Pagans, the sun was a symbol or representation of the masculine form or aspect of deity, and therefore Yule also served the purpose of celebrating the birth of the sun god. It is easy to see why the later Christians adopted the holiday to celebrate the very same thing, only in this case the birth of the son rather than the sun. One ancient Pagan tradition that is still practiced today is that of the Yule log.
The Yule log is a surviving custom of pre-Christian Celtic traditions and is a fun and wonderful way to celebrate the return of the sun and the hope of eternal life. It is generally thought that the log was made from oak and gathered earlier in the year. There are many traditions and ways of creating/utilizing a Yule log, and so here I will only share two.
On the night of winter solstice, the log is burned in the hearth (fireplace), but a small portion of the log is saved and kept to rekindle the fire for the next winter solstice and the new Yule log. This is a symbolic gesture of the continuation of life and/or the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is also thought to have brought protection to the home. The ashes of the log can be saved and used for protection or other magickal workings.
Another way to incorporate a Yule log into solstice celebrations is to gather a log, one that has good balance and that does not tend to roll over, then carve or drill one, two, or three holes in the log just big enough to hold taper candles. A log with one lit candle can represent the return of the sun or the masculine form of the the Great Spirit, the collective force of all spirit. Two candles can represent the masculine and feminine aspects of the divine, the darkness and the light, or life and death. Three candles can represent life, death, and rebirth or the Goddess, the God, and their union. There are many possibilities and even more when it comes to choosing the colors of the candles and what those colors may mean to you. It is reasonable to have one green candle to represent Mother Earth, one red (or orange or yellow) candle to represent the light of the sun, and a white candle in the middle to represent the Great Spirit. I prefer this second method because this way the same log can be used again and again and therefore represents longevity and eternal life. While it may be traditional to use oak wood for the Yule log, and that certainly is a great choice, there is no reason to limit it to oak alone. Pine, fir, or spruce can be used to represent protection and eternal life, or birch can be used to represent new beginnings. Apple wood can be used to represent love and abundance, willow for ease of suffering and magick, and there are many other options and possibilities as well. Please refer to Section Two or Chapter 12 for more information regarding the magickal and mythical correspondences of trees.
The Christmas/Yule Tree: A representation of eternal life and rebirth. It is almost always an evergreen tree that is used to festively decorate the home, whether it be real or artificial. The evergreen tree represents endurance through hardships and the promise to survive the cold months of winter. Due to the fact that an evergreen tree maintains green leaves (typically needles) all year round, these trees have historically represented eternal life and longevity. Ancient Pagan Rome used evergreen trees during the feast of Saturnalia to symbolically celebrate and welcome the birth of a new year.
Many years back, a friend I met on Facebook, Ian, once shared with me his take on pine trees by saying they reminded him of rocket ships pointing toward heaven. He mentioned that perhaps when people or animals are buried near a pine tree, the tree acts as a facilitator to send the soul out into heaven. I cannot help but think his analogy could possibly be similar to the concept the ancient Egyptians had in mind while constructing the pyramids. Not only that, but an evergreen tree such as spruce, pine, or fir makes me think about Christian lore, which has it that Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross, a tree, and his sacrifice represents eternal life. I think that this may possibly be one reason why the Christian faith incorporated ancient Pagan Yule traditions of an evergreen tree into contemporary practice. In fact, I decided to do some research on the possible types of wood that could have been used by the Romans for crucifixion. While it is not known for certain which trees they used, it is largely agreed that the crosses were likely constructed from a few types of wood that were locally available. The consensus includes cedar, cypress, palm, olive, pine, and box. I once read that the longest going legends support the notion that Jesus was crucified on either cedar, pine, or cypress. All three of these are evergreen trees, except for the bald cypress, and therefore again we see the evergreen as representing eternal life or life after death.
The Christmas/Yule Wreath: Think about the meaning of a circle. There is no beginning and no end, only a continuation. The wreath represents eternal life and a way to view time apart from a linear viewpoint as well as a symbol of hope and protection. The wreath can also represent the wheel of the year and the natural cycle of life, death, and rebirth. These holiday wreaths are almost always made from either real evergreen trees or artificial representations of them.
The Maypole: A celebratory symbolic representation of the balance of male/female and of reproduction. Maypoles can be made from many types of wood.
The Family Tree: A family tree is a record of the continuation of life after death or the passing of blood from generation to generation. The family tree not only reveals the most recent members of a family, but also the family’s roots. Again, this represents the continuation of life after death.
Walking Stick/Magickal Staff: A symbol of wisdom, age, and a bridge symbolically connecting the past, present, and future. A walking stick also symbolizes a journey. I have included more information about this in Chapter 11.
Flagpoles: These lift our pride from below and into the air above for all to see. While most modern flagpoles are usually made from steel or aluminum, they were originally made from various types of wood and the practice of constructing flagpoles dates to at least two thousand years ago. Although not related, whenever I see a flag pole I automatically think about the Native American practice of creating totem poles.
The Cross: This symbol commonly represents the death and rebirth of Jesus, but it also represents the four directions, the four elements, and the procession of the sun. This symbol predates Christianity.
The Ladder of Transmigration: The Ladder of Transmigration is a pictorial symbol from medieval Christianity and looks much like a pine tree. It is a representation of the transmigration of the soul from its earthly form and into heaven or paradise. I suspect that the staff of the Pope, called the papal staff, is based on this very image.
The Tree House: As a child, or even as an adult, did you ever play in a tree house or dream of having one? Did you ever stop to think about it? Probably not, because that would defeat the purpose to begin with. A tree house can represent not only innocence and escape from the stresses of responsibility but can also represent our lost heritage—a time when we once lived in harmony with our environment. The tree house represents a childhood fantasy but also is a symbol of our journey from childhood to adulthood, and then into the ever after.
General Sherman: General Sherman is the largest living tree on earth and is located in the Sequoia National Park of California. Over a million people visit the park each year to see not only General Sherman but the many government-protected giant sequoia trees. Many people still find beauty and awe in trees.
Tying Ribbons around Trees: I am not sure when this tradition started, but perhaps in the 1970s the popular song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” by Tony Orlando and Dawn inspired the custom. The song told a tale of a man who served time as a prisoner of war and wanted his girlfriend to give him a sign that he was still wanted when he came home. If he saw a yellow ribbon tied to the oak tree, it meant that she was still faithful to him, but if it was not there, he would simply go on with his life and try to forget her. The song was likely inspired by a nineteenth-century practice of women tying yellow ribbons in their hair to make a public statement proclaiming that they were still loyal and devoted to their husbands or lovers who went away to war. Nowadays, there are many customs of tying ribbons around trees. I have seen pink ribbons tied around trees to symbolically stand against breast cancer, red ribbons for AIDS, blue ribbons for freedom, and even ribbons tied on trees to celebrate Earth Day. Could these practices be a modern form of folk magick?
Carving Love Affirmations on Tree Trunks: We have seen it in movies and in real life. You know what I’m talking about: a heart-shaped image carved into a tree trunk that often includes initials proclaiming one’s love for another such as “P & J forever.” On the campus where I earned my BA and where I am currently working on my MA is the Fell Arboretum, which was founded in 1867 and granted status in 1995 into the International Society of Arboriculture. It contains thousands of trees on a 490-acre site and represents over 154 species. When I first began studying the trees that thrive there, I noticed that on the bark and trunks of a large beech tree, there were years and years of carved images, mostly love affirmations, that students had engraved. At first, I was rather appalled by the blatant desecration of the tree, but at second glance it seemed as though the tree was still quite healthy and had suffered little as a consequence.
A few years later, I learned about an old folk tale suggesting that carving into the bark of a beech tree makes honest requests or dreams come true. After thinking about this for a while, I am inclined to believe that the practice could be applied to most types of trees; however, the trunk and bark of older beech trees is very smooth and makes carving a very easy process.
On that note, I simply must share a brief and true story. It must have been well over ten years ago when a great friend of mine, former member of our group, and fellow lover of trees shared with me that she had met a boy on campus that she instantly took an interest in. The feeling seemed mutual. Every day they began to meet each other before and after class beneath the large weeping beech tree on campus (a weeping variety has branches and leaves that reach down to the ground rather than up into the air) where they would talk, read to each other, and make out. Today they are happily married and recently gave birth to their first child. As I was writing this little section, I contacted her to ask if they had ever carved upon the tree, and while the answer was no, she reported to me that the tree seemed to have a very unique character and vibe to the point that the tree seemed to have chosen them and that only those the tree permitted were given access to enter its sacred space.
I challenge you to find more examples of the sacredness of the tree that can be found today, for there are many others. Dare yourself to imagine.
Summary
From the beginning of recorded history, both ancient and contemporary cultures across the world have viewed trees as a means of nourishment, healing, magick, and balance and as a symbol of our connection to the divine as well as the divine’s connection to us.
In numerous myths and tales concerned with the sacredness of trees, we have encountered the number twelve repeatedly and this can be a representation of the heavens above, the world below, and the ages of time. From the heavens to the earth, the tree stands in the center as a symbol of the Goddess and the God both within us and without, representing not the beginning of time nor the end, but eternity and our place within it. The tree is a symbol of life, death, and the promise of rebirth.
Regarding the number twelve, I leave you with a few things to ponder. The number twelve may symbolize the cosmic order, at least from our planet Earth, and twelve is a sequence of the numbers one and two. If you point one finger up, it looks like a phallic shape, and if you point two fingers like the peace sign, it resembles the form of the female counterpart. The number twelve thus can represent a balance of male and female and it is the same with a tree. The number twelve represents the zodiac and the twelve constellations. There were twelve tribes of Judah/Israel, twelve sons of Jacob (the same Jacob who ascended the ladder to heaven), twelve disciples of Christ, twelve stones on the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest, twelve knights of the round table, twelve tasks of Hercules, twelve Olympian gods, and in the American court system a jury consists of twelve members. There were also twelve staffs to represent each tribe of Judah/Israel. The New International Version of the Bible has the following verse: “So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them” (Numbers 17:6). It is said that the staff of Aaron was made from the almond tree, and possibly that of Moses as well, but I suspect that these twelve staffs were made of twelve different types of wood and that these trees correspond to each sign of the zodiac, which would therefore help support Robert Graves’s claim that there was, in ancient times, a tree associated with each month.
As found in the Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Henry Cornelius Agrippa, originally written over five hundred years ago, Agrippa shared the following concerning the number twelve:
• There are twelve orders of blessed spirits as well as twelve degrees of devils
• Twelve angels that rule over the signs
• Twelve tribes
• Twelve prophets
• Twelve apostles
• Twelve signs of the zodiac
• Twelve months
• Twelve principal members of the body
• Twelve deities
• Twelve consecrated birds
• Twelve consecrated animals
• Twelve holy stones
• Twelve plants
• Twelve sacred trees
• Twelve members of man distributed to the signs
Speaking of Agrippa, I couldn’t help but share this quote from the aforementioned book, “It is thought that natural magic is nothing else but the highest power of natural sciences …”
Each of us is a leaf on the great World Tree and it is high time that we once again connect to the trees and rediscover the sacred magick of the divine within our hearts.