Find here a list of blogposts about sacred trees and forests, and tree spirits and mythology, some written by Wendy Wuyts (Wendy Woods) or by guest bloggers. Please send me a message if you would like to write a short blog about your research on sacred trees or tree spirits in any region of the world.
How it all started:
How the Search for Tree Spirits Started
Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Mythic Fiction with tree spirit elements: The white dream
Mythic fiction? What is this? It’s is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws…
Blogs ABOUT belgium, the netherlands, france, GERMANY and spain in europe
Sacred trees in Belgium: the ‘nail’ trees
In previous blogs, I focused on sacred trees in Scandinavia and India, or ordinations of trees in Thailand. In the past months, I also learned about sacred trees in Belgium. I dived in books about Celtic history, but also in christian customs and – found the custom of the ‘nail…
From Celtic source cult and tree devotion to worship of local female saints in Flanders
From Celtic Source Cult and Tree Devotion to Worship of Local Female Saints in Flanders Introduction:The woven tapestry of Flanders’ history is a rich blend of myths, legends, and tales that often go unnoticed. My personal journey to uncover these threads led me to the age-old Celtic traditions and practices…
Where are you born = where you root: forest-related fertility and birth rites in 16-19th century of the French countryside
The time of the ‘old hag’ is almost finished and soon we’ll celebrate Candlemass, Imbolc, Setsubun or any other ‘first light/chase away demons’ festivities in the whole of the world. This blog summarises and reflects upon a book from 1984, by Jacques Gélis, a French historian apparently specialised in rural…
Sacred trees, Mystic Caves and Holy Wells in rural Spain – or to-visit-sites in your next Spain trip
Recently, I rediscovered a paper by Jaime Tatay, published in the journal Religion, while organizing my drive and considering the publication of a book about sacred trees based on a decade of research. The paper examines how local expressions of religion in Spain have creatively intertwined spiritual insights with popular…
Summer (Fever) Tree -the illusion of homecoming in the Netherlands during a heatwave
Strips of textile have been knotted to the oak tree near the St Walrick ruins in Overasselt (near Nijmegen). Not so long ago, the chapel was the final destination of pilgrimages. Undertaken by the people of the surrounding countryside to pray for the recovery of a sick person, especially feverish…
Blogs about nordic and baltic countries in europe
Sacred trees in Estonia: Ilumägi hill’s lime tree
Is this where I have to be? My private Bolt driver looked over his right shoulder to me. We were at the crossroads in the middle of nowhere in Estonia, with fields, a church and some trees that look like old men. Yes, you can drop me here. The lime tree on Ilumägi hill is one of the few remaining trees in Lahemaa…
Sacred garden trees, pt. 3: an ash tree in Gjøvik
Two weeks ago, I took the bus for 15 minutes, just out of Gjøvik, and walked another 15 minutes to reach @indalforestretreat .Plan: receiving, being in the presence. No wifi. And getting out of my winter cocoon. For 2 months we were asked to work in home office, but now we can butterfly again #Imbolc. I got a tantric massage, read Jack London, rested, stayed in…
Sacred Garden trees in Norway, part 2 –
In spring 2019, I was doing a bit of research about trees in Norway. I found an interesting paper by Douglas Forell Hulmes about “sacred trees of Norway and Sweden: a #friluftsliv quest”. This professor environmental education in Arizona, USA studies “the traditions and folklore related to trees planted in the centrum of farmland in Sweden and Norway.” In Norway they talk about #tuntre and in Sweden…
Sacred “Garden” trees of Norway and Sweden
When I was doing research about trees in Norway I found this interesting paper by Douglas Forell Hulmes about “sacred trees of Norway and Sweden: a friliftsliv quest” and was of course immediately intrigued. His abstract was very promising: What began as a curiosity about the traditions and folklore related to trees planted in the center of many farms in Norway, “Tuntre”, and…
Many ethnic Estonians believe in “souls of trees”
This week I got to know the work of religious study scholars from Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, after I talked with a scholar from Lithuania, who has been rooting in Belgium for a long time. She recommended a paper of a scholar who is also interested in tree spirits, sacred nature like me. The paper describes the existential experiences in nature of…
bLOGS ABOUT Japan and taiwan
Sacred groves in Japan – an ecofeminist reading
In the tapestry of Japan’s spiritual landscape, one finds a rich interplay between nature, culture, and gender. One story that I encountered lies in the ‘utaki’—sacred groves that bear witness to an ancient tradition. Utaki: Where Nature Meets the Divine Japan is no stranger to the practice of venerating nature. However, what makes utaki unique is their sacredness,…
Koyasan in winter- a masculine landscape with feminine lessons
On my way to Koyasan, I started to read the book ‘Nature Mystics: The Literary Gateway To Modern Paganism’ by Rebecca Beattie, because she is interested ‘in the writer’s relationship to their landscape, and the ways in which nature can be a source of inspiration as well as spirituality. ‘ One interesting paragraph was about ‘feminine landscapes’. Earlier…
Okinawa: from its longevity secrets to mischievous tree trolls
Some weeks ago I visited Okinawa, the subtropical island of Japan which is famous to count the most centenarians per capita in whole the world. Why do people get so old? – the diet I noticed indeed that the citizens seem to be more relaxed and really enjoy the good life (and all the American influenced food and…
Wandering in the misty mountains of Taiwan – meeting Tree Lords, and myself in Xitou and Alishan
Last August, I was for some weeks again in Taiwan and spent most of the time in Taipei. Taiwan is full of amazing trees. I could not stop taking pictures. At some point I had to tell myself that I cannot take a picture of every tree. I had also some free days and I spent some days…
bLOGS ABOUT india, pakistan and bangladesh
11 Palms – the public life of sacred trees in the fringe of Bangalore, India
Thanks to The Nature of City Festival, I could attend field visits all over the world in the last week of February. Virtually of course. One of my favourite visits was to the fringe of Bangalore, one of the fastest growing cities in the world. In these informal settlements, you find these ‘brave trees’ which will not bend down for new constructions. Stories of care and resistance against loss of historical ecosystems. When I read the title of the documentary (11 Palms), my mind initially captured ‘psalms’, probably because of the reference to the sacredness. But also, when I reflect…
bLOGS ABOUT thailand
Ordaining trees – Thai Buddhist Environmental activism
A couple of years ago I lived for a year in a campus in Thailand, joined a couple of times my local friends to the forests and learned about some old customs and folklore about tree spirits. I wrote in “thai way of coping with spirits in broken status” that I had conversations with researchers who saw decay of this belief as an early warning signal of decay of environmental systems, but I also…
Why do Thai Tree Spirits like Red Fanta ?
Some time ago, when the animals were still talking, I lived in Thailand. Ok, it was only 1.5 year ago that I left Thailand for Japan. I was blessed to became a friend of a Thai young woman who likes to travel, knows a lot about Thai customs and traditions and is also into sustainability. Recently we were texting over Instagram about Loy Krathong festival (celebrated on November 23rd, during full moon) which is…
Thai Way of coping with spirits in broken statues
Last year, during a transit I visited my former university in Thailand with a Thai friend, and again we talked about tree spirits and ghosts in Thai folklore. I took a photograph of a broken statue of a former Thai kind in a banyan tree and promised myself to learn a bit more about this phenomenon. Like today. Broken statues of kings and Buddha Thai people’s ways of life and traditions from birth to…
BLOGS ABOUT AFRICA and the middle east
Sacred forests and the role of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in the protection of nature
Jep Stockmans, a Belgian researcher, did research in Ethiopia and was fascinated by the “sacred forests”. He wonders why nature is protected in these sacred places, but not elsewhere in the city of Addis Abeba. He further argues that there is a distinction between good and evil trees in Orthodox Chritianity.
Trees in Tengrism and Turkish Mythology
I was born in Ankara and raised in Istanbul, which are considered to be the biggest cities in Turkey. Nature always felt like something “outside”, something far away from me. After coming to Japan, I was amazed how nature was “accessible” to everyone. If it is a cherry blossom season people would go “hanami” (viewing flowers). This was a concept that was not familiar to me. I was asked by Wendy to write about stories on trees or forest in Turkey. Nothing came to my mind really. I knew Turkic people used to be Shamanist, so there has to be…
bLOGS about other places
Sacred trees in science fiction
Some weeks ago, I watched the movie “Dune (part 1)”, the latest adaption of the science fiction book by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. One of the scenes that struck me was the introduction of twenty sacred palm trees. I wanted to know more behind the inspiration from which Herbert draw. Why palm trees? Did he know of this practice in India, where there are still many sacred palm trees, in particular in informal settings? Or are there other places where palm trees have a special meaning? “A line of twenty palm trees grew there, the ground beneath them swept…
Stories from the Wood Wide Web 