#sacred trees

[zoeflake]

11.08.25 Most of our trees are now bare or close to it, but again this fall Old Man in the Ivy is almost 'fully clothed' and about half of his leaves are still green. ♥ Ph.Lunaladee

[zopilotay]

Of trees 2

      Trees evoke in us a feeling of the sacred.  Nearly every religion in the world, past and present, can point to at least one image of a tree that holds a prominent place in its spiritual iconography.  Certainly in the Christian west, we find a whole array of sacred trees beginning with the trees of life and of the knowledge of good and evil, continuing on through the concept of the believer as a tree in Psalm 1, Moses and Elijah as trees in the future New Jerusalem, right through to the cross of Christ understood as, and referred to in hymns as, a tree.  Unofficially, Christian culture, in collusion with folk traditions, has also given us the Christmas tree.  

     Ancient Assyrians, in the stone bas-reliefs that they have left us, show their kings as gardeners, always tending a beautiful flowering sacred tree in a garden.  Some indigenous peoples in the midwestern region of the US look to the cottonwood as a sacred tree. In the southwest, Hopi people find the spruce to be a sacred attractor of power and rain.   In Japanese Shinto spirituality, trees are regarded as living beings possessing consciousness, and some are specially revered.  Buddhists refer often to the pipal, or Bodhi tree, under which the Buddha sat at the end of a long spiritual journey until he received enlightenment.  In my last entry, I also mentioned the importance of the banyan as a repository of spirits in some Pacific island cultures.  And we could go on randomly with other examples past and present, such as Yggdrasil, from Norse mythology, the Celtic practice, in some locations, of hanging offerings in oak trees, of the use of trees in several different cultures as the offering site for sacrifices, and so on.

     Why is it that trees hold this position of special reverence?  There are perhaps many reasons, including great size and prominence in the landscape, striking beauty, and the ability of many trees to produce food, medicine, shelter, and an ability to provide restful calm in the midst of a noisy world full of challenges.  As I mentioned before, it seems as if certain trees present themselves to the mind as gateways, entrances into the deeper mysteries of the natural world, and perhaps into the mysterious darkness of the Spirit World.  

     Indigenous and animist cultures often present traditional means whereby their people can address and speak to trees through prayers, through offerings, through songs.  And now, the question presents itself:  what about us, as we seek to forge a reconnection to the natural world around us, as we seek to acknowledge the world which gave us life and substance, and reclaim the land as our birth-mother with whom we have a vibrant and active relationship?  Can trees be those gateways for us, a means whereby we are able to move from viewing the world about us as merely the stage backdrop for the drama of our lives, and re-vision the planet as our home, as our neighborhood of relatives, four-legged, six-legged, eight-legged, leafed and branched?  

     I think they can. And I’m not alone in believing this.  There are traditions of devotion and communication with trees going back centuries.  And there are people who swear by the results.  Why shouldn’t we join them?

     Imagine that you are in Japan, and during a walk out in the countryside you come to a forest where the path leading within is marked by a wooden torii gate through which you must pass to enter the sacred world of the trees.  You stop before the gate and bow.  Then, you carefully walk through the portal along the side of the path, leaving the center clear for spirits to pass through.

     After a short walk you come to a great, old tree, as wide as you are tall.  Around the base of it is wound a thick, rice-straw rope decorated with zig-zag streamers of folded paper.  You know by this adornment that the tree has a spirit living within; this is a holy place.

     You bow respectfully, clap twice to elicit the spirit’s attention, then bow again. You do not enter into the tree’s personal space, nor do you touch the sacred and profane it.  Now, because you have done this before, you follow the usual tradition.  You offer formal, polite words of praise and respect, and show the tree silent reverence.  An attitude of respectful quiet, a readiness to listen, and a seriousness of purpose are all essential for this meaningful interaction.  Perhaps, before you make a formal request,  you leave an offering of rice and clean water, or saki.  

     This is one way in one culture by which trees are reverenced and a direct one-on-one relationship is established.

     I wonder if we couldn’t invent respectful little rituals of our own.  I wonder if such practices might alter our whole approach to the natural world, make us slow down and see it, help us to become habitual listeners to that world, and open doors to deeper relationships with the spirits who dwell there.  Something to think about.  

(Closing note:  I am long-winded and opinionated.  I benefit and grow personally from interaction and criticism.  Please feel free to answer back to my rants, and if necessary, push back!  An old man like me is indeed a fool if he cannot accept correction and learn new wisdom from others! By the way, I will no longer be posting these entries in community spaces. In those spaces, I will do more listening, learning, praising and encouraging - and keep whatever bits I post there as short and unobtrusive as possible!)

[kaalbela]

Polash/Sacred Tree

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

Shinboku (lit. tree of God) – Sacred trees where gods dwell in Japanese prehistoric Shintoism

A sacred tree (shinboku) is a tree or forest worshipped as a shintai - a physical object of worship at or near a Shinto shrine, worshipped as a repository in which spirits and deities reside, or where they descend. They are often distinctly visible due to the shimenawa (lit. 'enclosing rope') wrapped around them. Types of sacred trees include evergreen cedar, pine and cleyera japonica (sakaki) that is regarded as a representative sacred tree and is often used in Shinto rituals.

In ancient Shinto, the Himorogi (lit. "divine fence") was considered to be a place where the gods dwelled, or a boundary between the everlasting world and the present world, and was feared and respected. In order to prevent people, things in this world, gods in this world, and things that bring misfortune and evil to this world from easily coming and going, shimenawa were hung as walls, making it a forbidden place.

Generally, the term refers to trees that are regarded as divine or sacred, as well as the guardian forests that surround them and that are not supposed to be cut down.

木にまつわる伝説・神話

神木 (しんぼく) 〜 日本の古神道における神の宿る樹木

神木 (しんぼく)とは、神社や祭壇の近くに祀られている木や森のことで、霊や神さまが宿る場所、神さまが降臨する所とされていた。注連縄が巻かれているため、はっきりと見えることが多い。神木の種類としては、常緑樹の杉や松、榊 (さかき) などがある。 この中でも榊は代表的な神木とされ、神事にも多く使われている。

古神道において神籬 (ひもろぎ) は、神の宿る場所としての神域、または常世 (とこよ) と現世 (うつしよ) の境界考えられ、恐れ敬った。また、現世の人々やもの、常世に存在する神々や現世に災いや不幸をもたらすものが、容易に出入りできないように、結界として注連縄をはり、禁足地とした。

一般的に、神体としての木や神聖視される木、その周りを囲む鎮守の森や、伐採をしないとされる木を指す。

[moment-japan]

金沢・石浦神社の御神木

21世紀美術館の前に観光客の方もご存じの、金沢最古の神社・石浦神社がございます。

創建は今から約２２００年前です。

（まじか！京都でもここまで古い神社はめったにないよ）

去年、新しく御神木が来たというので関係者の方から連絡が来て、「SNSで紹介してくれ」と言われていたことをすっかり忘れていまして、今紹介します。

（遅いよ。笑）

今は表示板？とかが置かれていますが、写真は設置されてすぐなので、しめ縄だけの貴重な写真です。

ある会社の社長が見た瞬間何かしらビビっときてクレーンで拾ってきた木なのですが、それまでどん底だった会社が、この木を会社の前に供えてから会社が好転しだして大きくなってこれは霊験あらたかな御神木だということで、この歴史のある神社に奉納されたというわけです。

（日本昔ばなしか）

このエピソードは誰も知らないと思うので、今見ている人はラッキーです。

石浦神社に来た際は、この木を優しく撫でるとお金持ちになれるそうですのでタップリ撫でまわしてください。

（なぜ、いつも早々に君の所に神社仏閣から連絡が来るのか？笑）

[hecatesdelights]

Dryad.

[balimyth]

Over 100 year old Ficus tree, Bali Botanical Garden, Bedugul, Bali - Indonesia.

[kkdas]

Growth rings of Bristlecone Pine. The oldest living things on earth. Please zoom in and reflect on how many winters these sacred trees lived through at over 10,000 ft. elevation.