On the Character of Trees

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Sycamore
Sit contentedly under the welcome shade of the sycamore tree. It is friendly and helpful to man. Its wood is close-grained, exuding no harsh resins: good for household furniture, for table-tops and surfaces that come in contact with your food. It is sacred to Hathor, favourite goddess of Egypt.

Silver Fir
The evergreen Silver fir is the maiden of the trees. It is sacred to the moon and the goddess Artemis. Ulysses built the Trojan Horse from Silver Fir. It burned the topmost towers of Illium.

Almond
I said to the almond tree:
“Sister, speak to me of God”.
And the almond tree blossomed.
The almond is the magician among trees. Aaron’s wand was a branch of almond. Its buds sprouted miraculously to form the menorah.

Acacia
The ark of Osirus, the ark of Noah, the Ark of the Covenant: all were all made of acacia. A hard-wood, inhabiting desert places, it is the tree of the burning bush from which Jehovah spoke the words "I am who am” to Moses. Thorny, jealous, self-sufficient like the God himself, it strangles (like the Ash) the roots of other trees that dare to grow beside it. Egyptian spears were made of this. It is the "shittim wood" of the Old Testament.

Palm
The palm tree is our relative. When God had finished creating Adam, some of the red clay remained behind. From this the creator formed the palm tree. Hence, some medieval philosophers believed it to be half-vegetable half-animal. Banished from paradise, Adam uprooted the palm tree and took it with him. He planted it in Mecca. All palm trees are descended from the pits of its original dates. According to the Qur'an, Jesus was born under this tree.

Ash
Tall and proud, the Ash is cruelest of the trees. Its shade is harmful. Its roots strangle those of other trees. Spears were made of this wood. Cruel as it is, the ash tree exudes a sweet liquid from its bark (and leaves) which the ancient Greeks called "meli" or honey. Hence comes the saying: "Out of the strong shall come forth sweetness". The Meliae (honey ash spirits) were born from the blood of Uranus after Cronos castrated him. They fed the infant Zeus with their honey in the Cretan cave of Dicte.

With purple flowers and black mitre-shaped buds, the ash is the tree of bishops. In autumn, the keys of the Kingdom hang from its branches. It is the tree of Poseidon because oars were made from ash. The druidic wand was an ash.

Elder
Both blessed and cursed, the elder is a mysterious tree. It is the first to let out leaves and last to drop them. Although a tree of wastelands (it will grow in almost any soil) its berries are nutritious and make a rich red wine. In spring the blossoms yield their own yeast under the influence of the sun and make a fine white wine. It is the tree of the crucifixion of Christ. Judas hanged himself from an elder tree. In Ireland, it was the tree of the fairies. Roads were built around them because the penalty for cutting it down was death. Any child placed in an elder cradle was sure to die. It was never used as fuel because its smoke was considered noxious.

Broom
On Mount Horeb Elijah rested under a broom asking to die and an angel touched him and brought him food. It was used for expelling evil spirits from the house, and hence to sweep the floors of homes (our word for a broom comes directly from it). It is more of a bush than a tree, but was regarded as a tree by the Celts.

Pear
Because of its white blossoms, the pear tree was sacred to the moon. The image of Hera at the Heraeum in Mycenae was made of pear-wood; and Athene had a pear sanctuary in Boeotia.

Alder
The most brotherly of trees is the Alder. It is very gregarious and allows all other plants and trees to grow around it. An inhabitant of damp watery places, its wood was used to line banks, to build water conduits and to make buckets. The city of Venice stands upon alder piles hammered into the mud of the lagoon. It was sacred to the Celtic God Bran.

Rowan
Scottish gardeners plant mountain ashes in their gardens to keep away evil spirits. (I have one in mine)

© Ryszard Antolak
(Picture: Bardia Haddadi)