#tree lore

[balkanradfem]

Tell me more about trees 🌳 💚

They're very warm inside, they like the wind a lot!

When trees fall, if there's a percentage of roots still in the ground, they're not dead, they can keep living. If in theory we had one giant human who just went around picking trees up and burying them back down, they would all recover and be fine. I was going to put that in my story when I wrote a continuation of Thornwood! I just think it would be very cool.

Some trees still go on living even when fallen down, they just adapt so their branches become the new trunk and they grow up form there.

The reason trees lose their leaves in the fall is related to the hours of light we have in the day, more so than the cold. Trees do a little calculation, and when there's less than ideal light in the day, they go 'well, this is not worth keeping leaves', and they let the leaves fall off, because it's not worth the effort for that little amount of light. Then in the spring, when they notice the light hours getting better, they start making new leaves, because now it's worth keeping all that greenery in order to receive nutrients! But trees are definitely not 'dead', or 'sleeping' during the winter, they're very much alive and calculating their next move. If you look at a tree in January or February, you'll be able to see them already forming lots of little buds and preparing to grow flowers, they're very much active! And I imagine they're enjoying how saturated the ground is with water, growing the roots down and taking in all they can.

If anyone can think of more tree knowledge on the spot, add to this post!

[broomsick]

Personal & collected tips regarding the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the landvættir (land spirits)

“It is laid down in the first clause of the pagan law of Iceland, introduced about AD 930, that no one may approach the country in ships furnished with gaping heads and yawning snouts, i.e. dragon-heads. If they had them they must remove them before they came in sight of land, for otherwise the landvaættir would take fright.” - Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (1964)

Quick note: if you follow the norse pagan path, Landdísir, Jötnar/Trolls/Thurses, Álfar, and even ancestors could be considered land spirits, depending on your personal experience and interpretation of historical sources.

“They do not typically speak in English words, or words of any human language. They speak in wind, in the crackle of fire, in images and concepts and intense emotions.” -  Earl S. Wynn.

In my experience, when compared to communication with fair folk, land spirit work is usually a lot more one-sided. Despite this, it’s important to keep in mind that spirits are conscious: they are individuals just like you and I, so we should treat them with love and respect, exactly in the way we would want to be treated. When it comes to landvættir, don’t expect a great deal of active communication, but rather watch out for little casual blessings that may start popping up once you start building a relationship with the land. By “land”, I mean both the land and the spirits that inhabit it, as they make a whole and are sustained by one another. The land you will work with is the area that you live in. Yes, even if it is a large city. Cities were all built upon age-old land, and this fact can be observed even in the most bustling and crowded ones. Is there a park you used to visit as a kid? Or a line of trees near your house? Small as they may seem, these places are the type to be inhabited by landvættir. Now, how do you start working with them?

“King Harald told a warlock to hie to Iceland in some altered shape, and to try what he could learn there to tell him: and he set out in the shape of a whale. And when he came near to the land he went to the west side of Iceland, north around the land, where he saw all the mountains and hills full of guardian-spirits, some great, some small.” -  Heimskringla: The Chronicle of The Kings of Norway, “King Olaf Trygvason's Saga”, chapter 6.

The first step to landvættir work is actually excessively simple. It is to acknowledge the soul within natural elements. Look around yourself, when in nature, and notice which trees, stones, boulders or plants catch your eye. 

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids suggests to take note of the following landmarks in order to get to know your own area: the highest place, the nearest body of water, the nearest area of natural beauty, the busiest open space where people congregate on a daily basis, the most abused or neglected site, the oldest sacred site under continuous use, the nearest place where the dead are commemorated or buried, the nearest natural food-producing ground, the place most frequented by wild (non-domestic) animals, the nearest major crossroads, and other significant sites that occur to you or that may be particular to your location e.g. marsh-land, heavy industry sites, etc.

If there is a certain spot you feel most drawn to, why note make it into a sort of land altar? By land altar, I mean a place where you can regularly go to rest and commune with nature. It isn’t necessary to set up a whole altar, and I would even advise against adorning it with excessive decorations, especially unnatural ones. As much as possible, try to avoid wrappings and plastics! However, you can mark the spot with things you pick up in the area: a pretty flower or leaf, a fallen tree branch, a handful of acorns, an usual-looking rock and such. It’s okay to put these on your land altar as long as they are from the area. Picking these sorts of things up and giving them back to nature is a means to show that not only do you observe the gifts of the land you live on, but that you also appreciate them. That you see their beauty and their value. By choosing a specific spot to make such offerings, you also give the landvættir a place where they can reach back to you, where you can hear their voices and feel their touch. If you are interested in working with a tree spirit, or choosing one as you land altar, I suggest taking a look at this previous post of mine where I detailed how to get started with such a relationship! 

Disclaimer: if you keep getting a bad feeling about the place you’ve chosen for your land altar, I would definitely advise changing spots. It could mean a particular land spirit does not want to be disturbed, and it would be rude not to respect their wish.

Once you’ve chosen this space and once you feel truly settled with it, it’s a great idea to bless it from time to time. You can do so by blessing water and pouring it around and over that spot, or by singing a certain song, or chanting, etc. Simply naming what you see around you, stating the names of these natural elements, can be considered blessing, for you are acknowledging their souls. Through meditation, you may start hearing some spirits tell you the names they want to be called. Keep them in mind!

I would deem all of these “blessing” gestures offerings, though you could also offer the aforementionned leaves, flowers, rocks, acorns, as well pinecones, collected resin, earth, food you grew in your garden, etc. No matter the shape your offerings take, it is exceedingly important to be regular with them. I don’t mean you need to have a schedule (you could pretty much gift whatever, whenever), but you cannot expect for the spirits to appreciate your presence or give back to you if you have only spent time with them once or twice. Plus, you cannot truly get to know your local spirits if you don’t take the necessary time to get to know them! 

Now, I’ve been using a woodland setting as my example, but it’s obvious the landvættir are completey different individuals depending on where you live. They are different in swamps, along beaches, high in the mountains, etc. It is possible to maintain a land altar no matter what your area looks like. After all, the most important part of land spirit work is to acknowledge and live in harmony with your local spirits— the guardians of your land. In fact, I find it a good idea to locate your land altar near a natural symbol of your nation/country/area! In order to do this in an even more personal way, I suggest looking into your ancestral practices! You may notice that previous generations gave back to the land in specific ways, which you could very well include in your own practice. 

Once you’ve gone through all of these steps, keep your mind open so as to receive whatever messages or gifts the landvættir want to give in return. They might take a lot of time to answer, but stay patient. After all, their very existence and the protection they grant land is already a gift in an of itself. Sit at your land altar and open your senses. In my experience, landvættir can show their appreciation through a range of very discreet presents such as birdsong, a feeling of absolute peace and joy, a piece of knowledge, or even a new and unexpected flower that catches your eye and which you’ve never seen before. You never know what they might send you next, so best to stay aware of your surroundings when communing with nature. It has lots and lots to give, if you stand ready to receive!

Artworks and pictures: Winter Foxes by Chuck Groenink, Yule Stag by Sebastian McKinnon, painting by Omar Rayyan II, illustration by David Wyatt, land altar photograph, illustration by Lily Seika Jones.

[lailoken]

The Rowthorn: A Very Rare and Special Tree

Not too long ago, I began working with an extremely unique tree that I have since become pacted to, and I have finally been given leave to share about it publicly. It's a tree so unusual that it technically bares no common name and, instead, only has a couple of cultivar names and an undecided scientific name. The tree in question is one I have been calling a Rowthorn, since it is a cross between a Rowan Tree (Sorbus Acuparia) and a Hawthorn Tree (Crataegus Monogyna.) The resultant Crataegosorbus (or Sorbocrataegus, depending on your source) is a hybrid developed by Russian horticulturist Ivan Michurin in the 1920s, and can be phenotypically described as a nobbled Rowan tree with berries that look like rosy Haws the size of cherries. Miraculously, these Rowthorn berries are generally considered better for eating and cooking than either Rowan berries or Hawthorn berries are.

This tree is special to me for a couple reasons. On one hand, my grandfather was a botanist who specifically worked creating fruit tree hybrids in his day, which gives me a strange sort of ancestral connection to a tree born through human efforts. On the other hand, both Hawthorns and Rowans are quite historically and personally significant to my practice. Hawthorns possess ancient ties to the Otherworld and its denizens, and can serve to mark "thin places" where the realms are less experientially distinct from one another. As such, the Fae are often said to congregate at the sites of old Whitethorn trees. On the other hand, Rowans are also beloved by the Fae, who are said to enjoy dancing beneath their holy boughs—though, harvested wood from the tree can be utilized in a protective capacity against them as well. This ability of Rowan to both delight and repell the Fae is, in turn, closley aligned with my work as a Faerie Physicker. As such, a tree like the Rowthorn—which embodies the virtues of both these magical plants—is one I couldn't pass up the opportunity to know better, and so I invested in one the instant I was lucky enough to come across it.

Watching it grow from a bare and miniscule scion into a slowly flourishing sapling has been beautiful, and I can hardly wait for the day that it bares its first fruits.

[herdsworldbuilding]

Trees

I wanted to chit chat a little bit about a minor but sort of neat aspect of one of my world building projects.

in the world compass to the stars, people have a rather different relationship to the trees.

thing is that the most common kind of magic in the world is plant magic that corrupts the mind.

this means that there are many people in the world who can hear trees speak. because of this trees are well taken care of, and wood harvesting is approached in a different matter.

rarely is the entirety of a tree harvested for use, instead the practice of copping is common. that is harvesting the limbs and branches of the tree. there is an entire team of peoples who's job it is to sooth and heal the tree during the process to ensure the trees comfort. to gain the consent from the tree for what it is used for.

trees are venerated for their age, especially trees tat are over a hundred years in age, they have a similar sort of status to the three fantastic beast (dragons, phoenixes and unicorns) though the trees are seen as a more spiritual connection. in part because the three fantastic beasts are sentient creatures with their own societies.

wooden objects are given a lot of prestige.

[orange-lover]

i dont

[calendulacraft]

:: summer days & witchy reads ::

((Celtic Tree Magic by the Witches' Almanac))

[dutchpagan]

One of the things that I learned from the Ogham alphabet is to go outside and get to known the trees that are connected to the letters of this medieval Celtic alphabet. Several years ago I made this painting of the first tree in the Ogham, Beithe or birch. Lately I've taken up the journey again, to learn more about the ogham, the lore of the letters, the magic and myth connected to it, and of course the trees that represent the letters and the land they grow in. A natural way for me to connect with something is to make a drawing or painting of it - as I did with Beithe. This year and the next I am planning to complete this series.

[starlling-writes]

Why the Alder Roots are Wet

In the depths of the alder grove Where the morning fog lingers Hides the runaway fae princess Slowly bleeding to death The trees wept as the princess died –with nothing they could do Taking her blood into themselves The first dryad was born

[mythic-register]

Tree lore

Those versed in tree lore speak loudly of the four trees that ring Outland. They speak of the Tree of Knowledge, to which the angels tend, in the Gardens of Peace. The Tree of Truth, which was named by the fiends of The Crevasse in their nigh-infinite pettiness, and feeds off the darkness that is rarely found outside that place. The Clockwork Tree, always frail, protected by great iron fortifications and legions of penal soldiers who learned too late that the crime of gazing upon the tree was to be drafted into it's defense. And the Tree of Names, upon who's branches many now nameless things have hung their names to allow themselves some measure of freedom. The most famous of those being Themself, though also most of the second generation of antitheon gods have used the tree to cloak themselves in namelessness.

Those best versed in tree lore whisper quietly about two other trees, one being the world tree itself, whose branches pierce high into the lands of the gentry and whose roots dig deep into the lands of twilight. The final tree, they say, is still a seed, yet to finish falling to the ground to take root. They dare not even whisper of what will happen then.

[campbellzc]

Embrace the Wisdom of the Hazel Tree and Let it Guide You Through Life's Challenges

The hazel tree has been associated with wisdom and inspiration in many cultures throughout history. Here are some reasons why you should embrace the wisdom of the hazel tree and let it guide you through life’s challenges:1. **Celtic Lore**: In Celtic lore, the hazel tree is associated with wisdom and inspiration. The story goes that the hazel tree grew beside the Well of Wisdom, and its nuts…

[allengreenfield]

https://members.tripod.com/caput_mortum/battle.htm

[balkanradfem]

Your story about trees makes my soul happy, because I used to hug trees all the time as a child. Not so much now, but you have inspired me to keep doing it💜

They must have loved you :)!

[lailoken]

'The Virtues of Trees'

"Alder

The Alder may be employed to provide protective and oracular virtues

Ash

The Ash is a potent and famed aid to all workings of healing and may be employed for acts of protection, curse lifting, love and divination.

Aspen

The Aspen is protective and healing in virtue. To cure fevers and ague a rite employing the aid of the Aspen may be performed thus: The Patient is to cut from their head a lock of hair which is to then be bound and nailed to the tree with these words;

"Aspen tree, Aspen tree, I pray to thee To shake and shiver instead of me."

Bay

The Bay is to be planted by thresholds to impart a protective influence upon the home, in addition to its leaves being bunched to hang inside the home as a charm for the same and for the blessings of good health.

The Bay is also of oracular virtue and is burned upon the hearth fire so that the behaviour of the leaves may be read. Placed beneath the pillow upon retiring for the night, it will induce good and prophetic dreams.

Birch

The protective virtues of the Birch may be harnessed by the presence of bunches of the tree's twigs which are kept to drive away evil spirits.

Blackthorn

The dark Blackthorn is of highly potent defensive virtues and an unrivalled aid to the work of blasting or 'Owl Blinking.' The West Country Wise folk will also harness the Blackthorn's virtues and potency for blessing, fertility and power.

Elder

The Elder is in Cornwall known as 'Lady Elder'. The Elder's influence may be employed to provide a protection for horses by the hanging of her branches within stables and above their doors. Protections may likewise be imparted upon the home by the fixing of bunches of Elder leaves to the doors and the windows. Thus is formed a Cornish charm against ill-wishing and the influence of the black witch.

A tree also of the Faery Folk, the Elder must not be burnt, for such a taboo act is sure to invite ill-influence from the spirit world. The ripe berries of the Elder are good for phlegm and for the sinuses.

Hawthorn

Another tree of the Faery Folk; the Hawthorn must not be burnt. The West Country practitioner will perform acts of magic beneath the overarching wind-distorted Hawthorn that call upon the aid of the Faery Folk; especially for matters of protection. After such acts, offerings of food and drink must be made.

The Hawthorn is heavily associated with the coming of summer, the arrival of its 'May' blossoms being watched for as the traditional sign. In Cornwall, folk would visit a Hawthorn tree for celebratory May Day rites in which the tree is bedecked with candles and danced around joyously. The Hawthorn, however, does not make a good walking stick, for West Country lore holds that it will invite ill-fortune upon journeys.

Hazel

The Hazel may be employed within rites and workings for wisdom, divination, and dowsing. It is employed also within traditional curative rites against the bites of the adder and other 'stinging' creatures .

Holly

The formidable Holly is understandably protective in virtue. It is hung from the door-handles as a Cornish charm for the protection of the home. The Holly is particularly protective against lightening; the influence being enjoyed by places both where it is installed in the form of a charm, and where the living Holly grows.

Ivy

The strong Ivy is of highly useful restrictive, binding and protective virtue. The climbing Ivy, grown up the walls of the cottage, creates a verdant shell of protection around the home.

Rowan

The Rowan, or 'Care', is of quickening virtue for all tasks and potently protective. To form a Cornish charm of personal protection, the red berries of the Rowan may be threaded and worn as a necklace. To impart protections upon the home, the Rowan may be planted near doorways, and in some Cornish cottages, the crossbeam of the fire is made of rowan wood in order to prevent evil entering the home via the chimney. To impart a potent protection on the home for the year; branches of the Rowan are to be hung over doorways on May morning. A farm near Castle Cary in Somerset, still by the early 1960s, held such faith in the protective virtues of the Rowan that bunches of the tree's twigs were collected and tied with red thread above the doors of the farmhouse, the cow shed, chicken coop and the pig sty. These charms were installed on May's Eve and on Hallows' Eve—two of the three 'spirit nights' of the year—"to keep the faeries and black witches at bay".

—

The Black Toad:

West Country Witchcraft and Magic

Part 3 - 'Old mother Green Cap: Plant Charms and Curse'

by Gemma Gary

[catpriciousmarjara]

Okay so there's this dp x dc tumblr post about the JL finding the Ghost King's family tree or something and lots of misunderstandings happening but I can't find it anymore and would be grateful if someone would send it to me... Anyhow I was inspired by it and this is the result!

Also on ao3 if you wanna check it out there!

The Family Tree

"So you're telling me this is just a family tree?", Green Lantern asked with a frown on his face.

Bruce could see Constantine's eyes twitching at that question. As always, leave it to Hal Jordan to annoy people.

"This isn't just anything", the sorcerer said with narrowed eyes. "It's a Class-X magical artifact. If this thing is used as a focus for a ritual, the magnitude of magical energy would rise by at least 80 factors. For those of you non-magical or unfamiliar with magic, that's fucking huge."

Beside him Zatanna nodded, her gaze still fixed on the ancient manuscript. She hadn't taken her eyes off the scroll for more than a minute since she got to the Watch Tower and first saw it spread out on the containment room table. Constantine was the same. Captain Marvel was not present, working along with Superman, Hawkgirl, and Aquaman on a case, but his reactions have always been dissimilar from his magical colleagues, so his case might be anywhere between staying the hell away from it to trying to inhale it.

It was clear to Bruce that Zatanna coveted it, but was sensible and cautious enough to stay away from it. Constantine had no sense so he was a tossup. From where he was standing between Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter, the Gotham vigilante resolved to keep an eye on the two magicians. They most likely won't try to steal the artifact, considering the heavy dose of 'not messing with that thing' overshadowing the desire to possess it, but the scroll itself might be enchanted to encourage covetous feelings on those nearby. It wouldn't be the first time. Better safe than sorry.

It was Diana that stepped up towards the two JL Dark members to seek more clarification. As both a Demigod and as someone familiar with magic, she was usually the one taking point on such issues.

She gestured to the scroll innocently sitting inside the runic circle the two mages had constructed around it. "You have told us that the artifact is not destructive, that it is merely a record, and that the information it contains is not a spell, or a runic arrangement, or a magic circle. You have also told us that the strange energy readings coming from it are mostly due to the material it's made out of than any catastrophic sorcery enchanted into it. You have at last decoded it as a record of a family tree. Yet it is dangerous, a Class-X relic as you've said. Given all this information, I suppose the correct question to ask here is this: why is a family tree capable of raising magical energy output by 80 factors?"

The two magicians looked at each other. Zatanna finally pried her eyes away from the scroll and faced the room.

"Magic is a force that simultaneously has laws but at the same time adheres to none. It's confusing to explain but for the time being just keep that in mind."

She walked to the center of the room, followed by Constantine, visibly trying to collect her words. Bruce prepared himself for a complicated explanation and activated another one of the batsuit's recorders. He felt the urge to sigh, for a supposed unchained force, Magic was needlessly complex at times, and practically incomprehensible to non-magicals.

At the front, Zatanna took a deep breath and began.

"As you know there are multiple dimensions. But magical dimensions come under a different category. Depending on the overall magical potential of a particular magical dimension, we call it the World State Stable Thaumaturgical Output Capacity, we can classify these dimensions in grades and levels, as either higher or lower, with relation to each other. These levels are dependent on a multitude of variables like space, time, gravity, Events, Proximity, etc and as such are non-linear, and unfixed. That's the first thing."

Bruce could practically see the capitals on the last two. Looks like they would need to hold another meeting to clarify a lot of these concepts. Seeing the dawning of lost expressions on some of the members however, Bruce mentally amended that to many future meetings.

Zatanna continued. "Magical objects from higher dimensions become stronger in lower ones. The inverse is also true. This is all in relation to the Overture and the same polarity orientation of course but we don't need to get into that now-"

On the contrary Bruce thought they really needed more explanation on all of that.

"-In simple terms, a child's toy from a higher dimension could become the focus for an apocalyptic ritual in a much lower dimension, while an apocalyptic artifact from a lower dimension might as well be paperweight in a sufficiently higher one. There are ways around it, but if those methods are not implemented, then this is how it generally goes. The larger the level difference, the higher the power."

Now that wasn't concerning at all. Bruce really needed to update his contingency plans regarding magic.

Constantine continued from where Zatanna left off, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"The second thing is that when it comes to magic, things that are indefinable or unquantifiable become definable and quantifiable. Stuff like love, hate, happiness, despair, fate, necessity, authority? All measurable. Not always needed of course, But definitely possible and frequently used in a variety of magical fields."

The sorcerer leaned against a nearby chair. "One such thing is Significance. The magic contained in true names for instance is mostly based on significance. A true name is significant to you, its a doorway to your soul, and therefore it holds power. Significance is also what we call a positive, additive factor in magic. In the absence of interfering variables, significance as a quantity is directly proportional to magical output. In other words-"

"-the more significant an object or an event, the higher the magical energy output, and consequently higher the magical power", J'onn finished. He looked towards the scroll. "The information recorded on it, the family tree as you've said, valuable in significance, most likely in terms of whose family it's a record of. In addition, the artifact is from a higher dimension with relation to ours, and that has a cumulative effect."

"Yeah exactly", said Constantine with a raised eyebrow. "Which means that if that hypothetical toy Zatanna mentioned? If that happened to be important enough, like a first toy, or a cherished gift or something like that, its significance increases, its potential increases, and in the right hands, or in the wrong hands really, that potential could be harnessed at a lower level."

There was a bout of thoughtful silence as they absorbed all of the information.

But Bruce felt as if he had been quiet enough and took the chance to ask a question of his own. "You mentioned something called the Overture, and polarity orientation. What do they mean?"

Constantine just sighed. "For fuck's sake Batsy those things aren't really important to the discussion..."

Bruce just stared.

..."Fine", the mage said in defeat. "There are many names for it, the Overture, Exordium, Legerdomain, Nascence...but the most accepted two are the Beforebirth, and the Womb. It's not a something as much as it's a someplace, but then again it's not really a place either. Simply put it's the birthplace of Magic, where it all began and all that. It can't be accessed without the Key and that's been lost for a long time. It's actually a mission for many magicals to find it you know? A holy quest for a lot of them. Some of them are straight up crazy though."

Bruce field that information safely away. Figure out a plan to combat fanatic magicians trying to find the birthplace of magic for sinister reasons. "And polarity?"

"Well", Zatanna began, "its how magic is classified according to the nature of...magic? Or rather the essence? It's hard to put in mundane terms...Anyhow broadly speaking there are two main polarities, the Obverse, and the Reverse."

For a moment, she struggled with the explanation before brightening, seemingly having found an idea.

"Picture a number line, but like on the y-axis! Zero is the Overture, Obverse dimensions are the positive number side, and Reverse dimensions are the negative numbers! The higher up the obverse dimension, the larger its magical output! Similarly, the lower down the reverse dimension, the higher its magical output."

Bruce had hardly parsed through that when their resident speedster spoke up.

"Guys", the red clad hero said, "I feel like we missed the obvious follow up question after Ollie over here...like I feel like this is important, but where exactly is the scroll from?"

As one everyone turned towards the artifact.

Constantine grimaced and Zatanna winced. They looked at each other as if asking who wanted to bite the bullet. Finally it looked as if Constantine lost. The sorcerer cursed under his breath.

"Well which dimension is the scroll from?", asked Wonder Woman.

Constantine took what looked like a fortifying breath.

"It's from the Infinite Realms."

Silence.

"What?", the Green Lantern asked intelligently.

"It's from the Infinite Realms. As in Infinite. As in end of the figurative fucking line, number line whatever!"

Everyone stared at the magicians as understanding slowly dawned.

There was what was essentially a magical nuke in the Watch Tower.

"Now", began Martian Manhunter, "this is unfortunate".

[asspinkie]

there should be a permanent option to ask gale about his special interests. it varies depending on act/setting perhaps but. sometimes i just want to listen to that man speak

[luuxxart]

extended kurosu/suou family vacation