Pilgrimage: Ten Sacred Trees
Thanks to all who participated last Sunday on our Garden Pilgrimages. Since we didn't quite get through everyone's presentations, let's meet a little early on May 2nd—6 pm—to give Benjamin, Janet and Megan a chance to present.
Also, let's expand on these Garden Pilgrimages by visiting Ten Sacred Trees over the next couple of weeks. Some of these trees are among the oldest on the planet. Enjoy!
Ten Sacred Trees
1) Kasugayama Primeval Forest, Japan
Since antiquity, Shintoists have regarded the Kasugayama Primeval Forest outside the city of Nara as a home to their gods. For the last 1200 years it has also been protected from hunting and tree-felling. Access is restricted, but the public can hike up the Kasuga Okuyama Trail that skirts the forest for 5.5 miles.
https://en.japantravel.com/nara/kasuga-forest-nara/58822
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e76IToxjjQo
2) Sacred Bo-Tree, Sri Lanka
Buddhist monks keep vigil over the Sacred Bo Tree (Sri Maha Bodhi) in Anuradhapura, as prayer flags flutter in the breeze and offerings surround the tree’s base. Birdsong and monkey chatter accompany pilgrims in worship and meditation under its outstretched arms. The tree dates back to 245 BC coinciding with the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and is revered as a cutting form the Buddha’s Tree of Enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaya_Sri_Maha_Bodhi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree
3) Cedars of God, Lebanon
The centuries gradually fall away as you stride along the gravel pathways between these ancient cedars in a forest that took root before biblical times. With 103 mentions in the Bible, the Arz el Rab, or Cedars of God, are among the few remaining pockets of these historic trees which once blanketed most of Lebanon. Around 300 trees remain, some over 1000 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedars_of_God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDerJGmfW1g
4) Stelmuze Oak, Lithuania
Western Lithuania is home to the 1,500-2,000-year-old Stelmuze tree, one of Europe’s oldest oaks. Its knobbled trunk has a 42 ft girth. Just the side branches remain alive, supported by props. The tree is dedicated to the sky deity Perkunas, god of fertility and guardian of law and order, once revered by people in the Baltic region for his powers of thunder and lightning. Witness to prayer, celebration, healing and sacrifice, the ancient oak stands proud, enclosed by more juvenile forest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelmu%C5%BE%C4%97_Oak
https://www.visitlithuania.net/.../922-stelmuze-oak-tree
5) Foret de Nevet, France
Walk through the Foret de Nevet in Brittany, under a canope of beech, oak, and chestnut, in the footsteps of St. Ronan. This 6th century Irish bishop established a hermitage in the forest, which had long been sacred to the Celts and Druids.
http://www.finisterebrittany.com/discover/nevet-woods
6) Chene-Chapelle (Chapel Oak), France
In Allouville-Bellefosse stands a 1000-year-old oak tree—France’s oldest and largest—and in its huge, hollow trunk, two chapels have been built, one above the other. The lower chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and dates from 1669. The upper chapel, reached by a wooden staircase that spirals around the great trunk, was built later as a hermitage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%AAne_chapelle
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chapel-oak
7) Allee des Baobabs, Madagascar
Rows of baobabs fringe the dusty road east of Morondava. The tall, straight trunks barely taper as they reach high into an umbrella of short, twisting branches. Considered sacred by many Malagasy tribes, these giants have trunks that are 12-20 ft in diameter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
Oreteti, Tanzania
According to Masai mythology, the supreme god Ngai entrusted his cattle to the tribe, passing them down to Earth through the oreteti, or wild fig tree, the only link between the sky and Earth. Cattle are sacred to the Masai and the oreteti remains a focus for worship ritual and sacrifice.
https://travelboecker.com/sacred-wishing-tree/
9) Marambatemwa, Zimbabwe
The sacred forest of Rambakurimwa at Domboshawa, a typical Marambatemwa, or “place that resists cutting.” The Shona people revere these ancient forests as places where human, natural, and spiritual worlds intertwine
10) Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Nigeria
Thought to be the last remaining virgin high forest in southern Nigeria, this dense forest is dedicated to Oso-Igbo, the Yoruba goddess of fertility, protection and blessings. A World Heritage site, it is one of the few Yoruba sacred groves still in existence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osun-Osogbo
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1118/
11) Arbol del Tule, Oaxaca
A Montezuma cypress, stoutest tree trunk in the world.