November
14
/ 2019
Numerous myths, ubiquitous to great civilizations spanning the globe, reflect a deep-rooted belief in an intimate connection between a human being and a tree. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite proclaims that when the tree is injured, the tree nymph also hurts, “…but when the fate of death is near at hand, first those lovely trees wither where they stand, and the bark shrivels away about them, and the twigs fall down, and at last the life of the Nymph and of the tree leave the light of the sun together”. Nyads and Dryads by Walter Crane (1845–1915) ( Public Domain ) The Mesopotamians, Greeks, Egyptians and even the Maya, all recognized sacred trees’ connectedness to humans. The oldest Hellenic oracle
