Trees and other plants are important in the spiritual belief systems of many cultures, especially animists. Trees in paritcular have been recognized as our elders by many animist groups, and the reverence for trees lingers in many of the modern agricultural religions.
Particularly important is the shamanic image of the World Tree.
Plants as Teachers and Guides
Plants have been teachers and healers of humans for millenia. Animists and shamans learned to listen to the spirits of plants and learn from them.
Shamans have a special ability to communicate with spirits about plants or to communicate with the spirits of the plants themselves.
Frank Fools Crow
More information coming soon on plant spirits as teachers and guides.
Plant Medicine
Indigenous people in the Americas say that for every ailment of human beings there is a plant remedy. Sadly that is not true of modern environmental illnesses caused by chemicals, stress, and pollution. But natural medicines still exist, and animists, particularly shamans, are the traditional keepers of that knowledge.
More information coming soon on plants as medicine.
Plants as Ancestors
There are traditional peoples for whom a certain plant or tree is honored as a totem, or ancestor.
More information coming soon on plant spirits as ancestors.
Trees
Trees have a special place in the hearts of many cultures. Which trees are honored, though, depends on the culture and what trees are important to survival where they live. This list is just a sampling of some of the main trees revered in a few traditional cultures.
Read this beautiful Australian Aborigine poem about the tree and forest spirits mean to their people and their grief as the white people kock down the forests where their ancestors are buried.
For more information on trees, see the books on tree lore in the Shamanista Amazon Book Shop. You may also be able to find some of them at your local library.
Cedar
Perhaps because it repels insects, cedar wo od is burned for spiritual cleansing. Cedar wood also makes strong, durable drum bodies that resist moisture and hold their shape.
To use cedar to cleanse an area, you can put some sand in a bowl, light a charcoal tablet (the kind made for burning incense), and burn clean cedar shavings. The cedar shavings sold in grocery and pet stores for lining pet cages work just fine!
Cottonwood
In the Great Plains and the desert Southwest of North America the cottonwood tree is sacred. A cottonwood tree is the center of the sun dance, and Pueblo men traditionally carve kachina figures from cottonwood. Drum bodies are also often made of cottonwood.
While there may be other, more spiritual reasons for the importance of the cottonwood in each culture, there is certainly a practical one.
In the flat areas of the desert or prairie, trees can be seen for a long distance. Trees in a dry climate indicate the presence of water.
While that can mean a stream or spring, it can also mean an underground stream or just a low place that collects rainwater so that it drains deep into the soil. But the presense of cottonwood trees means there is water on or close to the surface, where humans can access it easily, even if they have to dig a little bit.
Oak
Oak trees are revered in several cultures. They live a long time and can grow very large, providing shelter for humans and ammals. The acorns can be processed to remove the tannin and then used as food. The wood is hard and resistant to insects.
Yet somehow there is more to it than that. Oak trees have a spiritual presence that animista and other peoples can feel.
