Do you respect trees ?
By topffer
@topffer (42156)
France
July 29, 2011 9:05am CST
I was reading an old article in French about the desertification of Niger untitled "Nous pas planter" -- "We not plant" -- explaining the reasons advanced by the population to not plant trees :
http://www.syfia.info/index.php5?view=articles&action=voir&idArticle=2429
One attracted my attention. In a place called Kollo, people refused to plant free baobabs offered to them "because this tree serves as home to genii
."
In Greek and Celt mythologies dryads were also living in trees, and the lives of hamadryads -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadryad -- were associated to the lives of their own trees. It is why the gods were punishing any mortal harming a tree.
It remains me a weird news item that happened in a town where I was working. During a warm summer day without a breath of air, an old plane tree felt on a car stopped in a traffic jam and killed the driver. Apparently in good health, the tree was in reality hollow and sick, and it was decided later to pull up 20 old hollow plane trees and replace them with young trees. Soon after, I had a lunch with the town gardeners who were really disturbed by this "accident". For them, it was not the proper word. The driver killed was a digger driver that they were calling when they had a tree to pull up : "This man was not liking trees. It is not an accident, it is a revenge of the trees."
I have personally an allergy to sawdust, and I cannot cut a tree without risking an asthma attack, but I love woods and I respect trees. I would not be able to live in a town with no trees, Venice included : I know that I need them when they are missing.
What are your relationship with trees ? Have you planted a tree and have a particular relationship with it ?
Subsidiary question -- we are in "fantasy", not in "nature" 
-- : do you believe that trees are living creatures able of to commit a murder or did the gods or the dryads murdered the digger driver ?
."
In Greek and Celt mythologies dryads were also living in trees, and the lives of hamadryads -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadryad -- were associated to the lives of their own trees. It is why the gods were punishing any mortal harming a tree.
It remains me a weird news item that happened in a town where I was working. During a warm summer day without a breath of air, an old plane tree felt on a car stopped in a traffic jam and killed the driver. Apparently in good health, the tree was in reality hollow and sick, and it was decided later to pull up 20 old hollow plane trees and replace them with young trees. Soon after, I had a lunch with the town gardeners who were really disturbed by this "accident". For them, it was not the proper word. The driver killed was a digger driver that they were calling when they had a tree to pull up : "This man was not liking trees. It is not an accident, it is a revenge of the trees."
I have personally an allergy to sawdust, and I cannot cut a tree without risking an asthma attack, but I love woods and I respect trees. I would not be able to live in a town with no trees, Venice included : I know that I need them when they are missing.
What are your relationship with trees ? Have you planted a tree and have a particular relationship with it ?
Subsidiary question -- we are in "fantasy", not in "nature" -- : do you believe that trees are living creatures able of to commit a murder or did the gods or the dryads murdered the digger driver ?3 people like this
12 responses
@sreesai (215)
• India
29 Jul 11
Hi topffer,
I like trees and respect them, they are the true friends to the whole living beings on earth. They do their best to save earth. I personally like coconut tree which used to be in my grandfather and grandmother's house. I used to visit their place in vocations, I used to spend more time around the place where that tree was located, along with grand parents. At first my grandmother passed away and after some years my grandfather passed away. I missed them a lot. When I once went to that empty house, I was filled with their memories and felt missing them very much. When I saw that tree at that time, I felt that it was streching it hands for me to come near it. I just went near it , hold it with both hands around it and weeped a lot. I felt that I was talking with my grandparents with my eyes that how much I miss them. After that I went several times to that house,I use to watch that tree as long as possible, I use to say bye while leaving. But that house property was gone to my uncle's son, he demolished the house along with that tree and constructed a new one. When I came to know this, I felt very bad, even my last hope is also gone. But when ever I see such a coconut(in shape which is slightly bend and very tall) tree, I feel some what happy.
@topffer (42156)
• France
29 Jul 11
Hello sreesai,
This is a touching story. I understand how it was hard to see this tree disappearing with the house of your grand parents. It is like if you lost them a second time. There was also a palm tree in the garden of my parents when I was a toddler -- not a coconut tree, the weather is too cold for them in France, but a sort of date palm tree -- and I like these trees because they remind me my first house.
Thank you for your response. Have a nice weekend.
1 person likes this
@dont_pick_your_nose (2279)
• Australia
2 Aug 11
That's a very sweet story! I feel sorry for you having your memory tree knocked down. I remember playing on the cherry trees and in on poppa's orange orchid!
On the way home from school in summer me and my brother used to raid the molberry bush we had to pass on the way home and were always dyed purple by the time we got back, along with our hands and clothes! Theres nothing better they are great memories!
@MagicalBubbles (5103)
• Canada
29 Jul 11
I love trees also and we have planted 101 trees on our property. We have a lot of Chinese Elm because they grow fast and indeed they can grow 5-6 feet a year. So most Chinese Elms are about 60' tall by now. We also have some baby tree and waiting for them to grow, slowly but surely.
We have lots of birds and this year, a black squirrel showed up.
I dont know why and I cant remember when it started but Ive always thought that bad witches were living inside trees. Maybe it has to do with a movie I saw as a kid or a story I heard. I would never cut a tree, not because Im afraid of being attacked by one but because I cant imagine wanting to cut down a tree.
At the first house we bought, there was a huge cedar tree about 10 feet from the house. We wanted to build a patio and instead of cutting down the tree to make place for the patio, we built around the tree, leaving ample space for the tree to grow. Unfortunately, the people who bought our house but down the tree 
, what a shame!!
About that man, yes I do believe it was revenge of the tree. 
, what a shame!!
About that man, yes I do believe it was revenge of the tree.
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Jul 11
We had a lot of elms in France twenty years ago, but 90% of them have disappeared due to a disease. Paris was full of elm trees, and only a bunch of them has been saved. I don't think that Chinese elms are subject to this disease. 101 is a large number ! Several birds like elms : it is a good choice for a park
.
What a pity to have cut this cedar : they need years to grow... My grandfather planted three Atlas cedars circa 1900 and they are about 30 feet high today. I believe they need two centuries more to be 100 feet high
. Your patio around the tree was certainly a beautiful : some people have no taste...
The accident happened to this man is very strange : generally trees don't fall when there is no wind, and it is so weird that it killed just this man who was charged to destroyed them in this town. I can understand the feeling of the gardeners. Why not a revenge of the trees?
.
What a pity to have cut this cedar : they need years to grow... My grandfather planted three Atlas cedars circa 1900 and they are about 30 feet high today. I believe they need two centuries more to be 100 feet high. Your patio around the tree was certainly a beautiful : some people have no taste...
The accident happened to this man is very strange : generally trees don't fall when there is no wind, and it is so weird that it killed just this man who was charged to destroyed them in this town. I can understand the feeling of the gardeners. Why not a revenge of the trees?
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
4 Aug 11
First, the link that you gave regarding "we not plant" was also "not in English" so I couldn't read it.
Second, I know about the baobabs and genii (or djinn, although they are Muslim rather than Celtic) without doing any searches, so I am rather impressed with myself, especially since I am answering one of your discussions.
Third, I also can't live in a place without trees, so we have another thing in common.
I do not necessarily believe in spirits living within trees, but I also do not discredit that belief, especially since my imagination rather likes that idea. There is one tree in a cemetery near where I live, and this cemetery is said to be haunted. In fact, this particular cemetery is rather widely known in the paranormal community as it is said to have a lot of activity. The tree within this cemetery looks quite a lot like the tree in "Sleepy Hollow" (the one with Johnny Depp) where all the bodies are buried. Is that just a coincidence or is it something else?
Second, I know about the baobabs and genii (or djinn, although they are Muslim rather than Celtic) without doing any searches, so I am rather impressed with myself, especially since I am answering one of your discussions. Third, I also can't live in a place without trees, so we have another thing in common.
I do not necessarily believe in spirits living within trees, but I also do not discredit that belief, especially since my imagination rather likes that idea. There is one tree in a cemetery near where I live, and this cemetery is said to be haunted. In fact, this particular cemetery is rather widely known in the paranormal community as it is said to have a lot of activity. The tree within this cemetery looks quite a lot like the tree in "Sleepy Hollow" (the one with Johnny Depp) where all the bodies are buried. Is that just a coincidence or is it something else?1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
4 Aug 11
Well, I am not sure whether it is the cemetery or the tree, but let me just say that I will not be going anywhere near that tree with anything that even remotely resembles an axe just in case ... 
Now, I think that living in a haunted house would be interesting, especially if the spirits were not harmful. Did you enjoy living there or was it frightening for you ... or perhaps a little bit of both at times?
I tend to have "flights of fancy", especially when I am on walks in the woods. I love to imagine wood nymphs and other mystical and magical creatures roaming about just out of my sight. Sometimes I am sure that I catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of my eye, but they are gone when I look again. I think that it is quite fun to picture these things, and I like to let my mind follow down these paths. You seem to be more of a practical type person, but do you ever have these imaginings when you are out walking in the woods as well?
Now, I think that living in a haunted house would be interesting, especially if the spirits were not harmful. Did you enjoy living there or was it frightening for you ... or perhaps a little bit of both at times?
I tend to have "flights of fancy", especially when I am on walks in the woods. I love to imagine wood nymphs and other mystical and magical creatures roaming about just out of my sight. Sometimes I am sure that I catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of my eye, but they are gone when I look again. I think that it is quite fun to picture these things, and I like to let my mind follow down these paths. You seem to be more of a practical type person, but do you ever have these imaginings when you are out walking in the woods as well?@topffer (42156)
• France
11 Sep 11
How can I have missed this post ? You are a poet purple
. I have never crossed a wood nymph, a fairy or a leprechaun and I have not this style of imagination, but I navigate easily across the time : show me the foundations of a temple in your woods and I will rebuild it immediately in my mind
.
Except the first night I heard the ghost walking in my bedroom, I can't say I have been really frightened. I tried to track it during the first months, and then we lived together under the same roof our own lives. He was once or twice a month a bit noisy for a room mate and never offered to share the rent, but he was not a nasty ghost.
. I have never crossed a wood nymph, a fairy or a leprechaun and I have not this style of imagination, but I navigate easily across the time : show me the foundations of a temple in your woods and I will rebuild it immediately in my mind.
Except the first night I heard the ghost walking in my bedroom, I can't say I have been really frightened. I tried to track it during the first months, and then we lived together under the same roof our own lives. He was once or twice a month a bit noisy for a room mate and never offered to share the rent, but he was not a nasty ghost.1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
4 Aug 11
I hope my discussions don't need to consult an encyclopedia to give a response
, and I know that you are a smart responder.
I forgot Sleepy Hollow. I remember frightening woods and trees in this movie. I lived in a haunted house, but I see you live also in a charming place. I like the hypothesis that it is not the cemetery which is haunted, but the tree.
, and I know that you are a smart responder.
I forgot Sleepy Hollow. I remember frightening woods and trees in this movie. I lived in a haunted house, but I see you live also in a charming place. I like the hypothesis that it is not the cemetery which is haunted, but the tree.1 person likes this
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
30 Jul 11
We had to take two trees out of out yard due to ice damage, we replace them with three. It will take probably 6 years for them to provide even a fraction of the shade the old ones did. There are too many benefits to trees to keep cutting them down. The act as a sun shade on the house which may cut down on the amount of use of the A/C in the house. The produce oxygen as a by product and use the carbon dioxide that is produced when we exhale and that cars let off. We should be making sure that we are planting trees and other green things, especially in areas where there are a lot of cars.
1 person likes this
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
30 Jul 11
My parents have a large yard and have lived in their current house for almost 18 years. They have a row of trees at the back of the property and one near the deck. The rest is just grass with a few little bushes surrounding the deck. I was telling dad a few weeks ago that he should plant a few more trees. Hopefully he will.
1 person likes this
@mysticalecstasy (472)
• Pakistan
30 Jul 11
My uncle is really into gardening and taking care of plants and all so once they planted this tree and my uncle would look after it. The tree would be laden with these really beautiful pink blossoms. One season however he was away and couldn't look after it and that season had no blossoms. However when my uncle came back and watered it and all, the blossoms were there!! This is most strangest thing that happened and we are all mystified! So yes trees do have spirits and can experience all emotions attributed to it!! I think trees do respond to our ministering!!So like humans treat them with caution!!!
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Jul 11
Pink blossoms ? Was it a laurel tree ? Your story about this tree is another source of queries. I read a report saying that plants are sensible to human voice, why not a tree ? I know some forest wardens speaking to trees like if they were a human beings. It is an interesting post, mystical.
@mysticalecstasy (472)
• Pakistan
30 Jul 11
I can't recall the name. Will have to ask my uncle! i was amazed myself. This happened before i was born so the story was narrated to me by my professor who had heard it from my uncle. Apparently my uncle had also been his student. I remember reading about trees having spirits and how we should let our spirit connect to all spirits. I think it was Paulo Coelho who wrote something to this effect. I think it takes a lot of concentration. Will have to read some more!
1 person likes this
@QeeGood (1213)
• Sweden
29 Jul 11
I believe threes are as important as all living creatures on our Planet Earth. Trees are a tremendous root system like a giant network under the soil. Trees are like water containers. They are good to prevent floods of water. They say when you hug a tree you get new energy from it.
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Jul 11
I never hugged a tree and I did not knew this belief. Tree are useful to prevent several natural disaster, and not only floods : they are also good to attenuate the effect of wind during tempests. In some area of France, hedges of trees have been removed for agriculture, and the tempests are disastrous now.
1 person likes this
@dont_pick_your_nose (2279)
• Australia
2 Aug 11
I don't know but i don't think that anyone murdered this digger i think it was purely by accident and a freak coincidence.
I can't say that i have ever heard much about tree worshipping before at all. I would like to check out your link, i love Wikipedia there's a world of information available at your finger tips listed and separated into topics, it's too easy to research a topic there.
I don't think trees are able to commit murder... I Do believe their is a higher power but I don't know if it controls the uprooting of trees.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (223010)
• Chile
30 Jul 11
I like trees and I respect them. But the way your post is intended, all this has to do with religion and culture in places I´ve never been to. I don´t believe in geniis, but then I can´t grasp the notion of God either, as western cultures uses it. So I can only speak of trees as trees and not of dwellings of spirits.
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Jul 11
Hello marguicha,
I started this discussion in "fantasy" not in "religion", though there are still some religious beliefs about trees in several places. The cult to trees, fountains, stones, etc. who was still active at the end of the roman era in Gaul, has been very difficult to eradicate for the Church. Many churches have been built on previous sacred fountains, stones, to convert the population to Christianity. At thirty kms from here the ruins of an old church in the woods are a nice goal for a walk : the church is at the place of a monastery of the 5th century, built in a sacred wood dedicated to Apollo, according to the Chronicle of this monastery. In fantasy, genii and dryads have still their place : Stine says that dryads are still alive in warcraft.
.@marguicha (223010)
• Chile
30 Jul 11
I must confess that I´d be most happy to see a genii, specially if it´s one of the genii that grant wishes. It is interesting to know how new rligions pick up part of th old ones and make a mix so that ther people can understand in part the new meaning. Here, in South America, there are lots of special religious events that have a lot of the old cults embedded. They are awesome and the ones I have seen have something that you can grasp from a visceral way too.
. It is interesting to know how new rligions pick up part of th old ones and make a mix so that ther people can understand in part the new meaning. Here, in South America, there are lots of special religious events that have a lot of the old cults embedded. They are awesome and the ones I have seen have something that you can grasp from a visceral way too.1 person likes this
@Bellapop (1279)
•
22 Nov 11
Yes, I definitely love trees - I too, could not live in a place without trees, plants, flowers or birds and animals. Sometimes I think I am a little crazy but I have this idea in my head that trees are living beings too, perhaps capable of some thought - beings in the way they are probably more in form of a spirit. I always look at old trees with wonder, with the thought that they have been standing where they are for decades and possibly more than a century, and I wonder what they have seen and lived through as they stood there. There is a big tree in town that I walk past frequently - nowadays I say 'hello' to it in my mind (yes, I know I am a little crazy!' but somehow I know it acknowledges me, that it still remembers when I first walk past more than 15 years ago and has watched me grow up over the years... :)
@mtrguanlao (5522)
• Philippines
30 Jul 11
Hi topffer!
Oh I'm a nature lover friend and I love trees though I haven't planted one,lol! I don't have a green thumb friend that's why I don't plant trees,hehe! Trees are very useful to us and we need them especially in our country where we are always being flooded by water rains.
We have mango tree,guava and banana trees in our backyard friend and my dad usually talk to them,hehe! Dad says when we talk to our plants or trees,it'll bear sweet fruits and I think it's true(hehe),our trees always bear sweet fruits.
As for the fantasy,I think the trees did it for revenge,lol!
Oh I'm a nature lover friend and I love trees though I haven't planted one,lol! I don't have a green thumb friend that's why I don't plant trees,hehe! Trees are very useful to us and we need them especially in our country where we are always being flooded by water rains.
We have mango tree,guava and banana trees in our backyard friend and my dad usually talk to them,hehe! Dad says when we talk to our plants or trees,it'll bear sweet fruits and I think it's true(hehe),our trees always bear sweet fruits.
As for the fantasy,I think the trees did it for revenge,lol!1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Jul 11
Hi mtrguanlao,
Your new avatar is nice. I was searching how to translate a French expression "green hand" in another box, and I know now that it is "green thumb" in English. Mango and guava don't grow here, and banana given by banana trees are not really eatable : they have only peel skin. Banana trees have only a decorative role in our cold country -- well, not today --. It is nice that you can have all these exotic -- for me -- fruits in your garden.
It was possibly a revenge. I can understand the opinion of the gardeners : it looks unbelievable that this tree felt a day without wind exactly on this man... So this plane tree was a kamikaze :)
. I was searching how to translate a French expression "green hand" in another box, and I know now that it is "green thumb" in English. Mango and guava don't grow here, and banana given by banana trees are not really eatable : they have only peel skin. Banana trees have only a decorative role in our cold country -- well, not today --. It is nice that you can have all these exotic -- for me -- fruits in your garden.
It was possibly a revenge. I can understand the opinion of the gardeners : it looks unbelievable that this tree felt a day without wind exactly on this man... So this plane tree was a kamikaze :)
@naija4real (1291)
•
30 Jul 11
I do not respect tree. I only appreciate the worth as a symbol of human life. At least they provide us with fruits,serve as shed against the hot sunshine,play more environmental role.
@freeponyrides (20)
•
11 Jan 12
they are living creatures but i don't think that they are capable of revenge or murder. im not sure if dryads or gods murdered the digger driver. its hard to determine if they are true or they exists.
. What was interesting is that the trees were really living creatures for these gardeners, and they were really convinced of it. Whatever the truth is, the facts are troubling.