Sunday Serenity #20

I have always found trees serene. When younger, a forest existed in Eastern Washington, Benton City where I lived. I use to go out in the grove and hang out for hours. Partly, to get away from my mom, but mostly, because I could listen to my inner voice. Each tree, shaped differently, had personality, and I loved to rub my hands on the bark and feel the rough texture of it’s skin. I love watching spring and fall come, because of the different colors. Anyway, I bought myself a cool book called :The Meaning Of Trees Written by Fred Hageneder, who inspired this post. I want to post about the different trees. Their vastness is far and long, so many different types. Here are 4 trees, I liked in the book. I didn’t write all the information about them.

Maple: (Aceraceae) There are 100 species of this tree. The symbol:
The Divine Association: Nanahboozhoo (Salteaux Indian)
Astrological Association: Jupitor
Superstition: The Roman grammarian Servius noted in C. 400ce that, as the Trojan horse had been made from maple wood, the maple was a tree that brought bad luck.
Historical spotlight: The Sycamore tree was first recorded in England in 1578, possibly brought from Europe by the Crusaders. It’s English name is a misspelling of Sycomore fig, a tree native to Egypt and Palestine.

Alder:
There are 35 species.
Symbolism: Release
Divine Association: Bran (Welsh) Phoronneus (Greek)
Astrological Association: Neptune.

Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria) :

There are 15 species.
Symbolism: Care
Divine Association: Pehuencha and Pehuenkuze (native Chilean)
Astrological Associations: Saturn and Mars
Historical Spotlight: Early European observers apparently wondered how a monkey could climb the sharp spikes of the trunk and branches. However, there are no monkeys in the forests of Chile.

Birch (Betula):
There are 60 species.
Symbolism: Renewal and Protection
Divine Association: The white Goddess, Brigid (Celtic ), Freya and Frigga (Norse), Venus (Roman)
Astrological Association: Venus
Historical Spotlight: In 1893, the British intelligence officer Captain H. Bower brought back from Turkestan one of the worlds oldest birch bark manuscripts , dating from 350ce.