Around the world with tree traditions

We are truly people of the trees. 

Throughout history, across the world, practically every culture has had traditions and stories about trees – from Kodama spirits inhabiting forests, to Yggdrasill, the giant World Tree, the bridge spanning the nine realms.  

Read on to discover traditions and folklore, and the gentle giants at their heart. 

Tree dressing and other traditions 

People love to decorate trees and not just at Christmas!

In Celtic practices, people tie branches with ribbons and cloth, leaving offerings, expressing gratitude, and seeking the tree’s blessings for abundance.  

In Midsummer, around the 24th of June, celebrants weave flower crowns and wreaths, heaping them on a birch, a tree which symbolises new beginnings, renewal and purification.  

Pilgrims might drape beads or rosaries over a tree next to an Irish holy well, while some Native American tribes on the prairies might tie rags in a tree as part of a sweat lodge festival. 

During the Lam Tsuen festival in Hong Kong, people write wishes on red or gold paper, tied to a small orange. They throw it into the boughs of the tree, and according to legend, the higher it lands, the more likely it is to come true! 

In Europe, many countries like Germany, Serbia and Switzerland plant a tree to celebrate the birth of a child – for instance, an apple tree for a boy and a pear tree for a girl. The children ‘grow together’ with the tree, which is sometimes seen as the person’s special twin. 

Partying with the trees 

Trees have long been a sanctuary for those seeking peace and quiet – but they’ve also been at the centre of our parties and our festivals! 

For instance, the Karam tree gets special attention during the Indian Karam harvest festival, surrounded drummers and worshippers, who take branches from the tree back to the village, to be washed in rice beer and milk, planted in the ground and decorated with flowers. The whole community gathers to sing and dance to the beat of a drum, decked out in colourful clothes with flowers in their hair.  

In the lead up to the festival, unmarried girls also grow seedlings for 7-9 days, and decorate a small basket with seeds just beginning to germinate. 

The language of trees 

You might have heard of floriography, the ‘language of flowers’, where a daisy means innocence and a pansy thoughtfulness. But what about the language of trees?  

In China, the pine indicates friendship in adversity, because it stays green all year round.  

The ash tree has been a symbol for healing, and in Hampshire, children with broken bones used to be passed through a cleft in an ash’s trunk. 

The oak is a byword for strength, stability, protection and resilience, as it can live for thousands of years and towers over the rest of the forest.  

Meanwhile, cedar trees in the Bible are described as not just strong but beautiful, gracious, royal and fragrant, seen by some as a symbol of the love and majesty of God.  

Kenya and East Africa 

At ITF, we have a special affection for East Africa. Our origins began in the diminishing forests of Kenya, as a UK forester, St Barbe, joined forces with Josiah Njonjo, a Kikuyu chief.

The communities in Kenya have had a great ancestral love of trees – many believe the forests are home to spirits, and in western counties and the Great Rift Valley young boys learn local beliefs, traditions and cultures there among the trees. 

The Dance of the Trees in Kenya, in the early days of ITF - then known as Men of the Trees

But in the Kikuyu community, it is the Mugumo, or fig tree, which is at the heart of village life. 

The council of elders perform prayers and ceremonies under its leaves, consulting ancestral spirits, invoking curses and blessings. 

The people gather round to deliberate on serious community issues, and if any person goes against a declaration made under the tree, they are believed to be under a curse.  

This tree is never to be cut. Not even a branch. 

A community nursery, growing trees to restore Kakamega Rainforest

Forests in East Africa are disappearing with terrible speed, as communities rely on firewood and charcoal burning just to survive. But together with local communities, we are working to plant and nurture endangered trees to restore precious forests and create new livelihoods that enable villages to flourish in harmony with the natural world. 

Trees have been treasured in every age. There are always people desperate to cherish and protect nature’s greatest gifts. Will you join with them?

Restore with us

Your support can bring back the precious forests of East Africa.