English Across the Curriculum. Nature Studies "The Magic of Trees"

The Magic of Trees

•   Warm up

Look at the pictures. Do you know the names of these trees? Match the words to the pictures.

• Reading

Hawthorn is a light, hard, applelike wood that rarely grows much bigger than a shrub. As the name suggests, hawthorn is also quite thorny. As such, this tree is excellent for hedges. Wood from the Haw­thorn provides the honest fires. Hawthorn leaves and blossoms can be infused as a tea to alleviate anxiety, appetite loss and poor circulation. The Greeks and Romans viewed the hawthorn as symbolic of hope and marriage. However, in medieval Eu­rope people generally associated hawthorn with the wise women who gathered its leaves and flowers for their medicinal pur­poses. As such, folklore started to associate the hawthorn with witchcraft giving it an unlucky association which still clings to it today.

 Hazel is famous for its nuts that which provided an essential source of food dur­ing cold winter months. Generally, the hazel provides shade, protection and long thin branches that are perfect for weaving into baskets. Dousers use forked twigs of hazel for “water-witching”, the mysterious art of finding water through the twitching of the twig in the dousers hands. Maybe for this reason many cultures associate ha­zel with knowledge, wisdom and mystical inspiration.

Holly is a beautiful white wood. With its almost invisible grain, holly looks very much like costly animal ivory. Christian and pre-Christian folklore associates holly with the death and rebirth symbolism of winter. In Britain’s famous Arthurian leg­ends, Gawain (representing the oak king of summer) fights the Green Knight who is armed with a holly club (representing winter). The ancient Celts used holly in the construction of chariot wheel shafts and for their spears.

Oak is a robust and long-lived tree. The oak is a traditional symbol of the strength and beauty of England. Oak built the historic ships of the English navy which protected the country from invasion. As such, oak holds a special place in many English people’s hearts. But the symbolic association of the oak goes back thousands of years to Britain’s Celtic and pre-Celtic times. Celts believed the oak to be especially precious because of its size, longevity and nutritious crop of acorns. Elsewhere, the oak is often associated with such gods of thunder and lightening as the Greeks’ Zeus or the Vikings’ Thor.

Yew is a beautifully smooth, gold- coloured wood with a wavy grain. All parts of  the tree are poisonous except the fleshy covering of the berry. Yew now finds a role in recent cures for cancer. Traditionally yews are associated with magic, death and rebirth. Ancient yews are found in churchyards all over Britain, where they often pre-date even the old­est of churches. Yew provided English archers with military superiority in the country's early wars against France. On the northwest coast of North America, the indigenous peoples use the Pacific yew for the mak­ing of shamanistic masks. This links to the association of the yew in many cul­tures with the enhancing of magical and physical abilities, especially through the trance states and visions.

In today's modern technological and scientific world many of these supersti­tious beliefs may seem naive. But as the recent application of yew to the cure of cancer shows, every tree does indeed contain marvellous qualities – some of which the ancient legends correctly hint at. Maybe trees really do contain more than a little magic for each and every one of us after all.

•  Expand on the quotes.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Abraham Lincoln

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Warren Buffett

The tree is more than a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

There is always Music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.

Minnie Aumonier

•   Read two stanzas of the poem “I Am a Tree” written by Laleta Davis-Mattis. What else can a tree see?

I am a tree 
A tall tall tree 
There are so many things that I can see
I see the man, the woman, the boy the girl 
I see that the world is in a swirl 
I see them , and I see you 
Oh I beg, what can you do? 
I see the man coming with the saw 
To cut me down, 
Against that there is no law.

I am a tree 
A tall tall tree I am a tree 
A tall tall tree 
There are so many things that I can see
I see the man, the woman, the boy the girl 
I see that the world is in a swirl 
I see them , and I see you 
Oh I beg, what can you do? 
I see the man coming with the saw