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The Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis And Inspiration
Trees are one of Earth's oldest forms; silent witnesses to human evolution and the passing of time. Many people today take the presence of trees for granted, unaware of their greater significance in Earth's ecology, their medicinal and nutritional properties, or the veneration bestowed on them by ancient peoples. The Spirit of Trees captures all these elements in a holistic appraisal of Earth's most influential creation.
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First published October 26, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 24, 2024
It’s nearly 2023 and I am just now fulfilling my 5 book reviews a year promise to GoodReads. Ironically, being a “New Age” writer myself (check out "The Talking Forest: Tree Runes for a New Millennium"), I’m only now getting away from fiction reviews to assessing another writer in the same genre who has also greatly influenced me. Fred Hageneder is a harpist and biologist whose writings show his profound love for trees. He is a member of various organizations in Britain dedicated to saving tree ecosystems, and especially the ancient yews. Since I first read Hageneder’s "The Meaning of Trees", (Chronicle Books, 2005), I have been an avid fan of his. This, the newest of the three books makes a great “coffee table book” to give anyone who loves trees. Splendidly photographed and laid out, this book consists of a very short introduction, followed by descriptions of 58 trees from all over the world, including Africa, Oceania and South America. Hageneder mentions the botany, history and folklore of these trees and the book makes an excellent preview for the more indepth study of the other two books.
Of the other two books, "The Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis and Inspiration" (Floris Books, 2000) is the prettier, with lavish photographs and drawings of each of the 24 trees described within. Here, Hageneder has narrowed his review to trees growing in Europe and Britain which also happen to thrive in North America. This book goes into more detail than "The Meaning of Trees" and where appropriate, mentions the tree’s influence on the Celtic Ogham system. I note that not all the plants of the Ogham are included – shrubs such as Gorse, Broom or Heather, not being trees, are left out. In addition, Hageneder adds trees such as Maple, Elm and Linden, etc., not attributed in the Ogham, but trees that are nonetheless, important to the history and folklore of the northern hemisphere. All in all, this is a very engaging and beautiful work peppered with the unique insights and observations that are a feature of Fred Hageneder’s writing.
"The Heritage of Trees: History, Culture and Symbolism", the plainest book of the three, has more meat in it. Here are missing the lavish photos and paintings, replaced by drawings from old anthropological and archaeological texts. But here also we have a more indepth and fascinating perusal of trees. Hageneder discusses the importance of trees in prehistory and among ancient cultures both obscure and famous, such as the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians. Here again, the author limits his study to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa, but he delves deeply into the history, the folklore and religions surrounding trees. While reading this book, I wondered, not for the first time, if Hageneder studied linguistics, for his observations of language are very astute and illuminating. For example, his comments on the various ceremonial columns: the Egyptian Djed, the Greek Herm and the Germanic Irminsûl are fascinating. He also has a theory about the etymology of the words “witch” and “wood”, which, when I first read it, astonished me. All in all, "The Heritage of Trees" is a worthy way to spend your reading time.
In review, these three books by Fred Hageneder make a lovely quartet along with Jane Gifford’s similarly titled "The Wisdom of Trees" – another Goodreads review for another time!
Of the other two books, "The Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis and Inspiration" (Floris Books, 2000) is the prettier, with lavish photographs and drawings of each of the 24 trees described within. Here, Hageneder has narrowed his review to trees growing in Europe and Britain which also happen to thrive in North America. This book goes into more detail than "The Meaning of Trees" and where appropriate, mentions the tree’s influence on the Celtic Ogham system. I note that not all the plants of the Ogham are included – shrubs such as Gorse, Broom or Heather, not being trees, are left out. In addition, Hageneder adds trees such as Maple, Elm and Linden, etc., not attributed in the Ogham, but trees that are nonetheless, important to the history and folklore of the northern hemisphere. All in all, this is a very engaging and beautiful work peppered with the unique insights and observations that are a feature of Fred Hageneder’s writing.
"The Heritage of Trees: History, Culture and Symbolism", the plainest book of the three, has more meat in it. Here are missing the lavish photos and paintings, replaced by drawings from old anthropological and archaeological texts. But here also we have a more indepth and fascinating perusal of trees. Hageneder discusses the importance of trees in prehistory and among ancient cultures both obscure and famous, such as the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians. Here again, the author limits his study to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa, but he delves deeply into the history, the folklore and religions surrounding trees. While reading this book, I wondered, not for the first time, if Hageneder studied linguistics, for his observations of language are very astute and illuminating. For example, his comments on the various ceremonial columns: the Egyptian Djed, the Greek Herm and the Germanic Irminsûl are fascinating. He also has a theory about the etymology of the words “witch” and “wood”, which, when I first read it, astonished me. All in all, "The Heritage of Trees" is a worthy way to spend your reading time.
In review, these three books by Fred Hageneder make a lovely quartet along with Jane Gifford’s similarly titled "The Wisdom of Trees" – another Goodreads review for another time!
April 15, 2024
Amazing book!
July 4, 2016
I lost interest when Hageneder compared the growing habits of maple to astrological symbolism. The horizontally searching branches represent expanding consciousness apparently. That may or may not be the case, but i have no experiential context in which to test that theory. This is the main problem with the book. While the tree biology and folklore sections are interesting, i could do without the seemingly random esoteric connections the author makes. They require a great leap of faith on the reader's behalf.
I want a list of sources and citations when bold claims are made, I'm afraid this book just doesnt make a clear enough distinction between verifiable fact and the author's conjecture.
Perhaps better off reading a specialist tree biology book, or a specialist cultural anthropology book for both the science and folklore aspects respectively.
I want a list of sources and citations when bold claims are made, I'm afraid this book just doesnt make a clear enough distinction between verifiable fact and the author's conjecture.
Perhaps better off reading a specialist tree biology book, or a specialist cultural anthropology book for both the science and folklore aspects respectively.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews