Looking at Klimt’s series of paintings of birches and birch forests makes me think that perhaps the rich heritage of folklore based around the forest, including the brothers Grimm’s fairy tales, may have inspired him to some extent. Most of the paintings in this series give a deep sense of tranquillity but others have a darker and more sinister feel.
In his book “Into the Woods: How Stories Work and How We Tell Them” John Yorke maintains that in a literary forest:
“There are all kinds of wild creatures; danger is never far away. The nature of the forest is that you are alone in it. There are encounters of course and who and what you meet will be tests, which will change you in some way.”
Yorke looks at the evolution of story structure and what he considers to be the fundamental story template of:
1. Home
2. Woodland. Day
3. The Forest
4. The Road Back. Night
5. Home Again. Changed
In the familiar fairy tales of our childhood, Red Riding Hood meets the wolf in the forest, Snow White is abandoned in the forest and countless innocents experience terrifying encounters there.
When discussing the art of storytelling Yorke explains how:
“The forest releases our full-blown madness. Birds and animals talk to us, departed souls speak . . . . we melt into the trees, into the bark and the sap.”
Through the centuries of human existence trees and forests have acquired symbolic meanings. Trees were hugely significant to the ancient Celts, who believed that different kinds of trees served different mystic purposes that helped them through their lives. Trees were a connection to the world of the spirits and the ancestors, doorways to other worlds. The Celts saw the meaning of rebirth in the seasonal changes they observed in trees.
Trees have held great religious significance, for example, the tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment and the tree used for the crucifixion of Christ.
Still today, in many different cultures, prayers and offerings are hung on trees. In the Shinto religion of Japan, which sanctifies nature, the sakaki tree has special significance in the creation story; gods dug up a 500 branched sakaki tree from the heavenly Mount Kaga and hung jewels, a huge mirror and white and blue offerings. The goddess Amaterasu saw her reflection in the mirror and was drawn from her cave, restoring light to the heavens and earth. Today mirrors are hung in sakaki trees at Shinto shrines.
The Buddha Goddess Amaterasu Jesus Christ
The forest has a great connection with the symbolism of the mother, the place where life thrives. Because of their shape, a central trunk with branches like arms and fingers, bark-like skin – trees have been identified with the human form, leading to a link with fertility. The birch is one of the first trees to come into leaf and thus linked with fertility.
Many of these myths identify trees as receptacles for spirits. In her PhD submission, “Forest and tree symbolism in folklore” Judith Crewe cites the belief amongst western Warlpiri Aborigines, who believe that:
“Souls accumulate in trees and wait for a likely woman to pass by so that they can jump out and be born.”
Probably the oldest and most universal myth surrounding trees is the Tree of Life, representing the connectedness of everything in the universe. Its roots spread deep and spread into the earth, accepting nourishment from Mother Earth, and its branches reach up to the sky, accepting energy from the sun and moon. All human life came from the tree and its fruit gave everlasting life.
The Tree of Life was important to the Celts, who believed that trees were the ancestors of human beings. Trees were a connection to the world of the spirits and ancestors, doorways to other worlds. Rituals were often performed around the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
The Tree of Life remains a feature in the world’s major religions today. It is mentioned in the Bible, growing in the Garden of Eden. In Buddhism it is known as the Bodhi – tree, the Tree of Enlightenment. In Islam the Tree of Life is known as the Tree of Immortality in the Quaran. In Judaism the Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim, sustains and nourishes life, standing in the garden planted by Jaweh.
The Garden of Eden The Bodhi-Tree Tree of Immortality Etz haChayim
To return to my starting point, I close this chapter in my reflective journal with another piece of art by Gustav Klimt, The Tree of life.
Comments