Item Details

“I am Mother to my Plants”: Trees, Plants and Private Gardens in the Practice of Modern Witches and Pagans

Issue: Vol 13 No. 2 (2018)

Journal: Fieldwork in Religion

Subject Areas: Religious Studies Linguistics

DOI: 10.1558/firn.36021

Abstract:

The tree stands as a sacred symbol in many faith traditions. Unsurprisingly, nature-based new religious movements are no exception. This article considers the manifestation of sacred trees in a number of religious traditions, including Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spirituality, Abrahamic traditions, Ancient Egyptian religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, Norse mythology, the Shinto faith, and nature-based new religious movements. After this initial section, I present the findings of a fieldwork project undertaken in 2016. Using the survey as a tool, this project enquired into the use of trees, plants, and private gardens among practitioners from nature-based new religious movements. This survey makes use of both quantitative and qualitative survey methods, having been distributed to various nature-based new religious movements in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Despite extensive tree lore, these survey results present the tree as a peripheral plant in the practitioners' everyday practice, with the garden as a whole being more critical than any single variety of vegetation.

Author: Breann Fallon

View Original Web Page

References :

Anderson, Kate Brennan

2000 Wicca for the New Millennium. Futurica 24(1): 90–91.

Bell, Tony

2014 Wicca Teachings: An Introduction and Practical Guide. Northumberland: Lapwing Books.

Boyer, Mark G.

2016 An Abecedarian of Sacred Trees: Spiritual Growth through Reflection on Woody Plants. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

Cusack, Carole M.

2011 The Sacred Tree: Ancient and Medieval Manifestations. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Dugan, Ellen

2010 Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications.

Eliade, Mircea

1991 Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, trans. Philip Mairet; Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Graves, Robert

1948 The White Goddess. London: Faber and Faber.

Haberman, David L.

2013 People Trees: Worship of Trees in Northern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199929177.001.0001

Harvey, Graham

1997 Contemporary Paganism: Religions of the Earth from Druids and Witches to Heathens and Ecofeminists. Washington Square, NY: New York University Press.

Lowry, D.

2006 In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts. Boston, MA: Weatherhill.

McDonald, Heather

2001 Blood, Bones and Spirit: Aboriginal Christianity in an East Kimberley Town. Carlton South: Melbourne University Press.

Moore, Alanna

2009 Sensitive Permaculture: Cultivating the Way of the Sacred Earth. Castlemaine, Australia: Python Press.

Nadkarni, Nalini M.

2008 Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connection to Trees. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Nugteren, Albertina

2005 Belief, Bounty, and Beauty: Rituals around Sacred Trees in India. Leiden and London: Brill.

Philpot, J. H.

2004 The Sacred Tree in Religion and Myth. Mineola, NY: Dover Street Publications.

Sabin, Thea

2006 A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans: Practical Guidance for Sharing Your Path. St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications.

Stanner, W. E. H.

1998 Some Aspects of Aboriginal Religion. In Religious Business: Essays on Australian Aboriginal Spirituality, edited by Max Charlesworth, 1–23. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Starhawk

1999 The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition. New York: Harper Collins.

Vega, Phyllis

2002 Celtic Astrology: How the Mystical Power of the Druid Tree Signs Can Transform Your Life. Franklin Lake, NJ: New Page Books.