[Ashbys]

Since I have been making the staffs and because of BobD's rowan wood wand , I started looking at the "stories" of the different types of woods.
I spoke with Susan a few weeks back and she told me of the mythology assoicated with the tree spirits, why the trees were considered men. It was very interesting and perhaps if were nice to her she could give the myth here .... *wink*

Anyway I have been asked to do some staffs out of some different woods and in doing some of the backgroud information I thought perhaps that it might help to determine the wood type to be used. This is a website, with some of the meanings of the wood types. Thought you might like it as well.

I looked only for fokelore for trees and their meanings. Personally I am a Christian and as such follow those teachings.

Ash


http://www.spiritofold.co.uk/magick/tree/main.htm

[Ron D]

thanks ash

that site will come in handy

[Irish]

Hey Ash,

The mythology is very simple. In what are now referred to as Pagan cultures, those that preceeded Christianity in many of the Western countries today as the Germanic States and the British Isles, Mother Nature was the major diety. She was the creator of life and from her everything both mankind, animals, and nature were born.

In some of the earliest stories Mother Nature is the Sun and her consort was the Moon. She would look upon him with her loving nature and that is why the Moon sometimes is full and bright, reflecting her love. But, being a female spirit she would become moody and jealous because her consort, the Moon, would light the earth with the light that she gave him, his reflected (full moon) light. So she would turn her back to him, scorning him, and therefore with hold her love and light. Which is why the moon becomes dark during an old moon. But he would be patient and he would wait because he loved her so very much. Because of his patience she would soon relent and again smile gloriously upon him.

Hold on a minute ... phone call!

Susan

[Irish]

Thanks!

So it was that Mother Nature wanted to come to earth and enjoy the beautiful world that she had created for us, to walk the fields and forests. But she became lonely. To ease her loneliness her consort also came to earth and he did so by inhabiting the trees of both the meadows and the forests. He stands as the single old apple tree that graces the grass lands giving shade to the cattle and goats. And he stands as the gardian of the forest, the large tree right at the forest margin. And he is the oldest twisted tree deep within the black woods. But one of his favorite trees was the evergreen.

Now it was the humans knew that the evergreen was special for even during the coldest and harshest of winters it remained forever green. Other trees around him suffered the 'small death' of winter, losing their leaves and going bare. The people realized that there must be something very special about the evergreen so the story arose that the Wood Spirit of God that walked the earth during the warm seasons went into the evergreen to live during the winter. There he slept until the warmth of spring returned.

Because the people were frightened that the 'small death' might one day not give way to spring they decided that they would go to the forest and bring into their homes an evergreen. They would tend the evergreen giving it water and protecting it from the deeps snows and harsh winds. Therefore they were protecting the Wood Spirit God. When the time came that the 'small death' of winter should be passing they would return the evergreen to it's place within the forest so that the God would awaken and once again bring spring to the earth.

That's why wood spirits are male. They are the consort to the Goddess - Mother Nature.

Susan

(That was way more than you really wanted to know ... ... You'll learn not to ask me about mythology if you want a two sentence answer.)

[Ashbys]

No Susan.

That was excatly what I wanted. I think as carvers we should know the mythology that goes along with it. Carving is a very old trade, and the knowlegde of why things were carved gives a great insight to the people and the ideas of the times in which they lived. Today our craft is made up of many different styles. Much of that which is carved today is fanasty , from dragons to cowboys to heroes, all because of the myth of what was real, or could have been real, or we want to be real.
Many sell carvings based upon myths, if it is art then a story is attached, or was something we wanted to do. But people will buy a "Santa" with a story , before they will buy a "Santa" that just looks nice.
Collin has seen it, the story of the dragon slayer will be passed on for many years to come. And even if the sticks are not there the story always is.
So to improve a carving add a story, use the mythology that goes with it and now the story has a changed a carving from a thing to something personal that people can talk about.

In my opinion
Ash

[Irish]

Ash,

I had some what of the same thought after I posted. If someone is selling wood spirit walking sticks at local art and crafts shows and prints a version of that myth either on the back of the maker's tag that they attach to the stick or on a flyer that they hand out, it adds to the possiblities of sales. If you can stop someone even for a minute to read the myth then you have something to start the "sales" conversation.

Susan

(But, please, if you do want to use it ... spell check it first!!!!!)

[Ashbys]

Excatly Susan.

Thats why I posted it here in tips. The first step to a sell is often the conversation which starts it.

Ash

[Ron Davidson]

Susan- Very interesting. If you would write a booklet about it I would buy it. Ron

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Geez! At least Ricks story about the banana trees in the arctic was believable!

[Irish]

Myths are the stories handed down to us by our ancient forefathers. These stories tried to explain natural occurrences that at the time were not understood because of the very limited scientific or physiological knowledge of the era in which they were told. Myths use personification which www.dictionary.com defines as “A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form.�



By giving nature a human face with human emotions the story teller could talk in terms that people understood. They did not understand a waxing and waning moon. They did understand a jealous woman turning her back on her lover. They understood that a jealous woman seldom leaves her consort but instead will lose her anger and return, over and over again to him. And they understood that such a woman and her lover would repeat that throughout their life time, forever trapped in the circle of jealousy and rekindled intense love. So if the sun was the loving but jealous Goddess she would always return to the Moon to once again give it light.



So it was told in a simile.



By making the sun a female figure and the moon a male figure they could ‘explain’ how and why the two earth orbiting objects changed position in the sky and changed color or the amount of light the moon reflected. They knew enough to understand that the moon’s light came from the sun, not from itself. That very fact in itself is amazing considering the time in which the Goddess stories began. And they did it by creating a beautiful love story that as a story could change and grow as the people learned new facts and ideas. Mythologies adapted to the time, knowledge, and situations of the people that told them. The myths changed to fit the people … the people didn’t change to fit the myth. So the great love story got better and better with each new generation.



And they are morality tales, the Wood Spirit story is not only a story about the changing seasons, it is also a tale about man’s dependence on nature and therefore his need to care, tend and protect nature. They teach man about his surrounding, his responsibilities, and his relationships with others.



Mythologies were never meant as factual accounts or presented as literal histories.



They are still alive today and growing … and we wood carvers are participating in this one with our love for the Wood Spirit face!



I have read a lot of mythology … but I haven’t run across the one about bananas in th artic???

Susan