Spirit of Yew

I was strolling round the garden centre today when in the woods I saw this carved yew tree. They had a small plaque on it telling visitors that the yew had been blown over in a storm in 1998 and had been carved to preserve the spirit of the tree.

Apparently the Yew is considered to be the most potent tree for protection against evil, a means of connecting to your ancestors, a bringer of dreams and otherworld journeys and a symbol of the old magic. Yew wood was regarded as especially magical to the Celts, due to its connection with the dead and the ancestors which were deeply respected.

“The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”

George Orwell