Gergely.Horvath.
Eternal Birth
Image of one of the oldest yew-tree found in Northern Europe, circa 1000 years old yew-tree in Glen Wood, Ormiston, Scotland.
In early times, the darkly glorious yew-tree was probably the only evergreen tree in Britain. Both Druids with their belief in reincarnation, and later Christians with their teaching of the resurrection, regarded it as a natural emblem of everlasting life.
The yew’s reputation for long life is due to the unique way in which the tree grows. Its branches grow down into the ground to form new stems, which then rise up around the old central growth as separate but linked trunks. After a time, they cannot be distinguished from the original tree.
The yew has always been a symbol of death and rebirth, the new that springs out of the old, a fitting tree for us to study at the beginning of the new year.
Eternal Birth
Image of one of the oldest yew-tree found in Northern Europe, circa 1000 years old yew-tree in Glen Wood, Ormiston, Scotland.
In early times, the darkly glorious yew-tree was probably the only evergreen tree in Britain. Both Druids with their belief in reincarnation, and later Christians with their teaching of the resurrection, regarded it as a natural emblem of everlasting life.
The yew’s reputation for long life is due to the unique way in which the tree grows. Its branches grow down into the ground to form new stems, which then rise up around the old central growth as separate but linked trunks. After a time, they cannot be distinguished from the original tree.
The yew has always been a symbol of death and rebirth, the new that springs out of the old, a fitting tree for us to study at the beginning of the new year.