Tree Mythologies Explained | Fate & Fabled

Cultures around the world have venerated trees for thousands of years, often seeing them as gifts from or manifestations of Gods. With their impressive size, longevity, and ability to support life, it’s hard not to see trees as divine. But unlike the gods they sometimes represent, trees rely on us almost as much as we rely on them.

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Hosted by Dr. Moiya McTier & Dr. Emily Zarka, FATE & FABLED explores the stories and characters of mythologies from all around the world - why they came to be and how they impact us still today.

Host / Writer: Moiya McTier, PhD
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor / Animator: Steven Simone
Assistant Editor: Jordyn Buckland
Illustrator: Sophie Calhoun
Script Editors: Emily Zarka, PhD & Moiya McTier, PhD
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell

Fate & Fabled is produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program

[ReynaSingh]

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.”― Herman Hesse

[AngryKittens]

In Austronesian folklore, the fig/banyan tree is the one universal "sacred" tree. However, it's technically a tree of DEATH. Since it's regarded as a bridge to the spirit world, as well as the material form of the spiritual domains of some non-human spirits. This is due to the unique way fig trees grow. They start out as vines that choke another tree to death by wrapping around it. As it becomes a tree in its own right, the dead tree in the middle rot away, leaving a hollow, which is then regarded as the gateway to the other world. Other large trees (without hollows) are treated in the same way.

[oracleofthessia]

I've always adored trees. One of my earliest memories is SOBBING because the road commission chopped down the huge gorgeous tree that was at the end of my road.

[HeraclesN-fpbw]

- Similar to the Dryads there are also the Leshy, which are forest spirits form Slavic mythology
- also there are said to be orchards that possess powerful fruits like the Peaches of Immortality (which the Monkey King once ate) or Apples that exist in both Greek (1 of the 12 labors that Heracles had to get), Norse mythology (which are taken care of by Iduna), or of course there is the fruit of knowledge from the Garden of Eden which is depicted as an apple

[mrrd]

Here's a fun one! The Balete tree in Filipino folklore is somewhat terrifying - it's believed either that many mythic creatures live in its many strange hollows and branches, or that it's a doorway to another world. When you see a balete you immediately get a sense of eeriness since they're both huge and creepy - and many of them are even a result of fully grown strangler figs fully taking over an existing tree, so even from a scientific standpoint you're looking at something terrifying, the corpse of an old tree giving life to a new one.

[kimberlymacever]

Love, love, love this! Like you, I grew up in the woods in an old farmhouse on 80 acres of land of which half was not cleared. I used to climb up an old oak tree, lay on it’s humongous branch and read myths and fables. My ancestors were Scots-Irish pagans And I honor them all the time by dancing to the Mummers’ Dance and growing trees, every chance I get. I don’t buy cut trees at Christmas. I buy live ones and plant them after the season is over. I love this segment! It has two of my favorite subjects - trees and mythology. We should worship them every chance we get! Love you and love this show!❤❤❤

[rhondahuggins]

My sanctuary is The Arkansas Ozarks. My Mother and I moved there in 1968-69 and she met and married Dad who's family had been on their property since the late 1800's. We were welcomed into the family and I have always felt a greater connection to my adopted family and the glorious hills. I am at such peace when going and heartbroken to leave. I miss The Dogwoods behind the house...The Hickories in front, the Branch and Creek and the magnificent Sycamore that shines out when you cross the creek...about a quarter of a mile away. I seem to seek out tree imagery in my art.🤔
Thank you so much for today's post!❤️😍

[calladricosplays]

I recall a heartbreaking story from my childhood about a woman who wanted children, so she was told to pick some fruit from a tree and leave the basket in her house overnight. Her house was filled with children and she was happy until the day she yelled at them. "No wonder you are good for nothing. You are all children of a tree!" And all the children grew silent and left. She returned to the tree and tried to pick more fruit, but the skin on each fruit peeled away to show the face of a crying child until she returned home empty-handed

[alex]

after seeing a ceiba tree in real life i completely understand why they're so sacred. they look almost magical

[iancowan]

Never could get lost in the woods. At 6 I was living on the edge of 160 acres of Georgia Pacific tree stock. Cutting through to visit the neighbors - never took the same path twice. Armed with 22 and best squirrel dog - still happy that we never got one! (Miss you Pepper!) But the trees... Never had any fear or bad time out among them! Always felt safe and if anything, comfort, because I had a forest to watch me and for me to entertain!

[Beryllahawk]

I tend to think of myself as a "desert creature, " most of my formative years were spent in western Texas where it's flat and dry and trees are R A R E
So there was always a real sense of wonder for me about them, even when I wasn't in the desert anymore. I remember exclaiming to my mother when we first moved to the Southeast that the world was a different color at night. Desert nights have a very specific look, and it's utterly unlike the way night looks when there are trees EVERYWHERE. It's not just that the sun seems to set earlier, or that the temperature is different, or that the air is saturated with water. It's all those things but it's also more, and for me it always felt like it was the trees themselves that were key to that feeling. And anyone who's been in a forest at night with no light source to help guide them probably knows how dangerous they can become. Just from my own personal experiences with trees I find it absolutely unremarkable that every culture has so many myths and legends surrounding the trees. Some of them make me wrinkle my brow a bit, I have to think hard to "get it, " but that's solely because I'm unfamiliar with the contexts. The idea of a tree that makes woman shaped fruit really ISN'T that weird when you think about - oh just for instance - banana trees. Or avocadoes, or even something like a mimosa tree. Add in some of the other stuff one finds - oak galls look SUPER weird, and some of the fungus that grows only on the bark of living trees are just as weird (or more so, and I'm looking at you, "wood ears") - I mean, come on, these are features of our natural world that seem like FAR more than just a shrubbery or a backdrop!

[alex]

my parents planted a tree when i was born, the people who own our old house now know which tree it is and promised not to cut it down :)

[muh.andianto]

Traditional Javanese people believe that trees (especially the big ones) are homes for ghostly beings. Chopping down a tree without any ritual will make them angry.

[more]

This sounds interesting! I imagine it has to do with trees being seen as a symbol of fertility and also the seasonal cycles (life, death, and rebirth).

[Ziorac]

I love trees, I always feel sad when an old tree has to be cut down or, worse, doesn't have to be, but still is.
When I moved into my house two years ago, there was one large tree in the small backyard and I heard one of my neighbours wants it gone. Luckily, it's nowhere near her garden, so she has nothing to do with it and I will not remove it unless I absolutely have to for safety.
I also planted two willows, as well as a cherry and plum tree, all of which I'll have to keep small, but I still love them and hope they provide me with shade and fruits, while I make sure they have water and nutrients.

[AMoniqueOcampo]

I keep thinking of how Filipinos regard balete trees. Pre-colonial Filipinos see them as their sacred tree. In the modern day, they're seen as being filled with ghosts and spirits.
Also, given that I'm Catholic, the trees in the Garden of Eden come to mind. Obviously. I have to wonder if they took inspiration from surrounding areas.

[megroy]

Can't forget the myth about the naming of the city of Athens, where Athena was made the patron god because of the gift of the olive tree.

[youremakingprogress]

This is a fantastic episode! It's very well-written, and Dr. McTier presented it all perfectly. I love the attention given to cultures all around the world, and all the functions that mythological trees can have. Also, the little smile Dr. McTier gives after saying Yggsdrasil as an ash tree is "hotly debated" made me laugh.

[clivematthews]

Trees are just a blessing ❤

It just breaks my heart when the trees in my area are in constant danger of being cut down, simply because they’re seen as an intrusion and nobody ever stands up for them or volunteer to look after them. I want to speak for them but I’m already targeted by people who choose to fight me 😢

It just really sucks because also many of these people are ignorant to climate change, and that’s actually encouraged by the elders. I sometimes hate the people I live with because of how much they obstruct nature, it really breaks my heart 😭, the feeling of fighting a losing battle

[himangshukakati]

Kalpaveriksha is a wish fulfilling tree that arose from the cosmic ocean during the churning of the ocean by both gods or devas and demons or asuras . It is not a battle but a cooperative act to harness the treasures that lay in the depth of the cosmic ocean . The supreme god Vishnu instructed them to combine forces of both gods and demons to harness the treasures. The story is called AMRIT MANTHANA.