I wish trees could…
I wish trees could be Magic Wishing Trees, because then mankind would respect them more.
Lately I’ve become someone what of a web surfer. I type in random stuff or follow link after link seeing where it takes me. Recently I was searching for these Japanese wasps I heard about, and I came across the Wishing Tree.
A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish.
There are wish tress all over Japan. Some are huge and old but, some have seen to be small/young and because of the weight of the wishes, bent over. If you are looking from far away the wishes can be viewed as white flowers. Sound pretty right?
You can even read some of them from a few feet away. People ask for good health, maybe marriage to their daughters, success, etc. The article I found on them said, the trees are viewed with great respect. If any of the branches start to get visibly week, gardeners place bamboo poles to hold them up. Beneath the trees, the gardeners are always sweeping up the debris and keeping the around clean. After a while the wishes float away and well, you hope they are granted.
We don’t value are trees enough to treat them like this. There’s always some reason to cut them down and build something else. Sometimes, we cut them down for supplies, other times, they are just in the way.
When I travel, I always find myself watching the tress, staring at them and their beauty. Even the really old ones with skinny branches and no leaves. They give our worlds scenery character.
September 7, 2011 at 8:00 pm
I never heard of these before. They are cool… a lil messy to imagine on a tree lined street lol but I would love to see one in person! Great idea!
September 7, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Maybe we could limit the amount of wishes per tree on the streets lol. Thanks for stopping by.
September 8, 2011 at 10:39 am
Hi there, found your site from JSin’s tweet.
In her wedding, my cousin had a ‘wish tree’ made from paper where she had people write well wishes to her and her new husband, I thought it was a cool idea. I never realized there were real in Japan, and hold spiritual value.
I def agree that we don’t value our trees enough. I spent time in Costa Rica volunteering at a Conservation Center and I learned a lot about Almendro trees, which were being deforested and had devastating results. One of the major ones being that the green macaw has nowhere to nest or eat, since they rely on the trees fruits and shelter. Sometimes I guess we feel like there’s not much we can do from our standpoint but even becoming educated and sharing our knowledge is a first step!
Thanks for sharing.
September 8, 2011 at 11:38 am
Thanks for stopping by. You reminded me that a good friend of mine also had a wishing tree at her wedding. Im not sure how I forgot because I was in charge of transporting that thing smh and placing everyones well wishes on the tree. It was a really good idea. “Knowledge is the first step” I couldn’t agree more.