Outside the Circle: Top Ten Magickal Facts about Trees

Tree Spirits

A tree spirit is a type of nature spirit, and effectively the “living soul” of a tree. It has much in the way of wisdom and healing to offer those who are willing to listen and absorb. As with faeries, they are visible to those with psychic awareness, and appear in varying forms depending on the type of tree they reside within. Tree spirits are ghostly and otherworldly, often glimpsed out of the corner of the eye in a darkened wood or a flash of sunlight through the forest canopy.

Dryads, tree wights or wood nymphs, and many other elements of the Fae are associated with trees, from the Green Man to the eternal seasonal battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. The tree has always been associated with wisdom and immortality. In Greek mythology, the dryads are female spirits of nature (nymphs), who preside over the groves and forests. Each one is born with a certain tree over which she watches, should the tree perish, then she dies with it. If this is caused by a mortal, the gods will punish him for that deed. The dryads themselves will also punish any thoughtless mortal who would somehow injure the trees.