Speaking of myth - old wisdom/everyday observations (post 7)

Yesterday I came across yews of many different ages/sizes in the woods behind Hawkwood.

A native tree that was sacred to the Druids, yew is esteemed for its longevity (it can live for over 2000 years) and regeneration ( I saw the drooping branch of an old tree that had rooted and formed a new trunk which grew horizontal and parallel to the ground).

Yew is often found in churchyards but many will pre-date the church and perhaps have marked a sacred shrine or well. Near here, in Painswick churchyard, there are 99 yews, thought to have been planted on nodes or springs.

in Irish mythology, the yew is one of 5 sacred trees brought from the other world at the division of the land into five parts.

The oldest of the old follows behind us in our thinking and yet it comes to meet us.'

Martin Heidegger, The Thinker as Poet