From the earliest times, trees have been the focus of religious life of many peoples around
the world. As the largest plant on earth, the tree has been a major source of stimulation to
the mythic imagination. Trees have been invested in all cultures with a dignity unique to
their own nature, and tree cults, in which a single tree or a grove of trees is worshipped,
have flourished at different times almost everywhere. Even today there are sacred woods
in India and Japan, just as there were in pre-Christian Europe. An elaborate mythology of
trees exists across a broad range of ancient cultures.
- Sacred Places: Trees and the Sacred.