Whether it is the magical beanstalk in the traditional fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, or the talking tree Ents in Tolkien’s more modern Lord of the Rings series, human history has been filled with stories of our intimate relationship with the botanical world, both real and imaginal. Ancient plant folktales encapsulate wisdom and teachings passed down through generations, reflecting the roles that flora and fauna have played for our survival, cultural identity and in the mythic imagination, often intersecting all three. Whether it is benevolent flowers, wise herbs, sacred birch goddesses or mossy coats, we are reminded that our ancestors lived in harmony with the landscape, relying on the gifts of nature not only for sustenance but also for healing, protection, wisdom, empowerment and inspiration. Revisiting these stories invites us to reconnect with a timeless and enduring kinship that is as old as humanity itself. Here are some of my favorite ones.
Here I am carving a small birch tree grove onto a Baba Yaga inspired linocut . . .on my birch table!
Mossy Coat is an Old English fairytale about the ingenuity and creativity of a wild forager and weaver who sews her daughter a coat of wild mosses so she can disguise herself, escape poverty, avoid an unwanted forced marriage and determine her own destiny. It shows us how even a small diminutive plant like moss can be protective, nurturing, empowering and magical, and how a coat of moss gives the heroine a sense of wildness, freedom, and sovereignty over her own life. Through journeying with the heroine through this folktale, we learn that this velvety green plant is not merely passive element of the landscape but a loyal protector, and a source of resilience and strength in the face of oppression for a woman brave enough to trust the true power of plants.
There are many feminine names associated with birch trees in folklore that infuse it with magic and divinity including: The White Goddess, The Lady of the Woods, and The Silver Maiden . . and The Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga, the enigmatic Slavic folk heroine, lives in a birch tree grove and is often depicted sweeping with a birch broom in her hands. Frequently thought of as a wise yet fearsome figure, Baba Yaga appears in many folktales navigating the liminal spaces between life and death, old and new, much like the birch tree which is one of the first kinds of trees that sprout up when a forest has been clear cut or burned down, symbolizing resilience, rebirth and renewal. The association between this wilderness witch and the birch tree reflects the more ancient Slavic worship of the birch tree which makes sense because it models for us how to rebirth ourselves after loss, embrace transformation and find strength in adversity, ultimately fostering a sense of hope and continuity amid struggle.
Sky Woman is a Haudenosaunee Creation story about the first woman who fell from the sky clutching a bundle of branches and seeds in her hands. The creatures who catch her fall are gifted the first fruits and plants which Sky Woman sows on Turtle’s back sustaining all future generations. This folktale is a heartwarming story about a generative act of love through the sowing, growing and tending of plants - a gift that manifests itself everyday on this one wild and precious planet, also known as Turtle Island. Sky Woman's nurturing spirit, embodied in the flora that sprang from her presence, establishes an enduring relationship where the well-being of people is intricately linked to the health of the plants around them, reminding us that all life is interconnected and reliant on one another.
Three Sisters is a folktale celebrated from Mexico to Montana, and teaches the ancient agricultural technique of planting corn, beans and squash together because each provides some benefit to the others’ growth and health; corn shoots up first and offers a structure for the other two sisters to grow and lean on, beans enrich the soil with nitrogen, and squash spreads across the ground to shield the roots from weeds and retain moisture. This ancient wisdom emphasizes the importance of cooperation and balance in nature, revealing how mutual support among living beings can lead to fruitful outcomes. It is a story that celebrates a sisterhood of mutual thriving and how the gift each sister offers is important to the health of the whole. . . Ancient wisdom for sustainable living we can harvest and each year if we choose to listen and learn from the plants.
Through the lense of these few folktales we get a small glimpse into the vast world of plants and people and their deep-rooted kinship. We can better understand how humans have depended on plants for nourishment, protection, and wisdom, how we have modeled our human-to-human relationships on interdependent-plant-species relationships, and how we have looked to plants for spiritual guidance, and generally how they have shaped our cultural identities. Perhaps what is most striking is how a deep and intimate relationship with plants is universally human, and is an enduring feature of our collective human experience on this one wild and precious planet. How poignant and profound that in a world where we are constantly reminded in the media of our irreconcilable differences, and of the earth’s irreversible path forward to environmental doom, that we can rely on timeless folktales like these to wield the quiet power of plants to draw us into closer connection with the planet and each other.
Blog post cover credit: Emma Tu on Pexels
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The Norwegian folktale “East of the Sun West of the Moon” and the Japanese (indigenous Ainu) folktale entitled “Crescent Moon Bear” are folktales featuring fearless young women who dare to engage in greater intimacy with a bear whether it is marrying a bear, or having the courage to pluck the whisker of a bear. Both involve traversing a formidable boreal forest landscape to save their husbands from a “spell”. These folktales are so strikingly similar in theme and shared values, giving voice to their parallel nature deepens our sense of interconnected history, and rekindles a feeling of belonging to a shared storied boreal landscape, weaving together people, bears, ancestry, stories and hearts. . .