Tree Trees

The tree depicts the living structure of yourself or another person. In particular it shows not only your past in the condition of its roots and trunk, but also what you have grown into and what your possibilities or potential are.  It is what has grown from the past into the present. Its roots show your connection with your physical body and the earth, your family background and influences, and cultural roots; its trunk the way you direct the energies of your being – growth, sex, thought, emotion. The branches are the abilities, directions and many facets you develop in life – varied and yet all connected in the common life process of your being. The tree can also symbolise new growth, stages of life and ageing, with its spring leaves and blossom, then the falling leaves. The top of the tree, or the end of the branches are your aspirations, the growing vulnerable tip of your personal growth and spiritual realisation.

From this point of view, the leaves may represent your personal life, this particular life with its many activities and desires, that may fall off the tree – die – but what gave it life continues to exist. The leaf may indicate something in you that is living, growing, or outworn (depending on colour of leaf). This may be part of your thinking or feeling. You can also be blown like a leaf, suggesting separation from your roots and main growth; or you can take a leaf from someone’s notebook, thus following their example or idea.

To sum up:

The roots depict your connection with the earth through food, air and water, as well as your psychological roots in family and culture. Earth is made up of everything that has died and so becomes soil. In the cycles of life things live and then die. In death they become important fertiliser and nutrients for what is growing. In human life earth represents all that our forebears left us from their lives – our inheritance. It has all been purified by death and so is worth our roots feeding from it.

The trunk shows your body and what you have developed in your life, the main thrust of your expression. The tree can also depict new growth, the stages of life and ageing, with its spring leaves and blossom, then the falling leaves. The top of the tree, or the end of the branches, are your aspirations, the growing vulnerable tip of your personal growth and spiritual realisation. From this point of view, the leaves may represent your personal life, this particular life with its many activities and desires, that may fall off the tree – die – but what gave you life continues to exist. The leaf may indicate something in you that is living, growing, or outworn (depending on colour of leaf). This may be part of your thinking or feeling. You can also be blown like a leaf, suggesting separation from your roots and main growth; or you can take a leaf from someone’s notebook, thus following their example or idea.

The tree may also at times represent a place of safety or refuge, as when we climb it to escape. In fact, the tree is such an enormously deep symbol it depicts your whole life, as well as the urge that pushes you into being and growth. It depicts the force or process which is behind all other life forms – but seen as it expresses in your personal existence. See Ancestors

The seeds or flowers are your own fruition, the expression of what is deeply your own unique self manifesting creatively. They are also your reproduction as a parent with children or ideas or influences in the lives of others.

Dead wood represent parts of you that no longer carry life and energy, perhaps ideas or opinions that you no longer hold.

The lightning struck tree represent sudden change, even death. The tree may also at times represent a place of safety or refuge, as when we climb it to escape. The tree is our whole life, the urge which pushes us into being and growth. It depicts the force or process which is behind all other life forms – but seen as it expresses in our personal existence.

The phrase ‘family tree’ describes a way the unconscious uses the image of a tree to represent something that is an internal reality. Within the unconscious there is an awareness that our present personality is built upon the lives and character of our forebears. So our face may be presented on the top or surface of the tree, but behind our face, or on lower branches, or in the trunk, lie the lives of our ancestors stretching back throughout the ages.

In some old manuscripts pictures show a man lying on the ground and his penis growing into a tree, with fruits, birds, and perhaps people in its protective shade. This illustrates how ones personal life energy can branch out from its source in the basic drives, and become creativity, fruitfulness, something given to others. The tree can also represent the spine, and the different levels of human experience – physical, sensual, sexual, hungers, emotions, relatedness, communication, thought, self awareness. 

Example: In the dream I was looking at a very large and old tree. I wondered if I could climb it but couldn’t see any way up it. But I noticed a large area without any bark, like an old wound, and I thought that area would become rotten and so the tree would become hollow and offer shelter to animals and humans. Then I walked around the back of the tree and saw that the bark was like thick cables about 6-8 inches wide. I could then see a fairly easy way to climb the tree. So I climbed up and the top of the tree was like a massive bell shape made by the branches, like a huge flower, a crocus shape. And it was light and colourful. Suddenly I saw a spirit, a beautiful female. It was the spirit of the tree. At this point I was semi awake, and I wanted to hold the beautiful spirit, but realised that the tree was a representation of my life, and so was the spirit of the tree. The spirit sat on me in a sexual position, so I was lying on my back and she was upright. She slowly took me into her, I mean the whole me, as if she was sucking my whole body into her. There was no sexual movement as this happened. Then I realised that I had to die because she wanted to take all the experience of my life and endeavour into her and fertilise herself to form a baby. So I was ready to let go and watched her form a new baby, a mixture of her and me. See The Sacred Tree In Dreams And Myths

A wood or collection of trees: The natural forces in your own being, therefore ones connection with or awareness of the unconscious; other people’s personal growth and connection with self. The wood also indicates allowing yourself to be natural, to express what is innate in you, and for the mind and emotions to move in their own way. Walking in a wood might therefore suggest a feeling of relaxation, but it can also mean delving within your deeper feelings and mind – your unconscious – exploring your inner life.

Birch or Silver birch: The birch symbolises growth, renewal, stability, initiation and adaptability because it is highly adaptive and able to sustain harsh conditions with casual indifference. Birches are also associated with the Tír na nÓg, the land of the dead and the Sidhe, in Gaelic folklore, and as such frequently appear in Scottish, Irish, and English folksongs and ballads in association with death, or fairies, or returning from the grave. The leaves of the silver birch tree are used in the festival of St George, held in Novosej and other villages in Albania. (Sidhe are Irish earthen mounds, which in Irish folklore and mythology are believed to be the home of the Aos Sí (the people of the mounds))

Birch bark played a key role in the manufacture of canoes for transportation, wigwams for shelter, and a host of useful implements made by the many tribes and nations of the Northeast. Indians believe that the mist emitted from birch tree leaves placed upon heated rocks in a sweat lodge helps purify the body; the tree’s branches, when tied together and then used to lash the body, result in the removal of poisons. Because of the prolonged existence of ancient birch trees on Earth, American Indians maintain that these trees have much to offer humans.

Branches: Members of your family; directions or possibilities in your life. Or the end of the branches are your aspirations, the growing vulnerable tip of your personal growth and spiritual realisation.

Burnt tree:If this is just an area of the tree or trunk, it shows painful events and the mark they have left on you, perhaps from early in your life. If the hole tree is burnt it shows great difficulties or the death of someone.

Christmas tree or other evergreen: The eternal or unchanging aspect of your transitory experience.

Climbing a tree: Exploring or becoming aware of the directions and facets of your personal growth; using your skills or strength to get away from anxiety or danger, such as you do when climbing to get away from a dangerous animal.

Cutting down: Could be that you are getting rid of old influences in your life, or clearing space. It depends on what attitude is behind the cutting. Are you seeking wood to burn, to build with, or just for devilment.

Dead branch: A direction that no longer has life or motivation in it; a member of your family dying or leaving you.

Dead tree: Past way of life; something which was full of life for you in the past, but is now dead; dead relative.

Falling fallen or crashing down tree: Sense of threat to your identity; this can often suggest a big change in the way you express yourself. It is a breaking down of the influences you lived from in the past, perhaps because your childhood set in place painful or negative influences, or it could suggest the loss or death of a relative or someone close to you.  It can also sometimes shown the death of someone. When trees are old or storm blow in our life trees are felled by wind or weather. But in some dreams it may suggest making more space around by the dead trees falling.

Flowering tree: Fertility; femininity.

Human or animal hung on tree: Personal sacrifice; the death of some part of self so further growth can occur – death of dependence so independence can arise; surrender; the pains and struggles, the sense of crucifixion occurring in the maturing process, so the pains and suffering of life in the body.

Leaves and tree tip: The tip is the living, growing part of you. The part that is still vulnerable because of its newness, or outworn (depending on colour of leaf) part of your thinking or feeling. leaves, well you can also be blown like a leaf, suggesting separation from your roots and main growth; or you can take a leaf from someone’s notebook, thus following their example or idea. The leaves as a whole, if falling, can represent the end of your a period of your life, or can be the passing ego that dies, but leaves the trunk, the process that gave life. See Death of Ego

Roots: Your connection with the past, with your family heritage or influences; the things you are tied to by necessity or love; your fundamental physical characteristics as they express in your personality; the aspects of your culture or family ties that you particularly identify with or find connection with.

Roots in dreams represent the hidden and often unconscious links that reach deep into our body and its long past. For our body is an outcrop of the life that began when life began on this earth, and it carries with it ancient memories. The dream roots give us entrance into that long past and what it brings with it into our life today. See The Conjuring Trick  

The root can sometimes indicate the ‘root’ of your biological potential/energy – the root centre. As such it shows your undifferentiated self – the you rather like an energy, like electricity. that is invisible until it flows into an apparatus/body, which enables it to show part of its enormous potential – movement, feelings, self consciousness, etc.

Tree trunk: Your family background and connections; What you have developed or grown from. Any injury to the trunk shows a traumatic event; if it is low on the trunk it indicates youth, if higher up then later in life.

Example: Dreamt that I was looking at the large plane tree at the back of our house in London. I noticed the base of the trunk was burnt internally. I pulled away bark. It looked a bit like a bees nest, but was cindered wood. Now I saw folds in the trunk of the tree showing that the tree was leaning, and I realised the cindered bark I pulled away had been supporting the tree. It would now soon fall. I saw a very clear mental image of the tree falling to the right where there was space, because straight ahead was a building it would crush. The tree then began to fall exactly where I had visualised. I now saw the top of the trunk base cut clean.

The dreamer explored their dream and said: The tree is that which has grown from the past into the present. When you discover it is burnt at the base, this means you begin to see that deep within, at the foundations of this lifetime, much has been destroyed in you.

The burnt wood means that much which was to have been expressed as growth was turned inward and consumed the inner life. The burning was realised as your loneliness, your fear of relating, and the pain of living within yourself. When the tree fell, this is the part of you built upon those problems falling away. Tree threatening to fall on building is perhaps having a medical career, but have gone in another direction, against something being built. The burn is the debt on the hands. It is in my hands what I do.

Uprooted tree: It is mostly about your inner world so your every day life has been uprooted – to remove a person from their home or usual environment. See The Inner World 

So it can indicate either a serious psychological injury which can lay you low; or that you are living a life that does not connect with your real or core self. See Core

Idioms: Top of the tree; family tree; barking up the wrong tree; tree of knowledge; dead wood; can’t see the trees for the wood.

See: Sacred Tree in Dreams and Mythdeath and rebirth, and archetypes of the self ; IndividuationCross, Wood.

Comments

-Jennifer 2016-12-19 17:41:24

I had a dream last night , tree crashed through house landed on me, i was able to free myself but i could not breathe well, i was in pain, and we called 911, the paramedics never showed so i felt lkke i was dying, i saod gpodbye to my kids in case i dod die and since no help was coming i decided to go find help , i left walked to town. At one point falling rolling down a hill, i got up kept going and asked drivers where the fire station was, got there and no one seemed to rush to my aid, i said i could not breathe i needed tp go to rhe hospital and they sat around , one guy i pleaded to and told him i was dying put oxygen on me. Apparently we were waiting for an ambulance to arrive as they were somewhere else, i woke up to my alarm felt so real , like most of my dreams

-Trisha 2016-12-10 14:39:00

In my dream I was reading a book to my kids, it was a thick red old book, and as I turned the page, pine tree branches started coming out of the book, and I remember running my fingers through all these amazing branches and saying aren’t these so beautiful, and then I closed the book and the branches wouldn’t go back in. Anyone know what this might represent

-Kelly 2016-11-29 19:27:39

Hi! I dreamed of standing in complete awe in front of a massive beautiful tree. There were no leaves but many many branches reaching high and far.
The most curious part of which I’m trying to uncover is that there was the most spectacular bright YELLOW almost golden moss covering the entire hUGE trunk!
What could this mean?

-Nicole Hocutt 2016-11-28 10:25:50

I had a dream that I was climbing a tree that was intertwined with various cliffs. The branches were thick but close together so it was difficult to navigate through. My three year old son was also in the tree with me and we were climbing it to get through to our destination. I remember him being ahead of me and being fearful that we were both going to fall and I kept telling him to wait for me at the trunk. I couldn’t actually see his face as he never faced me but it felt like it was him. When I caught up to him, the branch broke and we both fell. I was holding him and when we landed, we were both ok but as I looked down at him, I was holding a younger child that could have been him when he was a baby (he’s three). Prior to that part of the dream though, I dreamt of being in a store getting food and a giant rat was there (it was white with some brown spots) and it kept following me. It was never threatening but I felt scared of it. I remember actually thinking it was cute yet I was still fearful. When I finally got away from it is when I wound up in the tree.

-Andrea Mk 2016-11-19 17:49:50

Today is my birthday I just had a nap. I dreamt that there was a purple tree that seemed to be alive it’s leafs were moving almost like they were breathing. I touched the tree and it felt like we had a connection I was so peaceful I closed my eyes I opened them and the tree started to grow really big into a globe like the earth nothing was there just me and the tree I was outside of the globe and I could control it so I made it smaller and when I got back on my feet to the ground I looked at the heart tattoo on my hand and it started changing into a hand holding the heart
. Then a lady bug flew toward me and got stuck in my hair I woke up because I could hear it buzzing in my ear I almost felt it it was so strange I woke up and nothing was there but it felt so real.

-Pablo 2016-10-14 2:52:40

Last night I dreamt of a large tree that fell on my wife. She was crushed by the trunk of the tree that had fallen on her. In the dream I tried to get her out, but the tree was much too large and heavy. What could this possibly mean?

-Erin 2016-09-29 0:50:38

This early morning, I dreamt of going on a field trip with my old friends from high school. We arrived at a forest and walked around the trial. Then We saw a enormous red wood tree (the tallest and biggest tree of all), which had a very big trunk. When we walked closer, we found out it is a tree house. The whole tree is a four story house with furnitures made out of the tree itself. We had to climb the ladder inside the tree to each level. I can see the house is well decorated with handcraft chairs, bed, and kitchen, and windows. When we were in the third floor, we started to feel how shaky of the tree house is. Then I woke up. I am not sure if this is my trying to escape something or am happy with my situation now.

    -Tony Crisp 2016-09-30 9:56:45

    Erin – A field trip may represent meeting new experiences – with old friends suggests you feel okay and without stress about that.

    The tree is an ancient part of you that has roots deep inside you. As you saw in the feature Tree, it represents your conscious self and unconscious, which is an enormous part of you stretching back through your ancestors and your long past. Because such a huge part of our mind is unknown, meeting its hugeness can be scary. See http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/the-unconscious-2/

    But your dream shows you exploring the different levels within you. Of course dream images are like icons on a computer screen – You have to ‘click’ on your dream images to make them come alive. Thinking about them doesn’t work. You need to open yourself to the magic of them. To make them into the wonderful gateways they are you may have to learn certain skills. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson

    The dream shows you climbing to different levels, and that suggest to me that you have spent some time using some form or means of personal growth. The ladder often shows how you achieve this realisation of your different levels by personal effort. Also the furniture shows how you have been creating a good place inside you. Maybe some of this you inherited from your ancestors.

    The tree is moving because it is a living thing – you. As such it is always taking in new experience, and is moved by wind, rain and the seasons of your life. See http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/

    It is a great dream that has so much more in it for you to explore.

    Tony

-Gabriel 2016-09-04 19:02:40

I was watering the tree’s at a persons house i know I looked up and saw the tree’s swaying back and forth and they looked happy I felt as if though they were happy because I was giving them water then all of a sudden one fell down I looked at the bottom and saw that it was cut down by a saw or a chainsaw then I saw another one fall down and I yelled to my friend Martin your tree’s are falling down then all of a sudden my mom was in my dream then she yelled out to me to watch out because a tree was falling down then another one fell down on the house and then my friend came out and I told him then another one fell down and we looked at the bottom and saw that it was cut down by a saw or a chain and we didn’t see anyone then I woke up

-Nicole 2016-08-24 3:32:24

Last night I dream I was walking past a forest. I was on a dirt road.. The ground was white the trees were dead like winter (no leaves) they were also white.. I noticed a large white nest in the tree.. Everything was white but it wasn’t snow.. It looked white washed.. What does this mean?

-Anfisa 2016-08-14 13:38:23

I had a strange dream about a tree. I missed my stop and lost my way from a train station and came to a big meadow between houses. There were beautiful horses grazing there, and a small auburn baby horse who was unbelievably beautiful came up to me. I looked up and there was a big, thick tree full of fruit that I don’t know. I’m a tropical gardener and know all kinds of weird fruit but still I didn’t know what kind of fruit it was. All the fruit were still green, they were covering every branch of the tree and looked kind of like a mix between persimmon and cashew… A lady came to help me find my way and said it’s a new kind of tree they planted, and she herself didn’t know the name. Then the beautiful baby horse turned out to be her big dog. It was a horse before for sure but then I saw it turned into a big dog. She tried to help me find the way but she herself didn’t know where to go.

-Berly 2016-08-12 17:56:50

I had a dream that someone I’m attracted to planted a tree. They planted it wonky so I set about putting it straight. I can’t remember anything else. Any idea what this could mean? Thanks 🙂

-Iz 2016-08-06 14:39:53

Last night I dreamt I was in the front yard of my home. I turned to look at my house and at the corner, by a window there was a tree growing. The trunk was thick like if had been there for years but all the branches were new. I remember feeling happy when I saw this tree becuase apperantly I had planted this tree and wasnt sure it would actually grow. I ran over to hug the tree and being in some sort of disbelief but at the same time extremely happy that I grew a tree from seed. I kept hugging the tree and caressing it’s trunk. But I still wasn’t sure what type of tree it was. After hugging the tree for a while I looked up at the new branches and saw mangos. They were small still green not ready to be eaten but off to the side there was a bigger one, still green not ready to be eaten either but I remember thinking “this one is almost ready”. I also remember feeling a bit confused as to where the tree was growing, right next to the house a big tree like that would need room to grow but at the same time feeling “it will be alright”. There’s so much symbolism in this dream I dont know where to start. Any ideas?

-iz

-R. Garcia 2016-06-23 17:57:17

I usual have peaceful dreams of my mom. She is usually with me and telling me everything is fine or smiling and giving me peace.

Last might I had a dream I was at my childhood home, which was recently sold. I didn’t see my mom, however I could feel someone there, who was angry. I assumed it was my mom since I was at my childhood home. Me and both of my kids had let ourselves into the house and knew we shouldn’t be there since we didn’t live there anymore. I was leaving and there is a very tall tree (30-40 feet) across the street from our house it fell and almost landed on top of me, the branches only brushed up against. I started screaming toward the sky (was very clear and blue) if you mad at me just get rid or kill me it doesn’t matter to me. Now, that I’m awake I feel as if I was being tricked into believing it was my mom. I had a great relationship with her and know she doesn’t care if the house was sold. She wants me to be happy and at peace, however I’m confused and want see if anyone can tell me the meaning of heal dream. Both my adult kids were fine.

-YY 2016-06-11 3:31:28

Last night I dreamt that I was hiking up to a house located on a snowy mountain.
On the way up the mountain road, I kept seeing a type of tree with leaves that were a shade of pastel yellow.
In my dream I called the tree “petol tree”. But my friend couldn’t see the trees with pastel yellow leaves. We just continued walking while I stared longingly at the trees, with green and brown autumn leaves falling out, and more pastel yellow leaves growing.

-Elle 2016-06-04 16:43:10

Two nights ago I had a dream and a massive tree was in front of me. In my dream, I told someone that it was a scary tree. It must have been evening because everything was dark. The trunk of the tree was So huge and I asked a person to imagine how many millions of years old it must be to grow very wide, that it even extended to almost a neigborhood block. I didn’t see the top of the tree. I didn’t see a leaf. I was overwhelmed by the huge tree trunk, which had an extension. I am middle age with a grandson nearly two yrs old. He and my daughter are the two best things in my life.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-06-10 7:50:22

    Dear Elle – A beautiful dream!!
    It will be interesting to explore why your dream figure perceives the tree as scary; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
    Do you see the Hugeness of the tree as a threat to your perception that your grandson and your daughter are the two best things in your life; can you see the same love that you are and have spreading to others as well?
    When we begin to meet the Hugeness or the More that we are, we often react to it in our dreams or in waking with fear.
    It is only your small self-image, your ego that reacts because it feels powerless, even though in reality the Hugeness is part of your totality. It is the enormous potential you have within you, it is Life you are frightened of or have been ignoring.
    “Example: This is what Tiziana said about her experience on a retreat; that love rose up in her and spread out to everyone. She felt her boundaries expanding to the point she was scared that she would lose herself.”
    Your conscious self or ego is only a tiny part of your totality, as is obvious when you consider how much of your memory or experience you can hold in mind at any one time.
    The Self, as defined by Jung, is both what you are consciously aware of, and the massive experience and potential remaining unconscious.
    That potential is not simply your own personal memories, but also areas of possibility beyond what you usually think of as your personal self.
    The Self has no known boundaries, for you do not yet know the end of what the mind is capable of, or what consciousness is, or touches, out of sight of waking.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-archetype-of-the-self/
    If you feel like continuing to explore “the More that you are”; http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/ and http://dreamhawk.com/news/my-body-is-a-moving-sea/
    Anna 🙂

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