The Teaching of The Ancient Yew Tree

Credit: mortonparishcouncil.org.uk

The Yew tree is a species of evergreen conifer native to western, central, and southern Europe, northern Iran, southwest Asia and northwest Africa. Because of their toxic leaves and berries, yews were a symbol of death and rebirth in pre-Christian pagan religions. Due to the unique way that the tree grows, it is an obvious choice as an iconic representation of everlasting life and regeneration. Its branches grow into the ground to form new stems, which in turn grow up around the old central growth of the tree, forming distinct, but linked, trunks. As time goes on, the newer trunks are indistinguishable from the original growth, typifying the process of new life arising from the old. 

Lore holds that the staves of yews were kept in pagan graveyards in Ireland for measuring corpses and graves. Across pre-Christian Europe, a number of pagan cultures believed that the yew tree could aid in the summoning of spirits, contacting those who had died.

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There are yews growing in at least 500 churchyards throughout Europe, and are sometimes touted as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. Its long life (hundreds of ancient yew trees across Europe that are at least 600 years old) and evergreen leaves represent Christ transcending death. The tree believed to be the oldest in Britain is a yew that first took root more than 5,000 years ago, according to experts. It resides in St. Cynog’s churchyard in Wales. DNA and ring-dating indicate that the tree pre-dates Christianity by 3,000 years. The tree is located on the north side of an ancient burial mound that eventually became a churchyard. It was most likely planted in honor of a neolithic chieftain, according to tree aging expert Janis Frey. The teaching of the yew is a teaching to keep with us in moments of profound grief: that out of death, new life springs forth.