Witch Trees Around the Globe

This week we're talking about witch trees - as in w-i-t-c-h - Trees thought to be embodied by the souls of witches – What? Did you think I made the concept up out of thin air? No. I was researching ghost stories around Halloween and stumbled on the true account of a cursed tree in Oregon. But before I tell you about that, and other ghost stories, I'd better roll the bumper music.

*I was a bit jet lagged from my recent trip, so hopefully it didn't come across in my voice. Oh, and Cooper dog was under the desk at my feet, needing extra lovins after not having his family around for a few weeks, so you'll hear him thud and knock.

Ghost Story from Oregon

As I was saying in the opening, it was a handful of years ago, after the publication of my stone heart trilogy, that I was searching the internet for ghost stories to share in the weeks leading up to Halloween when I stumbled on a true account of a cursed tree in Oregon. The tree was the alleged site where a witch was hanged. Before she died, she swore she put a curse on the town to burn it down three times. The town exists, as did the woman, and as of this episode, the town has burned to the ground twice! I hope for the sake of the people and animals and trees that they have beefed up their fire protection since fire number two.

There are other witch tree stories, too. In fact, they span country boundaries, centuries and blur the line between lore and truth.

Why trees and witches?

Let's get into it.

Show Sources and Materials

The Witch Tree: a living legend article from Tree of the Year dot com

The Witch Trees of Wiltshire

The Legend of Louisville's Witch Tree - by Katie Molck

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