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February 18, 2017 by tomdalzell

Wish Trees

Quirky Berkeley 01-30-2017

1874 Capistrano

Write a wish and hang it from a tree.  Or stand by the tree and make a wish.

kalpavriksha26

Kalpavriksha is a wish-fulfilling divine tree in Hindu mythology, found in Sanskrit literature from the earliest sources.

Yoko Ono wish tree.  Photo: http://www.theartstory.org/blog/yokoono/yoko-ono-wish-tree/

Yoko Ono wish tree. Photo: http://www.theartstory.org/blog/yokoono/yoko-ono-wish-tree/

Yoko Ono has written of wish trees in her native Japan: “As a child in Japan, I used to go to a temple and write out a wish on a piece of thin paper and tie it around the branch of a tree. Trees in temple courtyards were always filled with people’s wish knots, which looked like white flowers blossoming from afar.”

Photo: http://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2015/06/the-blessings-of-the-trees.html

Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery Photo: http://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2015/06/the-blessings-of-the-trees.html

Wish trees are found in Scotland, in Glasgow’s Hidden Garden at Pollockshields and at the Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in Eskdalemuir, near Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Photo: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294217-d487237-Reviews-Lam_Tsuen_Wishing_Tree-Hong_Kong.html

PLam Tsuen Wishing Tree.  hoto: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294217-d487237-Reviews-Lam_Tsuen_Wishing_Tree-Hong_Kong.html

There is a famous wishing tree at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po, Hong Kong.

06_10_007383

And one in the Florida Cypress Gardens.  You don’t write a wish on this one.  You just make it.  But it’s famous.

Photo: http://alwaystravelicious.com/2014/09/24/pantai-redang-beach-sekinchan/

Redang Beach.  Photo: http://alwaystravelicious.com/2014/09/24/pantai-redang-beach-sekinchan/

And one at Redang Beach, Sekinchan, Malaysia.

Wishing tree Goreme Cappadocia Turkey

Wishing tree Goreme Cappadocia Turkey Photo: http://www.walkaboutgourmet.com/Gallery/Explore%20Cappadocia/slides/Wishing%20tree%20Goreme%20Cappadocia%20Turkey.html

And the famous wishing tree in Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey.

Photo: http://www.the-wishing-tree.com

Photo: http://www.the-wishing-tree.com

tree

In San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood, there is a wishing tree at Eureka and 22nd.  It is seasonal.  It is spectacular at night.

Irish wishing tree.  Photo: http://2013spiritofirleandtour.blogspot.com/2013/07/fairy-tree-at-hill-of-tara.html

Irish wishing tree. Photo: http://2013spiritofirleandtour.blogspot.com/2013/07/fairy-tree-at-hill-of-tara.html

In Ireland, wishing Trees (aka May Bushes, Fairy Trees, or Rag Trees) are hawthorn trees where people tie ribbons to ask blessings from the local saints/deities/wee folk.

And, there is William Faulkner’s The Wishing Tree.

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553afb1409930_342833b

Faulkner wrote it in 1927.  It is his only known children’s book.  For the story of the book, read here.

In my strolls around Berkeley, I have found two full-fledged wishing trees.  They are worse for the wear / worse for the weather, but in my book they rock and roll quirky.

Let’s start at 1874 Capistrano.

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

1874 Capistrano

The wish on the bottom photo – wonderful!  Stop throwing your friend’s hat into the tree!

The second wish tree is at 601 Jaynes.

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

601 Jaynes

Three years ago, there was a temporary wish tree in the verge (a.k.a. sidewalk strip a.k.a. Devil’s strip) next to the Jewish Community Center.

Rose-between-Shattuck-and-Walnut

Rose between Shattuck and Walnut

In November, 2013, passersby were asked to describe what they were thankful to see leaving this season.

Earlier that year, in April 2013, I spotted these wishing sign posts in the Uplands:

The Uplands and Encina.

The Uplands and Encina.

The Uplands and Encina.

The Uplands and Encina.

A lot of wishes!

I am enchanted by these wishing trees.  I want one!  How simple can it be?   Just need a tree in the verge / devil’s strip / sidewalk strip.  My first wish – I wish we could save the Village.

Photo: Rita Flint

Photo: Rita Flint

I asked my friend for his take on the post.  He remembered a wish tree in a “certain small town” that he finds completely charming.

That’s well and good.  But, my friend, what about this post?

Quirky Berkeley 05-12-16

Posted in Uncategorized. RSS 2.0 feed.
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5 Responses to Wish Trees

  1. Tad Brillhart says:
    February 18, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    So, when you wish upon a tree, makes no difference who you be.

    Reply
    • tomdalzell says:
      February 18, 2017 at 3:59 pm

      Brilliant.

      Reply
  2. Jim Milstead says:
    February 19, 2017 at 4:56 am

    I should not try to pin a wish
    on such as slippery as a fish,
    It would not do to cast my dream
    and have it merely float downstream,
    Or affix it to the airy firmament
    in lieu of something a bit more permanent,
    So thus I choose my wish to tie
    within a crown spread to the sky,
    Around a branch for all to see
    my wish displayed upon a tree.
    -Jim Milstead

    Reply
    • tomdalzell says:
      February 19, 2017 at 5:19 pm

      There once was a union dude
      Always kind and never rude.
      He can turn a wrench
      Not a schlemiel but a mensch
      And write a rhyme that you now have viewed.

      He worked for the City, no jive
      And belonged to 1245
      On the bargaining committee
      He never showed pity
      They were lucky to get out alive.

      He grew up in Berkeley it’s true
      When I asked if he knew he knew
      Fierstein’s Buddhist icons
      Martin Metal’s work – he’s bygone
      And he knew about the fish house too.

      Chorus:

      Oh you can’t scare me he’s quirky and union
      Quirky and union
      Quriky and union
      Oh you can’t scare me he’s quirky and union
      That way until he dies.

      His front yard is toilet sculpture
      He loves music and popular culture
      He loves old weird Berkeley
      Got a genetic marker for quirky
      And never ever is he boring or dull sir.

      Reply
      • tomdalzell says:
        February 20, 2017 at 2:05 pm

        To which Jim Milstead replied:

        I know a clever lexicographer
        with talents aplenty to show for
        While he leads a great union
        He likes to to be tuned in
        And is now the chief Berkeley Quirker.

        His knowledge of cant and argot
        Is more than merely for show
        With his command of the jargon
        He can drive a hard bargain
        And still keep his profile low.

        He’s not merely content
        With the time that he’s spent
        Championing rights for the worker
        That drives management berserker
        But now shows his quirky bent.

        Reply

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