1874 Capistrano
Write a wish and hang it from a tree. Or stand by the tree and make a wish.
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 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.”
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.
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.
And one in the Florida Cypress Gardens. You don’t write a wish on this one. You just make it. But it’s famous.
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 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
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
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.
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
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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
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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
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.
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
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?
So, when you wish upon a tree, makes no difference who you be.
Brilliant.
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
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.
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.