Trees are symbols of the interconnectedness of life and represent the interwoven web of everything magical.
Here’s a quick reference guide the magical and metaphysical properties of more than 100 trees.
While this is a simple summary, in my book The Magic of Trees: A Guide to Their Sacred Wisdom & Metaphysical Properties, you’ll find an in depth exploration of each of the properties listed. (And also lots of spells, rituals, meditations, and astrological correspondences to sweeten the deal!)
Acacia: Divine Authority and Spiritual Leadership, Divine Petitions, Fidelity, Immortality, Psychic Abilities, Protection
Alder: The Air Element, Connection with the Otherworld, Environmental and Land Healing, Invisibility and Concealment, Masculinity, Physical Healing, Protection
Almond: Beauty, Fertility, Goddess Energy, Grief, Hidden Treasures, Hope
Apple: Blessings and Abundance, Eternal Youth, Feminine Power, The Five Elements, Love, Self-Acceptance, Sweetness, Unicorn Alignment, Wand Making
Ash: Advanced Magic, Broom Making, Fairies, Justice, Protection, Wand Making
Aspen: Ancestry and Heritage, Cleansing and Healing, Family and Community, Mitigation of Heat
Avocado: Beauty, Hair Growth, Healing, Love, Magic Wands, Rebirth, Sexual Attraction, Vitality, Wealth
Banana: Duality, Fertility and Potency, Luck, Representation of People and Divinities
Baobab: Ancient Awareness, Divine Communication and Blessings, Generosity, Grounding and Earth Wisdom, Knowledge, Natural Abundance, Spiritual Power, Sustenance, Transitioning to and from the Spirit World, Travel
Bay Laurel: Fame, Masculinity, Prosperity, Protection from Harassment and Unwanted Advances, Success
Beech: Healing Our Deepest Wounds, Sensitivity
Birch: The Divine Feminine, Healing Depression and Anxiety, Renewal and New Growth
Bodhi: Enlightenment, Fertility and Masculinity, Healing, Nature Spirits, Rainmaking, Protection, Wisdom
Boswellia: Consecration, Healing, Purification, Protection, Sacred Space
Buckthorn: Getting Stuck Energy Moving, Starting a New Project or Endeavor, Wish Granting
Carob: Healing Dreams, Honoring Past and Future Generations, Nourishment
Catalpa: Embracing Uniqueness, Esoteric Studies, Expressing Creativity, Spirit Summoning
Cedar: Breaking Spells, Clarity and Focus, Sacred Space, Strengthening the Energy Field, Wisdom
Chaste Tree: Attracting Bees, Sexual Balance
Cherry: Divine Orchestration, Goddess Energy, Love, Power and Strength, Sweetness
Chestnut: Abundance, Attracting Animals, Relieving Worry, Transforming Karma
Cinchona (Fever Tree): Digestive Suport, Emotional Clearing and Detoxification, Protection, Relaxation
Coffee: Abundance, Goddess Energy, Productivity
Coral: Attraction, Luck, Fame
Crepe Myrtle: Longevity, Love
Cypress: Clarity, Emotional Healing, Longevity, Writing and Speaking
Dogwood: Boundaries, Dog Communication and Healing, Healing the Emotions, Love Divination, Miracles, Physical Healing
Dragon’s Blood Tree: Activation, Clearing, Cleansing, Hex Breaking, Love, Moon Cycle Support, Protection
Elder: Blessings, Fairy Communication, Feminine Power, Graceful Shifts and Transitions, Healing, Intuition, Magic, Music, Protection
Elm: The Divine Feminine, Healing Depression, Nymphs, Transitions
Empress Tree: Expansion, Love, Rebirth
Eucalyptus: Abundance, Cleansing and Clearing, Fame, Healing Depression and Raising the Spirits, Physical Healing, Repelling Insects, Stress Relief, Soothing Grief
Fig: Attraction, Divination, Fertility and Potency, Grounding, Luck, Magical Power, Remote Communication, Travel, Vitality
Fir: Abundance, Rebirth and Regeneration, Shadow Work
Fringetree: Divine Protection, Harmony and Ease, Prosperity
Ginkgo: Ancient Wisdom, Hope, Luck, Protection from Fire, Wealth
Hawthorn: Embracing What Is, Fairy Communication, Heart Healing, Protection from Vampires, Weddings, Wishes
Hazel: Communication, Immortality, Dowsing, Magic, Wisdom
Hemlock: Cleansing, Fire Magic, Secrets and Mysteries, Shadow Work
Hickory: Childbirth Support, Land Nourishment, Protection from Legal Difficulties, Transitions
Holly: Energy, Fairies, Positivity, Protection, Victory
Hornbeam: Boundaries, Enthusiasm, Protection, Solving Puzzles
Jabuticaba: Nourishment, Sweetness, Tortoise Alignment
Jacaranda: Beauty, Healing, Music, Scholastic Success, Wealth
Joshua Tree: Protection, Purification, Shapeshifting, Transmutation of Challenges
Juniper: Blood Sugar and Appetite Regulation, Healing, Survival, Terraforming
Kamani: Acclimitazation, Beauty, Clairvoyance and Intuition, Divine Alignment, Forgiveness, Healing and Regeneration
Kapok: Altered Consciousness, Divine Masculine, Integrity
Katsura: Lunar Alignment, Fame
Larch: Confidence, Protection, the Realm of Heaven
Lemon: Bliss, Cleansing and Clearing, Vitality
Linden: Heart Healing, Protection, Sleep, Stress Relief
Locust: Boundaries, Neutralizing Negativity, Sweetness
Madrone: Integrity, Sustainability, Wisdom
Magnolia: Ancient Wisdom, Feminine Power, Lunar Magic, Stress Relief
Manzanita: Healing, Fire Magic, Magical Wisdom
Maple: Appreciation of Beauty, Directing Energy, Fun, Harmonious Sweetness, Positivity
Mesquite: Creativity, Healing
Mulberry: Comfort amid Challenges, Cosmic Oneness, Wholeness and Healing
Myrrh: Healing, Smoothing Transitions
Myrtle: Love, Passage Between the Worlds, Peace, Wealth
Oak: Divination, Healing, Manifestation, Prosperity, Strength, Victory
Olive: Beauty, Diligence, Healing, Peace, Wealth
Orange: Happiness and Joy, Masculine/Feminine Balance, Partnership, Sweetness
Pagoda Tree: Earth Alignment, Healing
Palm: Cleansing, Transforming, Transitions, Divine Masculine, Fertility, Nourishment, Peace, Relaxation, Victory
Palo Santo: Aligning with the Divine, Clearing, Creating Sacred Space, Healing, Meditation
Paradise Tree: Environmental Healing, Physical Healing, Wealth
Parasol Tree: Good Fortune, Harmony
Peach: Health, Immortality, Protection, Positive Energy
Pear: Cooling the Emotions, Good Spirits, Paradise, Wands
Pecan: Abundance, Immunity, Sustenance
Persimmon: Banishing Chills, Wealth
Pine: Clarity, Divine Harmony, Healing, Purification, Releasing Guilt
Pink Silk Tree: Happiness, Sensitivity
Pinyon: Communing with Spirit, The Divine Masculine
Pistachio: Breaking Love Spells, Immunity to Love Spells, Influence
Plum: Abundance, Holiday Magic, Boundaries, Getting Stuck Energy Moving, Strength
Poplar: Activation, Expansion, Portals, Prayer
Privet: Facilitating Communication, Resolving Arguments, Soothing and Smoothing
Redbud: Bee Blessing, Feminine Power and Wisdom, Healing Shame, Land Healing, Love
Redwood (Sequoia): Abundance, Earth Wisdom, Healing, Protection, Protection from Fire
Rowan: Divination, Hearth Goddess Energy, Love Goddess Energy, Protection, Travel
Sandalwood: Blessings, Healing, Love, Past Life Healing, Protection, Sensuality
Sassafras: Creativity, Health, Prosperity
Silk Floss Tree: Attraction, Femininity, Flight, Spiritual Awakening
Smoketree: Cleansing
Spruce: Ancient Wisdom, Goddess Energy, Healing, Protection, Purification, Spiritual Refreshment
Sumac: Activation, Grounding, Protection
Sweet Gum: Creativity, Father/Daughter Relationships, Personal Power, Tarot
Sycamore: Ancestral and Earth Wisdom, Land Alignment
Sycamore Fig: Divine Alignment, Magical Authority
Tamarisk: Connection Between Heaven and Earth, Spiritual and Emotional Purification
Tree of Heaven: Adaptation to Urban Living, Beauty, Survival, Winning
Tulip Tree: Attracting Gifts, Dazzling Charm
Tupelo: Endurance, Transmutation
Viburnum: Deep Breathing, Focus, Pain Relief, Passage Between the Worlds, Relaxation
Walnut: Expansion, Health and Healing, Mother Goddess Alignment, Wealth
Weigela: Joy, Love, Goddess Energy
Willow: Divine Masculine Support, Death, Directing Energy, Ghosts, Lunar Alignment, Pain Relief, Personal Empowerment
Witch Hazel: Charm and Attractiveness, Finding Water, Intuition
Yew: Death, Rebirth, Eternity, Hallowed Ground, Longevity, Shamanic Visions
Learn much more about tree magic in The Magic of Trees!
Would a Laurel Oak have the properties of an oak and a laurel, or would it be just a bay laurel, even tho the bay os a different “species” of laurel?does it matter if its a different of the same family? Do all laurels have rhe same properties?
Hi Andrea! Laurel oak is actually a kind of oak, rather than a kind of laurel. So I’d consider the properties of an oak.
Got it, im still new to this, so thank you!
Hi Tess,
I live in North Idaho, surrounded by huge old cedar tree friends. Recently the property they lived on was sold and the cedars cut down (along with MANY other trees) by a logger. I am completely heartbroken. It no longer feels like home. I miss them SO MUCH! What can I do and how can I heal myself and the area? Will their wise spirits move into young trees nearby? Please help….I cry every time I see the devastation.
Thank you!
Oh Lou, that is heartbreaking. I’m so sorry! Of course you can send love and healing energy to the land. And while this next suggestion of course wouldn’t heal the larger fundamental issue, I wonder if it might be time for a move for you? Are you in a position to look for somewhere else to live? Sometimes when things change around us it can be interpreted as a gentle nudge to make a positive change.
Do you know of any correspondences for Osage orange wood?
I have a handful of them growing here in South Central Kentucky, and have been crafting with the wood.
Max, that’s awesome! I don’t know of any correspondences. Do you get any feelings about the wood as you work?
Well, the wood teaches me respect. You see, it is the hardest native wood in North America, and has a really interesting grain(really screwy), and when I am using something like a palm gouge, and I put a bit too much strength into the tool when I’m carving, it will almost always cause the point of the gouge to suddenly skitter across the piece and into the hand holding the piece. Yes, I know, they make protective kevlar gloves for hand carving small pieces of wood, but that glove really screws with my feel of the wood when I carve it, so I forgo its use. Instead, I excercize care when I carve.
Love it! And now we know the properties of Osage orange, thanks to you: patience, focus, respect. Also, I’m getting the feeling that it’s cleansing and protective as well. Do you have that feeling too?
I’m blown away! My friend and I were walking in the Metropark yesterday and we came upon a HUGE Catalpa tree in glorious full bloom. We saw it at the same time (I’m sure it called to us!) so we walked over to it and smelled the flowers fallen on the ground. It was so tall that even the lower branches were beyond our reach. I told her how when I was a young child, there was a Catalpa tree outside my bedroom windows. My twin brother and I used to pretend we were smoking the “cigars.” It was magical, and lots of faeries around (I realized later). Then I happened to Google the spiritual meaning and found you! Catalpa: Embracing Uniqueness, Esoteric Studies, Expressing Creativity, Spirit Summoning. My friend told me that this could be the definition next to my name in the dictionary! I grew up in an abusive alcoholic family dynamic so creativity and intuition were squelched early. It’s taken me years, no, decades to work through it all. But I believe Catalpa held the energy for me until I cleared the psychic debris. How wonderful! This truly is tree magic at its finest!! Thank you for the confirmation!!!!!
Michelle, amazing! Thank you for sharing this! 🙂
Tess, at the risk of being wordy, I must share more about Catalpa. I had a healing dream where I was walking in the woods holding an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of white paper that I had finger painted. I was an adult and totally disgusted because it was so unsophisticated. I crumpled it up and threw it on the ground (even in the back of my mind in such a dream, I was appalled that I littered!). There were water roots from a close by tree, partially above ground. The roots started to painstakingly, with monumental effort, move ever so slowly and scooped up the ball of paper. The tree conveyed to me telepathically that it would protect my creativity until I could honor it myself. I wept for three days after that dream, moved to tears that ANYONE would honor my creativity, even unsophisticated as finger painting. That was Catalpa tree! Thank you for your magical properties, and helping me make this connection!
Michelle, so beautiful! I love it.
Hello Tess,
I’ve lived in Japan for several years and practice a kind of Druidism mixed up with Shinto and Buddhism. The tradition I follow is polytheist (panatheist for some) and places emphasis on a mother goddess and her children. I wanted to develop an Ogham-inspired divination system that used local trees and I think your book may be helpful in this task. If I may ask, what traditions of Paganism informed / inspired your book?
Tim, that sounds awesome! I do not practice any specific traditions – I am inspired by eclectic sources. My research for this book was generally inclusive of traditions around the world.
What about the Palo Verde?