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Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special Religion importance within a particular
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They were important features of the landscape and cult practice of Celtic, Estonian, Baltic paganism, Germanic, ancient Greek, Near Eastern, Roman, and Slavic polytheism. They are also found in locations such as India (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu), Japan (Shinto shrine), China (Fengshui woodland), West Africa and Ethiopia (church forests). Examples of sacred groves include the Greco-Roman temenos, various Germanic words for sacred groves, and the Celtic nemeton, which was largely but not exclusively associated with practice.
During the Northern Crusades of the Middle Ages, conquering Christians commonly built churches on the sites of sacred groves. The Lakota people and various other North American tribes regard particular forests or other natural landmarks as sacred places. Singular trees which a community deems to hold religious significance are known as .
In central Italy, the town of Nemi recalls the Latin nemus Aricinum, or "grove of Ariccia", a small town a quarter of the way around the lake. In antiquity, the area had no town, but the grove was the site of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: that of Diana Nemorensis, a study of which served as the seed for Sir James Frazer's seminal work on the anthropology of religion, The Golden Bough.James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Dover reprint of 1922 abridged edition, ()
A sacred grove behind the House of the Vestal Virgins on the edge of the Roman Forum lingered until its last vestiges were burnt in the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE.
In the town of Spoleto, Umbria, two stones from the late third century BCE, inscribed in archaic Latin, that established punishments for the profanation of the woods dedicated to Jupiter ( Lex Luci Spoletina) have survived; they are preserved in the National Archeological Museum of Spoleto. National Archeological Museum of Spoleto website entry for the exhibit of the inscribed stones
The Bosco Sacro (literally sacred grove) in the garden of Bomarzo, Italy, lends its associations to the uncanny atmosphere.
Lucus Pisaurensis, the Sacred Grove of Pesaro, Italy was discovered by Patrician Annibale degli Abati Olivieri in 1737 on property he owned along the 'Forbidden Road' ( Collina di Calibano), just outside Pesaro. This sacred grove is the site of the Votive Stones of Pesaro and was dedicated to Salus, the ancient Roman demi-goddess of well-being.
The city of Massilia, a Greek colony, had a sacred grove so close by it that Julius Caesar had it cut down to facilitate his siege.Ronald Hutton, The Druids, p97 In Pharsalia, the poet Lucan dramatized it as a place where sunlight could not reach through the branches, where no animal or bird lived, where the wind did not blow, but branches moved on their own, where human sacrifice was practiced, in a clear attempt to dramatize the situation and distract from the sacrilege entailed in its destruction.Ronald Hutton, The Druids, p97-8
The Garden of Eden, as portrayed in the Book of Genesis, is viewed as a divine, paradisiacal grove. In Judaism and Christianity the Garden is often interpreted as the idealized afterlife paradise. In Christianity, it represents a state of purity and communion with God before the Fall of Man. The Garden of Eden is also regarded as a symbolic station in the journey to the Kingdom of Heaven, which will be fully realized at the Second Coming.
In Gethsemane, the olive grove where Jesus prayed before his crucifixion, Christians believe the garden symbolizes divine interaction with nature, marking a pivotal moment in Christian salvation-history.
Similarly, Abraham’s grove: "And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of God"() emphasizes the religious importance of groves as sites for worship and connection to God.
Groves served as symbolic representations of deity as in where the women weave hangings for the grove.
As Judaism became increasingly monotheistic and Temple-oriented, the former traditions of worship in rural groves came to have connotations of paganism, apostasy and backsliding.
- "For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them."
- "They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery."
In both Judaism and Christianity, sacred groves were often protected spaces, where worship was believed to maintain the divine order, and their destruction was considered sacrilegious.
Excavations at Labraunda, located in present-day Turkey, have uncovered a significant sacred grove dedicated to Zeus Stratios, a deity associated with the protection of the people and the well-being of the land. The grove was central to the Carian people, serving as a space for both religious ceremonies and communal gatherings. The ritual use of this grove highlights the belief in trees as intermediaries between the divine and human realms, where offerings and prayers were made to ensure divine favor and prosperity., Lebanon]]
Similarly, at Afqa, located in Lebanon, there was a sacred grove dedicated to Adonis, a god of fertility, death, and rebirth. The Adonis grove was a focal point for fertility rites, symbolizing the seasonal cycle of nature. As with other sacred groves in the ancient world, the trees here were seen as living symbols of the deity’s presence, reinforcing the connection between nature, agriculture, and the divine.
The reverence for groves dedicated to gods like Zeus and Adonis shows how sacred natural spaces were integral to the religious and social fabric of ancient Near Eastern cultures.
These sacred groves often became the heart of religious life in their respective regions, not only as sites for ritual but also as places of healing and divine communication, reinforcing the deep connection between nature and the divine in ancient belief-systems.
The first mention of Baltic sacred groves dates back to 1075 when Adam of Bremen noted Baltic Prussian sacred groves and springs whose sacredness was believed to be polluted by the entry of Christians ( solus prohibetur accessus lucorum et fontium, quos autumant pollui christianorum accessu). A few sacred groves in Sambian Peninsula are mentioned in the 14th-century documents of the Teutonic Order ( sacra sylva, que Scayte vulgariter nominatur..., silva, quae dicitur Heyligewalt...). A religious centre of intertribal significance was Romuva ( Romow) in Nadruvia, Prussia, as described by Peter of Dusburg in 1326.
For Curonians sacred groves were closely associated with the cult of the dead. By the early 15th century, with the disappearance of cremation traditions among the Curonians the sacred groves of Courland had lost their crematory function but remained as an inviolable place reserved for the dead. The role of the sacred forests in the 16th-century traditions of Curonian Kings is described in a travel description by Königsberg apothecary Reinhold Lubenau:
Nemetons were often fenced off by enclosures, as indicated by the German term Viereckschanze – meaning a quadrangular space surrounded by a ditch enclosed by wooden palisades.
Many of these groves, like the sacred grove at Didyma, Turkey are thought to be nemetons, sacred groves protected by druids based on Celtic mythology. In fact, according to Strabo, the central shrine at Galatia was called Drunemeton.Horace L. Jones, ed. and tr. The Geography of Strabo. Vols 1-8, containing Books 1-17. Harvard University Press and Heinemann, 1917–32 Some of these were also sacred groves in Greek times (as in the case of Didyma), but were based on a different or slightly changed mythology.
The Tanoboase Sacred Grove and Shrine is located near the village of Tanoboase in the Techiman, Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The site is home of the Bono people.
Ramogi hill is located in the Siaya County of western Kenya. The hill and forest cover a distance of 283 hectares (699 acres) and is home to rich flora including trees, , flowers, over 100 plant species in total. It is an important Historic site for the Luo people of western Kenya, and is said to be the first site they established after migrating from South Sudan. The hill is named after Ramogi, a notable Luo leader. The hill and forests are considered holy and sacred, and the Luo people use the hill for cultural and religious practices, including as a source of herbal medicine and a place of meditation. According to the Luo people, the medicinal plants that grow in the forests of Ramogi hill are considered to have strong healing powers.
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The district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka also harbours a large number of sacred groves.
Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. Threats to the groves include urbanization, and over-exploitation of resources. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples.Malhotra, K. C., Ghokhale, Y., Chatterjee, S. and Srivastava, S., Cultural and Ecological Dimensions of Sacred Groves in India, INSA, New Delhi, 2001Ramachandra Guha, The Unquiet Woods, University of California Press, 2000 ()
Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. There are sacred groves in Ernakulam region in a place named Mangatoor in Kerala. Sacred groves are being destroyed as a part of urbanization. The family "Nalukettil Puthenpurayil" still protects sacred groves.
Dev Bhoomi, or the "Land of Gods," is part of the 133 sacred groves in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. Known for its rivers, lakes, caves, and forests, it is considered the holiest land in the region. Local communities honor deities like Haat Kaali, Kotgyari Devi, and Mahakaali. Unlike typical forests, these sacred groves are alpine meadows, deeply tied to the ethnic identity of local groups. Their survival is believed to depend on oral traditions, with no written laws. Customary taboos forbid harming the groves, including plucking flowers, uprooting plants, or disturbing animals and religious objects. Despite the abundance of sacred groves in India, they are gradually disappearing due to cultural shifts and growing pressure to exploit the natural resources within these groves.
Among the sacred groves associated with such jinjas or Shinto shrines is the 20-hectare wooded area associated with Atsuta-jingū at Atsuta-ku, Nagoya. The 1500-hectare forest associated with Kashima Shrine was declared a "protected area" in 1953.Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity: "Protected Areas in Today's World: Their Values and Benefits for the Welfare of the Planet," CBC technical Series No. 36. Today it is part of the Kashima Wildlife Preservation Area. The woods include over 800 kinds of trees and varied animal and plant life. A guide to Japan's sacred forests at kateigaho.com
糺の森 is a general term for a wooded area associated with the Kamo Shrine, which is a Shinto sanctuary near the banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto.Terry, Philip. (1914). Terry's Japanese empire, p. 479. The ambit of today's forest encompasses approximately 12.4 hectares, which are preserved as a national historic site (国の史跡).Shimogamo-jinja: "Tadasu-no-mori (Forest of justice)" The Kamigamo Shrine and the Shimogamo Shrine, along with other Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities), have been designated World Heritage Sites since 1994.
There is a practice of tree planting around houses to the extent that the walls and wooden structures are allowed to give way to the roots of creeping plants, purposely sown at the bases of these structures. With increased migration towards the larger cities, these houses are abandoned and allowed to return to nature. As most traditional Orang Asli and Malay houses are made of only wood, bamboo, rattan and woven palm leaves (being built without using a single nail), the remains of those houses crumble easily into its surrounding.
Besides that, a practice of creating arches of vine and creeping flowering plants so that each time one were to enter the gates of the house, one has to bow, as if implying or imitating respect upon entry to a sacred grove which were practiced by their ancestors. Such practices are even performed by those who have migrated into the cities who prefer to live in houses on the ground, rather than in high rise apartments. A garden of fruit trees surrounded by larger trees are planted around the houses to provide shade and an illusion of being at 'home' as well as to provide sustenance (in the form of fruits and seeds) to , , insects and birds. Commonly, a cat, or in most instances, many cats are kept to patrol the gardens and guard from harmful spirits as well as against which were believed to carry unclean spirits and diseases.
However, one of the most striking examples of the tree reverence among them can be seen in the graveyards which are considered as holy ground, on which no stone structure can be built upon. The whole area are covered by large and tall trees, so much foliage that the scorching tropical sun is reduced to a dim shadow as temperatures drop to a comfortable cool. Malay folklore relates that the trees whisper prayers to the creator in absolution of the past transgression of the ground's once human inhabitants. The trees are also allowed to take root into the graves where the grave keepers ( penjaga kubur in Malay) slowly remove gravestones (which used to be made from wood) as they are ejected from the grounds onto the surface. There is also a ritual of planting small tree sapling on fresh graves by family members who will then water it and tend to it periodically. Petals from fresh red and pink roses are also brought upon visitation to be scattered on the graves and a ritual of pouring rose water upon the soils are also performed.
The Malays regard visiting the graves from between sunset to sunrise as a taboo as it is believed that as sunrise is the beginning of the day to mankind, sunset is perceived as the beginning of day to those who dwell in the grave area. Burials are almost always postponed until the next day except in certain cases where it is allowed, provided that additional rules are observed, such as, women and children are not allowed at the night time burial ceremony.
An ancient ritual of renaming the deceased as she or he is laid into the earth is also practiced. The Orang Asli and Malay (see Malaysian names) naming system has a living name and a spirit name, which is given during the ritual of burial. This name is known as nama arwah (spirit name). The living name is usually the given name plus the word 'anak' which means 'son/daughter of' or 'bin' and 'binti' which mean 'son of' or 'daughter of' respectively; followed by the name of the father. When a person dies, the father's name is replaced with his or her mother's name and this is made known during the reading of burial sentences.
Recently, new areas are being marked off as sacred as part of a movement for environmental protection. For instance, in her 1998 study of the ecology movement in Thailand, Susan Darlington examines the practice of tree ordination as a way to engage in environmental protection. She shows how the Buddhist ritual of ordination is adapted - by the ritualised wrapping of saffron robes around the largest tree in the forest - by activist Buddhist monks (also known as "Eco Monks") to sacralise their community forest and thereby contribute to its protection. This ritual is part of broader efforts of education and training to raise ecological awareness and encourage sustainable farming practices in local communities and Thailand.
In a collaboration between followers of Estonian native religion (Maausk) and governmental ministries, a national plan was prepared in 2008: "Sacred Natural Sites in Estonia: Study and Conservation 2008–2012" which includes about 550 sacred groves (). The National Plan on Sacred Natural Sites consists of a historical overview of sacred natural sites in Estonia, a current situation analysis, and several concrete conservation measures and instructions on how to apply them. The coordinating steering committee of the Conservation Plan consists of Environment, Agriculture, Internal Affairs and Education and Research ministries, National Heritage Board and MK. The University of Tartu is the implementing agency. Measures of the Conservation Plan are designed to handle natural sanctuaries and values connected to them in all aspects.
The Conservation Plan foresees creating a database which supports researching and managing natural sanctuaries. The database would consist of folkloric, archaeological, natural, historical and other data on sacred natural sites and provide information on the exact location, condition and form of ownership of each site.Ahto Kaasik (2012) Conserving Sacred Natural sites in Estonia, in J-M Mallarach; T. Papayannis & R. Väisänen, editors. the Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe. Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the Delos Initiative – Inari/Aanaar 2010, pages 61-74. IUCN, WCPA & Metsähallitus. In 2011 a scandal occurred when a company started clearcutting Rebala's sacred grove nearby Maardu manor due to a misunderstanding between the Environmental Board and the National Heritage Board.
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