What is the mythological significance of the yew tree?
During the Bronze and Iron Ages the different cultures developed their particular characteristics, their sets of moral and law codes, esthetics, language, customs, and so on. As part of the process, the ancient idea of the Tree of Life also changed to a multitude of forms. Often, however, it remained linked with the notion of a female deity or mother goddess. In the pre-hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt, for example, the term for giving birth is directly derived from the word for tree. This shows what impact the Tree of Life once had on philosophy. In Egypt, the mother goddess was Hathor, and her tree, the sycomore fig (Ficus sycomorus) gave food and life in this life, while after death the ancient Egyptian expected to meet the goddess and her tree again to grant him eternal life. In ancient cosmology, the Tree of Life includes the process of death. And so it is with the yew in the northern temperate zone. Its links with eternal life, death and rebirth are legion in Celtic and Anglo
