What IS That? A Wishing Tree
When we receive visitors from outside the country, the most common question we hear is “what is that?” Inevitably they will be pointing to something that is not quite distinguishable, something that you don’t see everyday, or maybe any day in the States. While we don’t always know the answer (we continue to ask “what is that?” on a regular basis ourselves), we would like to document some of the most memorable and unusual sights we see as part of daily life here in a series of brief posts.
We saw this wishing tree in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.
“It looks like a tree, but what is all that stuff hanging on it?” “Is this a tree that was in a flood and now it is covered in trash?” These were the thoughts running through my head when I first saw such a tree. But the answer to today’s “What Is That?” post is a wishing tree.
After a little research I learned that wishing trees are quite popular worldwide. While I’ve never seen one in America, it’s a pretty big place and I haven’t been everywhere, so maybe they are there somewhere. Today in Turkey wishing trees are used by people to tie bits of paper, cloth, string, pieces of plastic bag, scarves, ribbon, water bottle labels, and a whole host of other items to the branches in order to make a wish. Sometimes the wish is written on the object that is tied to the tree and sometimes it is not.
This tree is covered with evil eyes (Turkish nazar). In Turkey the evil eye charm is usually used to ward off negative energy, jealousy, and evil spirits.
These trees remind me of a tree that I saw once in college next to the art building on campus. Someone had completely wrapped a tree in plastic wrap. (Modern art?) Of course that tree met an untimely demise. However, I hope that the hopes and dreams of some of these tree wishers will come true.
TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE WEST, KEEP LOOKING EAST!
Leslie Connors
Leslie is a co-founder of West2East. Originally from Tennessee, Leslie has called Turkey home for the past eight years. To read more about her, click here.