Book excerpt: Since the dawn of history, trees have played a central role in the survival of humanity and the flowering of myriad cultures. Not surprisingly, people the world over have revered trees for their life-giving and life-affirming nature. But modern societies have lost touch with that sense of reverence. Sacred Trees rekindles a once-broadly felt kinship with the natural world. Through vivid history and myth drawn from hundreds of the world's cultures- from the ancient Egyptians and the Druids of early Britain to today's indigenous Hawaiians- Nathaniel Altman reveals the special relationship people have always shared with trees. Here are cosmic trees of the Norse, regarded as the symbol of universal life, the ancestral trees of ancient Rome, seen as the birthplace of humankind, and the biblical tree of knowledge, responsible for the fall of humanity. Richly illustrated, Sacred Trees offers us the devotion that traditional cultures have shown towards trees and teaches us that respect, reverence, and communion with the rest of nature are essential for the healing of Mother Earth.