Magical Trees
As they journey along Den Hekse Weeg, the witch sisters encounter trees with character and soul — striking figures standing as silent guardians along the path.
Some of them are centuries old, having witnessed countless midwinters come and go.
In the Limburg Savelsbos, these ancient trees seem imbued with a quiet kind of magic: their twisting trunks and deep-set roots hold stories of earth, mist, and moonlight.
Hotsboom Tree
The Hotsboom tree — known in the local dialect as Hotsboùm — is a summer linden of remarkable grandeur. Just above the ground, her vast root base spreads over four metres wide, while her crown rises nearly forty metres into the air.
For centuries she has stood here, on the ancient boundary where the Lordship of Cadier once met the County of Gronsveld.
No one knows exactly how old she is. Some whisper that she has breathed the rhythm of the seasons for three, perhaps even four hundred years. Yet her story reaches further back still. In old archives from the year 1444, a tree is already mentioned on this very spot — the Hotsboom. Was it she herself, in a younger form? Or an ancestor, whose spirit lives on within this living monument?
Long ago, the linden was planted as a beacon tree — a living guidepost in the landscape. Travellers and villagers could orient themselves by her commanding presence, a steady landmark amid fields, paths, and silence.
Today, the Hotsboom tree stands deeply rooted within the forest, surrounded by younger trunks and whispering leaves. Her original purpose has faded, absorbed into the rhythm of the woodland. Yet she still carries a trace of that ancient calling — a quiet reminder of a time when trees themselves pointed the way.
The ancient trees of the Savelsbos carry the wisdom of centuries in their rings. Their roots reach deep into the Earth, embracing the past and nourishing the future. They brave storms, grow in silence, and provide a home to countless life forms. Every lump and crack in their bark tells a story of perseverance and adaptation.
Ancient trees are living monuments, a silent witness to time, and a powerful symbol of connection between Heaven and Earth.
Anatomy of a Tree
Inkt en waterverf op textiel
Trapped
Keramiek
I cling
to the rough wood,
caught in veins
of ancient life.
Death whispers
between crack and bark,
but deep within the trunk
glows a soft glow.
Through the cracks of dead wood seeps
what refuses to die:
a yellow stream of life,
hope that drips,
light that remains.
- Rafke Hotterbeekx -
Look up at the treetops and you'll discover mistletoe – nestled high in the branches, as if reaching for the sky. In winter, when the trees have shed their leaves, mistletoe stands out even more as green balls in the branches.
Mistletoe thrives in chalky soil, and the Savelsbos, with its soft, chalky soil, offers them exactly what they need. Here they hang in abundance, silent drops of green in the canopy, little wonders that lend the forest a touch of magic and mystery.
MISTLETOE
Bulbs of mistletoe, floating
between Heaven and Earth,
with no roots anywhere,
but giving strength everywhere.
A mystical friend,
with healing hidden
in its green splendour.
In its shadow
nature whispers,
of love, protection
and a heart full of fire.
A plant of magic, a healing source,
that carries secrets
in the morning glory.
- Ingeborg Steenhorst -