Oak Lights by Thomas van Galen

About "Oak Lights"

by Thomas van Galen

About the artwork

Oak is a genus of deciduous trees. This genus includes both deciduous and evergreen trees. When the oak is mentioned in Dutch, it is usually the pedunculate oak. Oak wood is used for various purposes. In general, oak is strong and hard, yet fairly easy to work and finish.

The oak tree depends primarily on jays and squirrels for survival. An acorn does not fall far from the tree and cannot grow under the canopy of the tree. It therefore relies on animals to move the acorn further from the tree. Squirrels bury stocks of acorns for the winter. If a squirrel perishes or fails to address or forgets about the stockpile, it is an ideal place for the acorns to germinate.

Oaks were used as tree sanctuaries by pre-Christian inhabitants of Western Europe. One example is the Holy Oak of Den Hout near Oosterhout. The Roman Saint Boniface, a Christian missionary who persecuted pagans for their religion, was beaten to death by the pre-Christian Frisians near Dokkum for burning their oak sanctuaries and threatening to continue doing so until there was no sacred oak left.

From the sixth century onwards, oak coffins made from hollowed-out tree trunks were also used in the northern mound area. Examples of such chests have been found under the Martinikerk in Groningen and in the mound of Hogebeintum. The oaks seem to have been grown especially for this purpose in sacred forests mentioned by Christian sources.