I saw this in our local nature park while walking back from the shops with my son. A few years before and oak tree had fallen across the path and for a while we had the experience of walking under an archway made of the body of the oak tree, until the parts that crossed the path were taken down by the local council.

The stump here is what is left of the oak tree, but until recently I had not seen it adorned like this. I do not know what this means, if it is simply decorative, or is it a symbol or the result of a ritual performed by someone whos spirituality is closely connected to nature.

In Celtic belief systems feathers are thoughts to have a connection to air, ascention, lightness, purification or purity, and fertility. Priests were believed to wear cloaks of feathers to assist them in their journey to the other world.

Of course I do not know what the symbolism here is, or if these are just the efforts of bored teenagers. I did feel that there was something a little strange about it as I walked past, as if it were meant to represent something, or even warn of something.

Who do you think made this strange pattern?

What do you think they were trying to say?

I’m not a huge fan of creative exercises, so it’s not my habit to tell people what to do with these prompts. There are lots of options – a scene, some flash fiction, a short story, an idea for a short film or a physical piece of art. If you do have a go with this one and would like to drop the result in the comments please do so. I would be very interested to see what people make of these so please do link to blog posts or comment below.

If you like the photos featured in these creative prompt posts you may be interested in my latest collection of prints and other things on Redbubble which feature a small selection of my best shots.

Thank you for reading. I also write, make art and films. You can read my short fantasy stories here on Simily. If you like these prompts and want to get a copy of a free short book of them I wrote, and to hear more about my writing projects please join my mailing list here. You can see my films at my YouTube channel here. You can see things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying. If buying art is not your thing, but you would like to support what you see you could buy me a KoFi, and I also have a Patreon Page.