The Witches' Tree Investigation
This blog post was written by Whitney Dankemeyer.
Long ago, dating all the way back to the 19th century, there was a very special maple tree in Louisville, Kentucky. This tree was a gathering spot for witches, who formed a coven and performed their spells and rituals around its very trunk. Although they were causing no harm to the rest of their city, committees and local residents felt threatened by their acts of witchcraft, and they made a mutual decision to cut the tree down.
This devastated the witches. Not only was the tree removed, but they had to watch the city use its wood for their May Day celebration. The city specifically used the tree to construct a Maypole in the year of 1889. Legend says the witches warned the rest of the city, “Beware, Louisville. Beware the 11th month!” And sure enough, when the 11th month arrived, an F4 tornado swept over Louisville and destroyed the entire city.
The tornado hit Louisville, Kentucky on March 27, 1890. It destroyed schools, warehouses, churches, homes, and even a railway station. 76 people were killed and between 100-200 people were injured. The storm was so severe that it had people of the city convinced this was the wrath of the witches’ curse; especially when they noticed the tree growing back.
During the big storm of 1890, lightning struck the trunk of the recently cut-down tree, and from there a new one started to grow. This tree not only grew stronger than the first time it sprouted, but it grew in the form of an odd shape, with lumps and bumps all the way up its trunk. People of the community began leaving trinkets on the tree as a way to keep the witches at bay. If you pay a visit to the tree yourself, make sure to leave an offering of your own. It is said the higher you throw your trinket, the more luck and fortune you will receive.
The witches’ tree was our fourth stop on our road trip to Knoxville, TN. We were passing through Louisville, KY around 9:45 pm and made it a point to check out this popular attraction. It was difficult for us to find the tree, considering it was dark outside and raining pretty hard. When we did track it down, it seemed to be on the corner of the street in front of what looked like an abandoned house/apartment building.
The homes adjacent to the witches’ tree had porch lights on, and because it was so late, we decided to park the car across the street and walk to the tree. This is the part that will have every one of our family members rolling their eyes if they’re reading this: we left the pepper spray and all our belongings in the car except for our keys, trinkets, and phones. Does it help to say we were really excited? No? Okay.
We got across the street and approached the tree. It is an understatement to say it was magnificent. This tree was unlike any other we’ve ever seen before and was incredibly decorated in offerings. We were so engulfed by the moment we didn’t realize we hardly took any photos or videos. We were all in a world of pure ecstasy sharing the gifts we brought for the witches. However, that quickly changed.
It was a few minutes after we presented our offerings when a man came down the sidewalk nearby. I immediately assumed the building was no longer abandoned and he could possibly be a resident coming outside to chase us away. I jumped to the side, not even a foot away from him, and said, “Ope! Sorry!” Yet he didn’t notice me at all. Instead he kept walking, and that was when we were tugging arms to get up behind the tree to hide.
It was 10:00 pm now. None of us took our phones out due to the light our screens would project. At that same moment, we realized all of our things were in the car. When we peeked around the tree at the man, he was in the middle of the road yelling. This meant he was in between us and our only means of escape. We had absolutely nowhere to go.
I looked behind us and noticed a porch light was on. I asked the girls if we should head that way. They assumed I meant go up on their porch and ask to sit, but I was trying to instigate cutting through the yard and walking around. None of us were making sense to each other. We came to the conclusion that we had no choice but to sit behind the tree and wait out the night.
There were a few times where Nicole or Swan would peek out from behind the tree to see where the man was. Once or twice the man would turn around and I’d be sure he saw us. Still, the man never noticed us standing there. How could this be? Especially when we were talking and laughing in front of the tree. If he was already coming down the sidewalk, wouldn’t he... notice us?
After what felt like a century (but in reality was a total of 20 minutes) a vehicle pulled up incredibly fast in the middle of the intersection. The man was yelling at the driver while he walked around the front and got in the passenger side of the truck. It then quickly took off. (If you watch our witches’ tree tiktok, you can actually see the truck sitting on the side of the road with its lights on to the left.) We all looked at each other in silence before we simultaneously sprinted back to the car. We felt like we were in a movie.
After this strange event, we’ve discussed it many times. What the hell happened? Of course, we were the idiots who wandered the streets of a city we’ve never been to, but why didn’t the man see us?
We’ve come to the conclusion that when the three of us witches left our offerings to the coven, we established a mutual respect. Whether or not the man was actually dangerous, we believe the tree protected us from the man, or in a way, cloaked us from being seen. For us, that was really all the investigating that needed to be had. There are witches still with that tree, and they will protect you at all costs if you respect it.
We are eternally grateful for the witches before our time, but if you should visit the witches’ tree, we highly recommend going during the day or at dusk. Don’t wander the streets of an unfamiliar city at night looking for a legendary tree, and don’t leave your pepper spray in the car. If you should come across it, may your experience be truly magickal.
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