Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Job. And I go by the name, Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other.

So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever

you get your podcast.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of IHeart Radio.

Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

My name is Robert Lamb.

And I am Joe McCormick.

And hey, everybody, I've got to apologize right here at the start for my voice and my brain, possibly, today. I am rassling a pretty nasty cold, but we're plowing right through. And today we're going to be talking about a topic.

We're actually returning to a topic we talked about a couple of weeks ago, the subject of sacred

trees. In that previous episode, Rob, you talked about the giant sequoia of Western

North America, arguably the largest tree in the world, depending on how you measure.

And we talked about the history of how people regarded these massive plants with reverence.

And I ended up talking about the Ohia, the Hua tree of Hawaii and a lot of interesting, beautiful ways that it interlocks with Hawaiian religion and traditional practices.

In some cases, it's the physical embodiment of a god.

In other cases, it's like a tree beloved by the gods in storytelling and so forth.

But when we were researching that episode,

we thought, man, there are so many interesting angles

on sacred trees that we could come back to.

So that's what we're doing today.

Here's a new installment.

I'm sure this is something we'll probably return to again in the future.

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