In front of the old Traverse City State Hospital in Michigan there may be an old willow tree called The Hippie Tree. It is claimed to be haunted by former patients of the mental hospital and is possibly a gateway to hell.
In the isolated woods outside the abandoned Old State Hospital Grounds near Traverse City, Michigan, stands the Hippie Tree, a silent witness to the ghostly tales which have enveloped it in an environment of mysterious allure. Little is thought concerning the origin of the tree, nevertheless it is claimed that it fell and died when it was struck by lightning.
The rotten and broken willows have been painted with colourful neon images over the generations, with one image covering the faded image underneath. Its nickname comes not only from its location, but in addition from the disturbing local legend that has surrounded it over the many years of haunting.
Traverse State Hospital
But what type of patients haunt this particular tree? Traverse City State Hospital in the realm opened in 1881 and was also once called the Northern Michigan Asylum. It is the last constructing in Kirkbride, Michigan, and is characterised by a particular type of architecture for asylums.
There are many stories of how people treated mental illness, and before drug therapy within the Fifties, Traverse City State Hospital used “Beauty is therapy” philosophy. This meant meeting patients with kindness, comfort and pleasure where, for instance, straitjackets were prohibited.
The idea was also for patients to give you the option to surround themselves with beautiful things, e.g. flowers, and possibly the concept of painting a Christmas tree also comes from this philosophy?
Traverse City State Hospital closed its doors in 1989. It reopened in 2002, but as The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, an area for outlets, restaurants and offices, nevertheless it continues to be said to harbor ghostly remnants from a time when was a hospital.
Haunted legends concerning the hospital
Traverse City State Hospital itself can be filled with ghost stories. People report hearing voices and footsteps when nobody is there, in addition to flickering lights or an unnatural cold.
This was particularly talked about when construction staff reopened Traverse City State Hospital, where some saw something that horrified them in order that they refused to work on the constructing.
There can be a dark story a couple of hospital doctor who killed each patients and nurses, and a hospital chaplain who went mad and hanged himself of their chapel.
Although there are numerous ghost stories concerning the old asylum, essentially the most famous story concerning the place involves a dead willow tree on a forest trail.
The ghost of crazy asylum patients
According to legend, the Hippie Tree serves as a ghostly meeting place for the tormented souls of asylum patients arriving from Traverse City State Hospital, and their restless spirits remain beneath the branches.
It is claimed that the madness that when consumed them echoes within the rustling leaves, where sometimes they’re indignant, sometimes just sad.
Another ghost haunting the tree, other than the patients, is a boy who was allegedly murdered on this area, although there may be little details about this branch of the legend.
The Hippie Tree is claimed to be haunted by many ghosts, and in essentially the most extreme versions of the legends, it’s even a portal to hell that opens as much as the roots if the tree is handled in a certain way. No one has been in a position to come back and tell me easy methods to do it yet.
Hippie rituals on the hippie tree
Visionaries, mystics and spiritual seekers, often called “hippies” by locals, gathered under the gnarled branches of the Hippie Tree, searching for solace and enlightenment in the guts of the haunted forest. This is how the name Hippie Tree stuck in memory.
As these seekers meditated under the ghostly cover, a peculiar tradition emerged. Ghosts and trees are said to offer off a special energy, which hippies discover when sitting on the Hippie Tree.
As a ritual expression of their transcendental experiences, they painted revelations of their heightened consciousness on the branches of the tree, making a kaleidoscope of psychedelic visions amid the eerie silence of the asylum grounds.
It is unclear how many individuals painted on the Hippie Tree, nevertheless it is believed to be not less than a thousand, creating one other psychedelic painting on top of one another.
We serve colours and spirits
As night falls over the Hippie Tree, the shadows solid by its haunted branches come to life, inviting those brave enough to delve into the secrets that lurk at the guts of Traverse City's most enchanted forest sanctuary.
In daylight, it serves as a colourful and fun thing to brighten up passersby and guests in perhaps the brightest looking haunted place.
Bibliography:
Northern Michigan Hippie Tree | Kyle Schepperley | Original NewsBreak
Traverse City State Hospital – Wikipedia
Hippie Tree State Hospital/Traverse City
Traverse City State Hospital and the Hippie Tree – A Journey with Murphy
Image Source: Pixabay.com
