The field study (1999–2005) centred on thirty-one Arab, Bedouin, and Druze villages in the Galilee. Informants were asked about the supernatural characters and powers of the sacred trees. The survey covered 118 informants, consisting of 38 Druze and 80 Muslims (36 Arabs and 44 Bedouins). We took "Arabs" to be people settled in their villages for several centuries; "Bedouin" people who originated in the deserts of Israel and Jordan, migrated to the Galilee in the last three centuries, and were nomads until the end of the 20th century [[56]:30]. The Druze are an eastern Mediterranean religious group established in Egypt in the 11th century [[57]:3]. Today they are concentrated in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel [[57]:8–14]; belief in the revelation of God in the form of a human being is considered the most important fundamental principle of the Druze faith [[57]:15]. The Druze faith is not a ritual and ceremonial belief in essence, but rather a neo-platonic philosophy [[57]:17].
The distinction between "Arabs" and "Bedouin" was made in an attempt to examine if there were any different traditions regarding sacred trees which may reflect the different origin of nomads versus settled village people.
The survey excluded Christians, who hardly believed in sacred trees while, in the Jewish sector, the adoration/worshipping of trees is a new trend of the last two decades and almost all the worshippd trees are already known as old Muslim sacred ones in the vicinity of graves of supposed historical righteous Jewish personalities. In each village we carried out a preliminary survey to locate the more knowledgeable people in advance, and we also chose important religious leaders to examine their attitudes to the veneration of sacred trees.
The informants were mainly chosen according to their knowledge of common/local traditions and/or religious status. The average age of the informants was 57.7 (+/- 14.8) years. Respondents were 116 males and two females (in general women are reluctant to be interviewed, and when they agreed the interview was held in the presence of other family members). Because of the refusal of most of the informants to be videotaped or recorded the study is based entirely on oral interviews and field notes taken on the spot. The interviewees were asked several specific questions; for example, 1. What is the reason for the specific punishment inflicted on anyone who has hurt/damaged/cut down/used the sacred tree? 2. Who is liable to be punished for injuring a sacred tree, and how may the punishment be averted or revoked? 3. Why are sacred trees not burned? 4. Who is the punishing agent in response to not respecting the sacred tree? We also collected stories of miracles related to sacred trees.
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