When Ollie stopped to think about it, Ashlynn had taught him that witchcraft was about blending his desires with the energy of the world to make things happen. Old Nan's explanation might be slightly different than the witchcraft he'd learned from Ashlynn but that didn't mean it wasn't a valid path for him to follow in order to put his desires to keep his people safe into the wood as he carved.
If anything, it was a tradition that meshed so well with witchcraft that he wondered if it had been something the Heartwood clan learned from a previous Mother of Trees. Given the way the entire clan revered the Mother of Trees and the witches in her coven, it wouldn't be surprising if traditions like this one had originated in witchcraft.
