What is the importance of the woods in the novel, Conjure Women?

The townspeople mostly avoid the woodland behind the House because of its sinister reputation. Both haints and foxes roam the woods. However, Rue knows all the secret paths and enjoys the solitude of the wilderness, which is an “Eden” for her (34). She also spends time there for practical reasons: to collect herbs and roots for her work. Her particular private space within the woods consists of a shed (the place where she encounters Bruh Abel when he is drunk) and a clearing, where she and Varina played as children. She hides in the woods to spy on Bruh Abel when he is preaching by the river.