Hello All
Happy Friday
Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world. – John Muir
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. – William Shakespeare
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Want to do something completely fun, healing and safe? Go spend time with a tree. Better yet, go hang out with several trees. The Gift of their beauty, grace, strength, warmth, flowers, fruits, the air we breathe . . . It may be impossible to fully comprehend the importance trees have in our lives.
They have been here much, much longer than we have. Like the whales of water, the trees of the air and wind know, remember and speak of this planet’s history in a way that is impossible for humans. We haven’t been here for millions of years.
Trees create the air we breathe, and just as importantly, they breathe in our waste. They are mother nature’s lungs. Words couldn’t begin to do justice to that Gift from our Creator; or to the Godsign involved.
It does help to remember and think about the fact that et spiritus is Latin meaningto breathe. spiritus = breath You breathe in spirit
Trees are partially responsible for our written history. It is the trees that have supplied us with the paper needed; pages upon pages of paper from billions of books printed over thousands of years throughout the world…
How much paper. . .? How many trees . . . ?
Trees will help you see the truth that there is abundance and a knowing that there is more than enough in Life.
Most of us are taught that ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’
That’s not true. Trees themselves will teach you that money certainly does grow on trees.
Ask the lumber industry, the construction industry, the paper, packaging and greeting card industries how much money grows on trees. Each of those industries make billions of dollars annually from trees. There is so much ‘money’ growing on trees that we are destroying our planet because of all the trees being cut down for money.
Any cash you have in your wallet is made from the paper that came from trees.
Money grows on trees. Remember that the next time someone tries to get you to believe in ‘lack’ by saying money doesn’t grow on trees . . . yes it does.
The trees use the wind through their leaves to speak out loud to you whenever you are listening. They use the Life Force they process and understand to speak to your body even when you are not listening.
Ideas they do give! Stuck for an idea; need a page written for school or work, go sit, stand or rest under a tree. Better yet, go find the nearest woods and make yourself at home for a bit.
The idea of Tree Spirits has been around for thousands of years. There have been descriptions of Dyads – tree fairies – usually represented by wisps of light in Classical folklore. Long before R.R Tolkien wrote of Treebeard and the land of the ancient trees there was a Swedish wood nymph called Skogsra who was considered the guardian of the woods and wild animals. Out of Scotland comes Ghillie Dhu, a solitary wood nymph that lives in Birch trees.
In Japanese traditions, Uku-No-Chi is a deity that lives in tree trunks and the god Hamori is the protector of the leaves.
The term holy comes from the constant use in the ancient world of the Holly tree branches in all sacred ceremonies in many places all over the world. One ‘l’ was dropped from holly and you get holy. Imagine that . . .
And you can’t discuss trees without discussing the Druids. The most widespread view is that “druid” derives from the Celtic word for an oak tree (doire in Irish Gaelic), a word whose root also meant “wisdom.” The wise and mighty Oak tree – druid.
Druid influence was as much social as religious. They were known to have a reverence for various aspects of the natural world, especially the trees such as the ritual of oak, holly and mistletoe.
Have you hugged a tree lately? I realize you may laugh, but you also may be losing out on one of God’s greatest Gifts just hanging out in your own back yard with lots and lots to show and tell!
The trees, forests, foliage all speak to us daily. The shapes and colors of the leaves, the branches, the fruits have different messages. They surround us and are here to help us in innumerable ways. Listen to them.
Forests of Knowledge
Trees speak of forever
With a knowledge to impart
If you listen very quietly
Forests whisper to your heart
Their numbers are innumerable
And each is so unique
One chiseled, cut and drawn
Another obtuse and oblique
Knothole eyes smile and wink
While others bore down deep
They search within your soul
For the secrets that you keep
Ancient wisdom is found nestled
In a tree of many faces
From the circling of lifetimes
And passing of eternal phases
Spirited images gaze down
With long impassioned glances
Loving energy seeps up and out
And through the many branches
Healing breath surrounds you
For the trees create your air
From an atmosphere of serenity
In Mother Nature’s loving care
It’s why lovers feel at peace
While strolling in the woods
A forest’s intimate knowledge
Of sacred romance understood
Shadows cast bring detail
And honest knowledge shared
Truth is found along this path
If belief in them but dared
Remember looking up at clouds
And all the pictures seen
A man dancing with a bear
Or a girl bowing to a queen
Every forest does the same
Regardless of time or season
Any tree presents the answers
Making sense with rhyme and reason
An oak will speak of courage
While the pines present security
Weeping willows give compassion
The old sequoia relates maturity
When all the leaves join in
A real soiree can be thrown
Inspiring fresh perspectives
As seeds of thought are sown
Wind increases the chatter
And there is no where to hide
When face upon face is presented
And depth is captured alive
Life answers can be heard
By those who know to listen
With open heart and mind
In forests of knowledge given.
© Annie Truesdell
from the book, Poetry from a butterfly in the Garden