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Learning from Trees July, 2010
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Greetings!
I live surrounded by trees. Blue Oak predominates,
interspersed with Bay Laurel, Madrone, Coast Live Oak, Black Oak, and Gambel
Oak. The woodland supports a vibrant ecosystem of frogs, mountain lions, deer, bobcat, and
fox, and six varieties of Woodpeckers. Immersed in this ecosystem, I deepen my
understanding and strengthen my work in the world. So, re-inspired by my Nature Speaks interview and those of 17 others who work with trees and tree spirits, I've
been reflecting again on how and why tree relationships can be so
transformative.
Note for the computer challenged: any word underlined in the
newsletter is a web link to further information. For example, if you wanted to
read some Nature Speaks interviews, you'd click on Nature Speaks to go
to the web site.
And, for you social media lovers, you can now share this newsletter on your favorite sites! See link at bottom.
As always, I welcome your feedback and look forward to hearing your experiences with shifting your own consciousness. May your days be full of wonderful tree connections!
Meg Beeler
Earth CaretakersAncient TanBark Oak, Mt. Tamalpais  |
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Learning from
Trees
"Keep a
green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come." - Chinese proverb
"I never saw a discontented tree. They
grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel
about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every
wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two
million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far! -- John Muir
"In
luminous awareness the shaman uses the power of direct sensory experience to
understand what is so, and then allows that same direct experience to generate
language. He does not think up prescriptions or interpretations with his
ordinary mind." - Marti Spiegelman
"We
live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense
or see the energy of everyone and everything: people, plants, animals. This
becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun,
for it is associated with the element ether 'the realm where energy lives and
weaves.'" -- Carlos Barrios
Making a relationship with a special tree offers us a
portal: into deeper connections, new stories, and wisdom beyond what we know as
humans.
Our bodies remember the childhood trees we climbed or read
under, swung from or used for imaginary games. So it is not hard--we only have
to drop our adult self-consciousness and judgment--to make relationships with
the trees we are drawn to. That might mean leaning up against an ancient oak during
a hike, or lying along the low branch of one. It might mean circling the
biggest tree in our neighborhood, letting fingertips draw across bark daily to
say hello. Or it might mean painting the tree, bringing it offerings, or
becoming its caretaker.
Conscious Entrainment
In an experiment that opens my heart with wonder each time I
think of it, experienced meditators sat with their backs to trees and entered a
meditative state. Concurrently, using highly sensitive recording devices,
Bernie Krause and his cohorts measured the rhythms of human breath and tree sap
rising and falling. Guess what? Each tree slowed the flow of its sap to match
the breathing pattern of its meditator! The trees consciously entrained with
the humans. This
means that we humans can teach ourselves to entrain with a tree by letting our breath, our
consciousness, and our awareness match the tree's awareness, and by listening
to tree's story, advice, and requests.
It's a subtle process, for trees have very subtle energy (as
opposed to the "gross" sensations that Buddhist teachers speak of). I have
found that I can begin the process of deep listening with some very physical
practices: exchanging energy back-to-back with a tree, observing its movement
and stillness, and pulling weeds or otherwise taking special care with it.
Slowly, as I become familiar and make friends with a
particular tree, I notice more: the birds and other creatures that move through
it; how wind and sun interact with it; patterns of light and shadow; how the
tree interacts with other trees nearby. Then I begin to make mental shifts, to
open my cells, and to experience the "collective field" that surrounds me and
the tree, the tree and its neighbors, the ecosystem it is a part of. As I
notice these energies and interactions, our interrelationship becomes alive.
The physical plays into metaphysical: it is easier to step
into parallel realities and journey to the magical realms a tree inhabits when
we have a relationship in the mundane world. All the childhood stories you
read, where a hole in a tree was the opening used to enter other worlds, is
based on this, and we know that this method is at least 50,000 years old.
Advice
from a Tree
Poet Ilan
Shamir offers us this "Advice from a Tree:"
Dear Friend,
Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter
Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures: Earth, fresh air, light
Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!
A tree spirit tells me: "We have moved far, even continent
to continent, with climactic change in the past. Our fluidity goes beyond
moving in the breeze. Like us, you should be prepared to leap and change with
the times, evolve for your survival. We don't need you humans, but we enjoy our
relationship with you, and want to encourage you to get to know us and listen
to us as a way of shifting your perspective." When I ask what the tree's
essential message to us is, tree spirit offers four words: "Strong. Rooted.
Fluid. Reaching."
Becoming Trees
Whether we use imagination, visualization, or journey, we
can draw on our relationships with actual trees as we learn to be like them in
the midst of our changing world. We can see our roots spreading, connecting
with other roots, drawing nutrients from the soil. We can pull those nutrients
up through our bodies (trunks) and out our crowns (branches), reaching towards
our potential. We can draw in light and energy from the stars and galaxies,
just as trees do. We can mimic tree's constant movement of energy, nurturing
ourselves from the ground we inhabit and breathing in the fresh air (oxygen)
that trees offer us.
We can use the mythic, cross-cultural images of the world tree to re-mind ourselves of our
alignment with heaven and earth, of our interconnected and symbiotic
relationships, and as a way of embracing the whole.
When we consider that only 7% of our human communication is
verbal, it becomes easier to imagine coming into congruence with a tree. The
pleasure, beauty, and balance such connection brings to our frantic human lives
is well worth a few minutes a day. It can also be crucial to our conscious
movement through challenges both personal and global.
Exploring connections beyond what we see and know helps us
survive. Trusting in the possibility of change gives us courage. Each
relationship with trees brings new and shifted awareness and ways of
perceiving. Each relationship offers us more energy, fortitude, and wisdom for
our lives. As in everything, it is a matter of paying attention, listening, and
asking: How can you help me? What's our relationship for? How can I help you?
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A Few Tree Resources
TreeLink is my source for Ilan Shamir's poem, and provides information, research, and
networking for people working in urban and community forestry. The
Nature Speaks interviews with 17 people who communicate with trees offer great
insight. And three
books I like are: The Giving Tree Shel Silverstein (for kids and adults); A Natural
History of Western Trees and A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America by Donald Culross Peattie.
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More on Spirits of Nature
"Journeying with the Spirits of Nature" explores more about working with the elements and nature spirits,
especially water, and how we can weave their perspective and advice into our
lives.
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Mother
Earth Oil Spill Invocation
Making the "Mother Earth Oil Spill Invocation" is a
lovely way to open your heart to all that is possible. Children
of the Sun Foundation focuses on strengthening and expanding the unified field
and crystalline grid. (Sorry, I forgot to add the link last month.)
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Don't Pave Our Bay
Urge the
Redwood City Council to reject Minnesota-based agribusiness giant Cargill 's
massive salt pond development proposal in the San Francisco Bay. If similar
development proposals had not been stopped by concerned citizens in the past,
the Bay would be a narrow river instead of the beautiful body of water that
gives our region its identity. Sign the petition today!
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Vision
Alignment Project
The
creators of this project know, as we do, that one of the most powerful things
we can do is to envision the end result from the beginning and align our
visions with others. The Vision Alignment Project offers us quite wonderful statements to imagine, vision, and align
with.
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Working
with Healing Light and Vibration
Both
shamanic and energy healing work with vital, living energy in the realms of
spirit, soul, and heart. If you are not sure about the concept of remote energy
healing, or have questions, this article on shamanic and energy healing will
answer some of them!
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Catch Up on Consciousness
You can find last month's newsletter, "Mystery, Forgiveness, and Focus," and read other, previous versions of Shifting Consciousness News here.
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Consultation
Empower yourself and step into your radiance, wisdom, and wholeness with Earth Caretakers healing sessions. Meg offers shamanic consultations and energy healing, private instruction, soul retrieval, Munay-Ki
transmissions, workshops, and the Sacred Earth Shamanic Apprenticeship. You can also read articles relating to this work. Email or call our office at 1-707-939-7961 to make your appointment.
A client writes, "I really, really, appreciate your gentle, thoughtful, loving, knowledgeable kindness and guidance during this entire process. It has been life-changing for me."
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