Trees

I have a favorite memory of a tree from the time when I was 3 or 4 years old. There was a wonderful woman who worked for my family who was especially good to me.  She would sing and laugh and play with me while she worked.  Then we would walk to the company store where she would buy us each a chocolate lollipop and we would sit under a huge tree by the side of the road to savor this special treat.  To me, this was pure joy and I always associate that feeling with the big old tree.

There was another large tree near our home where a childhood friend and I spent hours playing in the summer sun.  I became so familiar with its shape and its great roots that I used it as a passageway to go into the earth on my first shamanic journey and many journeys since then.

A maple tree behind our house grew up along with our children.  They played under its branches and among its roots for many years.  It held the echoes of their shouts and laughter.  Over the years some people tried to convince me that we should cut the tree down but I always fought for it to stay.  It finally came down in a storm in April 2010. The great giant took out everything in its path; causing us to need major reconstruction on our home.  No one was injured and all was replaced.  Strangely enough, I still grieve for the loss of my beloved tree.  I had even had a mystical experience with the tree during meditation a few years earlier.  Our energy fields seemed to merge, making green and yellow bubbles of light that floated around for awhile. I suppose we were especially close after that.

I really resonate with the strong, resilient spirit of trees and the flow of life and life cycles they represent. I took a nature walk in the Laurel Mountains with some close friends in May two years ago. We hugged trees and saw their energy fields.I felt the heartbeat of one tree as I lovingly placed my hands over a damaged place on its bark. My impressions of their energy are full of color and imagination.  They also seem to me to have movement and sound.

If you stand close enough to a great tree and listen intently, you might be able to hear the heartbeat of one of these mystical magical creatures.

May you always have magic in your life,
Mary