Trees

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance.^[1] A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m^[2] to 6 m;^[3] some authors set a minimum of 10 cm trunk diameter (30 cm girth).^[4] Woody plants that do not meet these definitions by having multiple stems and/or small size, are called shrubs. Compared with most other plants, trees are long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old and growing to up to 115 m (379 ft) high.[5]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree}

<sup>Trees are everywhere for me these days in many ways. Oh yes, of course there are trees (almost) everywhere we go but that's not what I mean. Instead I am referring to their unmistakable Presence in my consciousness.

Upon moving to the UK, my Tree surroundings changed a great deal. In the Yukon, the land is literally blanketed by forest. The Treefolk there are slender and sparsely limbed to an extent but their prolific population more than makes up for it. They are also very gentle and very much a 'surface' energy. That is, when I feel the Tree energies in the Yukon it is very much up at the surface of the earth and easily accessible. It's right THERE!

I noted some time ago, during a visit to Virginia in the South of the USofA, that the Tree energies there were very deep down. They were fewer and farther between, though very profound. It felt to me that they were withdrawn. So many old hard wood populations had been decimated and replaced with softwoods because they turn a faster profit for the industry. It felt sad indeed and that's not even getting into what that type of reforestation has done to the fauna of the area.

Here, in Scotland, there's not the same level of withdrawl to the Tree energies but something far more traumatic was brought to my attention. This is history here, these days a strong sense of the value of what remains of the Trees is evident in the culture, but before we, as a species, learned what the results of our clear-cutting would be, this land suffered a genocide of the Treefolk.

The ancient Caledonian Forests have been all but wiped from the face of the land for a variety of reasons. 1) to make room for and build castles and homes & 2) to make grazing lands for sheep and to a lesser extent, other herd animals. What remains now is almost purely barren land for without the Trees to protect it, the island winds have swept across to strip what other vegetation there may have grown aside from the hardier grasses, moss and such.

I can not put into words what I felt when I first learned of this. Let us just say, it was not a pleasant feeling. It haunted me for some time until at last I decided that should the opportunity ever arise I will be one of those who works toward healing this wound. This dedication felt right and the pain of the knowledge passed to an extent. Life happened and the idea passed into slumber.

Near to a year has passed now since that first crystallisation of one purpose of my path here and within the past month Trees have suddenly re-emerged with an even stronger force in my focus.

I caught a glimpse of a television show in late November at my in-laws, which outlined the steps being taken by Human Kind here to reforest the original Caledonian Forest where possible. I know, this is something I want to be involved with and will be looking into it over the next few years. It is important. This was the first moment of the re-awakening of the Trees focus for me.

In conjunction with Tree O Clock (but not as part of it, since my tree turned out to not be a Native species) I purchased a cotoneaster (kotton-E-aster) to plant in our back garden. Truly part of my purpose in this was wanting to find a tree that would attract birds as I had a bird feeder out but was not really seeing any activity. In this way, it was a successful purchase as since I placed it there we have had many birds come to feed. This is the second point of Tree associated focus for me this month.

My sister, Aurora, contacted me about two weeks ago with a request for a tattoo design incorporating the Celtic Tree of Life design with a knot work flower but in a more feminine and openly flowing style than the traditional one. I immediately received an image of it and began a sketch that night. The final result bears not only the flowers requested but also a Ladybird and a Robin. Happily my sister tells me that I understood what she was wanting perfectly. This makes my heart happy.</sup>
A few days after I finished this a friend who has been going through a very emotionally trying experience the past few weeks, posted some photos from a walk she took. One of the photos depicted a fallen tree whose branch had become a tree of it's own accord, growing up from the side of it's once trunk.
The meaning behind it struck me immediately.

The ingenuity and persistence of trees is always truly inspiring. Get knocked over? Grow sideways!

^{I know this message was meant for both she and I. This was my third Tree associated moment of this month.}

Photo © Trish Greco

<sup>On this past Sunday, the in-laws, my children and I, went to the annual craft fair at Dean Castle. Before we went, they gave me my birthday presents and card as one of them had birthday money in it and they thought perhaps I might find something I liked there. As it happened, I did. Indeed, I browsed through all the stalls until I came upon one that bore the most amazing glass pendant beads. Handcrafted... Trees.

The exchange I had with their crafter was passionate and inspiring of it's own accord and I noted one of the trees which was my utmost favorite but I thought, beyond my finances at present. So I bought a couple beads for my littlest boys and moved on. It was not until a little bit later, when I had finished purchasing the ornaments and little gifts for family I had intended to get there with the cash I had brought, that I realised the amount my in-laws had given me as birthday money was exactly (a difference of 5 pence) the amount of the Tree I had been drawn to. I returned, heart pounding, and made the purchase. It felt so very right and really powerful to not only receive it but to learn from this lady how she crafts these Trees. This was my fourth Tree associated focus of the month.

Altogether that does make 4 Tree related occurrences and I find that 4 has its own Tree-like meaning for me.</sup>

Four: The symbolic meaning of number Four deals with stability and invokes the grounded nature of all things. Consider the four seasons, four directions, four elements all these amazingly powerful essences wrapped up in the nice square package of Four. Fours represent solidity, calmness, and home. A recurrence of Four in your life may signify the need to get back to your roots, center yourself, or even "plant" yourself. Fours also indicate a need for persistence and endurance.

^{Beyond all the exterior Tree associated moments of meaning there is this; I have been transplanted. I have come, across the ocean, to a new land, where my roots do not know the soil or the neighbouring kin. I am learning, slowly, where to place my branches and how to seek the nutrients of the land. I am beginning to make this my home. Long enough now, my leaves are beginning to show and the light is gathering anew.}