Critical Thinking as a Community : The New Experience of Shared Information

Listening to Guns N' Roses, Get in the Ring off Use Your Illusions || (when I was about 15) was an epiphany moment for me. It was when I realised that the media was not necessarily portraying the truth in their articles about the artists they were covering. It was part of me learning that everything I read was not meant to be taken at face value. This has stood me in good stead to this day. And thinking of this reminds me of something I've been thinking about of late...

  Now in an interactive experience like Facebook, everything is media. We are all media. We are all sharing information and it is almost as fluid and in the moment as our own thoughts and processing. Sometimes we see things shared that we feel powerfully about, we pass it on, it spreads, knowledge grows...

Often this is 'All Good'. The information is legitimate and we are acknowledging and processing our personal Truths as a whole.

  But every now and then, something is off. Something is shown to be false, misleading or simply a lie. Then, there are outcries about critical thinking, confirming your source before you share, etc. Yet, what if your source is one you trust, what if -they- do not have the means or connection to confirm just as you do not. We are not reporters who have to legally confirm all their sources but we are still responsible for our own posts. If you consider the information important to pass alone but don't have access to the origins of it what do you do? Should you simply not share if you do not know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the information in question is legitimate? To share or not to share, that is the question.

  I find myself in the share camp here and I will tell you why. Facebook (and all globally connected social networking tools) make us a true community organism in a way that humanity has (as far as I know) never experienced before. Now we have the ability to engage in critical thinking as a community.

  As an example, let's say, I come across a share of an article pertaining to information that is very important to me. I do not have the means to discern it is legitimate but the source sharing it is well known and trusted. So I share it on, a friend shares it and then, someone who -does- have the means to check it responds and shows that the information was misleading. This actually happened to me recently and I was very happy to find out the information I had shared was not legitimate. I expressed as much in the comments and was thankful for that.

  But then, I saw that one of the comments on that share of it was an individual bemoaning the lack of critical thinking that seemed (to them) apparent due to our having shared this information. At first I was chagrined. Oh how shameful of me not to spend however many hours digging and searching for my sources sources etc... but this did not stick, because this process... the sharing, the feedback, the discovery of the truths behind the information, that is exactly what our social networking allows for and that process in and of it's self is a macrocosm of the processing we each go through within our own minds when we do engage in the very thing they were bemoaning the lack of. 

  So it is my belief that critical thinking has not been lost. It is my belief that we are now able to engage in critical thinking as a community. This is huge! When before has humanity been able to witness and process information on such a large community scale before? Never as far as I know.  This is huge and it is beautiful and it is new. It requires a new sort of processing. One where we accept that we do not always know the truth. One where we realise that not everything we read is fact and even if it is fact it may not be Truth. One where we allow ourselves to listen to one another because while we may not as individuals have the time and resources to process all the information being shared with us, someone somewhere out there does and so long as we keep sharing and keep an open mind and heart, we will hear them and Truth will become known.

  We do not ever fail when we share information. We fail when we refuse to keep our own views open to hearing what others have to say about the information we share.

  So I say, Share on! Critical Thinking is not dead. Critical Thinking is evolving.

A Retelling of the Persephone Myth, by a Persephone

After the chaos of the time of the titans when all was crashing elements but before there were seasons and a balance to them, there was once a time of only bounty and brightness in the middle world where mankind lived. This was maintained by the Earth Goddess, Demeter and the Nymphs, Dryads and Naiads and all the Nature Spirits and Fae who helped make the world bright and gay and fertile. There was no season of rest, so Demeter worked the world all year round and if sometimes she grew weary there was always her daughter to brighten her mood and inspire her to return to making the world a fruitful place.

Demeter's daughter (by Zeus), was Kore (which means maiden). She would walk with her mother as she sang up the green and brought her grace to the crops and plants the people cultivated as well as the wild copses. Kore was especially loving of and loved alike by the Spirits and Fae who aided her mother and often she would play with them, listening to their songs and laughter. She grew up adoring and treasuring all the beautiful aspects of the natural world and she especially loved to gather flowers and herbs with which to weave wreathes of love and laughter that she would share with the families who came to thank her Mother for their bounty. Kore was bright and beautiful and she glowed with a generous loving spirit. Demeter was careful to never let her precious daughter stray too far, a ribbon from her garments tied gently to one of Kore's ankles, kept them tethered at all times...

Meanwhile in the Underworld, there was at this time, no such brightness. Hades, the God of the Afterlife and Keeper of the Dead, who was Guardian of the Underworld, was very much alone. Hades' days and nights were as one, long, cold and solitary existence. Often times, he would watch the world of the living from below, envying the bright fullness of love and companionship he saw shared among those who dwelled in the middle world and wishing that he too could experience it. Hades looked at his home and the land of the Dead and felt sorrow that there was so little brightness here and even those who had lived a good life came to a place of cold and dull existence. But this was how it was. There could be no Life in Death. So Hades yearned and was filled with longing, but could do nothing for himself or the residents of his domain.

As it happened though, Hades was Kore's uncle and so, he knew her from infancy and watched as she grew from a small innocent thing to become a vivacious girl. Somehow her carefree nature could bring a smile from him even in his darkest moods and as time passed, he began to watch her, most, of all those who walked the land of the living. He saw her generosity in how much she loved to share the love and laughter she was filled with and an idea began to form within his mind. Kore, was as yet, unbound to any domain on her own, she was of the Land of the Living because she was Demeter's daughter but as she was not yet of age, her own purpose and divine duty had not been named.

Knowing Kore was unbetrothed, Hades went to Zeus and spoke with him of Kore and betrothal. Zeus, loving his brother, agreed that she was a good choice but that Demeter would never willingly part with Kore and so long as the ribbon bound them she could not be taken. Yet, Zeus said, if Hades was able to find a way to take the girl for his wife, he would not interfere. So, ever patient, Hades watched and he waited.

Now it came to be that as Kore was coming of age, she began to wish to walk her own way. She loved Demeter dearly and enjoyed helping with her mother's work but often the Spirits and Fae would run off to play, beyond where the ribbon that bound Kore would allow. Kore began to view the ribbon no longer as a welcome line of security to her mother and instead as something that held her back. Demeter, aware of this, would kiss her daughter's brow and tell her how precious she was and how, the ribbon was for her own good. Mostly, Kore accepted this yet some small part of her did begin to resent the ribbon's hold.

So it was, one day as Kore was gathering herbs and flowers for her wreathes in a meadow, she came upon a beautiful blossom she had never seen before. Intrueged, she made to pick it but Demeter's ribbon drew short, keeping her just out of reach. With one hesitant and furtive glance in the direction she knew her mother was, Kore reached down and undid the knot...

In the very moment that ribbon unfurled from her ankle, the ground beneath Kore's feet rumbled, cracked, and split apart, revealing the elegant and terrible figure of her uncle, Hades. On his chariot he burst forth and with a cold quickness no living could claim, he snatched his niece from the meadow and drew her down into the realm of the grave.

Some distance away, Demeter had been going about her work. She knew the knot came undone though she did not know how or why. In a panic she hurried to the place where the ribbon end lay, empty and curled in the meadow. There was no sign of her daughter...

Demeter began to weep and call for Kore but there was no reply. So the Earth Goddess cried and cried and the rains came and with them, floods and drowned crops. But still Kore did not return. Demeter asked the other Gods and Goddesses, certain someone must know something, yet none could or would say where Kore had gone. When she came at last to Zeus, he told her where their daughter was but also that he would not interfere. With this, Demeter's sorrow turned to cold anger and forsaking her work, she put aside the raiments of her divine nature and took upon herself the countenance of a mortal woman.

In this way Demeter wandered, disguised, living as a mortal as she searched every corner of the earth for her bright blessed daughter. Days turned to weeks, weeks passed into months and the land grew cold and barren. As time passed, even Zeus came to realise they must see an end to this, for without their harvest the people were not bringing proper tribute to the temples. So Zeus sent Hermes to tell his brother (Dear Hades I regret to inform you...) that he would simply have to give his precious young bride back to her mother and find another wife.

However, in the time since Hades had snatched Kore from the surface, both she and the underworld had changed. She had been afraid at first, the way she had been grabbed and carried down to the Underworld was alarming. But this was her uncle. He was known to her, she had love for him and the adventurous spirit of youth. Fear gave way to curiosity though she did remain wary and when Hades offered her food and drink she would not partake. Kore knew not to eat in the land of the dead lest she be forced to dwell there forevermore.

So Hades bade Kore allow him to show her his domain, share his wishes with her and as they spent time together she began to see him in a new way.  As she explored the land of the dead, felt the cold darkness and dullness of the lifeless plain and listened to her uncle's request for her to bring her lightness and love to it (and to him) it caught at her own heart in a way that sharing her wreaths with the living, who had so much already, never had before.

Kore was overwhelmed and her emotions welled forth as tears, falling from her to the ground below and where she wept, the asphodel bloomed and the fields formed where the heroes and those who had lived good lives could come to be at peace and feel the brightness and comfort of her love. Hades was pleased by this but worried by her tears and took her to see the crystals and stones buried deep in the ground. He offered to share all his treasures with her and she was truly fascinated by the beauty of the gemstones and ores. But still she would not eat.

So when Hermes came to beseech Hades to return Kore, he found them at odds. Hades begging and wooing Kore to stay and she, wishing to fulfill his requests but also unwilling to give up the promise of seeing her mother and the living world once more. Her mother's distress was heavy upon Kore's heart and Hades had to acknowledge the need to see the earth returned to life. He would let her return to Demeter and the Underworld would once more be without the light and love she had brought. Neither were happy with this.

Seeing the sorrow in both at this, Hermes came up with a plan. As he waited with Kore on the shore of the Styx for Charon's boat to come and carry them across, Hermes plucked a pomegranite from a tree growing on the shore. Pomegranites were the only trees that grew in the land of the dead and their seeds were like the gemstones there, translucent and beautiful.

As Kore watched, he broke it open, baring the red tempting seeds and offered them to her. They were so beautiful and she dearly wanted to try them so Kore asked if it was all right to eat these or if doing so would keep her there. Hermes only smiled as reply and held them still before her. They were on the shores of the Styx, arguably in the borderland between domains and Hermes was here to bring her to her mother. Surely, he would not be offering them to her if there was any danger that ingesting them would force her to stay... and it was only she and Hermes there. Who was to know?

So she did. Six seeds.

They tasted like a dream and Hermes kept smiling that small secret smile as Charon came and over the river they rowed. When the boat came to rest on the shores of the land of the living where Demeter waited, Kore found she could not put her foot upon it and then she knew Hermes had tricked her into the very temptation she had avoided all her time with Hades. Demeter wailed and Kore paled but Hermes now played his hand, offering then (for he had been given the right to cut a deal by Zeus in order to retrieve Demeter's daughter) a compromise. Demeter could have her daughter back if she agreed, for every seed Kore had eaten, she would return and remain with Hades. With reluctance, Demeter agreed and as Kore stepped ashore to go with her mother, though she could not say aloud, her look bore her thanks for Hermes to see.

In six months time she returned to Hades and they wed, as only god and goddess can, by their own power vested and Kore, took a new name in honour of her discovered Sacred Duty and became Persephone. 'the one who brings the light'

Now Earth has Seasons so Demeter has a time for Rest and Renewal, Persephone has her own Divine Purpose and Hades, has Love and Laughter.

When Persephone goes to dwell in the Underworld as Queen with Hades, Demeter mourns and slows the earth, brings the cold and the frost and the death of the crops. So in Autumn, we harvest and gather in our bounty to make the most of it during Winter while Demeter Sleeps. Spring brings the swell of Persephone's emotions, her fresh tears falling to bring the blossoms up from the earth and the buds out on the trees and in Summer Persephone walks with her mother, Demeter is fulfilled and is brought to life, sharing her grace once more as her daughter walks with her, singing up the green.

This is my myth. I was born to the name Persephone and have read as many versions of the myth as I have gotten my hands on. I am sure I will read many more. I am not attempting to rewrite a historically accurate rendition of the story as it was told long ago but instead to share what it means to me. Like the Equinox, to me, it is about Balance and at this time of year (Mabon) especially it is about recognising the need for the fallow time and being grateful and thankful for our bounty.

Blessed Be,
   Persephone

Waking the Warrior Woman Within

What does that title mean to you? How does it make you feel? Threatened? Empowered?

I recently heard the description of a warrior woman as masculine. I knew the speaker meant a muscular, physically powerful woman but it brought up thoughts of my own regarding this. I believe there are more forms of warrior woman than the general image of a  Boadicea/Xena warrior woman that many of us carry.

So where does this come from? I have a suspicion the methods of seeking equality as women that we have had to engage has turned our view of the feminine away from her essential strengths. Somewhere along the way, to be accepted by man as equal, woman began to stive to show that she can do the same things, walk the same walk, have the same strengths and be the same as him.

At my core I do not believe equality is based on similarity. We needn't be the same to be as important.

Let's look as well, at the meaning of warrior...

Warrior n.
   1. One who is engaged in or experienced in battle.
   2. One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause or conflict

With either of these definitions but I think, most especially with the second, we begin to see the true warrior woman.

She is not masculine. She is essentially feminine. She has her own power and she uses it in her own way.
We are beginning to reawaken to this.
We are being drawn back to our path again and it is one of great strength and femininity.

I have heard and read in more than one place as 2012 kicks into full gear that there is a strong awakening of the feminine energy right now. I find this rings true for me. And what is this feminine energy that's awakening? Some of the key words circling around this are; awareness, forgiveness, acceptance/tolerance, healing.
Do these words sound like weakness? All of these require great strength to look to and achieve. They require us to move forward energetically, often times against resistance. So...

What is a Warrior Woman? More importantly to me, who are the Warrior Women -NOW-?

To me, the warrior women are my sisters and friends who have grown up in a world that tells us constantly how to be perfect girls and perfect mothers and perfect citizens and have still held to their true selves.
The warrior women are those beings who know in their heart and soul they are woman and have taken steps to bring this to truth for others as well as themselves in the physical manifestation of their form.
The warrior women are every woman who struggles to nurture themselves, their families and their communities while still striving to prove that we deserve to keep this equal standing we gained no more than 100 years ago. (and still have yet to gain in some areas of the world).

For me, the warrior woman's weapon is her heart, she wields it for her family, for the community, for the earth and spirit, she wields it to bring the web of loving awareness and solace to all.

The Warrior Woman is Me.

Seeing the Stars Inside

My crown chakra has been tender as all get-go for the past month or more. I've woken up to a lot in the past year but recently things have started to gear up. Pile up. Power in. It -is- overwheming at times but the test is of course to deal with that and still let ourselves expand. The growing process, just like the birthing process, is often painful and requires us to breathe deep and release. Butterflies don't come about without a huge amount of change and effort.

Point being, recently, I've been a little overly tender to the world around me. So much integration and processing on top of extra sensitivity. A lot of clearing and healing. I've been left raw and more open than I have been... possibly ever.

People still astonish me. Smiles from them fill me to bursting more often than not.

I shared this recently... take a moment and watch.


A friend of mine commented on how easy it is to forget this simple fact. That it's difficult to maintain an awareness of it. I responded that I find it very easy to maintain an awareness of it. He says I'm lucky.

Perhaps he is right or, perhaps I am a bit 'touched'. ;)
Either way, the point remains, he brought to my attention that I am probably aware of this far more often than the average person. Today I felt extra star-oriented.

I went to pick up my son from school and was walking through the yard full of parents seeing, so much. Looking at humanity with my senses open I see, inside everyone, the star-bit of their entity. And so much pain...

Is it any wonder that we hurt? That we are, in general, perpetually afraid and yearning for connection and reunion with the One? Borne of stars and brilliant fused brightness blown adrift into space shattered into tiny tiny bits and pieces.

Is it any wonder that each little star seed dreams of being fused to the great chorded one-ness that is? When we are aware of the song of the stars inherently within our selves, then, maybe, we will find a communion of peace amongst ourselves. There is so much to shed and so much to see and so many growing pains in between.

At least we have music to soothe us...

Asking for Aid (Laughter, Exercise, Simplicity)

My mother was here recently and my father also. Having them in my home did more than allow us to spend good family time together, it brought me back, somehow, to a stronger version of myself.

Roots are of course what allows a tree to remain standing as it grows up and out so high toward the sky and so perhaps it makes a metaphor of this that their presence allowed me to feel more stable and supported. regardless, it was a wonderful time and I am a little sad to see them go.

A little because, I will miss them, every day, but I also want to move forward in my life on my own.

To that end we have decided to move homes. From rental to rental it is not really ideal but this place has a little more in the way of storage space as well as a larger kitchen.

The biggest reason for the move is a lower rent. There are plenty of mixed blessings surrounding it among which are; discovering that the place has no stove (it was never mentioned that the landlord would be removing it but since we did not request it stay, there you go) and so we will have to purchase one... in addition however, laying down to go to sleep at night it occurred to me that there is no street level access! The front door is at the top of a walkway containing two separate little rises of stairs and the back garden is blocked in by other back gardens.

Moving in will be an ordeal to say the least and I am worried about my father-in-law's back. The last time he helped us move he strained it and he regularly has issues with it. :/

So the question becomes; can we afford to hire movers?

We already have extra expenses that are un-expected; ie: the stove. In addition we are planning on hiring a cleaner to come take care of the move out clean because frankly, between the moving and the kids I know very well I don't have the time or energy for it. The question remains unanswered at present. I hope we can manage the money for it because it's a hard place to move into/out of. Still, at least I know this now and in future can consider such in regards to a property. With a bit of luck and hard work the next time we move (fingers crossed) will be into a home we have bought. I can think of almost nothing I desire more than to have my own home.

In addition to this moving there are plenty of other things amassing upon me; the toddlers and their new nursery school. While it's wonderful to watch them blossom and grow having them in nursery is actually more work and time taken away from me than having them out.

The teenager committed one very stupid act which got him into Big Trouble and we are trying desperately to get him some support and counselling. This is taking for-ever and in addition there is further fall out from the incident throughout the family, including his step-dad and his relationship going from uneasy to down right uncomfortable. Thought in fairness they are both working on that.... the system is trying to help but sort of failing and so I am very frustrated.

There are past debts and current debts and the surrounding environment of near total social isolation since I have moved away from my friends and family. So. What to do?

Ask for aid. Not from the Authority since, we have already done that and they are giving what they can which is proving almost adequate at it's best and feeble in deed at it's worst. (Oh and hey it's bound to get worse in future since lots of lovely cuts are coming thanks Mr. Cameron)

Instead I am looking to The Light. More specifically and recently, to the Unicorns.

Angel research led me almost directly to Unicorns with a little helping hand from my mother and while the other animal spirits are still very present, right now I seem to feel them the easiest and they are obviously here to help. It occurs to me that my sacred space journey has always contained a Unicorn so this should really be no surprise to me. It isn't; it's more a recognition.

So last night, feeling quite overwhelmed, before I went to bed I had the urge to ask something of them using my Magical Unicorn Cards. The question I asked was this :

How did I maintain Inner Peace?

I drew three cards and received the answers/tools in the following order...

Laughter!

Exercise!

Simplicity!

And yes, they all make sense. The first once I laughed at (yes indeed) because it was the one I already knew inherently, exercise brought a wry grin, again one I already knew but I have been a bit slack in keeping up with. Simplicity, while the last is possibly the most important lesson to take from this for me.

I overcomplicate things, take on too much and have a pack rat tendency. I have been feeling for ages that I need to lose a great deal of the baggage (physical and otherwise) that I carry with me and this move, I hope, will provide a wonderful opportunity to work on the physical aspect of that, which will in turn, aid my efforts to simplify my emotional, mental and spiritual environment as well.

So, through this move, regardless of what happens, my mantra will be; Laughter, Exercise, Simplicity!

- Seneca the Younger wrote 'non est ad astra mollis e terris via' ("there is no easy way from the earth to the stars")-

Going through some stuff; reminding me of The Tower card of traditional tarot meaning... Had to get it out somehow so here it is.

Photo of self + public domain stars & lightning brush 'by silver'

http://myphotoshopbrushes.com/brushes/id/184

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.}