The Wisdom of the Trees

You can see the poined new leaf furled at the
 base of the old leaf.

Walking in a mixed forest, I am struck by the diversity of the trees.  Now, in mid-April, the Beech trees are getting my attention.  The smaller trees tend to hold onto their papery yellowish leaves all winter.  I stopped to look closely at one.  The end of the branch has a new long, pointed leaf bud just waiting to unfurl.  And just below it is the stalk of last year’s leaf waiting to be pushed off as the new leaf grows.  This reminded me of people who don’t accept change until the very last minute.

The old Beech tree

We come across a broken down great-grandmother Beech surrounded by her great grandchildren.  Nearby we see one of her children and many more grandchildren.  She has spread her seeds far and wide.  This reminded me of people who have large families that stay close together.

The ancient Celts included Beech (Phagos) in their Ogham alphabet.  Beech was concerned with ancient knowledge as it was revealed through old objects, places and writing.  While things that no longer work, like a dried up leaf, must be released, there is wisdom from the past that can be carried forward.  That is the work that we must all do during this time, figuring out what to take with us and what to discard.  Beech is showing me that many of the seeds we plant in our life will grow and create their own seeds.  What do I want to seed, to feed, to fund as I go forward?

Great-grandmother Beech centre surrounded by her family

You can see the thick stumps of the
old tree trunks that have rotted

The other day, I saw an old Weeping Willow tree that had huge stumps at its base and lots of new branches and shoots coming out of those stumps.  Willow doesn't have very strong wood and the big trunks and branches often collapse and then the roots send out new shoots.  I think of people who suffer all kinds of losses and still manage to launch new ideas, new relationships and keep on growing. 

Willow (Saille) is another letter in the Ogham alphabet.  Since Willow is so closely connected to water which is governed by the moon, it stood for the female and lunar rhythms in life.  This old willow and the pussywillows I am rooting in a vase teach me about the relationship between water and life.  “Water is Life” is spoken by Indigenous water keepers and water walkers.  The old wisdom is informing our future choices.

You can see all of the new growth above the old stumps
that will soon burst into leaf.

We walk down a steep slope, following the trail to the Sturgeon River which runs along the bottom of the gorge.  It tumbles over rocks and sings happily.  It sweeps past fallen logs creating sandbars and deep pools that fish love.  The sound of the river is like music.  It is like medicine to us and we stand for a long while soaking it in.   I remember the poem Fluent  by John O'Donohue:

"I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding." 

Along the shore grow Eastern White Cedars who also love to have their feet wet.  Cedar did not grow in Celtic Europe so there is no mention of it in my Ogham book.  Cedar is sacred to the Anishinaabe and there are many teachings about cedar that have been shared with me.  But those are not my teachings to tell.  I do know that Cedar groves feel sacred to me.  There is one close to my home and it is a place where I feel safe, protected and peaceful.  Cedars grow in clumps that remind me of families.  Their fallen needles prevent other plants from growing there so the forest floor is a rusty carpet.

One cedar here on the riverbank has moss growing at the base of its trunk.  It looks like the green foot of some creature.  Two other cedars look like people to me.  Everywhere, I see mythical shapes as though they are about to share a story with me.  

Some days,during this stay at home time we boil cedar needles in water on the stove.  The smell is comforting and the resins help with immunity.  It is like the forest has come into our home for a visit and a cup of tea.

Canada Yew is a low bush with bright red berries

The last tree that I am going to mention is the Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis) which I discovered growing in a nearby forest.  The Yew Tree was the last letter in the Ogham alphabet.  Since all parts of the tree except perhaps the berry, are poisonous, this tree represented death and rebirth.  The rebirth was because the tree could lose a trunk and then regrow a new branch in the same space.  It also put its branches onto the ground, grew roots from where the branch touched and put up a new trunk.  Some Yews in Britain are 1600 years old.  They are often found in cemetaries and were known as the grieving trees.  The anti-cancer chemotherapy family, the taxols, come from this tree as well.

So, once again, the trees were telling me about death, rebirth, and resiliency, about endings and beginnings.  About old wisdom rising. 

We found the Canada Yew growing in groups, or perhaps it is all one organism.

So, Happy 50th Earth Day!  Here is the Children's Earth Choir singing a song for the trees.  Sing along with them as though no one is listening!