Posted on
September 24, 2021
There are many reasons to go visiting the redwoods. Redwoods are special in so many ways.
They only live along a 450 mile stretch of coast that goes from southern Oregon to just below Monterey county, California that get heavy winter rain, dense fog in the summer, and elevations of at least 1,000 feet. So their habitat is pretty narrow.They are tall! The tallest one on record is 380 feet tall. There is no way to capture what that looks and feels like. The tree with the most volume (they can spread out a lot) is 38,000 cubic feet.They are long lived. The oldest tree stump found has 2,200 rings, so we know that redwoods can live at least two thousand years under the right conditions.Redwoods are ancient. They have been...
Read More
Spring is well under way. Everything is greening up and coming alive. It's the perfect time for renewing life. If you're planning on doing this by adding trees to your landscape, why not include an animist tree planting ritual?
WHY DO A TREE PLANTING RITUAL?
Everything in animism is symbolic. Trees symbolize:lifedeep rootscontributing to things you may not live long enough to enjoy or see the full benefit oftransformationuniongrowthnourishmentshelterwisdommedicineRather than simply planting a tree with no fanfare, you may wish to do a tree planting ritual to bring the energy of your intention into the world. You could plant a tree for peace, to commemorate your wedding, to honor Mother Earth, to mark the birth of a child, or to bless a new business venture.WHAT TREE TO PLANT?Specific trees have qualities of...
Read More
Posted on
October 15, 2019
flames dance
to the steady, rhythmic drum,
first red, then gold, then green,
as disembodied voices
echo through the trees
joining the singers in the circle.
who’s here?
crickets? frogs? dogs?
ghosts watching from the darkness?
dancers writhe in shadows
to Nature’s feral orchestra
lost between here and there
I am perceiver and perceived.
I am the light and shadows.
I am moon drunk....
Read More
I recently went for a walk in the woods with a friend. She stopped and gasped when we came across this magnificent tree. Oh, it was fine, and it took her appreciation and surprise to help me see that I was looking without seeing. Yes, I noticed it the first time I came across it too, but after a while the novelty wore off, and I forgot.
We all do this. The brain looks for what is new. It also pays more attention to what's potentially dangerous. So, we are programmed to overlook wonder and see negativity! Yep, if something is bad or harmful, we will pay more attention to it. If we've seen it before, even beautiful things can fade into the background.
Knowing this, you can see why life can...
Read More
How familiar are you with the sound of the morning dew dripping onto the forest floor? Have you delighted in the smell of aspen as you come upon a grove?
Have you ever stopped to admire the way the sunlight tenaciously peeks through a canopy of trees lighting up random spots on fallen leaves?
Did you ever reach out to touch a mist so thick that you could feel it sitting heavily on your cheeks? If you don't know these sensations, you haven't fully lived, my friend.
Life is a sensory experience. The best way to feel alive is to engage with it.
While people and urban environments are stimulating and can be great teachers, sometimes we need to interact with other Nature to see our nature. Being in the flow of life allows...
Read More
"Go Wild" was the theme for my last sacred travel adventure to Scotland. It was pure inspiration, nothing planned. It just felt right. I thought it would be about tapping into our own individual nature and allowing it room to flourish. For me, it was not that at all.
"Go wild" meant far more than that. It was about finding your true self within the matrix of the universe. It was the sensation of feeling how you fit into the world. Man has had a habit of bending the world to fit into his desires. We live in molded, comfortable structures that dominate the land. We travel in vehicles that encapsulate us and keep the world out. Our food is grown in perfectly straight rows in plots of single organisms instead...
Read More
