Breathe out through the mouth
Push from the stomach
Then the chest
Roll the shoulder in
Push out the breath
Push it away
Breathe in slowly through the nose
Feel it pass the throat
Fill the chest
Arch your back to fill in every crevice inside
Make yourself bigger and bigger
Until you cannot fill it any more
Hold it
While you see with your minds’ eye
An early autumn leaf drops in front of you
Fast blow it away
Push, push, push the leaf
Out…away
Send it gone
Fast
See with your minds’ eye
The leaf catches the wind and drops to the center of a pool of water.
The water ripples
The silver ripples hit the shore
With each ripple
Breathe in as the ripple touches the shore
Breathe out as the little ebb of the ripple dips back from shore
Let in…let out
Note the leaf slips beneath the water.
Look past the shore
You are in the woods: the forest is dark around you
But all you can see is roots that touch the pool
It is damp
Odd sounds reach your ears
A chill is about the air as mist settle among the tangled roots
Look close
One root seems different than the rest
It slightly shimmers and glows
You can feel this and know its comfort
Follow the root up to the tree trunk
Touch the trunk and relax to the bark beneath your hand
The tree is warm in this cold place.
It welcomes you as only a good home can
Your fingers merge with the tree
You can feel them grow into the tree
You can feel its wood in your nails
Your finger bones
Don’t panic, just breathe
It feels good to be with this tree
This tree also feels good to be with you
You feel its response to you
Let go to the movement of life from the tree
Let go and explore how it taps in the earth
Let go and expand to its canopy
Let there be trust
Suddenly the world blooms with color
The dark is gone
The odd sounds are known
You awake as the tree
You know your neighbors
You know history from before man
You know the life around you
You have always known
You will always know
Feel how this world is open to you
So free, so giving, so trusting
Your tree releases your fingers
Your nails
Your hand starts to become yours
Your hand is gently expelled
Turn to the pool
See how placid
See how it reflects you with your tree behind
The mundane world is becoming more and more your awareness
Breathe back to reality
Touch the pool
The Ripples come ashore…Breathe in
The Ripples pull back from the shore…Breath out.
Open your eyes
Touch your hand
Your fingers
Lay your hands flat and feel the ground
Breathe in
Breathe out
And laugh
Nice peom. It’s especially relevant since trees are used in all religious cultures for one reason or another, and as a Christian got a better appreciation for natural and Godly creations like this.
Thank you, Kathryn Birchfire, for this poetic meditation about our connection with trees and the natural world. I myself feel a deep connection with nature and gain a deeper spiritual awareness being amidst it. I have often walked outside, and felt a deep sense of “magic” around me. I personally see it as radiating from the power of the Creator, the Great Spirit, as it were, who is the Web of Life connecting us all.
Trees are indeed a relevant part of almost all religious traditions to represent a plethora of important spiritual realities. After all, trees are an integral part of the interlocking chain of nature, providing us with oxygen, fire, etc. I have always been interested in the symbols different cultures/religions identify with different types of trees, particularly the Celtic/Norse and Native American Traditions. I recently discovered that according to the Celtic calendar, my birthday falls in the month of the oak, which I think is rather a profound tree to wind up with!
Within Christianity and Judaism, we have our particular images of The Tree of Life, the Burning Bush from which God spoke to Moses, and also the importance of the Cross, which we would identify as a tree as well. I know there are various spiritual paths which identify tree spirits as being individual totems and guides. Per my own tradition, I identify myself as having a tree of own which would indeed be the Cross, and the Fruit of the Cross. I see that as being a Tree of Life in the deepest sense of the Word, and my Guide through my Life.
Again, thank you for sharing your meditation!
Awesomeness…
This is amazing.
Beautiful and connecting.
I love to get out and connect with trees!
That sounds simply amazing!
Thank you, Rosaria Marie! The picture for the meditation is perfect.
I think that eventually one can interact with the tree as one becomes more in sync with it. This is done by the act of becoming rather than making. It is an opening up of the hard shells that consciousness places on us within our suits of armor. Even a tree has this sort of shell in its own consciousness so it is best approached through its leaves or roots.