Re: How Does a Druid Talk to a Tree?
Jenny
jenny@panix.com
Mon Sep 18 18:26:54 2000
Ahem.  To Leigh's beautiful, thoughtful post, let me add one of my mis-adventures:  How a Druid Does NOT Talk to a Tree.*p*About 20 years ago, when I first became interested in Paganism and Celtic Spirituality, I took a mail-order Druidry course.  My first week's homework was to hug a tree, talk to it, and then write about the experience.  There was a beautiful old Gothic graveyard on the hill across from my apartment, which I walked through each day on the way to class.  So the next morning I looked at all the trees and picked my, um, victim.  *p*There was this one funky-looking tree (I didn't know what type) which had been badly brutalized by the fraternities which bordered the cemetery.  If it wasn't dying, it was at least badly sick.  Initials and obscenities had been carved into its bark.  Empty beer cans and broken glass littered its roots.*p*I thought this looked like a tree that needed a hug.*p*So that night, after my meditations, I snuck into the (closed) cemetery.  I walked up to the tree, introduced myself, and opened my inner self to the warmth and love that my mail-order teachers assured me all trees felt for human beings.*p*I didn't feel any love.  Instead, I got a definite impression of dislike, distrust, and apprehension.*p*I ignored it.*p*I must be doing the exercise wrong, I figured.  All trees love us, my teachers had said.  They are infinitely wise, patient, and forgiving.  So I beamed love and "positive energies" at the hapless tree... and felt the apprehension deepen.*p*I ignored it.*p*Obviously I wasn't doing the "beaming" part right, so I decided to forge ahead to the hug.  I stepped forward, wrapped my arms around the tree's scarred trunk... and felt a sudden rush of revulsion.  Like I'd walked up to a complete stranger in McDonalds and stuck my tongue in their mouth...*p*I ignored it.*p*I was starting to get a tad annoyed with the tree.  Here I was, being friendly and huggy, and it was just NOT cooperating.  I hugged it harder... and all of a sudden, something -- a worm, a beetle, a bug -- crawled onto my face.  I jumped back with a screech... and the Creepy Crawly fell into my blouse.  Completely forgetting the tree, I capered about, shrieking and gibbering, trying desperately to dislodge the foul insect.  Of course, all the noise I made roused the neighbors, and I had to flee the cemetery post haste.*p*Let me tell you:  that was a humbling experience to write my homework assignment about!*p*So that's Jenny's lesson on how NOT to talk to a tree...*p*Jenny*br*
Re: How Does a Druid Talk to a Tree?
TopazOwl
700
Wed Sep 13 18:19:17 2000