The Sacred Tree

Written by Patti O’Donahue

This reality of death and destruction needs to be replaced with a new vision of existence, and the shift needs to come quickly. As a Grandmother I am aware that our children have no memory of the vitality of the natural world that many Elders remember and speak of; and much was already lost before my arrival on earth.

Symbolically, in indigenous cultures, trees have their roots grounded deep in the body of Mother Earth, while their branches reach for the light of the heavens. There is a sacred balance maintained from which all life is touched. Trees also purify and moisturize the air we breath and provide habitat for wild creatures.

In Black Elks worldview, and in the memory of many of our ancestors all of life is sacred, vibrantly alive and infused with the intelligence of the Great Spirit. Although children today may have no memory of the vibrancy of the past our Indigo and Crystal Children feel the heartbeat of Mother Earth and know her pain through the resonance in their heart. As my 5 year old grandson said one evening while struggling to fall asleep, “the earth hurts Nana, and when I am quiet I feel her pain.” My Grandson’s discomfort and Black Elks grief mirror my feelings as I drive for hours along the highways of British Columbia and witness the miles upon miles of dead and dying trees in our once magnificent forests.

Black Elk witnessed the violence upon his people, and all that he held sacred was rapidly being destroyed by this destructive force. The Sacred Tree embraces both his grief and his hope for humankind to find that little pulsating root and nurture it back to life.

Guujaaw, an indigenous warrior for the land, water and sky of the Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago of mystical islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia has been fighting alongside the Haida people for the right to make ecological decisions since 1985. In November of that year, Guujaaw, the Elders and the Haida Nation took a stand during the well-publicized blockades against the corporate large scale logging operations on Lyell Island.

Today, the Haida Nation has finally been awarded the right to make decisions regarding the management of their forests and the ecosystems that sustain their way of life; a revolution in land use management.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/the-cedar-house-rules-haida-gwaiis-land-rights-revolution/article576481/

Some Truths About Trees

How Trees Talk to Each Other

Trees Communicate

The Dying of Trees – a Global issue

Warriors for Mother Earth

Guujaaw

Forest Man

Bill Mollison

Rachel Carson

Wangari Maathai

Acceptance Speech

The Green Belt Movement

Is the Game Over?