4000 thousand year old tree wisdom

Not California

It was a beautiful late summer’s evening when Gwas and I decided to visit one of the oldest trees in the world. Recently I had been speculating on setting off on a journey somewhere in the world and thinking of combining this with some energetic exploration I thought I would visit, what I thought would be the oldest trees in the world, those giant redwoods in California.

Blessed be the Internet as a swift Google search took me to a wiki which suggested that one of the oldest tree’s in the world was but a an hour or so away from where I lived, in North Wales.

And so it was that Gwas and I set off to visit this wonderful 4000 year old yew tree.

We arrived at the churchyard in darkness and were pleasantly surprised to find the gates unlocked – which precluded the need for Guerilla dowsing. As is quite normal for us now, we both went off on our separate ways looking for meaning that was individualistic and personal.

As you look at the above picture you can see a path to the right which leads beyond the magnificent tree. Well, following this path leads to a gentle slope down into the major part of the graveyard (which we will visit during the day sometime to get some pics). This part of the graveyard has a path around and through it which will be of import later. As another aside there is a lovely river that flows along the right side of the church too. Please look out for my next post regarding some of the energies of this particularly fabulous site.

Meditation Spot

Almost upon arrival I wanted to do a meditation with this age old wisdom and so after minimal exploration I dowsed for the best place to sit whilst meditating and came up with a spot just beneath the canopy of the tree facing towards the camera in the above picture.

I sat cross-legged and let my mind and thoughts relax. In no time at all I felt the warmth of the Yew settle around me and visions flowed. To begin I saw this really large trunk of a tree in front of me. It was huge and as I looked up at it, either I shrank or it grew bigger, I don’t know which but this tree was at least skyscraper tall.

Triple Split

As I examined this huge tree I realised that is trunk was split into two. Not all the way to the ground but perhaps half to three quarters its length it was split. As I wondered about this splitting and what its significance might be my perception changed and suddenly I was looming over the tree, which now seemed to be the size of a small plant. Now I could clearly see the split and it looked like the tree was almost cloven in two. This view was presented for a few moments before my perception switched again and I was some small insect-like creature attached to the trunk of the split tree.

Now that I think back to the event it was like I was being given different perspectives of the situation. But what each of these mean is lost to me now as it was then or at least the greater detail of it is lost.

This reminds me of a tale from Carlos Castaneda’s work. At one time Castaneda went to visit a Brujo (shaman) without his Mentor’s permission and knowing. The Brujo saw that Castaneda had the power and so gave Castaneda a powerful gift. Unfortunately the truth of it was that Castaneda only seemed to have the power and so the Brujo’s gift was totally wasted.

– smile – perhaps I seemed to whatever was presenting the vision to have the power but in actuality I didn’t or don’t?

Whichever the case I was being shown (from several perspectives) a tree that had been split asunder. As time (I don’t know how much, how can you tell?) passed further illuminations came.

Paths

Some sense came to me to tell me that I was the tree or perhaps that the split tree represented two paths for me. I was told that I could either take the left path and become a spirit walker or I could become a worldly person.

My confusion over this decision was compounded by my lack of understanding as to what was meant by the paths description. Ever helpful? I was further shown – or rather this was a kind of feeling – that the spirit walker path was a lonely path. It was a path that would be and allow me to walk amongst spirits. To be honest I was scared by the proposition that it was a lonely path. Although the devil-may-care attitude along with a good dose of curiosity was somewhat compelling. The other path was one in which I would live a worldly life, materialistic and semi-normal.

What a decision to be faced with? Talk about the red pill vs the blue pill dilemma?

Even as this musing was going on my sense of perspective was still going through the trinity of views. It was at this time that another piece of tree wisdom came to my mind. Am I not the “Magician who creates his own worlds?” surely that must weigh into the equation? As you can see I wasn’t fond of either of the alternatives – hmmm whilst in the meditation I believed that these paths were real for me. In hindsight I could have just chalked them up to an interesting visualisation.

Healing

Ok, again I don’t know how much time elapsed in the above dilemma but after some time I decided to become an active part in this visualisation.

As a side note – ever since I can remember I have had the ability to change my dreamscapes. By this I mean whilst in the middle of a dream I have been able to consciously create things I needed or change the aspects of a dream to my favour.

So, I said out loud but still in meditative (commune) state. Can I not have a combination of both of these – have my cake and eat it – is I guess what I was asking. I was then taken to the view of me standing over the tree and seeing it cloven. Then I (or something) took some rope and bound the two halves together, also as this was happening some green sludge like liquid was being poured down the crack and I saw the tree become slowly whole and one. Also I could sense that I was peering into the future now, meaning that the process of healing had started but that it would be completed in the future. I was given to understand that I had to bring the two paths together myself – and that because I was a “Magician who creates his own worlds” I could do this.

I know it sounds really corny or whatever you want to see it as – to be honest I wouldn’t bother revealing this whole episode because of what you the reader might think – but then I realised – I don’t really care anymore – it stands as it does!

After seeing the tree become whole, I wondered whether that was the point of the vision from the start i.e. that it was a duality that needed to become whole rather than two paths that could have been chosen? I don’t know – but I am a believer in co-creation and self-determination and that it seems is what I did.

If you think that was weird what about this…

My vision hadn’t finished with me it seemed as then I was taken on another one. This began with this world, the world we live in with all the strange para-normal stuff that it encompasses. I then somehow grew or expanded out of this one and into what I can only say was the world of the afterlife – stay with me  – my sense of understanding was that the dimensions were layered. The Earth plane was an inner plane (like onion layers) and the spirit one contained it, or was an outer layer or sphere. I could see the differences between the two – but I cannot remember them now.

But…whilst I was expanded to the outer realm I knew or could sense that there was a sphere beyond even that one. So I tried to expand myself higher into this third realm. But couldn’t even though I tried a few times. When I gave up I got a kind of answer…you can only expand to the third sphere from the second not from the first.

Yes, I know cloud cuckoo land? Maybe I don’t know I am just reporting what I experienced. If your asking whether I think this latter vision was true? Well, today being Monday I will say, yes. Tomorrow however is a different day!

Paths of the dead

With that final vision it seemed that the connection was done and I was left to ponder what I had experienced. The latter sphere vision had and has me confused as I don’t know what it means or what relevance it has to me. Nil point!

The first however had lots of intriguing answers and so I was off to the aforementioned path at the bottom of the churchyard to walk and dowse some meaning out of the visions. My conclusions came to the following:

• That I have a choice – you don’t have to accept what you are given
• That I had decided to opt for a combined world rather than a singular more focused path
• That the tree was symbolic of me and that I needed to work out how to synergise the two halves.

Notes:

I love that churchyard, with its Yew and its Graves and its flowing river and for the two times we have been there – its wonder-filled starlit sky. Although it being a graveyard – there is absolutely no sense of badness about it. We have dowsed in other graveyards and felt uncomfortable as if we disturbed the rest of those therein. But here we were welcomed and befriended by spirit and tree, water and earth, moon and star.

Where has the matter been left?

This visit to the Yew was around early September, if not late August of 2009 and since that time – although it has only been 3 months – ha – who says time flows fast?? Much work has been done on myself – in particular see this post from Samhain – and there is, as always much more to do. I am welcoming the transformations and journey everyday!

Kal

PS – here are the notes I took the night I returned:

• beautiful moonlit night
• finding the meditation spot
• a tree splitting down the middle
• size perception going weird – from something small clinging to the bark of the tree to something huge and the tree being as small as a plant
• the two paths – spirit and worldly – choosing one path
• binding the split tree and pouring healing fluid down its center – the fluid was a green sludge
• combining the two paths (parts of the tree)
• secondary vision of the afterlife
• seeing life as being more than the living world
• going to the next sphere that encompassed the “spirit” world
• knowing that there was another sphere beyond the spirit one
• trying to “grow” beyond this third sphere and not being able to
• wandering along the “paths of the dead” whilst (dowsing) and trying to put all of it together
• coming to an understanding that “i have a choice”
• choosing to merge the two paths (heal them) rather than become a spirit walker
• postulation: was the tree symbolic of me and did/do i need to synergise my spirit and non spirit halves?

PPS – speculation: was this just imagination. I would have taken it as quite possible except for one point…why wasn’t I able to grow beyond the third sphere – if it was just imagination I should have been able to.

Kal.