An audience of trees...

When you are out there running a thousand trees can pass you by and you won't one hello or a cheer. This is not because the trees are ignoring you, it's because you can't hear them. How can you if you are caught up in the constant comings and goings and doings of everyday life. If you expanded your world, if you escaped from samsara for a moment or two, you could go talk to the trees and find out just how powerful and important they are. Mind you, you had better do this alone or perhaps with an understanding friend, otherwise the other samsara dwellers will think you mad! There is a woodland that I run through from time to time and deep within it, there is a small glade of mature beech and hazel trees that stand waiting quietly for the world to end*; you would never notice them unless you knew they were there. As I approach the bend on the trail that turns me into their presence, I am already looking forward to seeing them once more and when I do, I acknowledge them all. These trees have been here for a long time and the scars they carry, scars that I can see in myself, bear witness to the storms they have endured over their life time. Standing close to the edge of the path, there is one tree in particular that I am drawn to and when I lean into its massive trunk, I can feel tree energy flowing from root to leaf and in giving myself up to the tree, becoming one with it, the energy flows through me too - at least that's what I like to think! You may think this questionable behaviour but I am told that, 'To see beauty and solidity in a tree is to see these qualities in yourself' and that to me says, 'I'm okay'! Just to give you an indication of how important trees are, the Essene Teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls include a poem that tells us all to recognise and acknowledge the mightiness of trees. This is the first verse from that poem:

TREES

As translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic text

by the late Edmund Bordeaux Szekely

Go towards the high growing Trees,

And before one of them

Which is beautiful, high and growing mighty,

Say thou these words:

Hail be unto thee!

O good living Tree,

Made by the Creator.

Trees occupy a special place in folklore; if you have ever said 'touch wood', then you have invoked the Tree Spirits of the Druids and Celts, who also happened to believe that a person's nature was governed by the nature of the tree which corresponded to their date of birth. My tree for instance is the Hazel (05/08 - 01/09) and the nature of the tree and hence my own nature is described thus: 'Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) - charming, undemanding, very understanding, knows how to make an impression, active fighter for social cause, popular, moody and capricious lover, honest and tolerant partner, precise sense of judgment'. These are not my words, they are the words according to the h2g2 project; the guide to Life, the Universe and Everything. A word of warning. In trawling the Internet for information about trees and dates of birth, I found quite a lot of conflicting views about which tree corresponds to your date of birth. On some, my tree was listed as the Pine, in other's the Hazel. Some of the attributes given to both of these trees I recognised in myself; others I did not recognise at all. So be careful if you decide to take a look for yourself. Trees are also associated with healing and they can and do influence our own and our communities well-being. To quote from The Healing Power of Trees by Sarah Anne Edwards, 'People are more satisfied with their neighbourhoods if there are more trees on or near their property. They describe their quality of life as safer, more pleasant and more satisfying than people living in homes without trees nearby'. The psychoanalytic physchologist, Michael Perlman takes things further in his book The Power of trees: The reforesting of the Soul, suggesting, in response to a newspaper article about Hurricane Andrew, that trees can matter more to us and mean more to us than we realise' and he goes on to say that, 'Trees are important in many ways. Their ecological and aesthetic importance is often recognised but this book explores something less tangible - their psychological power'. So, the next time you are out there running the tracks and trails just be aware that you have an audience, an audience of trees... and say hello.

*Given that this woodland is a 'managed' woodland, I guess that a chain saw could bring a violent end to their existence at any time but lets hope the land owner is an enlightened being and knows a bit about the life of trees.