All trees are born ancient. They are ancient when they are yet still seeds. They are strong, silent sentinels that watch over the frantic pace of our short lives, watching the Earth change, grow, and evolve ever so slowly. And though they seem silent, they are not.
Grandmother Tree is always looking out for us, watching us, and learning about us – she has seen the first humans as they left the safety of the jungles, beginning to roam the plains, learned how to cultivate plants, and began paving over the world as if to erect a permanent barrier between ourselves and the Earth.
And, in her infinite wisdom, she knows that these concrete barriers, too, will disappear in time – crumbling into the dust the same way so many other things have done throughout the millennia. She still stands tall and proud, speaking to us when we listen.
There is a reason that children are drawn to trees – it is almost impossible to keep a child from climbing them. It is our instinct to want to be wrapped in our Grandmother’s loving embrace. We know that when we are quiet and still, when we allow peace to settle across our shoulders and lean into the protective bark of our Grandmother, she whispers to us secrets that live in the heart of our world. Even when we have lost the ability to hear her words, the stories take root in our hearts, sprouting in unpredictable and inexplicable ways.
Science has shown that sitting under a tree or against its trunk slows our heart rates, lowers our anxiety, and makes us feel safe and sound. Is it any wonder that so many religions speak of the World Tree? The Norse had Yggdrasil. South Asia has Kalpavriksha and Ashvattha. The Celts had great trees known as Bile that were the targets of wars. The Ancient Chinese had Kien-Mu or Jian-Mu. Hungary has világfa. Even Adam and Eve ate the fruit of one particular tree back in the Garden of Eden. And there are many, many more.
Across all of these mythologies it is told that the heavens rest in the branches of the tree, the underworld exists among her roots, and we live here in the center with her tall, unwavering trunk.
Grandmother Tree has seen the ages of the dinosaurs, the terror of the great ice ages, the modern time of man, and will still be around long after we are gone. What stories she has to tell. What secrets she could reveal.
Take some time with our Grandmother below, or see more images here: