An Honoring of Nature…Let it Shine!
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I drove down my driveway and noticed the piles of tree limbs in front of my neighbor’s house. The freshly cut limbs lay in irregular patterns on the asphalt. On closer inspection, the limb shape and bark were that of a fig tree.
The tree is central to all of mythology, often playing a role of transformation to enlightenment. For two days, I passed the branches and each time, I paused to take in their stark, melancholic beauty. The wood was fresh, so the tree had not died but was likely removed for some other reason.
Why would my neighbor cut down a healthy tree? My initial reaction of anger quickly deepened to sadness with knowing this happens often in our world today. How do I transform this senseless action into something more positive? How do I honor this beautiful fig tree? What would please Mother Earth? On the third day, a ceremony arrived in my heart.
I collected some branches and reshaped them by sawing lengthwise and drilling shallow holes to hold tea lights. The next step of sanding provided smooth edges and completed the cleaning and renewal. Small candles placed in the holes filled the dark night with light!
As I worked, I remembered the song I sang when I was seven years old with my Camp Fire Girls troop: “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”
The inner light of the fig tree would now continue to shine! To spread this light further, I gifted each of my Soul Sisters with one of the branches. This is a ceremony of re-purpose.
Walk outside and collect leaves, branches, moss and seed pods; create a collage or simply fill bowls in you home with these treasures. This giving of new life to the natural world reminds us of the gratitude found in re-remembering the sacred place we call Earth. As we move into the winter months, awaiting the Spring Equinox…reshape, renew, re-purpose and return to Mother Earth.
Wendell Berry
“Unexpected wonders happen, not on schedule or when you expect or want them to happen, but if you keep hanging around, they do happen.”
