The Elder~ The Circular Path ~Final Chapter.

Today is the final Chapter of the Elder Story.. “We are all upon the same Tree each holding onto our our particular pathway. Like leaves we may feel separate swaying in the breeze, yet each one is part of the cycle and each one is helping nourish the whole.”  May we realise that we ALL of us are on a Circular Path, that we keep perpetuating as we go around and around repeating the same mistakes within our controlling world of greed… These particular times are perhaps here to shake us into finding our inner strengths and weaknesses.. No matter what our beliefs… We are hear to discover who we are. No one can do that for you.. And no one is right and no one is wrong, because each are here at this time in our Earth’s History to help each other wake up.. The present day challenges are here for a reason, even though we may not realise it.. You have to put in your own inner work of honouring and learning to love and respect ourselves in finding your own inner Light and Truth .. When we learn to do that… Only then will we see it reflected back in the outer world… Change comes from within… As we see ourselves as One with Mother Earth, A sovereign Being,.. To Do no harm to others… That includes checking in on our thoughts too.. Much Love to you all… 💛

Digitally shaded

 Today chores were completed, family drew close and the world continued to spin in its ever seemingly frustrating circles of divisions.  It was time to return to the Peace of her Elder Tree.

Today the Signs had all been about the number 4 as it jumped out at her at every chance it could. She thought upon how often we used this number. The four points of the compass, Four Elements. Four Cornerstones and more.

The four corners of the world were often spoken of, yet Mother Earth was round, a perfect circle as was the Moon and Sun to our eyes.

The woman smiled at how Mankind built his home in squares and angles, ridged blocks and sharp corners. And an image of the pyramids came to mind.  She thought about his personality traits, not easily bending in the wind or flowing in the stream of life. He always appeared to be fighting it, wanting to shape nature to his design rather than living in co-operations with it.

Nature rarely followed a straight line for long. The Ivy she now painted wound its way around the bird’s nest. Birds knew the strength of the circle. The woman leaned back stretching as she turned over the record which had stopped playing on the turntable.  Another circle as each thought went around and around in her head.

The Elder was taking shape now as she mixed some blues and reds in her dish for the berries. The Elder was silent again as she absorbed herself in her task of adding the Elderberries in their bunches to where she felt they needed to be. As her paintbrushes worked she followed her heart,  her vision saw another world unfolding inside her mind as she settled deeper within the Elder’s Magic.

The Heart of the Elder.

Her mind flew back to her childhood to the happy times of her memory when she climbed trees and jumped brooks with her younger brother. Carefree days of long Summer Sun helping farmers harvest hay. She thought how she had gathered the Elderberries for her Aunt who would use their flowers in Spring to make sparkling wine, and make syrup and jams and delicious cordials from the Autumn berries. She loved being outdoors, it took her away from the fear of arguments and the responsibilities of watching over her four younger siblings.

She thought fondly of her Dad and the special times of walking the Dales and collecting the green Hazelnut cobs in the early months of September. Eating half before they got home with the nutcrackers tucked in his pocket to save their teeth. He’d always a sharp penknife and would often cut the Hazel rods to make walking sticks. It was the one thing she had wanted when he had passed, for he had made a special one with a ram horn on the top for a handle he used for walking.  He had found the weathered skull upon one of his many lonely hill top walks much later in life.

• 

Around and around her thoughts went as each brush stroke filled in more leaves at the tip of the branches. Her mind thought of the overhanging branch of the large Beech tree in their childhood garden and how in winter storms her Dad had made them all sleep down stairs for fear of the big tree toppling over.

At the thought of the Beech tree she remembered the scars inflicted into its bark as her brother had calved his initials into its trunk. And how with a pellet gun he had aimed at it piercing it over and over in target practice.

Years later as an adult those same scars were still there to be seen. They were not as sharp to the eye, one had to lift their head higher to see them. But they were still visible to those who knew where to look.

But the scars had not prevented the Tree from growing. They were now part of the tree who had grown from the inside outwards.

The woman thought of all the layers which had gone into her own growth. She had no visible outward scars on her skin. Hers had been hidden within the circles of her own memories.

The Tribal  Universe is a circle of learning, everything is related, the woman had long since understood this knowledge.  Standing back from her painting, she saw how the snake had wound its way around the Elder and up into the branches. Each branch a different path. A road taken, each a journey of discovering who we are.

Branches of Life

We are each climbing our tree, stepping onto our various branches, hauling ourselves higher as we aim to reach the top. Some are sure footed, climbing easily, while others can slip back losing their footing falling on hard ground and they struggle to pick themselves back up to climb again.   Some do not even have the courage to climb the tree for fearing they will fall.. Fear holding many back from exploring and testing one’s self to higher goals.

We are all upon the same Tree each holding onto our our particular pathway. Like leaves we may feel separate swaying in the breeze, yet each one is part of the cycle and each one is helping nourish the whole. 

 Everything has a time, an evolutionary path through their cycles. Like the Tree it had to shut down, pull back and have its periods of rest as well as growth. Throughout History the woman saw how Mankind had also gone through such cycles. 

She thought upon the events in the world. How one thing affects another, each a piece within the whole. She put her brush down and stood up arching her aching back as she stepped back to see the whole of her painting.

Elder Tree Complete

When we stand back, we see the Earth is alive right from its centre, the womb with its red blood, hot liquid gushing through her arteries. Her veins of waterways merging into her vast oceans tides ebbing and flowing with the Moons Wax and Wane.  While the hairs upon her outer skin are the billions of trees which hold her foundations together. Supporting both Great and Small, from Elephants to Insects, Whales to birds..

A Natural democracy prevails, all things having the right to exist, all things being equal.  She thought back through her memories, her history. We all of us have our place in history, each of us shaping it, calving out our places within it. Even if we may not realise the scars we inflict or leave behind us.  She saw how the circle of life repeats, and she knew deep down that we were reaping the consequences of neglect and greed. What seeds we had sown had to be reaped. What goes around comes around she thought. 

The Elder had known no words were needed today, for all the work being done had to come from one’s own BE-ing. As one explored their own journey which took them deep into their roots, taking them both High and Low along the branches of memory. One had to go within themselves to expand and grow.

She sighed, as she finished what she had started, she also knew that no one, and nothing was ever lost as she gave thanks to the Elder, for all that it had given.  For she knew she was just one among many who were travelling back home.

 For All roads lead us home, and we were all part of the same Tree of Life.

The water-colour painting complete size is 10×07 inches 254 x 178mm on 100% cotton.

 © Sue Dreamwalker 2017.

The Elder~ Shedding of Skins~ Part3

To continue the Story, The Elder teachers us about Natural Law and the importance of growing from within. This post has been Scheduled. Part One can be found here of The Elder~ The Pathfinder And Part Two The Elder~ Regeneration and Renewal …. Enjoy!

Things with Wings

The woman had to leave the painting alone for a while, but the Elder was never far from her thoughts as she pondered upon what the Elder had spoken of regarding the Renewing and Regenerating.

She thought about her beloved forest walks and in particular the Standing Ones of the Oak Tribe who had always drawn her to their energy.

On her walks she would often reach out to touch their bark, their outer skin, gnarled and cracked, marvelling upon their ages.

The forest of Sherwood that she loved so well held one of the oldest and well known, The Major Oak  Whose Standing had seen so many changes during at least 1,000 years reign over his domain.  She thought of the changes still to come as she had signed petitions to try to prevent Fracking from under his roots.  She again sent a silent prayer out to her Earth Mother as she thought of all the destruction Mankind had caused upon and deep into her own Earth Crust skin.

The Major Oak is now supported with beams and wires its age is approximated to be over 800 to 1,000 years.. Can you see the Elephant within its trunk?

By the time the woman returned to pick up her brushes, the woman was eager to learn what the Elder had to teach her. Today she filled in more details to the bark, the tiny brush strokes making patterns she picked out the creepy crawlies, spiders, and grubs now forming. The woman thought deeply upon the thousands of insects that made their home in the bark and among the crevasses and branches of the Standing Ones.

Trees are home to Thousands of insects and wildlife

The Elder remained silent, allowing the woman to penetrate each crevasse with her brush stroke as deeper she sank into her own world of thought.  She painted the skin of the snake as it twisted up and out along the branch of the Elder, and thought of the many symbols mankind had used in which the snake had played a part.

The serpent representing both good and bad.  The secret to a snake’s success was its scales providing both impetus and resistance. It shed many skins to allow it to keep on growing. It glided over everything managing to climb trees, swim and bury itself beneath the earth.  She thought deeper to the various cultures which had created both Fascination and Fear.

 Quetzalcoatl the Feathered Serpent came to mind.

 Scholars had twisted the snake symbol for use of many of their own interpretations. The snake reminding her of the Kundalini, providing the Spark of Life, a great healer in many symbols.  As she thought of her own snake-like-spine, and that of the Standing Ones trunk. Connecting both Heaven and Earth.  As she thought of the times she had meditated her spine pressed against their trunk as she asked for The Standing Ones Healing.

• 

She thought of healing and remembered the medical profession who also had it within their healing symbol The Caduceus entwined around a staff with wings. And the Rod of Asclepius  And wondered upon how these symbols had been created.  She assumed the snake meant both Life and Death which was what the medical professions dealt with at all times.

So many interpretations Mankind had given to the snake, both positive and negative which she had read about, ‘Which were correct?’  she thought.

The Elder picking up on her question answered. “ All of them,” said the Elder, “The snake is neither Good or bad, it is the cycle of Life itself. The Ouroboros  The snake shows you by leaving your skin behind life begins anew. Your Human skin is but a shell and so too will be left behind.

In your world, there can be no birth without death. It is a perpetual cycle.  You will see this again and again in nature. But your Human Tribe do not follow the natural law of the predator-prey cycle. Your Human Tribe has killed all the animals it deems as bad.  Such as the Wolf , Bear and Fox.

Then you cry when your forests get overrun with Deer and Elk and Rabbits. Who then strip the forests and grasslands bare and they then suffer and starve as the balance is upset. You Humans then take it upon yourselves to cull and thin out the over population of species. Causing more suffering”.

She thought of the disease  Myxomatosis introduced to Rabbits  And the many Rabbits she had seen affected as a child in the country. She also thought of the Elephant tribe and wondered at the suffering of their tribe at the hands of mans ignorance and greed. It was no coincidence that the image of the Elephant had crept into her painting embedded within its roots. Or the horrendous culling of young seal cubs that were clubbed to death. This too was woven within the roots of her painting.

“Yet” continued the Elder, “If you had let well alone Nature would keep the balance by its own natural cycles..  Each living thing that is placed upon your Earth Mother has purpose. And is subject to natural law. Including you Humans. But you have long forgotten the natural laws of Cause and Effect. You think you are superior to them. But the Universe as a whole is governed by them, there is no escape.”

This has been digitally enhances to these shades.

As the woman continued to paint, eyes appeared in her imagination which had transferred to the bark which peered deeper into her soul. She thought upon the many times she had sort out the Standing Ones healing. And to the shedding of her many tears pressed up against their trunks. How many sobs had they listened to? never judging, always steadfast, silent but for their whispers on the wind as they imparted their calm reverence.  

They replaced her own sapping energy with their own as she often felt their pulse beat up through her spine. They had become bound by their roots as she imagined her energy tap-root from her spine going down around theirs into Mother Earths Heart as she meditated.

She knew the Standing Ones were the wisdom keepers, each year witnessing the changes, information contained within their own growth cycles of both good and bad years. Each inner ring a record, yet its outer skin/bark remained the same. Showing us how we have so many layers and yet can hold a constant mask to our outer Being.

We all grow from our inner centre outward from our hearts. And how important it was to go within and find those years which had affected our growth.

The woman stood back from her painting. She thanked again the Elder for the wisdom, knowing that as a world right now, we were but shedding another skin. Mankind was in yet another cycle of Learning, growing in inner wisdom as he woke up to himself.

To be continued.. 

© Sue Dreamwalker 2017.

The Elder~ Renewal and Regeneration Part 2

 Part One can be found Here

Today’s Story is all about Renewal and Regeneration. As the Elder reminds us of sacrifice and our constant connections with trees ( ” “You would not have had Paper upon which to write, books to read by which you educate yourselves.” continued the Elder. “Let us not forget what else the Tree Tribes have given you humans” ) Enjoy Part Two.

Wisdom comes in all shapes

The woman stood up from her half-finished painting  and saw woven between the roots more shapes of animals. She would explore these in more detail when she painted them in later. But for now, she concentrated upon the trunk of the Elder, and the huge hollow, a Void within its belly.

 Her pencil had spiraled out around and around when she was drawing it and she was reminded of the first spirals and the Nautilus shell. She thought of the Golden Ratio  as her mind then flew  to Leonardo Da Vinci.  Argh, how easily our thoughts flit from one thing to another she thought as she picked up her brush and started to allow it free rein as she decided to fill in the hollow.

Heartbeat

Her thoughts flew the Tree and how like a giant Mother its limbs were outstretched in all directions as if embracing all the elements. It reached up to the sky, and all four corners of the compass, as well and reaching down. And she thought of the wonderful Oaks she visited along her walks.. ‘How mighty Oaks grow from little acorns’ crossed her mind. ‘Yes, she thought, great things often come from small beginnings’. 

Her thoughts took her to the acorn and the seeds. ‘Which came first? as she thought of the chicken and the egg’.. The hollow looked egg-shaped, as her pencil kept working.  She brought herself back to what she was creating and the shape of a Human fetus almost fully formed had been created within the womb of the Elder.

“It is Good to begin today with the creating of New Life” said the Elder. “For today we speak of Renewal and Regeneration. This time period you are now in like any other time period upon your planet has always been about Change.

The Standing Ones know all about Renewal. Have not their roots stood fast while all around them Change is constant?”

The woman thought on the wonderful Oaks she loved so much which were hundreds of years old and thought on what changes these Standing Ones had witnessed.

• 

The Elder picking up the tread of the woman’s thoughts  continued. “Throughout your centuries, we the Tree Tribes are Life Givers. Yet you humans have taken and not thought of giving back. Do we not give you the very Air You Breathe? Have we not supplied you with your Timber to build your homes, for shelter and for warmth?

Were not your Empires conquered and continents discovered by the giving of our lives, as you cut Thousands of our Oak Tribe to build ships and to build your cities? Without our giving, you would not have had your carts and tools or great sailing vessels to fish and travel to prosper and trade”.

The woman looked down at the paintbrush, its handle made of wood now in her hand as she mixed the watercolour to paint in the fetus which was developing at a faster rate than she had realised as her mind came back to her painting.

“You would not have had Paper upon which to write, books to read by which you educate yourselves.” continued the Elder. “Let us not forget what else the Tree Tribes have given you humans”

Art-books

The voice of the Elder faded as the Woman looked about her small room she used for painting. She looked at the many books upon the shelves, the wall paper upon the walls, the printer loaded with paper and her oak desk full of her art papers, card and tissue.  She paused, and looked to what she was creating as she painted the fetus, she was one with the Elder.

Tick-tock of life

The woman was cast in that moment back throughout time, she saw the first carts, the galleon ships and the weaving looms. She saw the carpenters and their craftsmanship her attention was caught as  she looked at the old grandfather clock that had long-lost its tick  which stood in the corner of her study. ALL gifts of Giving from the Standing Ones and the Tree Tribes.

The sound of the Elder’s teachings came back into her mind as the Elder continued. “We have also given you Medicines, and Nutrition, Rubber from our bark, Cork for your wine bottles, Berries, Nuts. We are the Givers of Life!

Our Tree Tribes know all about Renewal and Regeneration For hundreds and Millions of your years we have thrived unhindered.  We not only have provided humans with shelter, but we provide millions of other species with food and shelter from those who creep, crawl, climb, slither and fly.

We teach about the importance of renewal as we shed our leaves, drop our seeds, and spread our pollen. We teach about Stillness, and Contentment, and letting go of attachments. We also teach how to be steadfast and ground yourself as our roots hold firm within our Earth Mothers soil. We bind her together for when we are removed her foundations are washed away by the rain.

You Humans are now washing away the very foundations beneath your feet and yet you do not see how each time you hurt another or scar our Mother, you are also wounding yourselves”

The woman dipped her brush into the crimson paint as the Elder stopped speaking. She looked down seeing the Fetus now finished, she added the paint to the opening blossom of a flower that had appeared from the Ivy bound around the trunk of the tree. She was puzzled. The flower did not belong she thought to the ivy. Her mind then thought of the Lotus Blossom.. How strange to paint a flower here within the womb. Yet as her mind explored more she thought why not. For did not the Lotus represent Rebirth also

Life Givers~  Partial Painting Magnified

Her mind thought of the placenta and the blood that flowed from Mother to unborn child. She thought of the birthing of her own children and the spirit from which we all came.

The Elder picked up again on her thoughts. “ Yes, each tree also has a spirit, a Dryad of Energy which radiates outwards. We have our Seasons too. Times of darkness and rest through the winter storms, but we never stop growing as we grow from the centre of our Being adding rings to our Earth years.”

The Woman looked down at her own ring upon her hand and skin, like the bark of the trees as they grew older they were looking worn and showing signs of ageing.  Yet she also knew her skin regenerated every day.. She looked now at what she had started to paint the scales of several snakes around the tree trunk. She thought of the dead and dying cells of her skin, and all the dead and dying trees upon the earth.. Each connecting like a huge skin around Mother Gaia .

The time for renewal was also a time for shedding and letting go. She saw how Mother Earth was also speaking to us and yet we were not listening. Renewal and Regenerating meant all things changed.. They had changed in the past, thousands of years before and the planet was changing now and the Humans were also changing with her. For we were One.

The woman put down her paintbrush as she studied the snakes she had created upon the Elder Tree. She thought of the prophecies of the Black snake across our Mothers land. And she saw again the Standing Ones strength had held stronger when linking together holding the fabric of the Earth together with their roots. Were we going to have to go back to our roots she thought? Like the Tree Tribes she saw much suffering through great changes.

 It was now  time for many skins to join together as One!.  

 © Sue Dreamwalker 2017

To be continued.

The Elder~ The Pathfinder~ Part 1.

Dear Friends, over the next couple of weeks, I will be busy with some art work, along with planting season on our veggie plot. I will be busy.. Those wishing to see such progress both on the plot and what my creativity has been doing, you are most welcome to visit my Garden blog. Where I have shared some of my craft work today.. https://dreamwalkergarden.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/nature-and-crafting/ I am enjoying for the first time, glass painting, so I thought to fill in my absence on my blog with resurrecting a series of my thoughts with the Elder~This first part is THE PATHFINDER… I posted way back in 2017. The time now has come for us to delve deeper still within to release and surrender to our higher selves and allow our hearts to guide us in all of our choices… We are all here, right now, standing on our various branches within the Tree of life learning and growing as we work our way back to the Light… I send you All, so much love… I will leave comments open. But please do not think I am ignoring you if it takes a while to respond…. I always follow the flow of my feelings and While some of you will have read this post before.. Many I know will not have… So thank you for your continued support and patience…. But our energies all need to focus upon clearing away our shadows, as we open our hearts in Unity and Love, as we enter some exciting changes in our inner world and we witness many revelations occurring in our outer world…. Much LOVE TO ALL 💛🙏💚

The story below is one which filled my thoughts as I painted the Elder Tree.. I will reveal the whole painting at the end of the series of these short stories. Parts of these paintings I revealed on this post. My thoughts may take up several posts.. I know how many do not like reading Long posts, but I know those who are meant to read, will read.. Thank you  ALL in advance. 

Mole section/ Water Colour on 100% cotton 10 x 7 inches full painting

The Woman could no longer breathe in all the intoxicating poisons the world threw out. She became overwhelmed with the fumes of other people’s thoughts.  Her senses overloaded by the barrage of vibrations that poured forth in her daily world which over spilled into her dream-state.  Even the radio had hourly interruptions sending her mind into the dark corners she did not wish to visit, as yet more darkness crept into her sanctuary. 

Walking was her usual relief, but the winter chill set her mind on another escape.

She slid the vinyl record from its sleeve and lifted the arm of the player into position as she gently lowered the needle into the groove… The familiar strains immediately soothed her aching mind. She let out a long low sigh.

She breathed in deep and deeper still. She closed her eyes for a moment as if in a ritual then she reached for the paint brush which she dipped into the clean water. The drawing which had emerged the night before as the clock she had glanced at had the unearthly hour of 03:33. Numbers which she was well used to seeing in triplicate. Their symbols yet another reminder that she was being guided and had some wise masters to help guide her along her pathway.

The night before she had drawn a tree. This was no ordinary tree, It was an Elder. And she had been drawn into its womb. She sat now with paint loaded upon her brush and as the paint spread into the paper, so too did her mind sink deeper and deeper.

She found herself sinking into her design, right into the Earth Mother where all seeds are sown and all knowledge is born.  And so, her painting took root.

It was as if the Elder came to life, the Elder’s aged wisdom speaking to her heart. She was told once again of the ‘Standing Ones’ the ancient Tree Tribes whose huge forests had covered the land.

The Ancient Elder took her down within the roots showing her how deep they twisted and reached out mirroring her canopy, as above, so below the Elder began.

Before long the woman saw the many worms wriggling as she painted the twisting roots, roots that twisted and held the fabric of the Earth Mother together. Some strong, some weak, but all part of the whole. Her brush began to paint something not in her drawing, but its shape was clear.. It was a Mole..

“Good”, said the Elder, “you see the Mole and the worms, and you see even though they need no light, how precious are these to our Mother, for they enrich the soil. Without the Worms the soil would be lifeless, but sand”. The Elder continued telling the woman what she already knew, but the woman listened intently as the Mole took shape.

She watched as in her mind she saw the many worms taking the Elders and all the Standing Ones fallen leaves pulling them underground.

 The Elder explaining that nothing was ever lost, “As we shed our load, it prevents us from toppling over and breaking under the weight of storms. We Stand in unity together in every storm, learning to bend and bow our branches. Knowing that the elements can take down the most rigid and strongest among us. It’s the strength of our roots which keep us anchored and grounded” said the Elder

“ We shield one another, as we stand together in times of great storms. We know some of us may fall, but in our centre grows the strongest matriarch our Mother-Hub tree, she protects our young seedlings. So our tribe goes on, growing outward from its centre from its heart.”

The woman took in all that was said as she continued to paint and mix the colours upon her pallet. And as the Elder grew in statue upon her paper and took deeper form, so too did she see the many miracles which this wonderful old tree Elder had witnessed throughout time.

 The stories held her imagination as the Elder began once again to tell the story of Mole.. A story she had once read but barely remembered its detail. Yet now as she painted in detail the story rose before her in her mind.

“Now I will tell you about a time in the Very Beginning,” said the Elder. “ When your tribe lived in  a world of darkness, beneath the Earth. Your tribe knew of no other world and so knew nothing but darkness. Until one of you asked if there was more to the world in which you lived. Mole was revered for his skills in tunneling and so a man asked Mole if there were something other than the world they lived.”   The woman continued cleaning her brush in the water, choosing another colour as the Elders trunk grew up from the roots as other images formed in her mind that had now embedded themselves within the trunk.  

“ Your tribe had never seen the light of day, but they knew Mole went close to the surface for it was Mole who allowed the air they all breathed into their underground world.. Air that we Standing Ones breathe out and create, so that you Humans can breathe it in”.. The woman listened intently to what was to come next.

“ Mole told the people beneath the Earth to follow him, asking them to form a line right behind him. And as he dug his tunnel, he passed back the earth and rocks to the Human, who in turn passed it back and so on. Thus they all moved through the tunnel putting the debris behind them.  At last the Mole led them to the surface, each emerged, blinking and squinting to the brightness of the sunlight. Some of your tribe didn’t like the brightness and wanted to return to the depth of the earth.. But because Mole had instructed all to pass back the soil the tunnel had been filled in and there was no return.” The Elder paused as the woman cleaned her brushes with a tissue..

“ Mole was to become known as ‘The Pathfinder’ his gift to man was the Sunlight and Wind which the Human tribe had not experienced before. Mole is one of the caretakers of our Earth Mother, he does not judge another by what he looks like, for he is blind to Bias. Instead Mole relies upon his own gifts and senses, through touch, smell, and feeling the vibrations and changes around him.  He knows before any other creature the rumblings and stirrings within our Earth Mothers breast. He knows when an earthquake is coming and he feels the eruptions and so knows of our Earth Mothers pain”

The Elder stopped speaking,  She smiled  at another triple number appeared 11:11am. The music on the player had long ago stopped.  She looked down at the Elder upon her paper. Mentally thanking the Standing Ones for the gifts, they gave.

The woman stood, and stretched her limbs satisfied with her work and saw how there as if by magic other animals had been woven into the roots. But those stories were for another session when the paints would bring their stories to life.

©Sue Dreamwalker 2017.

The Elder~ The Circular Path ~Final Chapter.

Digitally shaded

 Today chores were completed, family drew close and the world continued to spin in its ever seemingly frustrating circles of divisions.  It was time to return to the Peace of her Elder Tree.

Today the Signs had all been about the number 4 as it jumped out at her at every chance it could. She thought upon how often we used this number. The four points of the compass, Four Elements. Four Cornerstones and more.

The four corners of the world were often spoken of, yet Mother Earth was round, a perfect circle as was the Moon and Sun to our eyes.

The woman smiled at how Mankind built his home in squares and angles, ridged blocks and sharp corners. And an image of the pyramids came to mind.  She thought about his personality traits, not easily bending in the wind or flowing in the stream of life. He always appeared to be fighting it, wanting to shape nature to his design rather than living in co-operations with it.

Nature rarely followed a straight line for long. The Ivy she now painted wound its way around the bird’s nest. Birds knew the strength of the circle. The woman leaned back stretching as she turned over the record which had stopped playing on the turntable.  Another circle as each thought went around and around in her head.

The Elder was taking shape now as she mixed some blues and reds in her dish for the berries. The Elder was silent again as she absorbed herself in her task of adding the Elderberries in their bunches to where she felt they needed to be. As her paintbrushes worked she followed her heart,  her vision saw another world unfolding inside her mind as she settled deeper within the Elder’s Magic.

The Heart of the Elder.

Her mind flew back to her childhood to the happy times of her memory when she climbed trees and jumped brooks with her younger brother. Carefree days of long Summer Sun helping farmers harvest hay. She thought how she had gathered the Elderberries for her Aunt who would use their flowers in Spring to make sparkling wine, and make syrup and jams and delicious cordials from the Autumn berries. She loved being outdoors, it took her away from the fear of arguments and the responsibilities of watching over her four younger siblings.

She thought fondly of her Dad and the special times of walking the Dales and collecting the green Hazelnut cobs in the early months of September. Eating half before they got home with the nutcrackers tucked in his pocket to save their teeth. He’d always a sharp penknife and would often cut the Hazel rods to make walking sticks. It was the one thing she had wanted when he had passed, for he had made a special one with a ram horn on the top for a handle he used for walking.  He had found the weathered skull upon one of his many lonely hill top walks much later in life.

Walking stick with Rams horn handle. My Father Made.

Around and around her thoughts went as each brush stroke filled in more leaves at the tip of the branches. Her mind thought of the overhanging branch of the large Beech tree in their childhood garden and how in winter storms her Dad had made them all sleep down stairs for fear of the big tree toppling over.

At the thought of the Beech tree she remembered the scars inflicted into its bark as her brother had calved his initials into its trunk. And how with a pellet gun he had aimed at it piercing it over and over in target practice.

Years later as an adult those same scars were still there to be seen. They were not as sharp to the eye, one had to lift their head higher to see them. But they were still visible to those who knew where to look.

But the scars had not prevented the Tree from growing. They were now part of the tree who had grown from the inside outwards.

The woman thought of all the layers which had gone into her own growth. She had no visible outward scars on her skin. Hers had been hidden within the circles of her own memories.

The Tribal  Universe is a circle of learning, everything is related, the woman had long since understood this knowledge.  Standing back from her painting, she saw how the snake had wound its way around the Elder and up into the branches. Each branch a different path. A road taken, each a journey of discovering who we are.

Branches of Life

 

We are each climbing our tree, stepping onto our various branches, hauling ourselves higher as we aim to reach the top. Some are sure footed, climbing easily, while others can slip back losing their footing falling on hard ground and they struggle to pick themselves back up to climb again.   Some do not even have the courage to climb the tree for fearing they will fall.. Fear holding many back from exploring and testing one’s self to higher goals.

We are all upon the same Tree each holding onto our our particular pathway. Like leaves we may feel separate swaying in the breeze, yet each one is part of the cycle and each one is helping nourish the whole. 

 Everything has a time, an evolutionary path through their cycles. Like the Tree it had to shut down, pull back and have its periods of rest as well as growth. Throughout History the woman saw how Mankind had also gone through such cycles. 

She thought upon the events in the world. How one thing affects another, each a piece within the whole. She put her brush down and stood up arching her aching back as she stepped back to see the whole of her painting.

Elder Tree Complete

When we stand back, we see the Earth is alive right from its centre, the womb with its red blood, hot liquid gushing through her arteries. Her veins of waterways merging into her vast oceans tides ebbing and flowing with the Moons Wax and Wane.  While the hairs upon her outer skin are the billions of trees which hold her foundations together. Supporting both Great and Small, from Elephants to Insects, Whales to birds..

A Natural democracy prevails, all things having the right to exist, all things being equal.  She thought back through her memories, her history. We all of us have our place in history, each of us shaping it, calving out our places within it. Even if we may not realise the scars we inflict or leave behind us.  She saw how the circle of life repeats, and she knew deep down that we were reaping the consequences of neglect and greed. What seeds we had sown had to be reaped. What goes around comes around she thought. 

The Elder had known no words were needed today, for all the work being done had to come from one’s own BE-ing. As one explored their own journey which took them deep into their roots, taking them both High and Low along the branches of memory. One had to go within themselves to expand and grow.

She sighed, as she finished what she had started, she also knew that no one, and nothing was ever lost as she gave thanks to the Elder, for all that it had given.  For she knew she was just one among many who were travelling back home.

 For All roads lead us home, and we were all part of the same Tree of Life.

The water-colour painting complete size is 10×07 inches 254 x 178mm on 100% cotton.

 © Sue Dreamwalker 2017.

The Elder~ Shedding of Skins~ Part3

Things with Wings

The woman had to leave the painting alone for a while, but the Elder was never far from her thoughts as she pondered upon what the Elder had spoken of regarding the Renewing and Regenerating.

She thought about her beloved forest walks and in particular the Standing Ones of the Oak Tribe who had always drawn her to their energy.

On her walks she would often reach out to touch their bark, their outer skin, gnarled and cracked, marveling upon their ages.

The forest of Sherwood that she loved so well held one of the oldest and well known, The Major Oak  Whose Standing had seen so many changes during at least 1,000 years reign over his domain.  She thought of the changes still to come as she had signed petitions to try to prevent Fracking from under his roots.  She again sent a silent prayer out to her Earth Mother as she thought of all the destruction Mankind had caused upon and deep into her own Earth Crust skin.

The Major Oak is now supported with beams and wires its age is approximated to be over 800 to 1,000 years.. Can you see the Elephant within its trunk?

By the time the woman returned to pick up her brushes, the woman was eager to learn what the Elder had to teach her. Today she filled in more details to the bark, the tiny brush strokes making patterns she picked out the creepy crawlies, spiders, and grubs now forming. The woman thought deeply upon the thousands of insects that made their home in the bark and among the crevasses and branches of the Standing Ones.

Trees are home to Thousands of insects and wildlife

The Elder remained silent, allowing the woman to penetrate each crevasse with her brush stroke as deeper she sank into her own world of thought.  She painted the skin of the snake as it twisted up and out along the branch of the Elder, and thought of the many symbols mankind had used in which the snake had played a part.

The serpent representing both good and bad.  The secret to a snake’s success was its scales providing both impetus and resistance. It shed many skins to allow it to keep on growing. It glided over everything managing to climb trees, swim and bury itself beneath the earth.  She thought deeper to the various cultures which had created both Fascination and Fear.

 Quetzalcoatl the Feathered Serpent came to mind.

 Scholars had twisted the snake symbol for use of many of their own interpretations. The snake reminding her of the Kundalini, providing the Spark of Life, a great healer in many symbols.  As she thought of her own snake-like-spine, and that of the Standing Ones trunk. Connecting both Heaven and Earth.  As she thought of the times she had meditated her spine pressed against their trunk as she asked for The Standing Ones Healing.

Engraving on the outer wall of Chatsworth House

She thought of healing and remembered the medical profession who also had it within their healing symbol The Caduceus entwined around a staff with wings. And the Rod of Asclepius  And wondered upon how these symbols had been created.  She assumed the snake meant both Life and Death which was what the medical professions dealt with at all times.

So many interpretations Mankind had given to the snake, both positive and negative which she had read about, ‘Which were correct?’  she thought.

The Elder picking up on her question answered. “ All of them,” said the Elder, “The snake is neither Good or bad, it is the cycle of Life itself. The Ouroboros  The snake shows you by leaving your skin behind life begins anew. Your Human skin is but a shell and so too will be left behind.

In your world, there can be no birth without death. It is a perpetual cycle.  You will see this again and again in nature. But your Human Tribe do not follow the natural law of the predator-prey cycle. Your Human Tribe has killed all the animals it deems as bad.  Such as the Wolf , Bear and Fox.

Then you cry when your forests get overrun with Deer and Elk and Rabbits. Who then strip the forests and grasslands bare and they then suffer and starve as the balance is upset. You Humans then take it upon yourselves to cull and thin out the over population of species. Causing more suffering”.

She thought of the disease  Myxomatosis introduced to Rabbits  And the many Rabbits she had seen affected as a child in the country. She also thought of the Elephant tribe and wondered at the suffering of their tribe at the hands of mans ignorance and greed. It was no coincidence that the image of the Elephant had crept into her painting embedded within its roots.Or the horrendous culling of young seal cubs that were clubbed to death. This too was woven within the roots of her painting.

“Yet” continued the Elder, “If you had let well alone Nature would keep the balance by its own natural cycles..  Each living thing that is placed upon your Earth Mother has purpose. And is subject to natural law. Including you Humans. But you have long forgotten the natural laws of Cause and Effect. You think you are superior to them. But the Universe as a whole is governed by them, there is no escape.”

This has been digitally enhances to these shades.

As the woman continued to paint, eyes appeared in her imagination which had transferred to the bark which peered deeper into her soul. She thought upon the many times she had sort out the Standing Ones healing. And to the shedding of her many tears pressed up against their trunks. How many sobs had they listened to? never judging, always steadfast, silent but for their whispers on the wind as they imparted their calm reverence.  

They replaced her own sapping energy with their own as she often felt their pulse beat up through her spine. They had become bound by their roots as she imagined her energy tap-root from her spine going down around theirs into Mother Earths Heart as she meditated.

She knew the Standing Ones were the wisdom keepers, each year witnessing the changes, information contained within their own growth cycles of both good and bad years. Each inner ring a record, yet its outer skin/bark remained the same. Showing us how we have so many layers and yet can hold a constant mask to our outer Being.

We all grow from our inner centre outward from our hearts. And how important it was to go within and find those years which had affected our growth.

The woman stood back from her painting. She thanked again the Elder for the wisdom, knowing that as a world right now, we were but shedding another skin. Mankind was in yet another cycle of Learning, growing in inner wisdom as he woke up to himself.

To be continued.. 

© Sue Dreamwalker 2017.

The Elder~ Renewal and Regeneration Part 2

 Part One can be found Here

Wisdom comes in all shapes

The woman stood up from her half-finished painting  and saw woven between the roots more shapes of animals. She would explore these in more detail when she painted them in later. But for now, she concentrated upon the trunk of the Elder, and the huge hollow, a Void within its belly.

 Her pencil had spiraled out around and around when she was drawing it and she was reminded of the first spirals and the Nautilus shell. She thought of the Golden Ratio  as her mind then flew  to Leonardo Da Vinci.  Argh, how easily our thoughts flit from one thing to another she thought as she picked up her brush and started to allow it free rein as she decided to fill in the hollow.

Heartbeat

 

Her thoughts flew the Tree and how like a giant Mother its limbs were outstretched in all directions as if embracing all the elements. It reached up to the sky, and all four corners of the compass, as well and reaching down. And she thought of the wonderful Oaks she visited along her walks.. ‘How mighty Oaks grow from little acorns’ crossed her mind. ‘Yes, she thought, great things often come from small beginnings’. 

Her thoughts took her to the acorn and the seeds. ‘Which came first? as she thought of the chicken and the egg’.. The hollow looked egg-shaped, as her pencil kept working.  She brought herself back to what she was creating and the shape of a Human fetus almost fully formed had been created within the womb of the Elder.

“It is Good to begin today with the creating of New Life” said the Elder. “For today we speak of Renewal and Regeneration. This time period you are now in like any other time period upon your planet has always been about Change.

The Standing Ones know all about Renewal. Have not their roots stood fast while all around them Change is constant?”

The woman thought on the wonderful Oaks she loved so much which were hundreds of years old and thought on what changes these Standing Ones had witnessed.

Hollow Oak

The Elder picking up the tread of the woman’s thoughts  continued. “Throughout your centuries, we the Tree Tribes are Life Givers. Yet you humans have taken and not thought of giving back. Do we not give you the very Air You Breathe? Have we not supplied you with your Timber to build your homes, for shelter and for warmth?

Were not your Empires conquered and continents discovered by the giving of our lives, as you cut Thousands of our Oak Tribe to build ships and to build your cities? Without our giving, you would not have had your carts and tools or great sailing vessels to fish and travel to prosper and trade”.

The woman looked down at the paintbrush, its handle made of wood now in her hand as she mixed the watercolour to paint in the fetus which was developing at a faster rate than she had realised as her mind came back to her painting.

“You would not have had Paper upon which to write, books to read by which you educate yourselves.” continued the Elder. “Let us not forget what else the Tree Tribes have given you humans”

Art-books

The voice of the Elder faded as the Woman looked about her small room she used for painting. She looked at the many books upon the shelves, the wall paper upon the walls, the printer loaded with paper and her oak desk full of her art papers, card and tissue.  She paused, and looked to what she was creating as she painted the fetus, she was one with the Elder.

Tick-tock of life

The woman was cast in that moment back throughout time, she saw the first carts, the galleon ships and the weaving looms. She saw the carpenters and their craftsmanship her attention was caught as  she looked at the old grandfather clock that had long-lost its tick  which stood in the corner of her study. ALL gifts of Giving from the Standing Ones and the Tree Tribes.

The sound of the Elder’s teachings came back into her mind as the Elder continued. “We have also given you Medicines, and Nutrition, Rubber from our bark, Cork for your wine bottles, Berries, Nuts. We are the Givers of Life!

Our Tree Tribes know all about Renewal and Regeneration For hundreds and Millions of your years we have thrived unhindered.  We not only have provided humans with shelter, but we provide millions of other species with food and shelter from those who creep, crawl, climb, slither and fly.

We teach about the importance of renewal as we shed our leaves, drop our seeds, and spread our pollen. We teach about Stillness, and Contentment, and letting go of attachments. We also teach how to be steadfast and ground yourself as our roots hold firm within our Earth Mothers soil. We bind her together for when we are removed her foundations are washed away by the rain.

You Humans are now washing away the very foundations beneath your feet and yet you do not see how each time you hurt another or scar our Mother, you are also wounding yourselves”

The woman dipped her brush into the crimson paint as the Elder stopped speaking. She looked down seeing the Fetus now finished, she added the paint to the opening blossom of a flower that had appeared from the Ivy bound around the trunk of the tree. She was puzzled. The flower did not belong she thought to the ivy. Her mind then thought of the Lotus Blossom.. How strange to paint a flower here within the womb. Yet as her mind explored more she thought why not. For did not the Lotus represent Rebirth also

Life Givers~  Partial Painting Magnified

Her mind thought of the placenta and the blood that flowed from Mother to unborn child. She thought of the birthing of her own children and the spirit from which we all came.

The Elder picked up again on her thoughts. “ Yes, each tree also has a spirit, a Dryad of Energy which radiates outwards. We have our Seasons too. Times of darkness and rest through the winter storms, but we never stop growing as we grow from the centre of our Being adding rings to our Earth years.”

The Woman looked down at her own ring upon her hand and skin, like the bark of the trees as they grew older they were looking worn and showing signs of ageing.  Yet she also knew her skin regenerated every day.. She looked now at what she had started to paint the scales of several snakes around the tree trunk. She thought of the dead and dying cells of her skin, and all the dead and dying trees upon the earth.. Each connecting like a huge skin around Mother Gaia .

The time for renewal was also a time for shedding and letting go. She saw how Mother Earth was also speaking to us and yet we were not listening. Renewal and Regenerating meant all things changed.. They had changed in the past, thousands of years before and the planet was changing now and the Humans were also changing with her. For we were One.

The woman put down her paintbrush as she studied the snakes she had created upon the Elder Tree. She thought of the prophecies of the Black snake across our Mothers land. And she saw again the Standing Ones strength had held stronger when linking together holding the fabric of the Earth together with their roots. Were we going to have to go back to our roots she thought? Like the Tree Tribes she saw much suffering through great changes.

 It was now  time for many skins to join together as One!.  

 © Sue Dreamwalker 2017

To be continued.

The Elder~ The Pathfinder~ Part 1.

The story below is one which filled my thoughts as I painted the Elder Tree.. I will reveal the whole painting at the end of the series of these short stories. Parts of these paintings I revealed on this post. My thoughts may take up several posts.. I know how many do not like reading Long posts, but I know those who are meant to read, will read.. Thank you  ALL in advance. 

Mole section/ Water Colour on 100% cotton 10 x 7 inches full painting

 

The Woman could no longer breathe in all the intoxicating poisons the world threw out. She became overwhelmed with the fumes of other people’s thoughts.  Her senses overloaded by the barrage of vibrations that poured forth in her daily world which over spilled into her dream-state.  Even the radio had hourly interruptions sending her mind into the dark corners she did not wish to visit, as yet more darkness crept into her sanctuary. 

Walking was her usual relief, but the winter chill set her mind on another escape.

She slid the vinyl record from its sleeve and lifted the arm of the player into position as she gently lowered the needle into the groove… The familiar strains immediately soothed her aching mind. She let out a long low sigh.

She breathed in deep and deeper still. She closed her eyes for a moment as if in a ritual then she reached for the paint brush which she dipped into the clean water. The drawing which had emerged the night before as the clock she had glanced at had the unearthly hour of 03:33. Numbers which she was well used to seeing in triplicate. Their symbols yet another reminder that she was being guided and had some wise masters to help guide her along her pathway.

The night before she had drawn a tree. This was no ordinary tree, It was an Elder. And she had been drawn into its womb. She sat now with paint loaded upon her brush and as the paint spread into the paper, so too did her mind sink deeper and deeper.

She found herself sinking into her design, right into the Earth Mother where all seeds are sown and all knowledge is born.  And so, her painting took root.

It was as if the Elder came to life, the Elder’s aged wisdom speaking to her heart. She was told once again of the ‘Standing Ones’ the ancient Tree Tribes whose huge forests had covered the land.

The Ancient Elder took her down within the roots showing her how deep they twisted and reached out mirroring her canopy, as above, so below the Elder began.

Before long the woman saw the many worms wriggling as she painted the twisting roots, roots that twisted and held the fabric of the Earth Mother together. Some strong, some weak, but all part of the whole. Her brush began to paint something not in her drawing, but its shape was clear.. It was a Mole..

“Good”, said the Elder, “you see the Mole and the worms, and you see even though they need no light, how precious are these to our Mother, for they enrich the soil. Without the Worms the soil would be lifeless, but sand”. The Elder continued telling the woman what she already knew, but the woman listened intently as the Mole took shape.

She watched as in her mind she saw the many worms taking the Elders and all the Standing Ones fallen leaves pulling them underground.

 The Elder explaining that nothing was ever lost, “As we shed our load, it prevents us from toppling over and breaking under the weight of storms. We Stand in unity together in every storm, learning to bend and bow our branches. Knowing that the elements can take down the most rigid and strongest among us. It’s the strength of our roots which keep us anchored and grounded” said the Elder

“ We shield one another, as we stand together in times of great storms. We know some of us may fall, but in our centre grows the strongest matriarch our Mother-Hub tree, she protects our young seedlings. So our tribe goes on, growing outward from its centre from its heart.”

The woman took in all that was said as she continued to paint and mix the colours upon her pallet. And as the Elder grew in statue upon her paper and took deeper form, so too did she see the many miracles which this wonderful old tree Elder had witnessed throughout time.

 The stories held her imagination as the Elder began once again to tell the story of Mole.. A story she had once read but barely remembered its detail. Yet now as she painted in detail the story rose before her in her mind.

“Now I will tell you about a time in the Very Beginning,” said the Elder. “ When your tribe lived in  a world of darkness, beneath the Earth. Your tribe knew of no other world and so knew nothing but darkness. Until one of you asked if there was more to the world in which you lived. Mole was revered for his skills in tunneling and so a man asked Mole if there were something other than the world they lived.”   The woman continued cleaning her brush in the water, choosing another colour as the Elders trunk grew up from the roots as other images formed in her mind that had now embedded themselves within the trunk.  

“ Your tribe had never seen the light of day, but they knew Mole went close to the surface for it was Mole who allowed the air they all breathed into their underground world.. Air that we Standing Ones breathe out and create, so that you Humans can breathe it in”.. The woman listened intently to what was to come next.

“ Mole told the people beneath the Earth to follow him, asking them to form a line right behind him. And as he dug his tunnel, he passed back the earth and rocks to the Human, who in turn passed it back and so on. Thus they all moved through the tunnel putting the debris behind them.  At last the Mole led them to the surface, each emerged, blinking and squinting to the brightness of the sunlight. Some of your tribe didn’t like the brightness and wanted to return to the depth of the earth.. But because Mole had instructed all to pass back the soil the tunnel had been filled in and there was no return.” The Elder paused as the woman cleaned her brushes with a tissue..

“ Mole was to become known as ‘The Pathfinder’ his gift to man was the Sunlight and Wind which the Human tribe had not experienced before. Mole is one of the caretakers of our Earth Mother, he does not judge another by what he looks like, for he is blind to Bias. Instead Mole relies upon his own gifts and senses, through touch, smell, and feeling the vibrations and changes around him.  He knows before any other creature the rumblings and stirrings within our Earth Mothers breast. He knows when an earthquake is coming and he feels the eruptions and so knows of our Earth Mothers pain”

The Elder stopped speaking,  She smiled  at another triple number appeared 11:11am. The music on the player had long ago stopped.  She looked down at the Elder upon her paper. Mentally thanking the Standing Ones for the gifts, they gave.

The woman stood, and stretched her limbs satisfied with her work and saw how there as if by magic other animals had been woven into the roots. But those stories were for another session when the paints would bring their stories to life.

©Sue Dreamwalker 2017.