‘I stand at its base, and reach up to touch the grooves of its rough, greyish bark. From my heart, I send this tree my love and gratitude, for it is this tree that proudly stands to guard my land.’
I am a lover of my forest. I feel connected to every tree, bush, rock and the rich forest soil of my Mother Earth. I am kin to my land, I am joined as a living being in this forest, by this lake on this, my planet.
I have been blessed to be part of this small piece of land for so many decades now, and I’ve had a lifetime of beautiful, fruitful memories here. Each time I come to this place, to this lake paradise, I feel the weight of the world float away. I find that when I connect to this place, step onto this land, it opens its arms and welcomes me in, loves me and starts the healing.
As I stand in the midst of the wildness of this forest, my cup is refilled. It is the bountiful love and gratitude I receive the moment I return to this place. I am so blessed.
You may feel the love I have for this place, this tiny little property out in the bush, away from civilization and the hustle and bustle of city life. I have no road here, so no car, I have no power here, so life is not so ‘plugged in’ like at home in the city. We have no TV, so we connect here are a more personal level, human to human, communicating face to face and not over the screen of an electrical device.
I come to this part of my land, to my back bay forest, and I sit and reacquaint myself with my beautiful, natural world. I listen to the sounds of the life around me, as each natural element goes about its daily routine here. I smell the richness of the forest and the lake, and it revitalizes and refills and refreshes my lungs.
I find myself being rather spiritual these days, and so I am fully aware that this place connects to my spirit, and speaks to my soul. As I prepare to leave this place, because I am now selling it, I know I will always have it as part of me, for it is not I who knows this land, it is the land who knows me. This land will always be part of me, and the land will keep me as part of it, even if I am no longer coming here.
I have been trained in the energy arts, Reiki, specifically, and so I find myself quite easily tuned in to the energies and vibrations of both human life and life in the natural world such as this forest. It is said that we are all energy beings, living things and non-living things, and that it is just the unique information of each thing that differentiates us.
And so, although I love all the trees and vegetation of my forest, I have given special love and energy to this one tree, a tree that stands at the front of my back bay not far from the lake and in view of all of my land. I have asked this beautiful, strong, tall tree to stand guard and watch over my land when I am not here. I have named it My Guardian Tree.
I have buried at its base 7 coloured stones that represent the 7 Chakras of energy. It was a gesture from my intuition, and not based on any scientific evidence or reasoning. The stones are just a gift from me, a means of a physical, natural way to gift my tree with the 7 natural stones in the appropriate colours of the 7 Chakras, that is, from a red stone, representing the Base Chakra, to the clearish-white stone that represents the Crown Chakra.
I communicate with my tree, and greet it, thank it, and bless it upon each visit here to the lake. I touch its bark, often lean my body against it, and have, upon occasion, sat beneath it for a time. As I write about this very personal ritual in this article for you, I realize this might be the only time I have really, truly spoken about it. I do understand that to some of you this may all sound a little ‘woo-woo’, a little too way out there. However, dear reader you have been stepping into my life, with my articles, and therefore, into my forest. So, right here and right now, you are with me, and so I will share this all with you, so that you may feel you are an honourary part of my place. I am gifting you the insights into my very special place, this lakeside forest.
I have read somewhere that trees give off an incredible amount of positive energy and that it is very therapeutic to be out in nature with trees. Like the Root Chakra, a trees roots are a means of survival, spread down under the soil, connecting to Mother Earth, with its foliage connected to the sky, and giving off the air and oxygen we need to breathe, thus making a tree a full-circle positive energy for human beings. I know I feel its magnitude, every time I come to my forest.
So, this tree, My Guardian Tree, has been asked by me to stand and watch over my beautiful lake property. I now stand next to it in awe of its beauty and strength, and I thank it for the incredible job is has always done for me, and send it my love to continue to look after my property and my lake world.