Talking To Trees
Talking To Trees
What happens if we start listening and learning from other forms of life? What can the land teach/tell us about what it means to be human?
(Snake Den Park, Rhode Island)
Currently in my Patreon we are reading Leah Penniman’s “Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations from Black Environmentalists.” It is a beautifully curated set of conversations around 7 themes that help us understand the deep relationship Black folks have, and have always had, to nature itself. And what it means to bring the sacred and mundane together, through various perspectives and practices, as a way to breathe new life into environmental and racial justice.
This reading along with the discussions we are having on my Patreon remind me why I talk to trees/the land.
When I lived in Rhode Island the backyard of my house led right into Snake Den state park. Honestly, it was wonderful and those woods became a refuge for me during the lock downs in 2020.
(Snake Den Park, Rhode Island - access from the backyard)
I would walk them woods 3-4 times a week. Looooong walks, mixing exploring new trails with staying on the ones I knew and getting to know them more. I watched as the seasons changed, and saw nature change with them. Expressed as the trees went through their cycles of growth and release, the grass growing and then shrinking to grow again, and the water from the creek running and then drying up in the winter to always flow again once the spring came and the thaw set in.
(A walk in the woods in summer with my German Shepard “Whiskey” who passed June 2022)
And the sounds of the woods also told stories. From the birds who loved to talk non stop once the Sun and heat set in, to the deer and bears (yes….bears!) who would appear in the summer and fall - curious about what we had in our backyards that they could also partake in as we all had gardens in one shape or form.
Then the woods would also provide for us as wild strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries would appear, both in our backyard and throughout the trails. On many occasions I would look out the back sliding door and see families walking within the interior of the woods, seeing what they could forge for themselves.
(Mushrooms found while walking)
I can’t forget the mushrooms - oh how they would grow everywhere. My next door neighbor was a nature man himself. He had a BEAUTIFUL garden, a mix of plants, flowers, and food. Right behind that were his bees and his woodworking materials as he was a SKILLED carpenter and was working on the hull of a boat he hoped to put to water one day soon.
His friend was a chef and woodworker as well who made cutting boards from pieces of wood he scavenged. And each fall both my neighbor and his friend would go off mushroom hunting, both in the woods AND my front and backyard as Hen of the Wood would pop up and show out all in the front of my home.
(Fall Time)
The land and those woods provided in more ways than one and I was truly grateful, so I made sure to give offerings and prayers to the land and trees that I had become a steward of once I purchased that home.
The offerings I made were to the trees that backed into the woods that were on the property I was living on. I gave the flowers from my ancestor and Orisa shrines back to the land at the base of those trees. I cleaned up the area around the trees as the previous owners had left wood logs and old wooden crate slates at the base of one of them. (Trees like to look nice as well). And liquid offerings like water, coffee, and liquor along with food that the ancestors took were also discarded at the base of the tree as another offering. That way the animals of the land could also join in on the feast, and anything left could be recycled back to the land for new growth to occur.
The ancestors are in the ground as are the roots of trees, so trees are one portal to connect to the dead.
And I would also talk to the trees. Placing my hand on the trunk I would laugh, cry, yell, speak to them like another friend. I asked for guidance as well because the trees had been living a lot longer than I, so as our elders I knew they would wisdom to share.
(The water as Fall turns to Winter)
When it was time to leave that property and state I let the land and trees know. And I thanked them for caring for myself and my family, especially at a turbulent time in my life when I had made the decision to leave higher education and step out on faith in myself and my abilities by creating my own business.
This is when I truly understood the power of building a RELATIONSHIP with the land because it ended up saving me right before I left.
It was literally a dark and stormy night (I can’t make this up). Storms in Rhode Island fascinated me cause they came in QUICK with a furry of wind and rain that would literally move debris and leaves/tress EVERYWHERE, and then leave just a quick as it came. This storm was just that, but even more EXTRA than normal as you could hear the wind whistling a high and loud pitched tune, and then the lighting came so loud and low that it hit the top of the trees of the neighbor two doors down from me.
My child and now ex were next door playing with the neighbor’s kids and they came running home in the rain because the noise scared my little one to their bones.
Out of nowhere I heard a loud CRAAAAAAACK just out back.
We had recently sold the house and were preparing to move back to Michigan where my ex was from and where I had went to graduate school. And I was ready to go as there were boxes everywhere in the house and we had a closing date fast approaching.
As my ex came in the back sliding door with our little one, soaked from the short sprint from the neighbor’s home he looked at me with big eyes and said, “Did you see that!?”
“See what?” I said. “I heard a loud crack but thought it was the lighting”
“No, that must have been the big tree branch that is down right outside the house. I hope it didn’t hit anything on the house cause we can’t fix anything else before this closing.” he replied.
It was too dark to see what the damage was so we had to wait till the light of the morning.
When the morning came, I truly was looking at a miracle before me.
One of the massive oak tress in the back that was very healthy had lost a LARGE branch in the wind storm, cracked right off the trunk of the tree high above the rooftops of the houses in the area.
(The Tree caught itself)
It should have hit the back porch roof and crashed that whole structure in. Instead, the tree caught itself and the brach was lodged in the middle of a split part of the trunk of the tree, just inches from the house.
Then, when we tried to find someone to come in and take the branch fully down, everyplace was full for at least 2-4 weeks as the area itself was dealing with the same issue. But our neighbor (the one who is a gardener, beekeeper and carpenter) also had his own equipment to do the job. All he asked was that he was able to have the wood as he, like us, had a fireplace and preferred to use that to heat his home during the winter.
(Another view of how massive that branch was)
The bargain was stuck and they all went to work getting the branch removed. And the closing happened on time with no out of pocked expenses for me.
I took care of the land and the land took care of me. That is a lesson I will never forget.
Currently, I am at a new home that I am renting that has a backyard with a tree. Me and that tree commune daily, as I give my weekly offerings of water, liquor, coffee, food, flowers, and loose tobacco and speak what is one my mind.
A mutual respect and trust is being fostered as I am now a steward of a new space and piece of land that has already shown me support that other humans have not been able to give.
(Current Home)
Talk to the trees ya’ll…and listen to the advice they have to give.
Lay down offerings for them, the land, and the animals around you….and listen to the advice and guidance they all have to give.
We are not alone, even when we feel like it, because there are other forms of life willing to commune with us. They too are our kin, as we are ALL dependent on the same source (Earth) for our existence.
Laying Down Offerings
Don’t make it complicated when you are giving offerings to the land. It is a sign of respect and mutual understanding that you/we are connected to where you/we walk upon.
And it is also respect for the dead and death alongside life. As I mention above our ancestors are in the ground. They are part of the Earth, the land itself. And the roots are a system of communication. The roots of trees, along with other plants and fungi, talk to one another - relaying both information and nutrients to ensure the life and death cycle continues in its rhythm.
Items like water, liquor, coffee can be poured as libations. A symbol of the flow of life that connects us all.
Food is another offering as it both gives back to the Earth what we took from it, and it provides nourishment for the animals in the area. NOTE: Please be sensible with this. Leave foods that are able to break down over time and/or that animals can eat safely.
Flowers and herbs also work well. Herbs I have grown in my garden I will also place at the base of the tree as an offering of thanks for helping me grow in this space. As I mentioned above, I place flowers from my shrines at the base of the tree instead of throwing them away, and say,
“From the Earth you came. To the Earth you return.”
Tobacco is always a good offering as it is a connector between worlds. The smoke of the tobacco carries our messages to the other realms while the tobacco itself is a product of the land.
“From the Earth you came. To the Earth you return.”
If you have nothing to give, you give your breathe. SPEAK and let the tree know you are there and you see and acknowledge them. And then lay your burdens down as trees do not judge emotions, they just are. They are just ways we communicate with ourselves and one another, so give your emotions to the tree and feel as they transmute it to give you the space you need for clarity.
“From the Earth you came…To the Earth you return”
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