Recently I was invited to do an interview for Tree Sisters about my book, Wild Path to the Sacred Heart. One of the first questions took me by surprise. The woman interviewing me wondered how I felt about the use of old growth trees to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral. Originally, the cathedral was built with old growth and the goal was to replace the building in the same style. I stumbled around, saying something about how amazing it was so much money had been raised so quickly for the cathedral, and that I wished we could do the same for restoring our forest cathedrals. But I was unsatisfied with my answer.
Later, while meditating for a couple hours at the base of an ancient redwood tree, I felt a response to the question even though I was not, at that time, actively seeking an answer. Instead, I was sitting in a state of spacious receptivity. Still, the question was probably floating around in my energetic field because suddenly a thought came to me: the ancient trees deserved to be asked whether or not they wished to be part of this holy building. The knowledge seemed to come into me directly from the giant redwood I was sitting against, in images, sensations and whole body knowing. Somehow the redwood let me understand that she was aware of the other big trees across the sea.
My redwood explained that some of the old trees would volunteer to be part of such an iconic, sacred building as Notre Dame. They liked the idea of lending their vibrations to a place of worship that might be around for more than a thousand years. The ones most likely to offer themselves were those that were nearing the end of their long life span. But, my redwood tree continued, not too many would give themselves in this way. Redwood showed me that the big, old trees of all species are working hard now, acting like antennas to help ground the higher frequencies raining down on Earth, as well as harmonizing those stirring from her core. It’s a huge job, and it is made much easier with more old trees available to help. As the saying goes, “Many hands make light work.”
Not only are the ancient trees absorbing and transmuting these higher vibrations, they are also transmitting them in a way that is calibrated to life here on Earth. If we are to survive, we need these old trees! Each one of them is more precious than we can even begin to imagine. We also, of course, need to plant more young forests. David Milarch, of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive told me we need to plant and care for at least two trillion more trees right away.
It’s too late for me to redo my interview (Creative Inner-Views with Tree Sisters), but I thought the information I received at the redwood tree was worth sharing with all of you. Our intuitive feeling that the old trees are sacred and deserve our respect and reverence is probably true on more levels than we realize. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the profound intelligence and consciousness of trees. Meanwhile, when we are unsure about whether it is appropriate to cut down a big tree for a building as special as Notre Dame, we can always ask the trees themselves.
There are many people learning to tune in and feel into nature to find answers. Connecting with the natural world is a human capacity. Give it a try yourself, and see what the trees, or animals, tell you. I’m convinced the Earth is reaching out to all of us for deeper contact during these pivotal times.
Ellen Dee Davidson is the author of Wild Path to the Sacred Heart. For more about her book or to hear her Creative Inner-View, go to her website: www.ellendeedavidson.com. You can also download her free, channeled from the forest, piano music at www.ellendeedavidson.com/music.