In a recent newsletter, I mentioned that our rivers are beginning to receive ‘living rights’ which means they are recognised as living entities with intrinsic legal protection in terms of their health and interests (the right to flow, to be free from pollution, to biodiversity, to regenerate and recover and to be represented) rather than treated as human property or merely resources.
Although at one level this feels like a beautiful righting of a wrong, the cynical part of me also recognises that this turnabout has human interests securely at its heart. For how can we survive without clean water? The same thing is happening with land forests and ocean life as it begins to dawn on us that they provide the only other more essential ingredient, oxygen.
I think about trees a lot. As I walk amongst them I always feel a joyfulness. Trees are magic. They provide the connective tissue that tips me back into balance, a moment of wholeness in an otherwise fractured, compartmentalised life. Tree energy is also intrinsic to the work we do at ATTIC, as the ‘Tea Plant’ is really an ancient wild tree, having existed as such on this Earth for millions of years. I often sit in awe of that fact and was recently reminded of how extraordinary trees are when I read the following post online.
Woodsman George Barker was explaining how “Wood is one of the rarest materials in the entire Universe. Things like gold and diamonds might seem rare but are unbelievably common in space. Wood can only come from life, real biological life. With all our telescopes and technology, we haven’t discovered a single other place in the universe that has forests, trees or anything capable of producing wood. Not even the most powerful force in the cosmos can create a single tree”
I often contemplate what it will take for us as humans living in this time of our history to experience a more harmonious existence, to recognise and work with the gift of our impermanence so that we might live more fully, more freely and more collectively, be more Tree.
I try to always honour that first cup of tea and the tree the tea came from. I consider the humans who alchemised the raw leaves in the heat of the fire as I treasure the warmth of the cup. I send thanks to the source of the water that brewed it and I cherish the fact that all moments are sacred if we allow them to be.
For those who have never tried an honouring of that first cuppa, here is a little invitation.
- Create a quiet contemplative space. It may include extra bits such as candles, salt lamps, incense or crystals but it doesn't have to. Just whatever helps you create an environment that you feel comfortable in
- Enjoy the process of making your tea and settle yourself
- Using some deeper breaths, calm and centre yourself within the space you have created
- Feel the warmth of the cup, allow it to soothe your nervous system and begin sipping your tea
- Drink mindfully and with reverence and notice anything that arises in the quiet of the space
- Feel free to journal your thoughts if this helps process them
- Top up your tea leaves and have a second cup if time allows :)
So as Summer turns to Autumn, for me there is no greater time to be amongst the trees. To watch their spectacular rainbow of colours, to let their helpful "tree pheromones" reduce your stresses and as their leaves drop, to allow the release of what was and welcome in what is to come. For sometimes what is arriving can only become visible when we stop trying to preserve what came before.
Anne and Ric x