Which is the most powerful tree you've encountered?

[MaiaElan]

Twylah gave each of us our name. Some were given lovely names like Corn Maiden, Moon Veil, etc., while mine, Onogosda, meant "Wing Tip!"
BB
Donata

That's a beautiful meaning. The bird's heart pumps tirelessly and its breast muscles flex, to power their flight. Their skeleton gives structure, their flesh is form. Beaks and claws for hunting, skin to protect. Tail feathers to direct, wing feathers to lift and soar. Yet, it is sometimes only by the wing tip, that we recognise him. When we stand beneath a bright summer sky and an eagle soars above us. The bright sun, turning him into a silhouhette, his distance warping perception of his size. Then we can know who he is, by his wing tips. Some straight, some curved, some flush, some flaired. I spent some time in the Kalahari recently and I learnt that, when trying to identify similar birds of prey against the midday African sun, it's the tips of the wings which tell me who's up there. It's by the wing tips that we know others. It's how the edge of a person cuts through this world, the shape of the wind stream which they leave in their wake. You know a person by their influence on their world. How do you cut through the wind?

Hell of a meaning, I'd say!

[Celyn]

Well I don't find Holly trees to be grumpy at all...perhaps because they are "my" trees They are my namesake and have always called to me. My grandfather used to have at least 10 Holly trees in his yard and he is the one that named me. I remember visiting his house as a child I was mesmerized by them...they emitted such love and pride...they told me they were my protector. I should plant one I also feel very much connected to the oaks...they have such ancient souls they are a wonder to sit and chat to, always willing to listen and lend a helping hand.

[Lonewolf]

I’ve always found the water oak powerful in many ways to me. The one I “hang out” for prayer and meditation is massive in size and is quite old, taken care of by the staff of the college I attend. Its huge branches shelter me like the arms of a protective mother, and the small wooden deck beneath it near its base is covered in the feelings of students, usually messages of love (and other things, but they were removed for bad language). Legend has it that whoever you kiss while under its branches will be the person you marry! I need to get my girlfriend out there with me

This particular oak is also damaged by lightning, split down the middle to where the scar on the tree bears a resemblance to a face and a heart.

It’s simply one of many I visit here in the South, and I just feel overwhelmed with awe by the amount of power they seem to have. The age of some of these trees I visit…it just feels like I travel through time being near one!

Sorry if I revived an old topic XD

[Vapour Trail]

No such thing as an old topic when you discuss trees, my friend.

It's been lovely to read how passionate people are about their special trees. My friend Kal was equally passionate about not believeing in the power of trees. I warned him that one day he would have his mind changed for him, and that moment happened a few months ago, We visited an ancient stone circle called Nine Stones Close in Derbyshire, England. Next to the circle is a stone wall behind which a tree stands like a sentinel guarding the stones.

We usually go to dowse, but for some reason Kal wasn't interested in that this time. Instead he was in a playful mood, bounding around. He has a terrible, morbid fear of heights, so I was quite surprised to see him jump up onto this wobbly dry-stone wall and reach high into the tree's branches to touch a ribbon that someone had tied to them. "Hey - aren't you afriad you''ll fall?" I shouted to him, and was shocked at his response.

"The tree said I wouldn't fall. I'll be alright." The TREE said that? I was used to this, but for Kal, the non-believer to say this.....what was going on? A powerful tree! So much so that since then he has totally, and I mean totally, overcome his fear of heights. Now he can walk along cliff edges, balance on high walls, climb mountains - the world has really opened up for him.

I wonder if the prescribe cures like that on the national health?

Vapour Trail,

[Vapour Trail]

Just in case you are a wood-lover like me, I have added a section on my blog about some of the more powerful trees that I have encountered. I include pictures, descriptions, links to posts that refer to them, and location information too.

Whhy not come along and find a friend to visit this year?

http://www.hedgedruid.com/?page_id=4504

[Serpentia]

The Guardian tree of this town, a 400 year old Linden Tree. It stands on a rise and the town nestles behind it. From there, you can see all the way to Frankfurt am Main, Hanau and for many, many miles in all other directions. So it used to be the site of many military gatherings - which does not face the tree at all. He simply stands there, a Guardian through time and human comings and goings.

He gave me my staff and the young Linden Tree that was planted a little over 40 years ago by his side was my first Tree Sister.

Here's a picture, if I can squeeze it in here.

[Gwernen]

There is a bit of state owned land near a reservoir close to where I live. I used to go there and transplant out species shrubs from around the base of a torn down home. You never know when the state is going to clear the land for a boat launch. The home had been a farmstead, and the owners had planted various species of lilac, spirea, daylily, lily of valley, and so forth, along with some fantastic stands of blackberries. The house had been torn down at least fifty years ago, so these ornamentals are towering specimens you just never see in a 'domesticated' setting. They had obviously planted a circle of cedar around what might have been a horse corral, with a spruce on one side, and now the spruce is fully mature and about 60 feet tall, with the mature cedars gathered around it, in the midst of what has become a faery forest of towering flowering trees, the undergrowth an acre of fragrant lily of the valley carpeting. I stumbled into this circle once and felt as if I had interrupted a group meditation. The ground within the circle is a clear deep cushion of rust brown needles. The silence is something solid, like walking into a sound proofed room. That first encounter, I felt compelled to ask forgiveness, then permission, and sat under the spruce awhile. I have to say that particular tree is one spectacular individual. He has presence and personality, and very strong inward force, making that heavy strong silence around him. This was about 23 years ago, but my first thoughts were, "if there were still druids in this world...." Something compelled me to return with a gift. I visit about once a year if I can. It feels like a trek to a shrine, and has a similar internal effect.

Perhaps I should take a camera in the spring.

Bendithion,
Gwernen

[Teileag]

There are old oak trees near a lake close to my house, they live in a protected area so nobody harms them. I love going there, putting my arms round the trunks and feeling their warmth and love. They always comfort me and give me strength...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/5595 ... t=outdoors

Then there's an old lime tree on a hill outside of my village, next to an old path connecting the villages and I greet him often. He seems to smile back and I always feel like he is part of the family...

[deepwater]

The witch hazel, followed by sassafras and holly,,did you meen the strongest or most powerful

[Aitrus]

Grand Fir has a knack of protecting me and sheltering me when out on multi-day hikes.
Birch and Aspen inspire me.
Cedar is the teacher of the ways of the wilderness and survival.
Lodgepole Pine gives me strength.
Tamarack, aka Western Larch, is a trickster.
Ponderosa Pine guides my gaze upward to see Eagle, Squirrell, or Hawk.

[Dragonwyst]

For me, it has to be eucalypts - Blue Gums mostly in South Africa, now I have a the whole gamut, Red gums, iron barks, scribbly barks and all sorts of others having moved to Australia. I remember one of thsoe curious occasions. I was attending a staff Christmas party at Johannesburg Zoo. As part of the entertainment, the company had hired a palm reader - just for fun. She told be all sorts of interesting things without ever looking at my palm - just touch was all she actually needed. A bit later in the evening i went and suggested she move closer to the gum trees if she was getting tired as they would give her strength. She did. she was mildy surprised that I knew about such things. It's one of those things that I have always known, I guess.

[effervescentbirdsong]

The Hawthorn by far is the most powerful tree. If you take cuttings into the house some one in your family will die. Also, if you put a Hawthorn under your pillow is a potent love potion.
The Oak is also very powerful.

[Jalking]

I visited Kongeegen "the King Oak" in Jaegerspris, Denmark some years ago. I am not able to sence trees the same way as you more experienced druids (havn't even started my training yet), but I did sence the presence of the 1500 - 2000 year old tree even before I could see it. The air had a mouldy, earthlike smell and the forest became silent as I approaced it.
I had every intention of touching the old grandfather, but there was a gloomy, dark, angry sensation around it that stopped me. I just watched the old tree from a distance.

When I am more versed in the druidry I will most certenly return to the grumpy ancient tree and try to get to know me and gain it's trust.

Regards
Jalking

[childofthewoods]

I Have felt a deep connection with trees all of my life (hence the user name!!)

I have various trees that I visit for different reasons - and I am especially happy when wandering through a wood!

The tree that I have most connection with is the Yew - I have 2 in my back garden (one of the main reasons for moving there!) and I visit the beautiful ancient Yew tree in All Saints Churchyard, Alton Priors, Wiltshire whenever I can...

(I will try and attach a pic!!!)

[childofthewoods]

Now that I know my image worked...here is another favorite tree spot...The famous Beech trees at Avebury...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[emmao1111]

I often speak to a variety of trees. No one sort seems more or less talkative to me although like people some individuals are less chatty than others.

The first tree that spoke to me was a yew. After 7 years of infertlility and miscarriage I was feeling very miserable and went to my favourite woodland clearing and sat with my back to an ancient yew. I was wondering if I would ever have children. The yew told me that all would be well and to open my eyes whereupon I would see a sign of things to come. As I opened my eyes a huge rabbit bounded across the ground in front of me. Within a month I was pregnant with my daughter.

Some time later I was out in the same woodland having told that I had a staff waiting for me. I was in a huge area of long ago coppiced hazel. I knew my staff was nearby but couldn't pinpoint it. My friend told me to look up and only one limb of one tree was waving wildly. How's that for a good way of getting attention!

Then, two weeks ago, after not intending to ever pick up another staff I literally bumped into an Ash tree - not like me as I often hike in the forest. I apologised to the tree but it almost seemed to tut. The bump had happened as a result of being drawn to the tree. I heard very clearly "I have a gift for you" and looked up to see a beautiful twisted trunk.

Being miles from anywhere I doubted I would ever find it again and I had no saw with me etc, but I tied a piece of twine around the limb gently and in such a manner that it would slip off in time and said to the tree that if it was really gift for me, it would call me back and would have retreated safely below the twine where I intended to cut if ever I came by again.

A few weeks passed and I visited the same forest but was sure I would never find this tree as it was not on a marked path. However, I could "hear" it from the car park! I walked straight to the tree and collected my staff. Interestingly, all the leaves above the twine had died off on that limb - despite the fact the twine was only loosley hanging on.

Trees are brilliant

My son also regularly talks to trees despite only being 20 months old. To see him doing exactly this have a look at my picture in the recent eisteddfod competition. x

[Zylah]

Child of the Woods - those are GORGEOUS photos; thank you for posting them! And nice to 'meet' you

This is a great topic which I am sure will never get old around here, anyway, as you said, Vapour Trail. I've so enjoyed reading everyone's input.

I have several trees that are very special to me. One that comes to mind is a huge old sycamore who grows intertwined with an also very old ash. The sycamore's branches are enormous, and extend almost horizontally from the trunk beginning about 40 feet up. The ash grows straight up, barely branching out at all. They're very yin-yang. The sycamore's bark was a completely different texture on every side. I was fascinated with it; finally I sat down to meditate (with permission, of course), and asked a number of existential type questions that had been bugging me.

He was very patient, the old beautiful giant, and when he spoke it was not with language, but in images and sensations. Very hard to describe, but many of you probably know what I mean.

The one Q & A that left the clearest impression on me was that I asked him, '...but what about a moral law? What is right and what is wrong, good and evil, light and darkness?' And he replied, 'We have no law save this: fear births evil, love births good. Therefore walk in love, and spurn fear.' This led to all kinds of other conversation, but first I was breathless with the profound clarity of his answer. I have been continually applying this gigantic lesson ever since, and have never found it to be in error. Amazing.

There are also two black cherry trees, very old and huge, on a dear friend's property. They are the Twins, and I call them priest-trees. I had another black cherry tree there that I loved to visit, and one day when I was troubled she sent me to the Twins; she gave me a piece of her bark (dropped it in my lap) like royalty sending a visitor with her seal of approval. One of them 'speaks' (again, not usually with language as we know it, more with that visual type communication), the other simply moves. Not literally of course, but in the sense of energy shifting; healing and revealing are its gifts, and they are great gifts, sometimes hard to bear. They are both incredibly powerful; the one that moves has made me tremble at times.

Now I am forming relationships with new trees, here in the woods on the farm; some huge old maples, a mulberry, some awe-inspiring oaks, hemlocks, white pine, apple, cedar, ash and walnut. Wowwwwwww.

[Vapour Trail]

Hello everyone,

It's great to see this topic still has legs/roots ;-)

Zyla's recent post reminds me that I should be out there finding new trees to establish relationships with. Here I am spouting off about the wonderful and powerful trees I've encountered and they are but a tiny fraction of the great trees and great TYPES of trees to be discovered. I was particularly intrigued by the trees encountered by people who don't live in the northern hemisphere and those are species that I am totally unfamiliar with - again reminding me that there's more to go and see all over the world.

Something must be rubbing off on the people around me, because my friend Kal has taken up the mantle of "tree hugger" in the last year, and has begun a relationship with an oak tree that sits alongside the Nine Stones Close stone circle on Harthill Moor in Derbyshire. You can read about his experiences with this powerful tree here [http://www.hedgedruid.com/?p=7058]

I have my own little tale to tell of an oak tree on a nearby hillside. The hillside is regularly visited, being a local attraction, but for some reason the local council decided to hack back one of the hill's oldest and most incredible oaks. There were two oaks that intertwined and formed a shelter, a hide-away within which one could shelter from rain. The shelter at the heart of the oaks even had a handy low branch seat! Anyway, one of the oaks got cut down and the other was severely cut leaving only one side of it remaining! I know! Can you imagine any possible justification for that? I was livid and heart-broken when i was called by the tree to come visit one evening.

I healed the tree on that occasion and months later went back to check how it was getting along. It was barely and slowly recovering. The tree thanked me for my intervention and I responded that it was my "duty" now that I was a trainee hedge druid. When I noticed that the grass on the hilltop was parched and dangerously dry I asked the spirit of the hill whether it would welcome me performing a rain ceremony (even though I had never done one before). I got a positive response, so I engaged the half-oak tree in helping to make the magick happen. With its help, and centred on an earth energy power centre I called down the rains. The next day nothing much had changed - it was still hot, but maybe slightly more humid. I had to go away for a week at that point, but while I was away I heard that England had had torrential downpours of rain in the North West, replenishing the reservoirs and re-vitalising the land. It was still heavily overcast when I got back too, a week later.

Surely nothing more than an inevitable consequence of a natural cycle in the weather, I'm certain, but to me it felt rather odd. I was humbled by the intervention of this once and possibly still powerful tree. Had we actually triggered something to change by working together? Who knows? It means nothing now to anyone except me and the tree. But it showed me the possibilities of working with a powerful and ancient tree with whom one had achieved a lasting rapport. This is something I will attempt again when the need arises.

Vapour Trail.

[Dendrias]

The most powerful tree for me I've encountered in my life is my mother. But that's a joke for another evening. What I popped in about was this:

If you take cuttings into the house some one in your family will die. Also, if you put a Hawthorn under your pillow is a potent love potion.

Does that mean, that you can get a potent love potion by killing one of your family, in this case? That's cruel, isn't it?

I've met some powerful trees, but I don't know about the most powerful. Near Muckross castle in Ireland, there is a massive Yew within the ruins of a cloister (I think); You should see that one!
When I became friends with a tree some years ago, it gave me a twig of mistletoe and a lot of confidence and power in times, when I needed it. Unfortunately a few months later it was cut down. And harder times had yet to come.

[Stormcloud]

For me it's beech trees - there is an amazing old beech tree in Tehidy woods that I like to visit, known to many as 'gnarly tree' as he is so twisted with age. You have to watch your step reaching his trunk because the mass of roots spreading out from the base make it easy or slip or trip. When our cockatiel died we took her body out to the woods and buried her under the protection of the beech tree, with a mossy log covering her spot. We like to think of her sat up in the tree enjoying herself.

Where I used to work many years ago there were also some beuatiful old hornbeams that I liked to visit.

Oh, and even further back (sorry!) at my junior school there was a lone oak tree, very old, not far from the playground. I remember sitting by the trunk and reading, or just listening, or sometimes, watching the earwigs that used to nest in a rotten section of the trunk. I always felt safe there.