Jenny Smedley, columnist and writer, has been a guest speaker on hundreds of radio and TV shows worldwide. She is the author of Past Life Angels and Soul’s don’t lie. Her new book, The Tree That Talked, is beautiful.

Whenever trees are the subject, they evoke the most beautiful and majestic images in our minds.  Trees are the essential part of the overall grand beauty of nature in general. They also stir within our emotional responses, feelings of wisdom and protection. Spiritually, trees are in perpetual ascension toward the heavens. As vertical beings, they are the symbol of upright morals and steadfastness.

Trees have the universal symbolism of life itself, as in “the tree of life,” which is a tradition in so many global cultures across the world - even in ancient times.  There is good reason for this.  As you may know, trees outlive everything else.  Some current species recently have been proven to live to astonishing ages of tens of thousands of years.  Tree species, now extinct, may have lived even longer than that. 

Going beyond the symbolism of the tree of life, some cultures, both ancient and current, consider trees sacred.  Druids are the best known culture to revere trees, but many other cultures have held the tree in a position of high esteem, and many today still do.  It’s easy to imagine why this is true when we think of the grandiose trees such as the Giant Sequoias in northern California and some of the tree species that live thousands of years such as those found in New Zealand and other parts of the world.

Likewise, the color green, largely represented by trees, symbolizes life, health, and even prosperity.  We all learned in grammar school about how trees breathe in carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen as all green plants do, but trees are the most important.  They give us oxygen on the largest scale to provide for animal life.  Without tress on this lovely planet Earth, we literally could not breathe, could not live. Along with their ability to provide vast amounts of oxygen, they also “clean” the air of a major source of the planet’s pollution by using the carbon dioxide to make oxygen. It’s a perfect relationship that we and other animal life have with trees.

The tree is an important symbol not just of life, but also significantly representing life, death, and reincarnation. This is found in many spiritual beliefs, including Christianity. Perhaps this came from the olive tree, which can apparently die for many years, even decades, for example during droughts, and then spring to life again when the conditions are right.  Some trees can be pruned, and the apparently dead twiggy branches stuck in the ground sprout life. There are many amazing facts about the life cycles of trees, so life and rebirth are founded in truth.

Jenny Smedley writes with such love for trees and about her spiritual connection to them. For her, as for many cultures, the strength and protection elements of trees represent not just the symbolisms already discussed, but also the entire cosmos. For her, the upright, circular trunk is like Earth, and the ethereal leaves that disperse through the skies, like the other galaxies.  Here’s a sample of part of a picturesque description of an oak that she writes:

“The oak tree was well into its prime in the year of 1896.  It was two hundred and nine years old and one hundred and forty feet high. It had a mighty girth that would have taken several men to encircle it.  It was a king among the undergrowth of brambles and fern that had now sprouted around it, and the mulch from its fallen leaves over the years had prevented anything growing too close to be able to steal water or nutrients from it.  One day it could have a forest around it, too.  By now, the tree had a massive canopy, which provided dappled shade for any animal that sought it.”

There is an old Celtic ritual for how to regain harmony in your life by “communing” with a tree.  First, choose a tree that you like.  Then talk to it, out loud or by using your intuition only, touch it as if it were an old friend, then walk clockwise around it three times.  It’s also recommended to chant, out loud or silently, an invocation dedicated to the spiritual light that imbues everything.

Trees are the nobility of nature. When I read this book, I was overcome by an optimistic sense of eternal life.  The descriptions carried me away by the evocative beauty of trees.  It also touched me deep in my heart as it will yours.  I highly recommend this book.

Marie-Claire Wilson, author of Spiritual Tarot: The keys to the Divine Temple, is a bilingual writer and poet. She has been a practicing medium for 28 years using direct clairvoyance, the Tarot, numerology and palmistry. For an appointment or phone readings call: 877-847-7330. Her office is in Washington, D.C.
www.marie-claire.tv