Tree Wisdom

The Apple is a tree that speaks to us about the balance between domestication and wildness. Over many thousands of years, we co-evolved with apple trees and orchards were considered sacred places. This is why both the wild and the cultivated varieties of the apple tree are contacted during this Tree Wisdom Journey.

The apple tree has the astrological signature of Venus. This tree can be recognised as an embodiment of the goddess of love. Apples bring nourishment, food, medicine and vitality in great abundance. Our Celtic ancestors considered apples to be a gift from the Otherworld.

The themes of cleansing, renewals and the balance between culture and nature are woven into this powerful tree workshop experience. 

In ancestral times, spears and bows made from Ash were part of initiatory rites into warriorhood, so the tree itself became associated with strength and masculinity.

The Ash tree is straight and strong, but it’s also curvy and flexible. In pre-patriarchal times, Ash was seen as feminine and was associated with the moon and the water. Ash shows us a graceful equilibrium between masculine and feminine characteristics. The Ash tree can help us establish a conversation between those two parts we all have inside of us and guide us towards greater balance.

Irrespective of gender, we can all benefit from accessing our inner warrior, for clarity of intent, a sense of direction and inner authority. In our time, the Ash tree steps forward, to unite the opposites. To help us bring masculine and feminine energies into balance. To develop focus and alignment, from that balanced and harmonious place inside.

The Beech tree forests once covered large areas of Europe. Our ancestors were at home in beech tree forests and deeply familiar with its patterns.

The beech tree has become associated with books and writing. In German, the word Buch means “book”, whilst Buche means “beech”. The letters in the alphabet are called Buchstaben, which translates as “sticks of the beech tree”.

The gothic cathedrals are also said to be inspired by beech tree forests, to draw our pagan ancestors out of the woods and into the stone temples of the new and book-based religion, Christianity. The Beech tree bridges the gap between our pre-Christian and Christian ancestors and can help us make peace with the past.

The Beech tree also holds a very motherly and nourishing quality. Its bark is so thin, that when we touch its surface, our hand can get very close to the tree’s most vulnerable layer of living tissue right under the skin of the tree. The beech tree protects itself a little bit less, which makes it easy to connect to. Children often feel drawn to beech trees, because of this tree’s accessible and welcoming energetic signature. 

The Birch tree is a pioneering tree that brings new life and rejuvenation. Birch embodies the qualities of Venus, the Goddess of love and beauty, as well as the upward-moving currents of Spring energy.

Just like our homes and bodies, our psychological and energetic bodies need regular cleansing, so we can fully welcome what’s coming next.

For thousands of years, our ancestors revered the Birch tree for its cleansing and renewing properties. As part of a Spring detox, drinking birch water and herbal infusions from fresh leaves can greatly help our bodies release unwanted toxins.

Under the ancient elder tree, the whispering wind carries the secrets of the Elder Mother, Frau Holle, inviting you into a realm where nature and magic intertwine. 

The hawthorn queen shows herself in a magical twilight, where the water meets the land. She can show us our energetic heart and all its layers. She reminds us, that nothing is ever forgotten in the heart. Every time we did not listen to our inner guidance and hurt ourselves or others, we reduced a part of our natural sensitivity. Hawthorn helps us open our hearts again. 

Hazel is known for its ability to increase creativity and communication. Across many centuries poets, diplomats and public speakers carried hazel wood on them, because hazel can teach us how to access a creative flow of inspiration, that combines both focused clarity of mind and intuition.

The energetic qualities of hazel are described as quick, youthful, dynamic, direct and full of life force. Hazel is great at conducting energy. You can try this out by holding a hazel rod in your hand whilst paying attention to your inner experience and bodily sensations. Receiving energy through the left hand and sending energy through the right hand, seemed to work particularly well.

The medicine of Holly is about finding a healthy way of meeting edges, our own and those of others. It teaches an appropriate way of relating to our anger. Holly helps rekindle the fire of vitality within ourselves.

This Tree Wisdom banner unites the fire and the ice, the elements of creation. It speaks of pure life force and vitality, even in seemingly hostile situations.

The holly tree communicates to us: “I am Holly. I protect myself effortlessly. It’s natural to me and I am unashamed of my spikes. Nobody eats my leaves or walks into me without feeling my edge. Edges are parts of life”.

Holly has a true warrior attitude, a strong inner fire, and an edge that meets life with intensity and vitality. It is a particularly great tree to connect with at the time of the Winter Solstice, around the 21st of December.

The oak tree has been revered for millennia and has always been associated with leadership, sovereignty and strength as well as truth and trust. Qualities are much needed in our current times.

Often perceived as masculine, the Oak tree also has a distinctly feminine side, within its sheltering and abundantly nurturing expression. Uniting the masculine and feminine within it qualifies the Oak as a world-tree, from which we can learn great lessons of integration and power. 

Scots Pine has an ancient aura around it. Once most of Europe was covered in coniferous forests. Among other trees, these woodlands were home to the majestic Scots Pine. The last traces of this era are preserved in some remote parts of Scotland. Nowadays it’s one of the most common trees in all of England because it grows fast and straight and is planted for timber.

Scots Pine has grandfatherly energy: calm, gentle, and able to lean back and see the bigger picture. The purification Pine offers leads to increased clarity. Pine’s energy is warm and fiery, in a calm and glowing way, like the smile of an old wise grandfather with sparkling eyes that shine knowingly with the golden light of spirit.

Pine has a strong upward current of energy and is often associated with higher realms and upper worlds. I can confirm this through my own experience. In my inner work with pine, I travelled to liminal places that I didn’t know existed.

Rowan feels gentle and soft but its power is not to be underestimated. In Celtic times it was known as the Druid’s tree and was held in high esteem for its protective and divinatory powers.

When spending time with Rowan, sensitive people often notice that it carries a clear and positive feeling tone, that makes it easier to communicate boundaries in a loving way.

Rowan has long been used for divination because it helps us access our intuition. Rowan, who is also known as the lady of the mountain, helps us establish right relationships on many levels, including contact with the otherworld and ancestors.

Rowan is particularly good at quickening our life force and assisting us in becoming more whole and balanced. 

The Willow tree gracefully embodies the archetypal qualities of the moon, water and the feminine. For millennia, the willow tree has been associated with Goddesses and muses that can bless us with profound healing and inspiration. The Willow Tree can help us get our creative inspiration flowing.

Willow can be seen as a queen of the water element. She looks at human emotions without any sense of judgment or aversion, seeing only different textures, colours, densities and patterns. She is inviting us to fully feel our emotions and understand them instantly, without needing to rationalise them.

Compared to other trees, willow is less about one strong central trunk and more about many parts coming together. This tree medicine can help us to shift our focus from ME to WE. Willow is also considered one of the best remedies for transitioning through and letting go of grief. 

Powerful lessons and valuable teachings from the yew trees have been woven into the Tree Wisdom Journey. This workshop is designed to make the yew tree’s energy more easily accessible to you.

The Yew trees in Europe are amongst the oldest living organisms we have around us. They embody the vastness of time and space and allow us to see our daily concerns reflected in mirrors of a much bigger picture.

When in communion with the yew, we can experience inner death and rebirth in profound and healing ways. The yew trees remind us of our mortality so that we can live more fully.

Establishing a relationship with Yew trees helps us step out of our overly individualised mindset for a moment and see how we belong to a web of people that is a direct and ongoing extension of our ancestors.

Ancestry doesn’t just stop with the remembered dead. It stretches all the way back through the millennia to prehistory, the animal kingdom and the first single-celled organisms in the primordial oceans