Old Scars

Thursday was something of a trial. It had been emotionally exhausting and left me feeling stirred up and unable to find a solution.  Raising teenagers has its challenges and Thursday had been one of those days.  The next morning and my heart was still heavy.

Setting off and Jazmin takes the lead - as usual.

Friday was a damp and miserable morning to match my damp and miserable spirits so there was really only one solution; that was to bury my feet in decaying leaves and suck up some mighty tree energy in Whichford Woods near Long Compton. 

The trees here are mainly deciduous with some evergreens adding a bit of spike and drama.  The size of some of the beeches and oaks are truly mighty and lend a magical feel to the woodland.

Magnificent Beech in Whichford

This beech tree stands at a crossing in the pathway. He is very magnificent but part of his branches have dropped creating an archway over the path and, in his Winter bareness makes him look 'Merlinesque'.  Banged in with a nail, without respect or care is a "danger" sign declaring that there was danger of falling debris (which one might reasonably expect in a woodland).  Children years ago had thrown a rope over a branch to swing from. Over the years, the bark had started to grow over the rope with a 'growth-like' appearance.  Hacked into the bark are some 30 years of vandalous initials. I stood staring upwards at his branches.  I know this beech and had never really connected with him before but today felt like the right day to do it.  My sadness at the emotional scars left on my child could be seen on the bark of this tree.

Scarred and marked, no care, no respect.

Asking permission to work with the beech, I gently touched his bark, half expecting it to wince as my finger tips felt the gouges in the bark.  

I turned around and leant my back against him, drawing light down through the top of my head and asking to send healing and love to this beauty and, in return, to hear the message he might have for me. Something to help me make sense of how I felt now.

Melting into him and allowing everything to run through me and down into the earth I began to hear and sense his message....



"The scars are only on the bark you know. Inside me I'm still beautiful.  I still feel beautiful.  Even though what they've done to me hurts and is shameful, I'm still the same inside.  It's been hard but I keep growing and the new me grows without scars. The scars are who I am, they show my journey through time.  I can't change it and I haven't let the damage infect me inside or stop me from growing.  Just know that whatever is seen on the outside, there is still beauty within and there is still new and beautiful growth despite the challenges.

The drizzle started to make its way through the branches overhead and I was getting "the look" from Bec, it was time to either go home or throw a stick.  So I made my way home reflecting on the message I'd received, the timely relevance to my distraught teen and the ancient wisdom of the beech.

 

Homeward bound and time to reflect and learn.

More Information on Beech but mainly what was relevant to me today.

"Because of its associations with the inception of writing, beech is linked to all written wisdom and we are aided in rediscovering the past through meditation with it.  Indeed, when you feel drawn to beech, our subconscious is telling you to look to the past, for your answer to the present will be found there.  Beech is the book of the past.......  Through working with beech in meditation we can touch our ancient beginnings, the deep wisdom within ourselves which helps us formulate our ways of the future." ¹

In ancient times thin slices of beech were used as writing material.  Hence the word book evolved from beech. Interesting that people still chose to write on the beech tree here.  The cambium layer, however, is almost on the surface of the bark of the beech tree, so any damage to the bark causes the tree difficulties in transporting life-giving water to the rest of its parts.  The damage inflicted to the trunk of this tree would have hampered its growth - and yet, it still grew strong and graceful despite the scars.

"The beech is regarded as the "Mother of the Woods" for it is protective and nurturing, giving shade with its canopy and food that can be eaten in its raw state.  As a large tree of the broadleaf forest it is also known as the 'Beech Queen' who stands beside the 'Oak King'."¹

The Beech Bach Flower Remedy is used to treat arrogance, criticism, mental rigidity, pride, irritability and intolerance, tension from over-strong convictions and an over-strong will.  Beech also helps us to let go of fixed ideas and opinions which are limiting our personal growth.  Doesn't that sound like a head-strong teenager to you? Furthermore, these issues can of course lead to loneliness.

"The copper beech tree has a dense canopy which often prevents anything from growing underneath it and its great thirst also limits the water available for other trees, so it is often found growing alone."²

The homeopathic provings of Beech are all from the Fagus Sylvatica f. purpurea or Copper Beech.  In the spirit of relating my attraction to the scarred beech I still referred to the copper beech provings as the picture was still relevant.  The meditative proving of the copper beech indicates a patient with a sense of isolation, loneliness, resigned isolation but not resentful, withdrawal, no desire to communicate.  Alternatively, they can be people who know no peace.  There is agitation from too much adrenalin.  They can be hurried, nervous and over sensitive.  With this can come anger and frustration especially from being belittled and diminished.  I see the damage inflicted on the sensitive trunk of this tree as belittling and diminishing.  I found further relevance from Colin Griffiths understanding of Copper Beech which includes

"Anticipation especially from having lived through bad experiences before.  Has become pessimistic and negative, anxious about impending misfortune."³

In the face of this being my first tree-related post, how apt that the Goddess Tree website should tell me that

"The beech tree reminds us of the importance of learning and of the need to preserve our knowledge in writing for the benefit of generations to come." 4

Finally, although there is so much more I can share with you about the beech (I'll save that for another time) Madeleine Evans tells us that 

"Copper Beech enables us to use technology with intuition and somehow combine them."

- What a great place to start a blog on trees!  Tadaaaah!! -

References

1.  Tree Wisdom by Jacqueline Memory Paterson.
2.  Meditative Provings by Madeline Evans.
3.  New Materia Medica (book 1) by Colin Griffiths.
4.  http://www.thegoddesstree.com/trees/Beech.htm

Woolie (Bec) heading home, the black spec in the distance is Jaz chasing a rabbit!