10/05/2024
I am feeling happy to be completing the 52+ Plant Of The Week sheet series with Ash. It's been my intention since the beginning to end with what is thought by many to be the Tree of Gratitude.
Without trees I would not be alive, neither would you!
Ash trees reach towards the sky in splendour. Their airy canopies allow light through to let other plants to grow beneath them. Unfortunately our world's beautiful Ash trees are suffering from the effects ash die back. Like many plant and animal species Ash trees provide us with an indicator for the health of our ecosystems.
For many people Ash trees symbolise gratitude because the tips of their branches turn up towards the sky like fingers on a hand, palms raised in thanks and gratitude to the spirit of all life.
Have we humans forgotten this gratitude for what we have in life in our pursuit of 'the mores of life'? We want more, and we import things from all around the globe to our homes, often leaving the price of their acquisition unseen by us, and also bringing with them unexpected and unforeseen consequences.
The world is a complex place full of complexities and feedback loops. The lives of many beings are very precarious. Ok, they always have been, but we humans have made life and the climate we all depend on increasingly volatile.
May we all remember to be grateful for what we have... there are as many benefits of the practice of gratitude to our lives as the gifts Ash trees brings to the forest simply in their being.
This week's POTW sheet is free. My only request is that if you do download it and print it off...please plant at least one tree this year. It will do the world a little bit of good. You can share the sheet with anyone using this link:
World Tree for the Norse, and Tree of Gratitude for many, this tree is a symbol for our time.
