Our knowledge of sacred groves in prehistory can be an enlightening force, showing us markers on the path to engaging these energies for ourselves. When we contact the spirits of the trees, we call in a whole set of related aspects: the spirits of earth and stone; the spirits of rain and wind, moonlight, sunlight; and the subtle presence of our magically adept ancestors whose consciousness can still be contacted in constant, timeless communion with the earth. We will also come into contact with the genii loci (“powers of place”)—the guardian spirits of any or no spiritual race other than their own unique forms which guide and protect the environment and its spirit inhabitants (including the tree spirits), and help facilitate our work with them. These also act as “go-betweens” connecting us to even deeper energies, gods, and other beings. When we encounter these beings, we may receive visions, images, sounds, or symbols that act as energetic “keys” that unlock different realms. The genii loci also interact with our own energy field and ultimately with our souls; evolving, informing, and merging with our souls’ purpose with far-reaching effects from this life into the next. These “keys” are well-worn paths trodden by mystics, seers, and those working with earth energies for millennia. It must be remembered that they are not aspects of our subconscious, and through they may be clothed with imagery from our minds, they exist regardless of our awareness. These energies interact with us as independent beings, and our awareness of the practices of our ancestors can inform our dialogue with them, educating us about the energetic language and forms this dialogue takes. Their experience of us is part of a continuous stream of interaction that has lasted for immense spans of time and adjusts only subtly over the years. In contrast to our fleeting impatient human consciousness, the spirits of nature, tree spirits, and related beings have a far wider and deeper awareness we need to slow into if our contact is to be fruitful.
We will now turn our attention towards working with trees and the wider forest in a way that is relevant to our spiritual practices today.
Exercise: Learning the Land
Naturally, to work with tree spirits requires regular practice out on the land itself; regular walks in woodlands are essential. Try to find a place that attracts you and can be visited regularly. Sitting still for an hour or calm and slow ambling gives you an opportunity to feel a resonance with a particular tree or group of trees. Allow your eyes to explore the environment in real detail, and look out for places which stand out to you—a group of birches lit by sudden sunlight, creaking branches overhead, or the shadowed boughs of an oak standing out in brooding darkness can all be markers to attract our interaction. Feel a resonance in your stomach, and be open to receiving guidance in whatever form it takes. Don’t take it as a bad sign if you feel no guidance, as the ability to recognise spirit guidance fluctuates for everyone. Instead ask aloud to the powers of place to be led to a grove or tree that would welcome you. Let yourself wander to any tree that occurs to you.
Exercise: Aligning with an Individual Tree
When you have found a tree or group of trees to work with, approach slowly and allow the tree an opportunity to resist you. You may find you don’t feel that comfortable there after all, and that’s okay—move on. However, you may find that no sense of unease appears, and take that as a positive sign in itself. Take some time, gently touch the leaves, and speak to the tree announcing your desire to befriend it. Sometimes walking around the tree in a clockwise direction and spiralling inwards to the trunk is particularly effective at gently attracting the tree spirit’s attention and harmonising with it, but this is not always possible due to other trees and bushes.
Approach the tree slowly, slowing your breathing and centering your awareness in your body. Make every step and movement conscious and sacred. Touch its bark, and spend some time standing against it. With every out breath, send your attention down into your feet and to the tree roots beneath and around you. Hold your awareness there. Then as you breathe in, send your awareness slowly up the trunk and into the branches. With full lungs, notice especially the rustling of the leaves in the canopy, any sounds—the wind, the birds, the swaying branches—or any silence and stillness there. Notice the light and shadow, the movements and patterns it makes, the forms the branches take, and the patterns the branches form as they cross each other from your point of view. Breathe out slowly again, sending your consciousness downwards. Don’t look for meanings or verbal communication, just let your awareness totally absorb the scene around, above, and beneath you. Acknowledge the divinity present here, and send your care and respect to the consciousness of the tree spirit which you know to be standing before you. Whether you feel something clearly or not, this is an opportunity to trust, the first step in any real relationship. The rest will follow.
Repeat this process for a few minutes before settling down at the base of the trunk or somewhere suitably close and comfortable. Spend some more time just being physically present with the tree in easy companionship. Invite the tree to be your ally and spirit companion, and ask it to communicate with you any needs it may have, and any way it would like to be communed with. Ask that it guide you in your understanding of trees, tree spirits, and other spirits of nature. Pay attention to any images you may receive in your mind’s eye or inner vision in addition to other promptings and feelings—these may be communication from the tree spirit itself.
You may or may not get answers at this point, but it is important that you show the tree respect and a willingness to give it attention, support, and care just as you would like to give and receive from any friend. Develop this relationship consistently through weeks, months, and years, exploring different times of day and night. Over time, you may begin to notice differences.
Spirit Vision
To develop our awareness of tree spirits and other beings, it is essential that we develop our awareness of existence in their reality, and propagate an understanding of the unseen on its own terms. This requires exercise on two levels, the inner and outer. Our inner vision is strengthened by shamanic journeying, which allows us to alter our consciousness so that we can take spirit flight and encounter the spirit realms whilst our body remains in our awareness but no longer at the forefront of our minds. The other way of developing our awareness is to practice overlaying our usual consciousness and everyday vision with our spirit vision, a practice often called “seership.” This is a gift that often runs in families as well as one that continues through reincarnations from one life to the next, as it forms a key part of the soul’s evolution. However, it is also a skill that can be encouraged, as can shamanic flight or “journeying.” Both these abilities alter our consciousness as well as affecting the body’s subtle energies. Working together, they are a deep well of spiritual energy and support that allows us to move beyond the constraints of the mundane world. We can access the primal and divine energies of the planet and beyond.
Some people like to journey to recorded drumming made specifically for shamanic flight, and there are many recordings available. Others are lucky enough to have someone drum for them. Shamans also use bells and rattles for the same purpose. The simple repetitive beat mimics our heartbeat and gently aligns our pulse with its rhythm, which guides us to our destination and back. Percussive beats are not essential for shamanic journey, however, and it is good to experiment with and without to notice the differences and to be able to work effectively with a minimum of equipment and preparation. Slow, steady breathing has the same effects upon our consciousness and creates a slow rhythm of its own. In a sense, we are moving our spirits along the threads or currents of energy that connect all existence to our chosen destination. This is a perfectly natural thing to do, and is a skill we are born with; we are merely encouraging our natural ability, coaxing it from beneath layers of modern culture that lead us away from this deep knowing.
Exercise: Basic Shamanic Journey—
The Otherworld Forest and the Inner Tree Spirit Ally
Central to our magical work with trees is our connection to tree spirits. Fostering a connection with tree spirits on the inner planes, known in the Celtic tradition as the otherworld, is vital. Though very simple, it requires practice and patience to build these relationships over time, and if we are not experienced in journeying it is also essential to build this central skill and develop clear and effective inner vision. This exercise helps us make the first steps into these realms and initiate these relationships safely in a way that allows clear and sometimes even verbal communication.
This basic exercise can be performed within a circle or sacred space during ceremony or quite simply with minimum preparation. It is best repeated many times to build up relations with your primary tree ally before moving off the path or encountering other tree spirits in the otherworld forest. To begin, invocations may be made together with offerings given to assisting spirits, and attention given to stating the purpose of the journey beforehand. For example: “I call upon my guardians and allies to assist me to commune with my tree spirit ally” or “to encounter the spirits of the forest.” A suitable offering for a tree spirit when at home would be a bowl of blessed spring water, but offerings are not always necessary, so draw upon your intuition and instinct. Don’t feel you have to give offerings all the time or just to visit them, but offerings are good practice and help in building those relationships, as does giving thanks and respect.
Settle yourself preferably upon the floor, in a suitably comfortable po-sition that you can maintain easily for up to twenty minutes. Some prefer to lie down when journeying but this can encourage sleep, and sitting up also assists in keeping the intention and focus of the journey clear. Also make sure you will be warm enough, and can be undisturbed for a suitable length of time.
With closed eyes, focus your attention on your breathing, feeling each breath in the pit of your stomach. With each breath, detach yourself from your inner chatter and daily concerns. Then as clearly as possible, visualise a simple oak door or gate with high hedges on either side. Spend time contemplating this gateway as the entrance to the great forest that exists in spirit, endlessly and eternally.
This great forest spans all lands and all ages. It moves and grows according to its own nature, like an infinitely huge collective being, roaming across the many layers of creation, expanding here, contracting there, but undiminished regardless of anything humans could ever do to its physical manifestations in the mortal world. The great forest is a spirit place in its own right, and while many beings and other destinations can be found via the paths and tracks across its vast wilderness, it is in itself perfect and may be an inexhaustible source of renewing and vitalising energies if we respect it. The beings encountered within the great forest are perfectly real and subject to their own customs and laws. We should always treat them with respect and use the same caution we would when encountering anyone we do not know. In time, allies of many kinds may be found within the forest and can assist in all manner of workings and practical as well as spiritual issues, but here at the gateway we must remember that we are exploring another realm of existence. We must move forward wisely, follow well-trodden paths, and adhere to the timeworn customs in order to draw the best from the experience. With that in mind, we announce our intention to discover our first tree ally, or indeed to visit it again. We ask that our steps be guided and blessed, and that the great forest supports our work. With that, we visualise ourselves stepping forward and opening the gate, passing through into the forest beyond.
On the other side of the gate, we see that we are standing upon a cleared path of pale stone that winds its way ahead through the trees. Notice if it is day or night, and what trees line the way. What season is it here? Pay attention to any sounds you may hear. Are there any birds? Does the wind blow through the branches? Are there other plants or animals here? Look down at your feet and try to feel the ground beneath them.Step forward and trust that this path will lead you through the forest to the tree and tree spirit that will be your primary tree spirit ally.
Try to take note of any details that appear in your journey, as they will form part of the forest’s communication with you as well as being spirits in their own right that may guide or assist you. However, some beings may also challenge and even test you. Not all beings in the forest are friends of humans, and you must be aware that not everything is there for your benefit. If you stick to the path and maintain your focus, you will not encounter real difficulties, and by calling on your allies (even those you may not have consciously encountered yet), you will always receive the assistance you need.
Eventually, the path will lead you towards a specific tree that will stand out in your focus to a far greater degree than any other you have seen. If you doubt yourself and go past the tree, it will reappear in your vision no matter how much farther on you go. If you return from your journey without thinking you have found it, journey again and you will discover that you have seen the tree before in the previous journey; it will feel somehow familiar. Trust that your tree ally is waiting for you to approach. When you find it in your inner vision, greet it as a true friend and reach out to it, touch its leaves as with a physical tree, and approach its trunk. Take a few breaths merely being in the company of the tree, and ask for its spirit to reveal itself to you. It may take many forms, not necessarily human in shape or temperament. Be open to seeing the tree spirit as it wishes to present itself to you. Enter into simple dialogue with it—commune with this being and ask how you may contact it again. Perhaps it will have a symbol for you to visualise or a gift to give you that will call it to your mind when you wish its company. Give it the gift of your friendship. Ask if there are any ways that you can assist it and how it would like to commune with you. Spend some time exploring this new relationship. After some time has passed or when your accompanying drumming calls you back, you will feel as though the appropriate amount of time has passed and you can now return to the physical world. Thank the tree spirit for its assistance and friendship, and return along the path that led you to the gate in the high hedges.
Cross back through the gate, knowing as you do this you are returning fully to your body. Take a few breaths with your eyes shut, feeling yourself to be back in your body and in the present time and space. Clench and unclench your hands and feet. Open your eyes. The journey has now finished.
As with other workings, after shamanic journeying it is a good idea to write a record of what you have experienced. Writing may help ground the realisations and wisdom acquired into your daily life, as well as draw to mind details you may have forgotten but which reemerge in the writing. Always ground yourself after journeying into your body and the present moment. You can try eating, drinking, and moving your body about a little to reorient yourself in the everyday world.
The Inner Grove
Building a relationship with a tree spirit ally using inner vision develops a whole set of shamanic skills, and it is an important first step in working magically with trees in the outer world. It fine-tunes our senses and widens our perceptions to encompass these intelligences that operate beyond our everyday awareness. The natural next step is to widen the exercise further to encounter a magical grove—a collective of tree spirits and accompanying beings, a sacred space in the otherworld within its eternal forest. As already discussed, our druid ancestors and earlier Pagan nature worshippers held the grove as a place of great sanctity and connection, and many modern druids have begun to repopulate our landscape with consciously planted groves and reestablish working groves in woodlands already matured. These are all wonderful and essential ventures, restoring our long-held connection with tree spirits and nature with wide spread positive effects. However, spirit groves— found in numerous otherworld locations and traditions—remain as an eternal presence merely waiting for us to connect with their deep wisdom and healing energy. Many druid and other magical working groups have their own inner groves on the otherworldly planes, and it is a simple thing for individuals to do the same and find their own inner groves to work with in spirit, forming relationships and performing magical work in that primal divine place as well as within the everyday world.
Exercise: The Guardian and the Inner Grove
Begin this shamanic journey in the same way you would prepare to meet your tree spirit ally. Create a sacred space in a way that feels appropriate; set up a circle or sanctify your space in some other way, such as by lighting a candle, for example. Percussive accompaniment is not essential, but you can use drumming if it helps you. Before starting your journey, verbally announce your intention to discover your inner grove, your place of magic and sanctuary within the forest. This will be a place of connection and peace. You will develop relations with several tree spirits and the guardian of the grove. This guardian will instruct you, support your growth, and help connect you with other beings further from human consciousness. With time it is possible to build these relationships to a point where for short periods of time you may as a group become greater than the sum of your individual parts, forming a spirit alliance of incredible power and positive, healing, transforming potential.
Take several deep breaths. When you are ready, visualise the oak doorway or gateway to the great forest ahead of you. Take a few moments to acknowledge this place and moment as the beginning of your journey, and then pass through into the forest. See clearly before you a distinct shimmering path of pale stone winding its way through the trees ahead. This path will lead you to your tree spirit ally first and your sacred grove second. Call upon your allies and the great forest itself to assist you and guide your way. Follow the path.
You will be met by your primary tree spirit ally, who may or may not be with its accompanying tree. If you follow the path and your ally’s instructions, you will find yourself approaching a special sacred place. There may be some kind of threshold, ditch and bank, gate, or path through two trees that facilitates passage into a deeper and more sacred part of the forest. Or the threshold may simply be a transition between a densely wooded area that opens up to a clearing. Each grove is unique, developing organically rather than following a set pattern. When you approach this threshold, greet the place itself, bow in acknowledgment, or give some other sign that you respect and honour this most sacred place. Take the guidance of your allies and your inner promptings.
You may now be approached by the guardian of the grove. Again, this is always a unique experience, and the guardian may appear in any form. You may also be challenged or asked questions before being granted admittance. The guardian may have a gift for you or words of advice. Respond honestly and openly, allowing whatever response rises out from you. Sometimes this first interaction may take the form of an ancient and ritualised sequence that has little to do with logical thought, so don’t think too much about your response. That said, make sure you record it later for further consideration. Sometimes guardians don’t appear at first, and this is okay—just enter respectfully. You will meet the guardian somewhere within the grove at a point specifically suitable for you. Just ask to meet the guardian and consciously explore the grove with this end in mind.
Accompanied by your allies and the guardian if they choose to come with you, enter into the grove and begin to explore it, beginning by walking clockwise around the area and spiralling gradually inwards unless you are directed otherwise. Try to greet every single tree, and make a point of trying to acknowledge every being in the area. Other beings may take the forms of trees, other plants, stones, springs, and spirit beings of every conceivable description. Some part of the grove will hold something, someone, or be a place of particular sanctity. This element will form a key part of the work to be done there, for it is the grove’s secret; discovering it or being led to it may take several visits. Again, the experience will be unique to every person and grove, and the process cannot be rushed or explained in logical or linear terms.
After spending some time exploring, seat yourself upon the earth in the grove, and just “be” with the experience. Allow space for spirit to unfold or occur, and allow your energy to harmonise with this sacred place. After a while, thank your allies and the grove, paying particular mind to thanking the guardian. Return to the everyday world following the path the way you came. Remember to ground yourself afterwards by eating and drinking, and make sure you record the details of your journey in your journal.
This journey should be repeated frequently. With repeated visits, you will be establishing your otherworldly relationships, enabling more focused work when these relationships are strong and your ability to focus and dwell in the otherworldly grove has developed sufficiently for more specific work to take place there. Advanced magical and healing work within the grove may occur spontaneously when these skills have developed to an appropriate degree, and every visit will build upon the previous in an organic pattern of growth.
Energy Raising
Tree magic relies on positioning ourselves within the natural order, on communion and cooperation rather than domination of any kind. By seeing ourselves as part of a natural whole, we may draw upon the energy and intention of a collective of harmonious intelligences working together. To that end, we energise ourselves in the same way as our allies and move our consciousness into ever greater harmony with the earth. Thus we draw upon earth energy to empower and heal us, and use it to energise our magical and healing work. In this way we access the energy of “the Source”—the ever-powerful creative impulse—as manifesting in the earth itself, the Source as Earth Goddess. Ever nurturing and life-giving, the earth as goddess gives forth and supports all life that we know. This in turn forms a partnership with solar and lunar energy, but these are secondary in energetic terms. To explore energy raising with regard to tree spirits, it is essential our connection to the earth energy is primary in our focus and given the utmost respect. Disconnection from earth energy has led to humans regarding the earth as merely a resource to use in order to facilitate unsustainable lifestyles and greed-driven ambition. The earth becomes merely our dumping ground, and our relationship to the earth and all nature spirits is damaged as well as our environment. To align ourselves once again with the Earth Goddess is to restore this relationship and return to harmony and reverence for the divinity that is our home and birthright.
Drawing upon earth energy is as simple for us as it is for the trees. It is ever-present and offered to us freely, just like a mother’s love for her children. When we draw in this energetic nourishment, we effect positive changes in our energy and physical bodies, healing and rebalancing, restoring our place in the natural energetic web of life.
Exercise: Earth Energy Raising
This type of exercise is popular in many traditions, and it can be fine-tuned to take into consideration your own inner promptings and experience, but the core skills are perfectly simple and widely used. This is particularly good to know when learning, because you are performing a time-worn magical exercise. The accompanying energies support you throughout your practice.
Position yourself standing comfortably upon the earth, feet approximately hip width apart, and take several deep breaths. Feel your feet firmly upon the ground, and then send your attention farther beneath them, deep into the earth. Sense or imagine a deep well of inexhaustible energy in the earth, impossibly far beneath you, and spend some time contemplating this as the vast beating heart of the goddess. It is immensely powerful and tirelessly compassionate to all living things. Give your heartfelt thanks to the Earth Goddess, and visualise a channel of this energy drawn from the goddess welling up through the earth towards you.
See yourself as having energetic “roots,” extensions of your own energy field burrowing through the earth towards this energy, and find that the two connect very swiftly and easily, merging into one. These roots draw up the energy from the goddess into your body just as a tree draws in water. Feel this energy rising into your feet, warm and golden. Then let this energy fill farther up your body, rising up through your legs, and surging up your spine, activating all your energy centres. Feel it rise up your waist and into your chest where it meets your heart—the energy naturally increases. Then let the energy flow into your arms and shoulders, into your hands, and up your face till it tingles in your hair. In your inner vision you can see yourself as a glowing golden being, linked by an energetic umbilical to the heart of the goddess, an extension of her and the earth itself. Continue to breathe deeply and remain bathed in the energy for a while, letting it heal and energise you.
This exercise will have many subtle effects on your energy field and soul progress, but it can also have positive effects upon the physical body and your state of mind. It has deep healing power that should not be underestimated. Regular use has profound effects and is an essential core practice before directing this energy for further work.
This exercise can be performed indoors, even in upper stories of buildings, as the energy itself rises with equal ease through structures as through rock and soil, although allowing extra time for your perceptions to be able to sense it without your mind getting in the way can help. Practice and patience are the keys.
Exercise: Drawing Energy from Above
The next skill to develop is drawing energy from above—the sun, moon, and stars. Individual perceptions differ when calling in energy from above, but intention, as well as the condition of the sky above you, are important factors to what energy is drawn down. Sunlit days are easiest to connect with solar energy, although it is ever-present. Full moons naturally encourage “drawing down the moon” and inviting the moon goddess to descend and send her energy into the body. Clear starlit nights encourage star connection, but any or all of these can be called upon as general “universal” or nonterrestrial energy.
This exercise can be performed without any earth connection, but doing so can lead to some very spaced-out and inflated perceptions, as the “universal” energy is drawn down without any context to position it within a mortal human body. Instead it is better to copy the trees, and hold both earth and sky energy in balance, mirroring the tree’s roots, trunk, and branches.
Therefore this exercise is performed in addition to raising earth energy as a natural extension of that practice. First, draw the energy from the heart of the earth, and feel it filling your whole being. The energy rises up your spine and radiates across your chest and arms before rising farther to the top of your head. As this occurs, gently raise your arms and send your attention above you into the sky. Although you may feel some muscular tension, keep your arms raised, as this helps to prevent the energy from dissipating into the universe. Focus on feeling the sun or moonlight upon you and call it into your body, to merge with the earth energy within you. When earth energy has been raised, energy from above is naturally attracted to meet it, and at this point visions or sensations may occur, as these two distinct vibrations and divine intelligences merge within you. Feel the energy from above pour into your body, merging with the earth energy in your heart, where it naturally increases and shines out like a star. Gently lower your arms to chest level and hold them there for as long as possible. Further energy pours down through your body, blending harmoniously with the earth energy, both being held within you.
Hold this position and energetic state in your consciousness for as long as possible, breathing deeply and slowly into your belly. Feel it energise and empower you. Feel it nurturing your soul and your connection to the universe, aligning you with your soul’s path and your original divine state of perfect health and awareness. The star in your heart is your divine spark, the conception point between earth and sky, which reminds your whole body, mind, emotions, and energy field of your soul’s potential and natural divinity. This place is the core of your connectedness to all creation, the source of your power. Remember this, and hold this knowing in your body—calmly, gently, and confidently. After a while, slowly lower your arms, thanking both earth and sky for their blessing and energy. Imagine the connection from above gently retreating and the energy from below in the earth gently easing, but the energy in your body remaining. See yourself as full and whole.
Complete this exercise by grounding back into normal life—eat and drink, and record any experiences or sensations in your journal. If earthing feels difficult, spend an additional few minutes with your hands as well as your feet in contact with the ground, letting your energy settle.
As with raising earth energy, regular practice has powerful and entirely beneficial effects upon your energy field and subtle effects upon your body, such as greater vitality. This exercise is particularly powerful when performed in a high place, such as a hilltop. When performing indoors, as with earth energy raising, simply allow that the energy is not blocked by the building, flowing with equal ease above and below.
Offerings
The tradition of giving offerings to tree spirits goes back millennia, as a form of ritualised exchange which is invaluable when building a relationship with these venerable beings. As already discussed, there is some evidence to suggest that the blood of enemies was once poured onto the roots of sacred trees. In the West Country of Britain is a tradition, going back many hundreds of years at least, of offering clooties (Scots for “cloth”)—strips of ribbon or cloth—to a tree, tying them onto the branches with a prayer. This is particularly common at trees near holy wells, and the practice was once part of a magical healing technique where the cloth was soaked in holy spring water and used to lave the body of the sick or disturbed.
These days it is always important to consider our environmental impact, and sadly many such sacred trees have become sites of excessive rubbish and non-biodegradable clooties, such as candy wrappers being given as offerings. For this reason, we must rethink our traditions, and today there is no better offering than clearing a site of rubbish, being careful to leave the energy of any offerings with the tree should you take the physical matter away for disposal. This can be done by verbally asking the tree and cutting the energetic threads binding the offering with a knife using your inner vision so that the tree retains the prayers’ intentions without the physical object. Alternatively, offerings of water or sacred dance or song are excellent choices. When it comes to offerings, always try to sense the will of the tree spirit itself and heed your intuition. Remember to be practical and environmentally conscious. In this way we build a relationship with special trees, and do no harm.