A GIFT FROM THE FAERIE REALM
DECEMBER 24, 2011
I wrote this in an Australian forum called Oak & Mistletoe lamenting the recent loss of an eighty-five year old Maple tree that was just outside the bedroom window of the apartment I have lived in for the last thirty-five years....
I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams what Faery Magick was to come....
"I lost you, my old friend, a few days ago. For thirty-five years we together unfailingly marked the glorious changing of the seasons, and you kindly shaded the backside of my building during the heat of many a summer.
You were the picture of health towering seventy feet high, about the same age as me (85) from what I have been told. Numberless generations of squirrels and birds had called you home. So many happy memories.... the squirrels scurrying and leaping about.... the raccoons and possums that once found rest among your inviting branches.... all the birds nests that erupted with the delightful chorus of baby birds each year.... and the fascinatingly intricate freshly spun spider webs, glistening with morning dew, among your limbs in the light of the rising sun!
I loved you so very, very much.... Oh! My dear beloved old Maple Tree, how I wish I could have saved you!
You my old friend.... who brought such joy into my life, and the lives of so many others for so many years.... are gone."
Not long after I posted this little eulogy showing the tree that had been cut down, it was suggested by a member of the forum in Australia calling herself "Crystal" that some part of my old friend should be preserved and that perhaps a wand, a bowl or a pendant could be made.
Since my youngest son is an artist and former wood worker, he volunteered and began to look for just the right piece of wood. As he searched he noticed a hollow near the center of the tree trunk that was exposed when it was cut down. It must have formed many, many years ago, probably seventy or eighty, while I was still only a child.
Clearly two tree trunks once close together had merged, becoming one. He cleared it of saw dust and made the most remarkable discovery.... Within the tree all these many years had been hidden a secret!
When he brought it in I could hardly believe my eyes.... it was like a dream. It's about two inches across at the widest point and has all the subtle beauty of a great Emerald, my favorite gem! On closer examination several very small bubbles could be seen and it became obvious that it is made of glass, perhaps naturally formed, perhaps man made, there is no way to know.... and there is no way to determine its actual age with any certainty either....
What a wonderful mystery!
No ritual or consecration that I or any one else could possibly perform could in any way enhance the rich, slow and penetrating consecration the Nature Spirits and the Tree Spirit itself have already so skillfully accomplished.
There was a brief meditative visualization.... in silence.... one which both honored and gave loving thanks to the Tree Spirit and the Nature Spirits.
Several small pieces of glass had fallen off of the main piece. One of the larger ones was mailed to "Crystal" in Australia, and the largest piece that fell off was returned to the hollow during the meditation. It was then placed on my altar, resting on a simply carved pedestal my son made from a branch.
Here are better images of the hollow where it was found.
Wishing wonderful things for all.... Guenn
