Thoughts on an Oak Tree

A Thought, an idea and the self are like acorns. Within the silent, still acorn is the seed of the mighty oak tree, hidden behind a protective outer shell. One day that shell will crack and the beginnings of an oak tree will emerge from the soil, that idea, that thought, the personality and gifts of oneself will grow and flow out into the world.

However, in order for that oak to grow, in order for us to be able to benefit from all that the oak has to offer, one must tend the oak throughout all it’s stages of growth, learn what it needs as acorn, as seedling, sapling, young and old tree and acorn again, just as we must tend the surrounding environment with love, care and devotion.

When an oak has grown tall and strong it can offer us food, shelter, prosperity and much more. But the oak must not be forced to grow. Remember well the story of the two apple trees:

Once there was a tall, strong and ancient apple tree, it provided shade for the people in the summer and wood for fire in the winter, it gave them the richest, juiciest apples in all the land and no storm could shake it or knock it down. One day two apples fell from the tree and, deciding to grow into trees themselves they looked to their parent for inspiration. One saw how the people loved its parent for the bounty of fruit and the shade and wood it provided and so it decided to push its growth so that it too would be loved for these things. The other saw that it had taken its parent many, many years of growth, patience and care for it to be able to provide and so, like its parent it worked on itself first, growing slowly. The first tree did indeed grow tall, but it was weak and its apples crabby and no-one ate from the tree, it was not wide and so could not offer shade and it was thin and could not produce wood. The second tree took many years to mature and when it did it was as strong and bountiful as its parent and the people loved it. The best intentions toward others may in fact weaken the self and lead to the opposite of one’s desires, but with patience, concentration and focus on the self, we grow strong and are able to share much with those around us.

The environment surrounding the oak needs to be carefully tended, it needs water, light, space and nutrition, and careful consideration must be given to what surrounds the oak and thus influences how it grows. An oak feeds from what falls from its neighbours, know then that it feeds from both the strong, ancient, beneficial, caring, loving and wise as much as it feeds from the ill, weak, young, the poisonous, the deceitful, the ill informed and the blind. But that environment cannot be so man made and sterile as to deny the oak the ability to learn from mistakes and experience, rather than changing the environment around the oak to what one feels is appropriate, first spend time locating an area that is most fitting for the oak, that is, spend time learning your inner woodland, your own personality and self rather than changing what is within you already, once the oak has grown, the environment responds to it, just as it responds to the environment and so, with time, patience, love and care, your entire inner self, your woodland changes for the better.

Soil is representative of all that nurtures us from the past, things that we hold on to and can draw on for nurture and strength. Soil that is too loose can aid the roots to grow, but cannot support a large tree in a gale, soil that is to wet can drown the tree. Soil that is too stony can provide good holding but lacks nutrition and the soil can be washed away with a simple shower.

Water quenches the thirst, be this a physical thirst or a thirst for knowledge. It also washes away the bad things and the dust that settles on us. It is also representative of the emotions and as wet soil can drown us, so to can an immersion too deep into our emotions.

The surrounding trees, plants and animals represent the present, those things going on around us at the present time, the soil is made from their past, as well as from our own, as the past actions of these neighbours affects the area also, and their seeds are as the oak’s acorns thoughts, creations, ideas and manifestations of what they put out into the world.

Sunlight and the reaching for it are representative of the search for knowledge, enlightenment, illumination and good, just as moonlight is a representative of the light of mystery, and dark is of sanctuary.

The Birds and animals and to a degree the water carry the acorns from the oak out into the wider world, transporting seeds from this thought/idea/creation/personality across the forest to places that they can grow and be seen and shared.

The Lichens and mistletoe provide healing remedies and spiritual lore.

The Wind and the insects transport the pollen from the oak to the wider world and from the wider world to the oak, allowing a mingling of ideas, a sharing and progression of thoughts, adding colour and depth to creations and personality, and each acorn that grows then is different in some small way and through the many generations of oak trees, the bonding, merging and marrying together of ideas, thoughts, creativity and personality becomes stronger. Like a marriage between two people, two sets of ideas, tow sets of thoughts, two entirely different personalities meld to become one, a newer version of an old path.

With the diversity of differences in oak trees, there will never be a complete knowing as all things are constantly changing. However, it is entirely possible for the original thought to be stumbled upon again, if the environment, times etc are right and willing, that oak tree can live again in the same way and learn an entirely new set of lessons.

The Environment must be cleared of rubbish, kept free of infestations and kept safe from unwanted invaders.

Many acorns can be gathered at one time and can be planted at the same time, but if planted in haste, too close together, in a bad environment, with no space to reach, stretch and grow and with little or no light, then few will germinate, fewer still will grow to seedlings, fewer still to saplings and very few, if any will grow to be giant, majestic, guardians of the woodland. Also consideration must be given to quality rather than quantity, one thought might look good on one side, but turn the acorn over and it may be rotten. And consideration must be given to how many acorns are left for others to find also, as the oak does not serve a single soul.

If all things have been tended properly and the acorns have come to be tall, strong oak trees then one is faced with a great decision; all that has grown is there for the taking, or the sharing, how much will one share? How much will one keep?

The oak by its nature is a giver, it is home to a massive variety of species of birds, animals and insects as well as to other plant life, including the revered mistletoe. Who or what will one allow to share one’s thoughts?

The wood can give us shelter and shade as it stands or it can be cut to make houses, boats and bridges. It can provide us with warmth through fire and prosperity through trade and craft. The acorn can give us food, thus feeding us, reminding us of the original thought, and it can give us a harvest of new ideas, thoughts and creations to draw upon ourselves or to share with others. The fallen leaves go to the ground and are turned, with the help of many of the creatures that dwell within or around the oak, into food, not only for the oak and those creatures, but for the surrounding environment. And in this the oak does not discriminate who receives from this bounty, in the eyes of the oak, all are equal, none can be judged as wrong or right for each part of that environment plays an important and valid part of the oaks life.

Of course an oak tree lives far past our lifespan and thus, if tended properly it will continue to benefit future generations, this is true even in death when its fallen, decaying body continues to feed the environment and its seeds continue to spread and grow in the wider world just as when our original thought has passed out of memory, it continues to generate new ones, each of which holds its echo. But we cannot tend that oak past our own lifespan and thus due care must be given to educating the young in how to tend the oak, harvest new acorns and plant and tend new oak trees fully and with care, love and devotion. In this way we benefit the future. If the cycle is honoured and upheld, with vigilance, patience, education, care, love and devotion, that oak will, in its way live forever.

In the end, it is not for what we recieve that we are remembered, it is for what we share.