Sadness.... and a Faery Tale ending!
Well, I lost an old friend a couple of days ago, for thirty-five years we marked the changing of the seasons together, and it kindly shaded the backside of my building during the heat of many a summer. My dear old friend was seventy feet high and about the same age as me from what I have been told. Numberless generations of squirrels and birds had called it home.... so many memories, the squirrels leaping about, the racoons and possums that rested among the branches and all the birds nests that would erupt in a chorus of baby birds each year. I loved it very, very much.... oh my dear beloved old Maple tree, how I wish I could have saved you, my dear old friend who brought such joy into my life for so many years, was gone....
Then, in another forum called "Oak & Mistletoe" it was suggested that some part of my old friend should be preserved and that perhaps a staff, a bowl or a pendant could be made. Since my son (Emile) is an artist and former wood worker, he volunteered and began to search in earnest for just the right piece of wood. He found one that he liked but I rejected it because it didn't "feel" right. He continued to search and as he did 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 close together had merged, becoming one. Being the curious sort, he cleared it of saw dust and made the most remarkable discovery! Within the tree all these many years has been hidden a secret! He said it was wedged in very tightly, and I watched from the second floor walkway as he used a hammer and a long screwdriver to carefully and patiently chisel it loose. 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! I would not even hazard a guess as to what it's really made of, nor have I any intention of finding out, but I will say that when I held it to my chest I immediately burst into tears with such joy as I have never felt before.... it rests upon my Altar for now, but soon, in a special ritual, I will consecrate it my self and have it made (no cutting or faceting) into the most glorious and powerful Amulet I have ever had. Love and Light to you all! Guenn
Just a note to add that on the opposite side of the building from where the tree was cut down (it was about twenty feet from my bedroom window), my kitchen table faces a picture window overlooking the front yard where there is another tree about ten feet away, and more eighty and hundred year old trees visible to please the Nature lovers eye (just a little farther away), with the same "morning show" of fifty or sixty birds of several different kinds, along with the (sometimes naughty) squirrels, whose acrobatics just outside the window go on all day and are endlessly entertaining, brightening even the cloudiest day.... so I think I am going to be alright after all!
Take Care! Guenn
Emile tells me he can see small air bubbles in it so it must be glass (which I already suspected) but that really does not matter to me, it could have been an ordinary rock and I would have been (almost)equally delighted! Take care everyone, Guenn
Hello everyone.... Here is a little update.... Contrary to what I originally assumed, it turns out there will be only a brief ritual/meditation conducted in silence (using only visualization), and it will not be one of consecration, but rather one which both honors and gives loving thanks to the Tree Spirit and the Nature Spirits.
It has been made clear to me after several meditations now that there really is no ritual consecration that I or any one else could possibly perform that would in any way enhance or improve on the rich, slow and penetrating consecration the Nature Spirits and the Tree Spirit itself have already so adeptly and skillfully accomplished.
At first it naturally seemed a good idea to make it into something, but it seems there is nothing that can be made from it, nothing that should be done to it, and nothing that can be added to it. It is complete, and I feel strongly that any kind of elaborate ritual or consecration would be meddling, and could actually end up weakening, or detracting from the intense spiritual essence that we feel emanating from it. Instead, it will be placed (front and center) on my altar, resting upon a small simply carved pedestal whittled by my son from a branch he saved.
Several small pieces of glass have fallen off of the main piece, and one of the larger ones will simply be returned to the hollow during the visualized ritual/meditation, establishing a strong permanent connection between myself, the object, and the Tree/Nature Spirits.... Guenn
Update from another forum....
Mythopoeika wrote "Fascinating! I guess when the two parts of the tree started to grow together, somebody probably wedged a glass bottle in the gap. The growth continued, crushing the bottle and creating a space within."
Emile wrote "Well actually that's one of the first things I ruled out since there is only the one chunk of glass, and it is about one and a half inches thick at the narrowest point, which would not be consistent with it having been a bottle. In addition, the hollow itself represents a much larger volume than the piece of glass and no other fragments were found, also the original bark surfaces of the two tree trunks that merged are still intact within, which leads me to believe the hollow would have formed the same way even if there was nothing inside.
Something else that is interesting is that the hollow, which is about two feet deep measured from the flat top of the stump down to the bottom, had about five inches of dirt with several small pebbles (the largest being four millimeters in diameter) mixed in, which would seem to indicate that it initially must have formed a little "bowl" configuration at or just below ground level and actually lifted and surrounded not only the piece of glass itself, but also a little patch of the ground it was resting on as well. Dirt alone deposited in the hollow could be explained by wind action, but I think the pebbles are too heavy for that to be a good explanation as to how they got there.
I was vaguely aware, as most are, of the existence of naturally formed glass in the form of obsidian (black volcanic glass), but a "Google Search" revealed that it can also be formed by lightning strikes and meteor impacts. Naturally formed glass created in these ways also exhibit a broad range of sizes, colors and textures. It can be opaque, transparent, glossy or matt, transparent with opaque or tinted bands, etc. depending on the chemical make up of the affected material present at the time of formation. It shows no sign of being man made consisting entirely of irregular surfaces and flakes off of very similar to the way obsidian does. There seems to be no scientific method currently available to determine it's actual age (still looking into that)."
Joined: 2010-07-18