I am so excited and thankful for Kristine choosing Willow this month. I have made some incense from willow leaves and adore Willow Root tea. I will look forward to continuing our earth learning with this magical tree this February. As I have mentioned in the past Willow is my last name and a name I passed onto my eldest as his middle name. But this was a name that I gave myself when I was about 15 years old as I spent many a warm summer day and night playing under the willow trees that my parents planted on the old farm that I grew up on. Years later paths led me to the opportunity to legally change my last name to Willow and it has always felt like a part of who I am, planting my feet on my soul path!
That has been at least 11 years now since my legal name change and I am continually entranced by this tree and her influence on the world. There is an author of a book called Between Earth and Sky that is coming to my village on Saturday. Her book is about the "intimate connections to trees"- it would be a fun talk to go to if you are local and want to hear her. It is part of a series on campus called Saturday Morning Science.Browsing through her book I found this lovely blessing from Michael A. Glaser:
Let me stop to say a blessing for these woods:
for crows barking and
squirrels scampering,
for trees and fungus and multi-colored leaves,
for the way sunlight laces with shadows
through each branch and leaf of
tree,
for these paths that take me in,
for these paths that lead me out
Thank you for being here with me on this mothering path. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!
