The Shaman's Adaptive Flexibility:
The ‘Spokes Tree’
The following is a very interesting situation. A practitioner wanted to go talk to a tree in order to learn something important about herself, the tree, or even the land upon which they stood. Learning to talk with trees is something that we practice during our first level of studies. Shamans always talk to trees, just as they talk to rocks, creeks and mountains. The world of the practitioner is one in which teachers surround us everywhere.
Shamans go to the land to listen to how it is doing, but also for what it has to teach them. When we go to a tree for a lesson, it may be one of many things that we learn, and what we are taught can be very different from what we might anticipate. In the following situation, the practitioner involved was very open to whatever information was going to come to her: perhaps some might say ‘too open’, because many trees had something to say, all at once! In fact, it was utter cacophony. Like an unruly classroom of schoolchildren, too many trees wanted to speak at the same time.
Perhaps like a classroom teacher, we might first think that a glowering look might be our first response, and we might not be too far off base! But what if that 'certain' look that an experienced teacher has learned to deliver (and to which the class has learned to respond!) is not enough? The situation of too many trees talking at once, happily, does not arise too often in a shaman's life. But when it does, how might we respond?
I bring this up, not because we have a particular problem in nonordinary reality with trees, but because this practitioner and her response say volumes about adept practitioner work. In shamanic work, time can easily be of the essence and grave matters may be at stake. Learning how to handle difficult nonordinary situations is crucial, for the work needs to be done despite apparent obstacles, and in this era of fewer practitioners in the world, we may be the only one available and able to see it through.
I will let the practitioner first describe what happened:
“I called in the Directions this morning and then I did the Feather Dusting on myself. I could feel stuff releasing, particularly in the throat chakra area and heart area.”
“…I went outside to talk to a Tree on my Land. I had tried earlier but all of the Trees wanted to talk to me and I got overwhelmed (I have over 20 very large trees here). This time I asked that one Tree to be the ‘spokes tree’.”
“I was drawn to the Tree at the corner of my property which my Dad thinks might be a sour gum. Because of where it is situated, I can’t easily get to the trunk, but I touched one of the limbs hanging down.”
“I did some dusting first, then asked the Tree what it had to say. I felt some energy come up my body and the Tree said I needed to bring energy up and through (like sap). And I felt the Tree as it was rooted to the ground, and spread out to the sky. It indicated a joyful feeling as it reached for the sky.”
“I moved around to a different spot. This Tree is actually 2 trunks and I wondered if it was one tree or two trees. I touched a limb from the other trunk and got the sense that these were twin trees.”
First, it is significant that this practitioner, when extending her nonordinary perception, was drawn to something that was hard for her to get to. Practitioners are often be pulled towards something that is directly in front of us, but the mere fact that she was drawn towards something that was way off in a corner somewhere says a great deal about her sensitivity and appropriate choice. To find ourselves reaching towards something with difficulty involved may be a sort of ‘extra validation’ that our perception is right ‘on track’, for it is more likely that if we were just reaching for something and not fully tuned in to a shamanic state of consciousness, that we would be attracted to something far easier to reach.
Also, a little background is called for. If you are not yet familiar with ‘dusting’, it is a shamanic clearing technique that we learn, which removes potential interference between ourselves and something or somebody when we do our work. Furthermore, shamans often talk to trees, just as they converse with the multitude of other beings who inhabit this Earth.
Now there are a great many aspects to her work that day which can be explored further. For instance, in that morning’s personal dusting, she felt release around her throat and her heart areas. What also might be important to her in particular, is the lesson of bringing energy up ‘like sap’, or the ‘rootedness’, as well as the reaching and spreading towards the sky that she was shown. Moreover, the fact that she was drawn to a tree with two apparent trunks, which with closer listening, were explained to her as being twins… what do any of these things mean for her alone, or even, are these messages for her only!
Practitioners learn quickly that what we are shown, hear or feel in this state of consciousness may easily ‘unpack’ into many, many things that are important to us. The visions we receive are mere glimpses into a world that is likely to be full of depth and clarity. In a sense, it is as if these are suggestions of where to explore, rather than the full lesson itself. It would be something like a professor in a classroom coaxing the student to ‘look on page 70 of your textbook’ for the answer they seek, because there is where the answer to their question can be found.
But that is just the beginning! Once the ‘answer’ is found, then the big question comes up: what does this answer – this vision - mean? And then just as importantly, how do we actualize what we have learned! Receiving information is only a small part of shamanism. The other half is doing something with it.
This practitioner was fortunate. For whatever reasons, she instinctively came up with a very workable strategy when faced with the confusion and muddle of trying to listen to the clamor of many trees, all desiring to speak at once. This is also just good, common sense. Sure, she is doing something practiced in nonordinary reality among trees by listening to what others may not be able to hear, but it is a wise thing to consider that we always have strategies upon which we can call.
The nonordinary word is full of confusing situations, and it is very much dependent on the wit and grace of the shaman to work through these when they arise, because they will.
Whether it is one tree that you must single out to speak for the rest amidst the clamor of many, or whether it is any of the other innumerable situations where your creative handling of the moment is called for, you are likely to have to be quick on your feet. You will eventually have to come up with a ‘workaround’ and devise your own unique approach to deal with what needs to be done. Whether it is to single out a ‘spokes tree’ or devise any other creative approach, your adaptive flexibility, combined with unending and stubborn determination, will together see you through the many apparent obstacles that are certain to eventually come!