Roots & Wings
Amazing Roots, Awesome Trees
Storyteller under a Baobab Tree
I believe that Stories are like Roots to the Past... and Wings to the Future. Below you will find the most amazing facts and beautiful image of Trees... and Birds.
UmbrellaThornAcaciawww.blueplanetbiomes.org/acacia_tortillis.htm
About the Umbrella Thorn Acacia Tree:
The Umbrella Thorn Acacia “Mimosa Tree” gets its name from a spreading, flat-topped crown. It grows in the sand dunes and rocky grounds of Africa's grasslands. This tree can survive 122° F temperatures during the day, freezing temperatures at night, and an annual rainfall as low as 4 cm. A deep taproot, which can reach 115 ft under the ground, and a second set of roots spread out just under the ground helps it get water during dry spells.
The Acacia provides shade for the animals of the savanna. The trunk of the tree makes very good charcoal and firewood. The flowers on the Acacia provide a good source of honey in some regions. The stem of the tree is used to treat asthma, and diarrhea. The bark of the acacia is used as a disinfectant, and the pods are used to make porridge.
"Out of little seeds, great trees can grow!"
The tips of small plant roots move through the soil with a twisting screwlike motion. Mature trees can have as many as 5 million active root tips. The plants growing in a 2-acre wheat field can have more than 30,000 miles of roots, greater than the circumference of the Earth.
The Deeper the Roots…
The Stronger the Tree
Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park, California
TREES AROUND THE WORLD
Truth is like a baobab tree; one person's arms cannot embrace it" (African proverb)
About the BaobabTree:
Traditionally, in African villages, children gather under a Baobab tree to hear the elders tell stories. The baobab is a meeting-place, symbolic of the exchange of ideas and opinions. Some legends identify the Baobab as the one true Tree of Life.
The Baobab, also known as the "Monkey-bread tree," is native to the savanna region of Senegal in Western Africa. It can also be found in the remote deserts of Australia, in Madagascar, or in Barbados (brought from Guinea). Most live over 500 years and some specimens in Africa are believed to be up to 5000 years old. With a circumference up to 51.5 ft (18.5m.), it takes 10-15 adults joining with outstretched arms to encircle it.
The Baobab looks as if it is growing upside-down, with twisted roots sitting atop a huge, smooth, trunk. According to legend, the baobab trees used to brag about being the most beautiful trees ever created. God was unhappy about the bragging trees, so as a punishment, he turned them upside down. The baobab looks like this for a reason. Its massive trunk can hold 300 –100,000 litres of water enabling it to live through long periods without rain. The baobab is leafless for nine months of the year. People use its leaves for medicine, its bark for cloth and rope, while the fruit, called "monkey bread", is eaten. The hollowed-out trunks of dead trees have been used as prisons, and even as tombs. Sometimes people live inside of the huge trunks, and animals called "bush-babies" or "moonchildren" live in the crown.
The Spirit of Trees
S ince ancient times, trees have been thought to have souls or spirits. The Bodhi tree (Ficus Religiosa) in Bodhgaya, India, is where the Buddha Guatama, meditated to attain enlightenment. To Native Americans, every plant, every tree, as well as Mother Earth and Father Sky, were imbued with a spirit.
Acacia trees were believed to have greater power than other trees because their roots penetrated more deeply into the Earth. Tales of their healing and sacred power have been told by elders, sung of by poets, and invoked by mystics. (See: Spirit Trees and Plants: spirit plants).
Acacia tree resin gum has been used by traditional healers in diagnosis and treatment of disease, prophecy, and divination. The Acacia tree and the Balsam plant were both used as main ingredients in the production of the prized balsam oil used in religious rites and medicinal practices. The Ayahuasca or "Yage" brews used in the Amazon for millennia to heal, divine, and worship, induces, in the person who consumes it, an experience of other spiritual realms and of the higher vibrations of the spirit world. Syrian Rue is a small bushy desert shrub known by bedouins as Harmal. The harmala's bitter seeds were the base of the ''Drink of the Immortals,'' a powerful medicine and love potion.
In ancient times, a monarch, after becoming an initiate, was anointed king with Balsam Plant Oil ("Liquid Myrrh"). Among the titles of Osiris was 'He that Dwelleth in the Acacia Tree' (The Acacia Tree and the Rites of Initiation). And, the Banyan tree is revered as the tree of justice among several cultures. Its wide spreading branches send trunk-like roots to the ground in order to support itself. A single Banyan trees may cover acres of ground.
Jacaranda Tree, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Sanctuary
Roman philosopher Seneka wrote in the first century A.D.:
"If you come upon a grove of old trees that have lifted their crowns up above and shut out the light of the sky by the darkness of their interlacing boughs, you feel that there is a spirit in the place, so lofty is the wood, so lonely the spot, so wonderous the thick unbroken shade."
Why do we rest so well in the shade of a tree? Forests and spirituality are intimately connected. There is an intricate relationship between a tree and the forms of life that live with it, and around it. Ancient people cherished and cultivated this connection. Human beings respond to it intuitively and spontaneously. In the forest our soul breathes. We enjoy moments of silent brooding and tranquility, nourishing the core of our being.
Not every tree possesses the same energy and meaning. Ancient people throughout the world set out certain forests as sacred. These special groves and forests were usually enclosed by stone walls. This enclosure was called in Greek Temenos. The Latin term for these demarcated places was templu, the original root of the word 'temple.
The Buddha defined the forest as "a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who destroys it."
From: Forests as Sanctuaries, by Henryk Skolimowski:
Forests as Sanctuaries.
TREES - SILENT WITNESSES TO HISTORY
As trees grow, they record historical events and the passage of time.
OLD AS METHUSELAH – On the dry windswept mountaintops of the Great Basin in the western United States grow earth's oldest living inhabitants, the bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva). With roots that go back over 4,600 years, it predates even the Great Pyramids. It has outlived entire civilizations, survived lethal attacks, weathered brutal climatic catastrophes, and weathered the Nuclear Age.
http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/intro.html
Methuselah Tree
Photo: www.getlostmagazine.com/. ../wilderness.html
Strange Fruit – Hangman’s Tree
In 1937 Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from New York, wrote of the poem, Strange Fruit, about the terror of lynching. The poem became a song, best-known from Billie Holiday's poignant 1939 rendition.
An estimated 5000 black men and women were lynched in the U.S. from the 1890s to the 1960s. For more info visit: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/
A People Without Knowledge of their history…
Are like a Tree without ROOTS.
SOLIDARITY
In overthrowing me, you have cut only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring again from the roots for they are numerous and deep." -- Toussaint L'Ouverture, 1802
Each One, Reach One
Bongsanglay Mangrove Natural Park
Photo: www.oneocean.org/.../ 200309/tangled-roots.jpg
As each group seeks their separate roots and origins, society fractures along a thousand fissure lines. When neighbors distance themselves from neighbors, continue your … quest for your truer roots in the deepest regions of your lives. Seek out the primordial "roots" of humankind. – Daisaku Ikeda, Sun of Jiyu Over a New Land
MORE IMAGES
Copyrighted and other images that could not be included above.
Tree roots at Ta Prohm Temples, Cambodia
SACRED ROOTS: http://goo.gl/Rcr8S
Ryan Zoghlin Photography Beautiful, well worth the visit.
Baobab
Spirit of Trees - beautiful images, plus folktales and myths about trees
http://images.google.com/roots More images...Google search page link
Family Trees
About the BaobabTree:
Traditionally, in African villages, children gather under a Baobab tree to hear the elders tell stories. The baobab is a meeting-place, symbolic of the exchange of ideas and opinions. Some legends identify the Baobab as the one true Tree of Life.
The Baobab, also known as the "Monkey-bread tree," is native to the savanna region of Senegal in Western Africa. It can also be found in the remote deserts of Australia, in Madagascar, or in Barbados (brought from Guinea). Most live over 500 years and some specimens in Africa are believed to be up to 5000 years old. With a circumference up to 51.5 ft (18.5m.), it takes 10-15 adults joining with outstretched arms to encircle it.
The Baobab looks as if it is growing upside-down, with twisted roots sitting atop a huge, smooth, trunk. According to legend, the baobab trees used to brag about being the most beautiful trees ever created. God was unhappy about the bragging trees, so as a punishment, he turned them upside down. The baobab looks like this for a reason. Its massive trunk can hold 300 –100,000 litres of water enabling it to live through long periods without rain. The baobab is leafless for nine months of the year. People use its leaves for medicine, its bark for cloth and rope, while the fruit, called "monkey bread", is eaten. The hollowed-out trunks of dead trees have been used as prisons, and even as tombs. Sometimes people live inside of the huge trunks, and animals called "bush-babies" or "moonchildren" live in the crown.
S ince ancient times, trees have been thought to have souls or spirits. The Bodhi tree (Ficus Religiosa) in Bodhgaya, India, is where the Buddha Guatama, meditated to attain enlightenment. To Native Americans, every plant, every tree, as well as Mother Earth and Father Sky, were imbued with a spirit.
Acacia trees were believed to have greater power than other trees because their roots penetrated more deeply into the Earth. Tales of their healing and sacred power have been told by elders, sung of by poets, and invoked by mystics. (See: Spirit Trees and Plants: spirit plants). Acacia tree resin gum has been used by traditional healers in diagnosis and treatment of disease, prophecy, and divination. The Acacia tree and the Balsam plant were both used as main ingredients in the production of the prized balsam oil used in religious rites and medicinal practices. The Ayahuasca or "Yage" brews used in the Amazon for millennia to heal, divine, and worship, induces, in the person who consumes it, an experience of other spiritual realms and of the higher vibrations of the spirit world. Syrian Rue is a small bushy desert shrub known by bedouins as Harmal. The harmala's bitter seeds were the base of the ''Drink of the Immortals,'' a powerful medicine and love potion. In ancient times, a monarch, after becoming an initiate, was anointed king with Balsam Plant Oil ("Liquid Myrrh"). Among the titles of Osiris was 'He that Dwelleth in the Acacia Tree' (The Acacia Tree and the Rites of Initiation). And, the Banyan tree is revered as the tree of justice among several cultures. Its wide spreading branches send trunk-like roots to the ground in order to support itself. A single Banyan trees may cover acres of ground.
The Spirit of Trees
Jacaranda Tree, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Roman philosopher Seneka wrote in the first century A.D.:
Not every tree possesses the same energy and meaning. Ancient people throughout the world set out certain forests as sacred. These special groves and forests were usually enclosed by stone walls. This enclosure was called in Greek Temenos. The Latin term for these demarcated places was templu, the original root of the word 'temple.
The Buddha defined the forest as "a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who destroys it."
From: Forests as Sanctuaries, by Henryk Skolimowski:
Forests as Sanctuaries.
TREES - SILENT WITNESSES TO HISTORY
As trees grow, they record historical events and the passage of time.
Methuselah Tree
Photo: www.getlostmagazine.com/. ../wilderness.html
Strange Fruit – Hangman’s Tree
A People Without Knowledge of their history…
Are like a Tree without ROOTS.
SOLIDARITY
In overthrowing me, you have cut only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring again from the roots for they are numerous and deep." -- Toussaint L'Ouverture, 1802
Each One, Reach One
Photo: www.oneocean.org/.../ 200309/tangled-roots.jpg
As each group seeks their separate roots and origins, society fractures along a thousand fissure lines. When neighbors distance themselves from neighbors, continue your … quest for your truer roots in the deepest regions of your lives. Seek out the primordial "roots" of humankind. – Daisaku Ikeda, Sun of Jiyu Over a New Land
MORE IMAGES
Copyrighted and other images that could not be included above.
Tree roots at Ta Prohm Temples, Cambodia
SACRED ROOTS: http://goo.gl/Rcr8S
Ryan Zoghlin Photography Beautiful, well worth the visit.
Baobab
Spirit of Trees - beautiful images, plus folktales and myths about trees
http://images.google.com/roots More images...Google search page link
Family Trees
The Spirit of Birds
There was a time,
when peace was on the Earth,
and joy and happiness did reign
and each man knew his worth.
In my heart how I yearn for that spirit's return
And I cry, as time flies…
The Creator Has A Master Plan, Leon Thomas and Pharoah Sanders (1968)
There are 8,600 species of birds in the world today and they play a vital role in the balance of nature. They eat insects, pests and small animals. Fruit eating birds scatter seeds. We eat eggs and meat from birds and we use their feathers for pillows, quilts and clothing.
We’ve written poetry, stories, and songs about the beauty of birds. Many birds have become symbols for human values: the owl - wisdom, the dove - peace, and the eagle - political power. http://wings.avkids.com/Book/Animals/intermediate/birds-01.html
Birds can become disoriented when they're flying through heavily-polluted areas. Also, …their "calendars" can get thrown off if their directions are switched, adversely affecting the environments that the birds serve. The absence or delay of birds can distort ecological balance.
“The Spirit of Bird is not on planet Earth as an observer, but as a participant. Birds, encompassing the Sky, are reminders of Spirit, and that which is above, but not higher, than Earth biology. …It is the presence of birds that remind us that there is something "up there." That something that is "up there" is down here, and knows no physical demarcation. Spirit is everywhere, and evident in all forms. Birds, to fly, must also touch the Earth.”
-- Galadriel, Essay, The Mill Pond, www.wizardrealm.com/Galadriel/birds.html
Birds as Spirit Guides
“A Little Birdie Told Me”
In many stories birds appear as messengers with lessons about things we need to learn or overcome. There are some who believe that birds serve as our teachers, protectors, and spiritual guides. Crick, High Priest of Whispering Woods Coven, says: … that this guide brings out inner fears that we must be able to face and conquer in order to grow spiritually.
Blackbird - primal feminine energy, trance work, territorial, omens, mysticism, promise
Bluebird - Throat chakra, confidence, transformation, happiness
Blue Jay - Linking of heaven and earth, survival, control, resourcefulness, imbalance in ones life
Canary - mysteries of song, healing, happiness, inner awakening, warning of danger or impending perils
Cardinal - Inspiration of self importance, courtship, opportunities
Catbird - New communication skills, fertility, exposure
Chickadee - Mystery, social, truth, fearless, honest perceptions
Chicken - Sexuality, awakening powers, fertility, divination
Cockatoo - Survival, beauty, communication, connection with solar energy
Cowbird - Resolving old issues, grounding
Crane - Past life experiences, secrecy, creative resources
Crow - Magick, solitude, shapeshifter, creation, alertness, spiritual strength
Cuckoo - Dealing with fate, new beginnings
Doves - Female sexuality, peace, spiritual messengers, connection with Mother Earth, prophecy
Duck - Emotional state, water energy, communal, feminine energies, astral plane
Eagle - spiritual, weather control, creation, sense of balance, illumination of spirit, in-depth perception, awareness, healing, opportunities, spiritual growth
Falcon - Astral travel, magick, swiftness, healing of the spirit, command of the skies
Finch - Potential opportunites, activities
Flicker - Rhythm, nurturing, spiritual growth, personal insight, inner growth
Goldfinch - Link to spiritual realm, understanding the value of change, nature spirits, visualization, awakening of spiritual beings
Goose - fertility, spiritual quest, fidelity, imprinting life lessons, community, awakening of the imagination
Grackle - Clearing of emotions, accomplishment, growth, insight, coping with life situations
Grouse - Natural rhythm, creation, traveling through the great spiral, new dimensions
Gull - Ecology, cleanliness, faery contact, spiritual messenger, communication
Hawk - Visionary power, illumination, healing, life force, experience, psychic energies
Heron - Wisdom, dignity, individualism, exploration, balance, stability
Hornbill - Maternal instinct, overcoming obstacles, independence
Hummingbird - Healing, relationships, love, faery realm, joy, accomplishments, architects, relaxation
Kestrel - Aura of mystery, agility, speed, attentive, patience
Kingfisher - Peace, prosperity, indifference, new experiences, teaching of offspring, abundance, new life
Kite - Clarity, awareness, spiritual communication, prophecy, change
Loon - Adaption, controlling the dream state, astral plane, awareness, visions
Magpie - Encounters with the spirit realm, use of ritual, changing luck, inspiring intelligence, witchcraft, prophecy
Martin - Peace, communal, positive change, good luck
Meadowlark - Noble acts, clarity, positive spiritual quest, soul searching, cheerfulness
Mockingbird - Courage, opportunities, learning through experience, master of languages, attitude, realization of inner talents
Nuthatch - Faith, truth, courage, faith in ones abilities, grounding
Crick is the founder and High Priest of Whispering Woods coven, dedicated to the love and worship of the God and Goddess. http://www.whisperingwood.homestead.com/Spiritbirds.html
“Free as a Bird”
“Fly like an Eagle"
Human beings have always been captivated by birds in flight. But even artificial flight by humans was considered impossible until it happened. Flight as a spiritual mode of transport means to “transcend the physical environment,” “to incorporate the weightlessness of Spirit.”
I once heard a story about a prince soaring high in the sky until someone tells him it isn't possible.
Remember the expression, "Birds of a feather flock together."
If you're an eagle, don't hang around chickens …. Chickens don’t fly! "...And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, STORIES ABOUT BIRDS By Ken Edwards http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411145 … whenever you look to the sky and see the eagle, remember that you can't fly if you don't have feathers. Keep true to our traditions, and remember - knowledge is our wings and our feathers. The Eagle's Flight written and narrated by Julie Reder Fairley http://www.linkslearning.org/Superintendents/1_Leadership_Fables/8_The_Catskill_Eagle/ In a blackened gorge, high in the Catskills, there once lived an eagle. Unlike her peers, however, this eagle could not fly. The AFRO-American Almanac http://www.toptags.com/aama/tales/tale9.htm One day, as the birds of a certain place were talking, an argument arose as to who could fly the highest. More bird images - copyrighted images that can not be reproduced here.
Russell Hansen Collection Breathtaking! Make Your Very Own Flying Origami Crane
You can make a beautiful paper Dove of Peace International Crane Foundation’s Children’s International Art Exchange from students around the world, offers an opportunity to educate children and adults about ecosystem protection and restoration. 
for there you have been and there you long to return."
~leonardo de vinci
The birth of eagle lore
http://www.dignidad.org/english/eagles.html
Before the people of corn, our people, came to this earth, eagles walked from place to place to get around. Once there was a girl who asked her grandmother how it was that eagle's learned to fly. "Eagles," Grandmother began, "didn't always know how to fly. This is what the ancient ones say…" The Catskill Eagle
The Flying Contest
