Tree of Peace

The initial idea for this quilt was to focus on forgiveness and with forgiveness - true forgiveness comes peace.  We are all doing the best we can at any moment and harboring resentment has lead to unhappiness over and over in my own life. 

This past weekend was the weekend of the coyote that I am doing where I am learning to be a mentor and community builder under the model of the 8 shields - a concept from the 8 shields institute.  Evan brought in an Odawa Elder, Paul Raphael, to come and speak to us about how community works on his reservation. My heart is still overflowing from the wisdom he shared with us about rebuilding the community to bring about peace. With this wisdom comes a lot of forgiveness and a letting go within ourselves of how attached we are to how people should act or how people shound have acted in the past.  In his community, they focus less on the me and more on the we.  I find myself returning over and over to that statement trying to see it becoming a reality in my own life.  Are my actions and thoughts good for the whole and not just myself?  This feels so contrary to our culture.

In his culture there is the Tree of Peace.  Oh... how I love the sound of that..  In his culture that tree is the cedar tree - not the red cedars that we have in Georgia, but the "real cedar tree" as he says.  (The red cedars we have in Georgia are actually in the juniper family.) 

I love the sound of Tree of Peace and how it rolls off my tongue.  I am making an apple tree and not a cedar tree, and I am still deciding to call this new quilt Tree of Peace.

I'm seeking forgiveness both for myself and my own actions as well as offering forgiveness to all those who in my mind have wronged me over my lifetime. I am re-writing my life story to see peace in all my nooks and crannys. I am letting my heart song shine so I can continue to be a strong voice in my community and truly serve my community in the best capacity I can.  I am seeking peace in my heart, peace in my life, peace in my community.

Thank you so much Paul for all that you shared with us this weekend (in spite of the wind and the smoke and the cold) and thank you Evan for bringing all this goodness to my home town and guiding us towards the true gift of peace.

Until next time,

Sarah

Observation Medication 7/29/11

First off, I want to thank India for helping me out with these photos.  I had a long day of work today and she edited them for me and got them ready for this post.  It was a big help, so thank you.

This week, I noticed the light is beginning to change and the days are beginning to shorten, but it is still HOT.  It won't be too much longer now.  The nights are beginning to have a tinge of hope to them as fall approaches.

AND I'm still thinking about the rain a lot. 

I was sitting on the front porch last night listening to the song the cicadas sing and Fred, the rooster, wishing the big rain cloud over my head would just burst.  I was praying for gravity to work its magic and let some drops of precious water fall to the earth, but alas... no rain.  

Summers are always dry in Georgia.  Winters are always wet.  We complain in the summer when there isn't rain and in winter we wish it would stop.  

I once heard a wise person say we should try not to complain about the weather because it's never perfect and we always want something different than what we are having.  We should be grateful we are having weather.

Such simple truth. Wish I remembered who said it to me.

I guess I should work on my attitude towards the heat.

Humans talk about the weather all the time. 

Isn't it a funny phenomenon? 

When we can't think of anything else to talk about there is always the weather.  It's the most unpredictable thing most of us have in our lives that we can wrap our heads around - and here I am... talking about the weather, when what I really want to tell you about are:

Cedar Trees

I want to learn to recognize the different trees in our woods so I can learn their cycles too.

There are obviously easy trees like the cedars which is my starting point, but as I was reading up on them last night for this post I discovered the trees we call Eastern Red Cedars are not cedars at all - they are actually junipers.  Did you know that?

The bark is reddish brown and peels or shreds off the tree.  

They are considered pioneer trees, meaning after a fire or when land is recovering from a disturbance -  be it natural or man made these trees are some of the first to grow.  Pioneer trees are not as shade tolerant as other species so they grow first and provide an environment in the landscape for the second succession of trees. The second succession of trees are more shade tolerant and slower to grow than pioneer trees.  Pine trees are another example of pioneer trees.

There are a few critters that eat young cedar trees like the white tailed deer and rabbits, but it is better known for the food its berries and cones provide to birds and other small critters - especially in winter.

Cedar is a wood often used for its durability. It is used for fence posts, furniture, and its insect repelling abilities. (I keep a little cedar in my yarn stash and clothing drawers and especially around my fabric stash.  It helps keeps my clothes smelling good and the moths from eating the fabric and fibers.)

Through out history people have understood the many uses of cedar and have chosen not to burn it as fire wood because it would be a waste of good lumber. 

In the far east, cedar is referred to as "deodar" which is derived from the sanskrit word "devdar" which means lumber of the gods.

It is also associated with being the home of many gods.  It was used in ceremonies for purification, cleansing, healing, and protection.  Burning it or the oil is supposed to help with interpreting your own inner voice and to promote peaceful thoughts.

There are hundreds of stories through out history that mention cedars and their connection to humans and life.   In almost every religion they are mentioned at some point.  I read so much information about them in stories it is all running together in my head.


So, here are two stories I liked if you want to read them:
The Legend of the Cedar Tree
Origin of Fire (has music so turn volume down, but great story)

Personally, I love how it smells and use it often in my oil diffuser as well as my bath water and will appreciate it a little more each time I walk past it in the woods and remember to be grateful for all it provides us with.

Take care and I will see you on Monday!

references: Easter Red Cedar

Meaning of Cedar