06 May 2013
I'd normally be walking up the avenue to Charleville Castle if that was where I wanted to go but today Mauricio escorted me there in the car. I'm afraid the auld back has seen better days and has been giving me and my sciatica nerve a little trouble lately.
So anyway, on the way back Mauricio was telling me about his experience yesterday up in the woods; his tree-hugging experience and how good it felt. Then I remembered what a friend had said; to go to some tree I admired and hug it and ask it to take my pain down into its roots.
Well that I did. We stopped the car and I knew exactly which tree to go to; the one I had found years ago and for the first time was able to identify it as a Beech Tree; a great big wise old Beech Tree.
Hugging was a little awkward at first. It was far too thick and made me put an arch in my back which caused spasms in my legs. I tried to get into a comfortable position and hug the tree at the same time but in vain. And then out of nowhere I felt I was being given directions which told me that if I couldn't hug it in the real sense then to turn around and let my back rest along its massive trunk. And then after a few minutes it directed me to sink onto my hunkers still back to back. I must have stayed there for at least half an hour or so. I imagined the pain being sucked down from the nerve down through the roots of the tree and the tree telling me not to worry and that everything was going to be ok and to be patient. We stayed there together as one, me and my wise teacher and friend, for a long time. He imparted so much knowledge to me in that space and I received it all. His wisdom touched me to the bone, filled my veins with nutrients, spread to my brain, to my heart and to my soul which had been lost for a time in a sphere of melted confusion. He told me to rise and feel my inner strength. He guided me to that place where one is at one with oneself.
Before leaving him to his grandeur and omnipresence, I made a promise to both him and myself that I would be back soon and that I would be a constant refuge seeker in his loving arms and that I would always value him as a protector, a friend and a teacher. One thing I didn't say to him, although I have no doubt he already knows, is that I pledge my allegiance to him and vow to protect him, from here on in, in as far as I can and in as far as he needs it.
As for the pain, well, would you believe that I haven't felt this good for a long time. I'm not saying that the pain has miraculously disappeared. It hasn't. But it is going to go away soon and I will be back to my normal perky self before long, long before the blue bells recede, before those poor legs of mine become like jelly and the muscles all start to give up from lack of use, before it is too late to get out to my garden to do some planting, before you can say Jack Rabbit. Thank you Mr. Beech!
