I have this dream from time to time. In the dream I am walking across the heath and through the woodland, in the New Forest. There is an ancient ash tree next to a stream where a house once stood. Bits of pottery and glass bottles can be dug up round here, little treasures containing memories of the people who once lived here. The tree has colourful ribbons dangling from its branches and stones laid out in a spiral round the roots. Sometimes a brown pony drinks from the stream or a crow hops on one leg as if dancing for the spirit of the tree. It is an ancient, wise, and kind tree. I often sit with my back against the sturdy trunk and feel a presence... a wise, peaceful kind of presence. The leaves dance in the wind almost sounding like a song. This is a wishing tree.
It is more than a dream, it is a memory. I have walked here. I have communed with the tree spirit. This is my sacred place, my spiritual home. This is where I belong and where I yearn to be. My dreams of this place are always so real, so that I feel upon waking that I was actually home. One day I will return and I will bring my son with me. We will sit under the great ash tree, my dear friend, and he will pass on some of his wisdom, his earth wisdom to my son.
copyright 2010 Cait Gemmell art
website- www.caitgemmell.com
