The Sycamore Gap Tree
Much of my artwork is a response to what I see and hear about what is happening in the world. Sometimes when something terrible happens and I have no idea how to process the news, I react through art instead. That was the case with this artwork. Having grown up in the north of england, I was familiar with the beautiful Sycamore Gap Tree and was horrified to hear of it being cut down in an act of vandelism. I took the time to tune into the spirit of the tree to receive a beautiful message about how to learn from this experience.
You can read the message below:
“Sycamore gap tree, what have you to share?
Acknowledge the heart tree within yourselves dear ones. I am a symbol to many, a symbol of timelessness, of the March of Time, of the tenacity of growth in hostile grounds. It is why my fall has hit so many at their roots and at their core, it is why it has shook so many like a howling gale for you acknowledge a part of you that resonated with my symbology, with the tenacity of growth against all odds. An outlier, standing alone strong and proud and now I am taken down to root and stock. This is an awareness wakening in many of you, a heart rending for many of you, for you may not know of the vast changes that are occurring in your times but it is moments like these, happenings like these that will ask you to acknowledge that which lies deep within you, dormant within you - the seed within you that founded all of you is still there shimmering within you. And when you see a travesty such as mine you acknowledge it is a fall of something great and whole and true and you see much contrast in your world that you wish to resolve.
This is a call dear ones, to come back to your root stock. To come back and nurture your old growth, this is a call to return to your heart centre, to the seed that sourced you. For I still reside in the seed that sourced me, I still have energy and growth and matter in the grounds that fed me. So though my outer shell may have fallen and may fall now by the wayside like a broken limb, I am still here, I am still alive, I am still growth and I will regrow and be reborn but this time I will be known. This time I will be known by those who would steward me, those who would guard me and co-grow with me, those who will acknowledge me as sacred and understand the sacredness of the old sycamore groves. This is a returning to your root stock dear ones and though it may feel like a great wrenching pain and you may feel fear for the future - you can love the dear child who did this for now you acknowledge my worth and the worth of the memories and symbols and signs that lie within you, you can finally see the truth of the matter. So trust in your root stock dear ones, trust in your old growth, trust in your seed source and know that through the nourishing soils we can all grow back to greatness together and we will not stand alone.
—— There was a pause here and then more was shared:
You are guardians of the earth dear ones, you are guardians of the earth - many may feel disconnected at these times and with barely one toe on the earth in your association with me. But you are guardians of the earth and it is time to return to your root matter, to return to your ancient connections, to become stewards of the grounds and the grand stands of trees again, you are learning old knowledge you are returning back to earth, you are coming known again to the bushes, to the boughs to the bark and to the brush. You are becoming - re-known. It is all well and good that one should stray so far from the path so one may look back and turn with a full and open heart in full knowing of the bounty of all that lies around them. So do not feel shame in what you have done, rather come back with a glowing smile and acknowledgement of what you have learned and what you are yet to become. This is indeed the garden of Eden in which you reside and you left and now you return willingly and with open hearts and minds to your sacred birthright where all can work in harmony and flow and understanding of the deeper intertwined nature of things. And so it is. ”
