Searching for the Tree of Life
Like all things that are not supposed to be, the Tree of Life is called a freak of nature, or some refer to it as magical. However it is described or defined it is something that isn’t supposed to happen. It isn’t natural for a tree to be alive with its roots exposed and holding the tree proudly by clinging to air. With no logical explanation for why it hasn’t toppled into the ocean this truly amazingly enchanted tree seems to be immortal.
I learned of the Tree of Life before venturing to The Pacific Northwest. I knew this area is filled with natural wonders and this fairy-tale like tree I had to see. It was calling me to come sit under its roots and for just a brief moment be totally and completely there as I quieted myself in a meditation while connecting to Mother Earth. So I went.
The Tree of Life sits on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the in the plush Olympic National Park, about an hour southwest of the Hon Rainforest. However, there is no grid coordinates, roadside signs or markings on a map to get to this amazing tree and if the truth were told, destiny guided us as we stumbled into the area where it is enchantingly tucked away on the shore.
Known for its wide trunk and towering height, The Tree of Life is a Sitka spruce, the largest type of spruce known and can be found all along the west coast.
Underneath the tangled roots of the Tree of Life is seemingly a cave with small, smooth cobble like stones carpeting the entrance. Inside is a streambed where water can flow into the cave and out towards the ocean. It’s this stream that washes the soil from underneath the roots, nourishing the tree and possibly destroying it. The Tree of Life is a phenomenon that lives beyond the parameters of any tree.
Questions have been asked many times of why, but no one really knows how it keeps on living. Perhaps as I deliberated while sitting cross-legged underneath these free and massive roots, it is an empowering symbol. The Tee of Life is giving us all a message that we also can continue to live and be free, even when so many worldly components are seemingly against us. – dbA
To see the photographs from this excursion please visit my wordpress blog.