being present and accountable to all things around us at all times
There is a a mythology story that tells of the oak being a tree of prophecy. It tells of the oak being connected to an unseen archive of all that has been and will be.
Bards, through time, have shared stories of Duir the Oak being the judge of what spirit connects to our bodies before birth. They tell of the oak being 'all knowing' of our time to arrive on Earth and when we are to leave.
Some bards proclaim Duir the Oak, the seventh tree, is truly the “Tree Of Life”, and not the Ash that is spoken of in some traditions. Some people may quietly seek for their ancestors through the oak, while others may seek contact with those who have yet to arrive here.
to read my Duir the Oak story poem, please click here to indulge ...
my Duir the Oak story poem explained ...
I start this story poem with a verse from a song I wrote sitting by an oak at 14 years old. The second verse is more recent writing about reflecting on my memory of the time when I wrote that first verse.
I continue with snippets of observations of the people I see and meet in the woods, when I visit. I enjoy watching how they play, search and discover. People of many generations of ages are usually there, and some of them feeling that the oak is watching too and judging what is happening.
My story poem then enters surreal thoughts about judgement and accountability compared to our desires to be free of all concerns. We are always haunted by a caution of wondering whether what we are doing with and for others is right or wrong.
The story poem then twists into a story of an oak's strength and determination through a strong windy storm. Survival of the oak through this is portrayed as accepting the challenges that each moment serves us and trusting our reactions. This is about survival without thought of questions and consideration of consequences.
When winter has passed the story poem speaks of people returning to the oak to confess and share their own stories of how they passed through winter. But no matter what they shared, none of their experiences were as fierce as what the oak had endured.
Through this writing I am questioning which is the most useful and most honest form of judgement. Is it judgement calculated with logic and described at "objective" or is judgement that is measured with personal experience and personal wisdom accumulated from these experiences?
The tree's advice, is to plant an oak sapling, watch it grow and and learn through its challenges as a young tree. The story tells of watching an oak tree grow is a way to enable us to replace our questions of "what if" with "what is". Through doing so thoak could teach us to grow our own adoration of life rather than grow a fear of it.
.... and then I finish with the last verse of the song I wrote sat against the oak trunk when I was 14.
to read about to grow and care for your own Oak trees, please click here