A number of years ago, I was in the progress of crossing a large grassy field. Little did I know that there was a large bull in this field with sharp pointy horns. About half way accross I saw the bull charging at me. I think they say your not supposed to run, but I ran! I ran towards a very large oak tree. I made it there before the bull did, actually quite a bit before he did. It was my intent to climb the tree. But as I looked back, I saw the bull in the distance with the sort of look like it didn't know what to do. I still hadn't jumped to one of the lower limbs. After a few minutes, the bull just turned away in disinterest and walked away. When it was out of sight, I just walked the rest of the way accross the field. I didn't have to climb!

It wasn't until the other day, someone on this board had mentioned something about the relationship between humans, trees and fruit etc, that I had remembered this event. Its interesting that I must have instinctively sought a tree for comfort and safety. Consciously I was aware of the height advantage of being in a tall tree. I was suprised (and glad)that the bull didn't wait at the base of the tree or charge at the base. Could it be that the bull didn't recognize the area around the tree as its territory? Maybe it was disinterested that the human was in its proper place? The event actually makes me wonder if people can tap into some more subtle properties and powers of trees by being in contact with them? That seems a little superstious, but I find myself open to more and more possibilities these days.

Recently, I had a fairly traumatic event. I can't go into any detail specifically about it. But, I will say that I believe that I was saved a significant amount of trouble, physically, emotionally and perhaps even legally because I had seeds in my pocket. I have the habit of saving fruit seeds and puting them in my change purse for later dispersal. I feel naked without doing this. Later in the event I acquired a bundle of grass which I had collected earlier. This significantly increased my sense of being safe and grounded. On my way home I got a few comments on them, and how beautiful they were. On the bus I was the only person holding an object from nature. I was really quite suprised at how much people noticed that.

Later that week, I noticed how often fruitarians are photographed or pictures painted holding a large fruit of some type. I often thought this was to show as example, which it could be. But, on another level, I think its probably their natural habit, and perhaps they feel a sense of power holding fruit, a sense of being grounded. If not a fruit, then perhaps another object from nature?

Has anyone ever experienced these types of things? Are there names for this? I know that wiccan writers have commented on being able to gain strength from touching trees. As well as giving strength in exchange.

apparently bulls have fairly poor vision .. if thats true or not im not sure .. perhaps you blended enough with the tree he just didnt see you anymore

or not intersting post though

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I feel much more comfortable being immersed in nature. I think humans need stimulation and often our world is nothing but white walls and concrete streets. We need to be surrounded by the vast intricate details afforded by nature or else we start to go crazy. I think it'd be neat to live in a big treehouse, so long as insects were controlled some how.

This is a very interesting topic!

Near where I live, there is a small lake with a nice walking trail around it, around 6 or 7 km to walk. It's really nice to walk, the tall trees, the sun glistening off the lake and through the branches, the sounds of occasional creeks and birds as we walk. I often take my dog there for a nice time out, but nobody in my family is ever willing to go there with me. They see it as too much effort, too much like exercise.

The funny thing is, I think the exercise is secondary for me. It is just so heavenly to be surrounded by all that green and all those fresh smells, it's more of a spiritual time. I also feel that during my walks, I experience such clarity, it is the best time to think about things I need to work out in my life, and make good decisions.

I think it is very powerful!

Sapphire

interesting. i like this thread.

Hi Milsu,

I think what you were saying has to do with something called energy field. I don't know much about it but in Chinese's Taoism it's called "qi". I had a feeling that Bryan minght know a lot about it.

Actually, in Taoism, there's a saying like this: "Not to consume smoke and fire in the world", and it has a very close meaning to raw foodism. People who practise Taoism also undergo a process called "bi gu", which means that they will live without grains for a period of time (even though Chinese eat a staple diet of rice).

BTW, has anyone on this board had near-death experience before? I certainly do not, but people who experienced near-death experience can actually tell you a lot of things that normal people would have considered as superstitious.

All the Best,
Wong

When I'm driving and have several routes to choose from that are relatively close, I gravitate to the ones with the most greenery. Even passing them by at driving speed, it is still enough to somehow infuse me with a sense of natural energy.

Wishing you vibrant health

There's a green area about 10 miles away from where I live, and I'd visited it when I was younger, and only within the last year or so, me and my partner started going back there again on some weekends.

It sounds funny, but there's one particular area there that feels like 'home'. It's full of these tall, beautiful red-trunked trees, and I always have this urge to wrap my arms around them and when I do, I feel young again, like a child.

Sapphire- I totally agree with what you say! Being able to visit these places is such a blessing. Everything feels ancient and alive

Blue-sky,
Thats very interesting. I have never heard of bi gu. Is this something generally known amoung asian cultures? (known but not practiced generally) Not eating smoke or fire, thats very interesting. As far as I have noticed, chinese generally eat everything 'fired' in one way or another. Even in feng shui they do things to magnify the image of fire on the stove, putting a mirror behind for instance, to double the number of burners. I don't remember exactly, but burners are symbolic of something, and its much more prefered than electric heating coils. Microwaves are discouraged, as far as I know.

I don't know why chinese are so excited about white rice. I used to think it was ok, but now I just don't find it appealing. If I eat rice at all its going to be whole grain rice. Although the last time I was raw for a long period, I eventually ate rice again, and it really hurt to eat it. But for some reason it doesn't anymore, maybe my intestines are flatened?

Milsu,

No, "bi gu" is only a practice of Taoism, not much related to Asian cultures. During "bi gu", one eats a diet which is not much different from raw food diet, except that one will eat less (similar to fast) and for some reasons, one is encouraged to "swallow one's own salivas".

From what I heard from a talk given by Dr. Chiu-Nan Lai, chinese have been eating brown rice for a few thousand years but in the recent 50 years or so, white rice are getting more and more popular, therefore people all over the world (included chinese) started to eat more and more white rice as well as other refined foods.

All the Best,
Wong

I sat in an enormous ancient redwood tree (to protect her from being harvested) for almost a year, & during that time, for lack of better explanation, I became a tree! My friend (the tree) & I manifested things together... it was truly amazing. I sat in other trees too, & noticed they all had their own "personalities" or, rather, energies. It was the most amazing, beautiful experience (next to having a child) of my life thusfar!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2007 12:45PM by wrenbrrd.

The first sense of belonging I had when first viewing my house before buying it, was from the cherry trees in the backyard. I actually feel like they care for me, maybe even help and watch over me. It's not something I sought to feel, it just 'was'.
My favourite trees are cherry and linden. I love deciduous trees and fields of grass.

Ostensibly people are attracted to plant foliage or blossoms, but I think there's more to it.

I've been wanting to move from here for a few years but the beautiful treed street and neighbourhood have made me feel at home for over 20 years.

I live in the evergreen state, Years ago I went to europe for three months and the thing I missed were the trees. When I got back I nearly started crying when I drove past all the evergreens. I love trees. I remember a speaker I heard a long time ago who was talking about transferance and how a group of people he was with felt compelled to hug a group of trees and pray for them because the particular trees were in an area where a war had been.
I live on two acres and we kept a lot of the trees in the back of the property.

Wrenbrrd,
Thats truely intersting. I haven't developed my senses that much to tell the difference in energy from one tree to another, thats interesting! I did notice however that each tree, or plant has its own personality. Sometimes when I am caring for plants, and watch them grow, I can almost see them 'smile' in a plant kind of way.

One book I read about chinese herbs mentioned that matromony vine (I believe its also called goji) is a great plant to have growing nearby wells, and your house. Its supposed to lend longevity and health to people.

Deer are also described as being a particularly helpful living thing. Longevity paintings often depict deer eating a ganoderma mushroom. I felt a particularly dead feeling from the last time I ate deer. Thats what rekindled my interest in raw veganism, I didn't like that dead feeling I felt. It wasn't until I read the comment about deer in a novel that I made any connection between deer being a special help for humanity, and spiritual, and my consumption of the animal that made me feel not so good. I don't know enough about biology, but I am fairly certain that humans and deer go back pretty far, and probably have helped each other out over the ages.

This is a really interesting thread.

Kewl thread!

In folk lore and in the oral tradition (teaching passed on by the art of "telling" the Tree is a Gate to the other worlds ( Outerworld, Innerworld, Underworld). Many stories of initiations begin with the initiate sitting under a tree, the buddha of course being one of the best known, but there are many others. Even Jesus could be considered to have undergone initiation under a tree - though in this case, along with Odin, He was hung upon it.

If a particular tree communicates a special resonance for you, it's not a bad idea to make an offering to it - a piece of fruit will do nicely.


khale

What a great topic!

I just wouldn't want to be here without trees, oceans, and birds. I've always thought of trees as a "mother" providing shade, shelter to ourselves and other animals, food, oxygen, medicine and beautifying our planet. Indian cultures used Palm Trees as indicators for sourcing water for desert survival...they are life giving!
Trees, all so individually unique like ourselves and bearing different gifts, as do our personalities. Its amazing how with these Southern California fires the trees are charred but still they stand,sometimes for years after.
I always gravitate towards objects of nature. My home is filled with plants, shells, sea glass, stones, wood carvings, relaxation fountains, and paintings of flowers or landscapes. Even with music, I prefer the sound of ocean waves, rainforest, birds, and so on for creating serenity. I find myself most at peace when my hands are connected to the soil and plants, cutting up veggies, or picking flowers to bring indoors for an arrangement.
How many who agree that practicing yoga poses is so much more of an spiritual awakening to be in view of the ocean or surrounded by tall trees, or with your bare feet planted in the grass vs. in a mirrored studio? How many of you would buy a home with no trees on the lot or little to no windows?
For years, I have celebrated Christmas with a living tree. I most love putting it in the ground and watching it grow over the following years. When I lost a beloved pet to illness, a good friend who had moved across state to a new home planted a tree in her yard in my pet's memory and still sends me pictures to this day of its growth and beauty.
We are made of the same elements, I think it is in our chemistry to desire to stay connected to our beautiful and amazing planet and its abundant gifts from nature. I feel grounded with "spiritual roots" everytime I reconnect with nature, don't many of you?

Plants are a necessity for animal life. Just one reason from the top of my head is the fact that their respiratory system is in synergy with ours.
I think its a very easy conclusion to reach that they premote our wellbeing.

Maybe one day in the future we will live in and around trees like elves.. That would be soo cool

There's a book I've been meaning to read called "The Forest People" which is an anthropologist's account of a group of pygmie people in Africa who live isolated from civilization just as they always have for thousands of years in a remote forest near the Belgian Congo.

In Chinese qigong or qi-gung (loosely translatable as "energy work", trees are considered to be good sources of qi (air/energy/spirit). Practitioners will practice "standing on stake" (to use one of many terms I've seen used to translate "jahm jong", where they stand in an upright but slightly relaxed-down state, with the arms held up in a circular position. When this is done in front of a tree (not actually touching it, but figuratively it is like "hugging the tree" it is believed that more energy will be obtained. This is another reason why parks are considered excellent places to practice Tai Chi (which at root is also a form of qi-gung). One of many, many ways that such traditional practice fits in well with modern scientific knowledge (oxygen levels will be slightly higher near trees).

Trees have provided humans with a means to escape predators, a source of food and shelter, etc... throughout our evolution. As has been noted, their respiration complements ours, so the air is (at least in some respects) better in areas with trees. I think it is hard-wired into us to like to be around trees, for various good reasons.

That said, trees can be toxic, and they may give off things like turnpentine fumes, they may provide homes to poisonous ants, spiders, etc... and in other ways be unfriendly to humans. Like all things, they are a mixed ("ying/yang" blessing, but mostly very good, indeed. I like trees, too!

Sunshine, I read that book and really enjoyed it. Another good book is "Stranger in the Forest", by Eric Hansen, about his trip on foot across Borneo.

I love it that this subject of trees is considered completely ON topic in this raw food forum.

Just for the fun of it, here is Joyce Kilmer's poem, "Trees":

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer's descendent is the actor, Val Kilmer, who lives part-time in a treehouse in New Mexico.

Let's plant as many trees as we can, so our grandchildren will have plenty of trees to enjoy!

Cheers to you, wrenbrrd. I hope you were able to save those trees!

(and my family thinks this is boring - I can't believe it!)

Sapphire

boohoo, i miss BC! WAAAHHH!

It misses you too!

I believe trees have quite an energy source... I've always been able to sense some spirits of those who have gone, and the energy of others... when I went raw for 3 straight months last winter I found upon laying my hands on a tree... I could feel it's level of health... I was in the woods for a volunteer event and was a bit bored at the moment... in a silly mood I placed my hands on the tree and tried to perceive the energy as I do that of individuals and animals... surprisingly I felt it was an "unhappy... sad tree" I jokingly said... then looked up... half it's branches were dead and unhealthy looking! Moved on to another tree... felt a vibrant energy, looked up and it was amazingly healthy and tall...

Call me nuts but I feel they really do have their own "aura" energy field... whatever you want to call it.

"as I looked back, I saw the bull in the distance with the sort of look like it didn't know what to do."

I know everyone here is mentioning the energy source of trees, but did you ever think about the BULL. I believe animals can sense danger, plus you being raw, the bull senses picked up on that, that you were not a threat to him.

I have noticed a change in dogs towards me. Before I was raw, everytime I went for a walk, dogs would bark up a storm at me, most of my life they would. My parents just told me "Dogs can sense fear" so I accepted it. But, I'd hear my neighbors say, "wow, fluffy, never barked at someone so much, I'm sorry" "oh, I'm sorry, fu fu normally doesn't act this way with strangers"

Since I've been raw, I NEVER have dogs bark at me. Dogs come right up to me and sniff me and look to be petted. 40 years of my life of dogs screaming their barks at me, and just this year, not one bark, it's just amazing.

Plants definately have auras as do all living things. They can be photographed using kerlian photography.
Dunno about animals sensing raw.. doesn't make much difference to me as a post man

Yesterday at work I was driving through some trees and towing something. I accidently got the thing I was towing too close to a redwood. Trying to back up wasnt working because space was too tight.

Damn, I cursed at myself because I really didnt want to hurt that tree. The only thing I could do was pull forward scraping it and wincing as I went.

Afterward I looked at the tree. Pink was showing where bark was missing. I put my hand on it and thought how I was sorry and I hoped it would heal well and soon. It wasnt real bad.

Now and then I have to take a chain saw and cut some redwood branches off. Or I have to hand cut down some five or six foot tall youngsters. I really, really dont like doing that. I guess you could say I do like being able to pay my mortgage though.

I'm very found of the redwoods. I dont know how this might sound to anyonw but I always feel like they forgive me when I have to do such things.

Sapphire, your pictures are pretty. I like the dog.

Kit

i really truly absolutely love this thread so much!

just reading these posts

balm to my soul

my connection to trees and plants are soooooo strong

i sometimes thought i was a tree in my past life

cuz i couldn't understand why it was that i always felt like i wanted to be a tree

or why i would always touch the plants anywhere i was

if i was at someone's home, i always would touch their plants check out the leaves.. even water them

if i was driving in a really urban area , i would always focus my mind on the trees and it would just seem to take me away from the reality of where i was

if i was feeling sad, i would cry and talk to the trees ( when i was growing up and ...well... looks like too much hasnt changed )

when i am feeling like i need to boost up my energies, i put my back against a tree

when i feel my energies need to be "leveled" and balanced, i hug the tree

i read books in the tree

i guess they really are the most special friends i have

i truly love them

i ought to wear a green ring to show i am married to trees

once i sat in a tree that bore lavender petals
and a man wrote a poem when he saw me in the tree

i was so amazed

he said he had felt unhappy in his job, stuck in a laboratory all day

and when he saw me in a tree
he saw that the way he was living was suffocating him

so he wrote a poem for me
and about being in a tree

i was very happy and relaxed

i've also done some crazy things

like i walked across this thick branch ( the width was the size of
the cross section ( diameter) of two watermelons side by side)\

and but still... it was so so far above the ground

looking back, i shake my head cuz the risk was too great

but i was protected.. i guess

and so elated that i had "made it"

and another time, i fell asleep on a tree
with my hands fingers interlaced below the branch

i had not intended to fall asleep but i tend to feel really relaxed in trees
so i fell asleep

when i woke up

i was soooo incredibly amazed that i had not lost my grip ( i certainly had lost my consciousness cuz i fell asleep)

and my fingers were still interlaced underneath the branch

i guess trees really do protect me after all

they want me to be protected

funny story about the bull

ha ha

maybe the tree was hugging YOU mislu

and the bull knew that the tree meant business


i hope this thread continues forever and ever

and

E
V
E
R

long live the magical trees in the forest

i love them