Tree 1: the tree of new beginnings

An 11-week countdown to publication date

It is 11 weeks to the day of the publication date, on Thursday 8 May for my book, To Hear the Trees Speak. In the book, I travel to 10 trees in five continents, so I am counting down to the launch by featuring one tree a week. The aim is to give a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my travels and the trees that I meet, sharing some of the photographs from my journey and hopefully whetting your appetite for the book.

The silver birch is the hero tree of the first chapter of the book. My journey starts in Finland, where my mother is from. The silver birch is the national tree in Finland. It is also traditionally known as the tree of new beginnings, so an appropriate place to start my journey. I’ve included here some pictures of the silver birch from over the years, and in both summer and winter.

Today is also a new moon, another marker of new beginnings. I recently participated in a course run by Sara McFarland and Bell Selkie Lovelock on Dreaming the World to Come. We discussed about dreams as one way that the world speaks to us, and this is a topic that I also discuss in the book. They also shared nature-based tarot as another way that we can listen to the whisperings of the world. This morning, I pulled a new moon spread on the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Colbert. And the card at the centre of the spread was ‘The Seeker’, signifying setting out a new journey - and new beginnings!

In the meantime, the finishing touches have been made to the book cover. I am looking forward to sharing that with you very shortly. (And you might see some connection with the Seeker card.)

Each of the chapters of the books has practice questions to connect with the theme of the chapter. I’ll share one of these questions each week.

Question 1. Write about your roots in the natural world. How did you experience nature as you were growing up? How has your relationship with nature evolved over time?

I’d love to hear any thoughts you’d like to share on this. Or perhaps use the Seeker card or pictures of the silver birch as a prompt and see what comes to you about any new beginnings that might be emerging in your life right now, or that you’d like to nurture.