How to Talk to A Tree

One of my favorite astrologers, Lynn Hayes, posted this great link last week. It has instructions printed on Beliefnet several years ago about how to communicate with a tree. What a wonderful little ritual!

How to Talk to a Tree

I laugh thinking what my Sensing-Thinking extended family would say about this. (Note to self: Blog about Jung's typology soon!) But it speaks deeply to me.

In fact, I'm headed out right now, to add a moment with the trees in our backyard before I walk our labyrinth.

Assignment: Make space in your life today to connect with a tree.

More experiential exercises

For those who can't find The Mountain Astrologer, or don't have an extra $ 7 to spend to get that article I recommended, I offer this handout I've used with my clients for years.

Exercises from Art Therapy

Gather your materials and put on some gentle instrumental music. Take some cleansing breaths. Relax. Meditate or pray if you wish. Try to rest your judging, verbal mind and see what the experience brings to you.

1. Draw a Bridge

Fold a piece of paper into three sections. Connect two ideas with a bridge in the middle section. (Perhaps, something you want to change, bridging into that changed life, or your past bridging into your future, etc.)

2. Road Drawing

Meditate on roads, signs, detours, crossroads. Then draw a road that reflects where you’re been and where you’re headed.

3. Landscape

Draw a landscape that reflects your life right now. Is it garden, desert, ocean—what?

4. Draw a Dream

With broken crayons (so you don’t feel you must be perfect), quickly draw a scene from your dream. Sketch dream images into your journal.

5. Collage

Cut articles and pictures that interest you from newspapers and magazines. With a glue stick or spray (that may allow easy repositioning), cover a notebook or folder. (You can use the notebook to hold your memories or journaling from this period in your life. Keep a collection of items that catch your eye if you like this exercise and want to do it again. Consider collecting rocks or sticks or things from nature too! You can assemble collections, or make garden art—you can do anything you wish.)

6. Mandala (or Circle Drawing)

Draw a large circle on your paper. Then, without thinking about it, quickly select five colors from a pile of crayons to represent these five spheres of your life (Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social). Fill the circle in any way you like with these five colors.

This last technique is the one art therapist Beth Kean taught me. I use it regularly to "take my temperature," as the great therapist Virginia Satir used to say.

Most often, after completing the mandala, I find that the parts I drew with the color I chose for "physical" is the least developed--and I remember once again to give more time to exercise. At other times, I recognize that I am out of balance in meeting my social needs. I file the mandala in my journal, sometimes with and sometimes without comment. Looking back, as with dreams, I often see more.

Assignment: Choose a technique and see what happens for you.

Experiential Astrology:Bringing It Alive!

Run, do not walk, to your local bookstore to pick up the October/November 2009 of The Mountain Astrologer. And if it's not there--it has disappeared from the shelves of my home town--order it! These folks will get it to you immediately. For those of us who art, this month's article Experiential Astrology: Bringing It Alive! alone is worth the price.

Written by Barbara Schermer and first published in TMA in June 1994, the article begins with this wonderful quote:

When I can't find words to express what I mean, I get up and dance to it.

-- Zorba the Greek (Nikos Kazantzakis)

Barbara then provides detailed instructions for multiple ways to explore our charts, and thereby, ourselves. She describes the supplies needed and how to go about using them. The techniques she suggests include:

(1) Using an imageboard to display pictures and symbols which express the energies of each of the ten planets in our charts.

(2) Creating a personal mandala by capturing the images which arise as you meditate on your chart.

(3) Making a planetary mask by using plaster gauze from a medical supply store.

(4) Creating a healing image of aspects in the birth chart or current transits which may be presenting difficulty.

(5) Moving physically in ways which express the energies of the planets in your chart, exploring music and your personal dance.

Years ago, art therapist Beth Kean introduced me to the use of the mandala much as Barbara Schermer describes it here, and I use it regularly as an intuitive tool to keep balance in my life. I'll write more about that soon. What enchanted me about this article was its innovative connection to astrology, the inclusion of music and dance, and the clarity offered to those who may be new to these tools for self-understanding and healing. Enjoy!