This Elegant Elm tree is in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
It’s 266 years old and well-loved by Sally, the owner of the property for the last 20 years. The house goes back to 1790. The tree sprouted in 1744, so it was 46 years old when the house was build just in front of it. This house is the charter house for the local town. In the 1950′s additions were made to the house so that the tree is now nestled inside of a “U” shape. The ground slopes gently down behind the house but the tree is on the high ground with the house.
We were asked to come to this property by a local arborist who cares for the tree not only as a part of his business but it’s also his favorite tree. He loves it. He asked us to come to New Hampshire to treat the tree and to introduce his staff to our work. There were about a dozen people plus the owner in attendance.
The arborist told us the story of the tree. Last year, the gentleman of the property passed away; a great loss to his widow. And, it turns out that just 2 months after his passing, the Elm tree lost all of its leaves in August.
This gorgeous, classically vase-shaped Elm tree has been diagnosed with Dutch Elm disease. With the heavy rains of 2009 in the Northeast, the tree was getting water-logged. Between the loss of the caring energy from the master of the house, getting water-logged and having the disease, I believe that the tree was trying to decide whether it wanted to live or not. The tree was not making a mental decision as people make, but this had to do with the overall ‘fabric’ of its being to either live or die.
In fact, what happened, the tree’s functions began to shut down and the tree had disconnected itself from the community of support from the trees nearby. We know that trees operate best in community.
Internal functionality in the tree was compromised including
- circulation system
- plant chemistry not in the proper consistency
- potential bud development
I did an initial hands-on treatment the tree. Then, I gave an introduction to the participants. Basia, the Chief Listener and my business partner, lead them in a sensory enhancement exercise and a guided visualization. They felt as if they stepped inside of the tree’s world. Then, the participants, followed my directions to help treat the tree.
By the end of the treatment, I was clear that root energy was pushing out to grow, the buds were filled with life and we could actually feel the movement of sap back up into the vascular system of the tree. All these changes were not visible to the human eye, but were perceptible to the tuned and caring human heart.
A shift in energy had taken place from a pulling in and decline pattern to a pushing up and out active growth pattern. I would say that the tree ‘wanted’ to live.
