At the first sign of frost, an old woman of strength and graceful bearing would be seen walking with a living wooden staff among the trees. She was clothed in an overdress of the green, gold and red of autumn. In the foot hills and along the river courses she would walk, mindful of all the green growing things within view. Often she would raise her staff, gently touching the limbs of the broadleaf trees, encouraging, reminding and aiding them into their time of change and fall color.
Once all the trees had begun the process of shedding their old life, slipping from their bright raiment into the gray bark of the year's end, so too did she begin to change. Her brilliant gown also moved into the tones of gray nothingness, and her pace began to slow. Her clothes turned into coarser stuff, and her walk was not quite so deliberate. She still scanned the landscape with a sharp intelligent gaze, putting a broken sapling's limb to rest beneath the decaying leaves, as if she were the mistress of a great house, putting everything in order as she awaited the arrival of a great guest.
As the first snow falls, her dress turns white as does her hair. She can be seen among the wild herd beasts: the deer, the boar, and even among the wolf pack upon the mountain. The deer she would lead to the most tender of grass just below the new icy blanket, the boar to the roots and fungi in the mulch at the base of the best oaks. The wolf she led to the weak or lame of the other two, or to smaller beasts whose life energy would not sustain them through the next spring.
Ever on she walked, among those creatures once green but now sleeping or brown of fur, surviving as best they can with her assistance through winter. She weaves the threads of life to death and back to life again. And the more she wove the world's threads, the more her own fabric did fray. She weakened, and became even more pale. And on the Eve of May, she tossed her walking stick beneath a giant holy bush, and became a standing stone.
Jo Hurley is a program coordinator for TREEmendous Seattle, a nonprofit agency that works with volunteers interested in the restoration of the urban forest. A professional storyteller and Celtophile, Jo will be presenting tales of the Celtic tree cycle at Carkeek Park for the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Please call her at TREEmendous
Call (206) 624-7075 with any questions, or email her at joonho@treemendous.org
Joon-Ho Yu
TREEmendous Seattle
216 1st Ave S, Ste 455
Seattle, WA 98104
206-624-7075 (w)
206-624-7278 (fax)
206-998-0784 (pager)
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