Quaking Aspen and the Web of Life

Amidst a moment of deep despair over the changing climate, I reached to my altar for a Quaking Aspen branch that I had found in Utah, wandering amidst Pando, the largest Aspen grove, and arguably the oldest and largest living organism in North America.

Aspens are a clonal species. Their root system is one living organism, and it produces shorter living trees that all share the same DNA.

One aspect of her medicine is helping us feel into a wider community of support that roots in ancient wisdom.

Holding this branch to my heart, I felt her calming presence, and I felt her extend tendrils of my energy, which had been grieving alone, to connect with the living trees, plants, land, rock, and humans around me. As I landed in communion with the other beings around me, I felt myself as a part of this living, breathing web of interconnection.

My entire energy shifted, and I felt held and supported and relieved, even if it didn’t change the external circumstances.

We aren’t meant to hold our pain or our joy alone. We aren’t meant to try to do everything ourselves. We’ve isolated ourselves so intensely to these solitary lives, in part due to the capitalistic patriarchy that honors individualism, which has been exacerbated by the current climate of the pandemic.

We will not be able to continue on our individualistic and isolated path in order to survive our next chapter as humans. There is a strong call to remember our interrelationship with all of life. How we impact in all the ways. How we can support and tend life here, and also be supported and feel tended to.

So I want to remind you that you’re not alone no matter how lonely you may feel. Reach out to the living beings around you, whether plant, fungi, rock, animal or human. Open yourself up to receive the support that’s always there, and let yourself be held.

May this medicine story inspire your connection with the trees and the land, as they lay bare their energy and wisdom this Winter.