Tree Honoring - A Blessing for the Trees

We had a wonderful turnout for the Tree Honoring Ceremony. About 30 people gathered around one of the wise, old trees in the Farmer's Market lot. We offered blessings of water and flowers, chanted for compassion for all beings, created space for people to share their grief and sadness about the trees, and then decorated the trees with messages and prayers and colorful paper. It was a sweet event that brought together people from all parts of the community.

A Blessing for the Trees

by Rev. Steve Palmisano

Dear Beloved Trees who have watched over the Farmers Market and our community for so many years, we are here with sorrowful hearts to tell you that you will be cut down.

We are deeply grateful for your quiet presence, the homes you have provided to many birds, animals, insects, and spirits, the shade you offered us so freely, and the connection to the natural world in the midst of a parking lot.

Removing your bodies is a sacrifice, for we are one Earth Body, each of us together are Earth, and removing your tree bodies is cutting off our limbs. Today we honor all trees by honoring these trees.

May we find the strength to feel this truth of interdependence, that we are One Earth Body, and may we remember that this is indeed a sacrifice, and one that we bear witness to through this ceremony.

Yes, everything must die, and yes, new life will emerge. This is the law of impermanence. And, transitions are sacred, and deserve to be honored with respect and dignity.

I spent a day in the forest, asking many trees how we might honor them, and I received this answer, which I will do my best to convey:

Dear Humans,

Please find the courage to fall in love with this Earth body, your earth body, every single day. The trees will help you do this. One of the greatest gifts we can offer our tree friends is to learn to open our hearts to them, to receive their deep wisdom, to truly feel their presence.

Each of you must know a tree that you feel a connection with, one that stirs your heart in some way. Please know, there is one waiting for you.

May you go to your tree friend once a week, or better yet, daily. Bow to it. You might sit near it quietly or bring a blanket and lay under it and let it hold you, branches above, roots below.

You might ask the tree, “What do you dream of, Dear Tree?

“How might I serve you?”

“What does your Earth Body long for?”

And then, Dear Humans, listen. In the infinite space between your breaths, listen. Open to the flow of life becoming life.

This is where reciprocity begins: Offer your heart to the trees and the Earth. The healing that is possible is reciprocal, if you dare to open yourself to it.