Aspen
The aspen is a fast-growing poplar with a straight trunk and tall-domed crown. Like al poplars it holds its leaves on long, flat stalks allowing each leaf to flutter in the lightest of winds. This constant gentle vibration of sound has sometimes been interpreted as ‘trembling’, born of the memory of grief or pain. It could be equally, though, a continuous, gentle laughter at the constant variation and surprise in existence. The leaf’s movement is a homoeostasis, a response to external stimuli that maintains inner balance within the functioning of the tree. It is not as a result of confusion or disorderliness. The noise of poplars can be experienced as a soothing, trance-inducing state similar to the rattle of a shaman.
But if one is unwilling to change one’s viewpoint and resist the tendency to quieten the mind, then confusion might well follow. We strive to see patterns, to create order and meaning, to make sense of everything we experience. But as soon as one pattern is grasped, all other potential patterns can disappear from view. White noise is the noise of everything in the universe, but with no one thing dominant. Where do we rest our awareness? If we relax into the unfocused state then the noise becomes both random and patterned. Because we exist as a pattern of fixed or resonant energies, and because we tend to look at some things clearer than others, because we possess our own personal ‘tune’, it will be reflections of that tune that we hear. This is the nature of vibration – it amplifies similarities. So white noise and trance-inducing sound can act as a mirror heightening our energetic state if we attempt to focus, or make sense of, the sound. If, however, we remain unfocused, happy to exist without any particular focus for a time, then what appears out of the random noise of existence is the energy that will tend to move us towards new information, new energy, new harmony. The aspen is sometimes a shaman’s tree – one by which the seer ascends to meet the spirits. It is a true shaman’s tree because what appears above ground is simply a relatively small portion, and a short-lived portion, of the root-being that can live for hundreds of years and spread itself over many acres. Aspen says what seems to exist, does exist but not how you expect. It says that attempting to make sense of everything from only one viewpoint is expecting the universe to conform to your narrow view of what is real. It says owning everything is only accomplished by relaxing not by attempting to control.
Looking up at an aspen tree one sees the straight trunk like the axle of a wheel and, against the sky, radiating spokes of the boughs and branches. The purpose of a wheel is to move but to stay fixed in place – to vibrate, to respond to movement, but not to lose its own balanced state. Holding still but moving. Keeping to a pattern, but not excluding other patterns. The ability to easily let go of one experience to experience another.
The voice of the tree is not the voice of the tree but the voice of the wind. The voice of the wind is the voice of the tree. Vibration is a combination of forces acting on each other. It is not simply one thing. To identify with sound is to misunderstand silence. To identify with pattern is to misunderstand chaos. To identify with a body is to misunderstand the nature of the body. To identify with thought is to misunderstand the nature of thought. To identify with mind is to misunderstand the nature of mind.
“Laugh, walk away. The tyranny of certitude will always fail.”
Aspen Sutras
1
Moving on
Nothing stays.
Never mind.
2
the wheel spins.
No point
Still point
3
white noise.
Orientation:
Never mind.
4
letting go,
frequency change:
never mind.
5
taste delight.
Moving on:
Never mind.
6
holding on,
missing the point:
never mind.
7
missing the point,
centre of the universe:
never mind.
8
the wheel spins
no point:
never mind.
9
still point
white noise:
never mind.
10
shaman’s rattle
world’s laughter:
never mind.
11
wheel
hub
laughter
12
speak
spoke
rattle
13
rim
run
remain.
Tree Spirit Healing 