The Canopy of Trees

When the beeches prosper,
By charms and prayers,
They draw the oak crowns inward —
There is hope for the trees.

Magi from peoples living near forests and groves have long observed that trees are not only bearers of wisdom, conduits of vital force; they are also — binding threads in the fabric of worlds.

The World Tree is a tree not only figuratively; it is one literally.

In other words, the nature of the connection between worlds, whether the worlds of Principles or the worlds of Manifestation, is the same character we ascribe to the treelike form of life. It is, on the one hand, the inexorable flow of substantial quantities of energy, and on the other, a balance between the ascending and descending aspects of the flow.

According to the Law of Analogies, each tree is a microcosmic analogue of the cosmic Tree.

It is therefore unsurprising that trees possess exceptionally powerful binding energy: their crowns reach into the heavens while their roots sink into the earth, holding the Above and Below in their inseparable yet unmerged state. Trees lift earthly forces to the surface and draw down heavenly forces, expressing in a dense form the great circulation of Power.

In fact, trees are the sentinels of our world, each from its own position, each in its own tone; just as the gods uphold the worlds on Yggdrasil, the trees themselves hold the power of the gods in the earthly vale.

However, twice a year the trees of the temperate zone change their way of life — they sleep in autumn and awaken in spring — and these transitions mark great changes in the fabric of the Veil.

When Veles prepares to take on a winter visage, the trees shed their leaves and “sleep”; at the moment they fall asleep the fabric of worlds thins, marking the passage into the dark half of the year. In Europe, Samhain arrives. In his Bull aspect, Veles begins to rouse the trees, and when they are fully awake the connection between the worlds is renewed, signaling the transition to the light half of the year. When the trees are “awake,” power predominantly descends to the earth; processes of growth prevail over processes of disintegration. When the trees sleep, navi energies rise through their roots, filling the world with potential for development.

It follows that the cycle of “sleep–wake” reflects this circulation of energy — potential and actual — and that its “abstract” and “concrete,” Macrocosmic and microcosmic components operate inseparably.

Tropical forests, which know no sleep, are the foundation that keeps the earthly world in a state of manifestation; their disappearance threatens to accelerate this world’s slide into predatory realms.

The more trees sustain our world, the more stable the flows of power within it, the more harmonious the transitions between actual and potential, between the light and dark facets of reality. The more the human mind stands in fellowship with the wisdom of the trees, the more harmonious the human world becomes, the friendlier Veles is toward humanity, and thus the greater the power, freedom, and love within it.