Happy Equinox!
4 minute video Fall Equinox Oracle Reading
The following is an except from my book Sacred Spirit of The Gorge: Columbia River Gorge Flower Essences & Essences of Place to learn more about the energies of Pine as a tree essence.
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa
Affirmation of the Tree: “I trust all is well”
Element: Fire, Earth, Air
Acceptance• Anger • Emotional Balance• Emotional Telepathy • Feeling Nature • Guilt • Identity • Inner-Child • Innocence • Judgement • Meditation • Peace • Protection • Self-blame • Self-care • Sensitivity • Shame • Silence • Strength • Touch • Trust • Vulnerability • Witness • Chakra 2 (sacral), 4 (heart)
Balanced: strong in inner-peace and self-acceptance
Tall and silent guardians of The Gorge thrive in the heat and fire of the sun. Ponderosa Pine offers a deep-felt sense of innocence, peace, and trust in life. They hold a gentle, caring power. The bark smells like vanilla and appears as puzzle pieces. When it’s time for the pieces of your life to come together, sit with this tree.
Ponderosa Pine carries a strong and pure spirit as it soars tall in silence, but when the wind blows it dances and sings with life. The coloring and forming of the bark always seems inexplicably beautiful— reddish, orange, brown and blackened puzzle pieces. It is fairly common to see trees blackened by lightning strikes. Heat intensified its sweet vanilla-like resinous fragrance. The tree helps us slow way down to receive its healing caresses—its touch.
Touchy-feely is a great way to describe the spirit of pine. I find them very sensitive beings and they appeal to that aspect of myself. Its pine needles, or leaves, form delightful tufts and boughs that attract our hands to touch, stroke, shake, brush them. When I find a pine bough, I instinctually use it to brush off my body to cleanse and fluff up my aura. When I am feeling a great need to be touched and held, Ponderosa helps me hold my own heart in the silence of love. This satisfies my need for physical touch, somewhat. In Awakening to the Plant Kingdomby Robert Shapiro and Julie Rapkin, a Pine tree speaks through a channeling: “We are very sensitive to touch… When we reach out into the world to broadcast messages to others of our species, our auric field gets very large and very sensitive. We will actually feel the fly heading in to land on us.”
Where I live, Ponderosa Pine is a prominent and beloved tree. It offers a sublime and enduring sense of innocence and self-acceptance. Recently, I began weaving Ponderosa pine needle baskets. Something really profound happened as I gathered the long pine needles outside my door and soaked them overnight. Bending them and shaping them into a spiral to sew together with raffia, I added more of the needles with every few stitches. I began weaving my new life. I felt such peace sitting in the presence of huge guardian pine trees swaying gently with the wind. Their gratitude was palatable. And, I felt their love for me and the power of this connection.
Ponderosa Pine’s guardian spirit creates sacred and gentle space—a space of non-judgment. Nothing we do is right or wrong, good or bad. There is no innocence or guilt. Everything just is. We can settle deeply within and sense the roots and origins of our own essential being in tune with all of Creation.
“I am the Pine Maiden and I came to you to give you a message. A message of love.
We bring you warmth for your fire and needles for your baskets and peace in your being. We ask you to be in peace with us. We need your peace, too. It helps us be at peace within ourselves. We are linked this way—humans and trees—our need for each other. We want to stand with you like a forest of humans and trees holding hands and branches that connect our hearts and become one band. Our music is a band with many players. We whistle to hear you whistle. We listen for your songs and loving music. We want to play music with you and be at peace.”
Words are not the usual way I communicate with pine—I feelthem and I believe they feel me too. They gift me with songs. They speak through the wind and in their silence but mostly through their feelings and emotional telepathy—using their hearts to connect in the language of nature. Pine brings out the sense of touch and how we truly feel deep down. Pine allows the vulnerability of our feelings when no one else can. The flower essence helps us be in this feeling state so we can let go of self-blame and restore our sense of innocence and self-acceptance.
• When Heather needed Ponderosa Pine, she saw the tree everywhere. Like a steady presence that kept reminding her that all is well when she balances play and rest, play and rest, and trust. The pine tree trunk gave her a steady place to sink into when she needed grounding. The pine needles inspires a song set to “Shake your Bootie”: Shake Shake Shake, Shake Shake Shake, Shake your pine needles, Shake your pine needles, I like the way you ground me, You make me feel so calm and steady.”
• Elyssa shared, “Ponderosa Pine and its essence presents itself to me as a mama bear. A dose goes right to my heart chakra, comforting, protecting, grounding, nourishing with the energy of a hug. Camilla and I first met at Catherine Creek by the Columbia River Gorge. We walked a beautiful trail and Camilla introduced me to the pine. I will never forget its bark: speckled and dragon like. I put my hand on the tree and journeyed into a space of protection—the bark wanted to armor me and ground me deep into my roots. The pine was a mama bear who let me know she would hold me with love and not let any outside influence disturb my peace. She taught me I had a fiercely loyal and loving protection for all of my sweetness. This pine holds my heart with a sense of safety—its beauty and mystery reminding me that the earth is full of wonder and grace and a depth that is nearly indescribable.”
• Joanna H. shared, “Ponderosa Pine was my first experience taking a flower essence daily. I found the effects to be subtle, yet it has had a tangible influence on my emotional and mental state. Since taking it regularly, I have felt more grounded and stable, felt a deeper sense of strength within myself. My connection to nature, especially trees and plants has deepened. I have felt a gentle energetic shift overall that I have found to be very healing and beneficial in my daily life.”
Sacred Spirit of The Gorge: Columbia River Gorge Flower Essences & Essences of Place by Camilla Blossom Bishop
