Tu Bishvat - The New Year for the Trees and the Celebration of Nature

I recently discovered 'The Festival of Trees' and am so glad that I did. Looking back over the last 6 months of my creative development I begin to see just how much trees and nature influence me and how they are at the forefront of my mind and my art.

January's edition of Festival of the Trees is focusing on Tu Bishvat. Tu Bishvat is the Jewish New Year for the trees. I'm not Jewish, but do have enough respect for other faiths and cultures to embrace the common ground that we share in hope that we can build upon it and live in a harmonious peace filled world.

Tu Bishvat appeals to me for so many reasons. One reason is that my own spirituality is nature based and any tradition of planting trees suits me well. When I first learned of Tu Bishvat I wondered if this tradition had come about due to sages of older days observing nature and linking trees with water and the lack of trees with desertification (in warmer climates). After researching this line of thought it appears that the tradition came to be out of an acknowledgment that human kind can not keep taking from nature without giving something back. To do so would be to bring an end to the resource that accommodates and sustains our lives and lifestyles. This tradition is founded on wisdom and a respect for the resources human kind depends upon.

I found an article which explains Jewish festivals and traditions and explains that many of the customs are based around the agricultural calender and, similar to Paganism, honour the solstices and equinoxes as times of great significance marked by festivals and holidays. Tu Bishvat does not appear to have been included in the original Jewish scriptures instead being borne from the necessity of paying taxes in the form of fruits and nuts and with foresight that many trees would be felled in springtime. Tu Bishvat is an attempt to replace trees before they are depleted.

Another aspect of Tu Bishvat is the importance of knowing the exact age of a tree. One should not eat fruits of the tree in the first four years of the trees life and the day of the shevat that the tree was planted on determines the age of the tree in years, not the actual age of the tree in calendar years.

It is customary to eat nuts (almonds) and raisins during the festival of Tu Bishvat and to plant almond trees. I wanted to create a piece of fibre art to honour this festival and was very inspired by almond blossoms and the mythology of the almond tree. I stated to make a shawl. The shawl is of epic proportions (3.5 metres x 1 metre) and has yet to be completed but the design incorporates almond bowers laiden with blossoms. Lets hope I get it finished in time for the actual Tu Bishvat!

Greek mythology tells of the beautiful princess Phyllis, who was left waiting at the altar on her wedding day by her intended, Demophon. Phyllis waited for years for him to return, but finally died of a broken heart. In sympathy, the gods transformed Phyllis into an almond tree, which became a symbol of hope. When the errant, remorseful Demonphon returned to find Phyllis as a leafless, flowerless tree, he embraced the tree. The tree suddenly burst into bloom, a demonstration of love not conquered by death. Below you can see a painting painted in 1907 by John William Waterhouse which was inspired by Demophon and Phyllis.

T - Thankfulness - be thankful for vegetation
R - Recycle - Help our trees
E - Environment
E - Eco-Friendly
S - Save The Trees

Odin

Wounded I hung on a wind-swept gallows

For nine long nights,

Pierced by a spear, pledged to Odhinn,

Offered, myself to myself

The wisest know not from whence spring

The roots of that ancient rood

They gave me no bread,

They gave me no mead,

I looked down;

with a loud cry

I took up the runes;

from that tree I fell.

Odin's Gift to the World

(Excerpt of W H Auden & P B Taylor's Translation of The Havamal)

Myth and Magic - Bowerman's Nose

Of late my reality has been unpleasant so I have allowed myself to dream. Many years ago I did my native American Indian medicine wheel and learned all about my spirit guides. One of the wonderful creatures that lends me its medicine and at times guides my path is Lizard. Lizard has one eye closed and one eye open. This allows the Lizard to keep one eye on the present and one eye in the dreamworld. The Lizard teaches that without our dreams we cannot make our desires a reality. Without dreaming we cannot know what to reach for, which direction to take or how to achieve our goals. One eye is fixed on our present, our reality and keeps us grounded allowing the practical self to draw up plans and manifest our dreams in the future.

I have known I have wanted change for a long time. I have wanted out of this rat race, this corporate self interested consumerist way. I've sought the peace and beauty of the rural life, to surround myself with nature. I've allowed my self to dream, to draw up plans and to figure a way of making it happen. I don't know how to do it yet and am under no false illusions that it will be easy, the life I long for involves hard work.

My dream is to homestead. To have a little plot of land. To go off the grid. To create my own sustainable sources of energy, step out of the financial shackles of the utility giants. To ask nature to bestow me with the gifts of sun, water and wind and channel those gifts through wind/water mills and solar panels. I would grow my own food, raise sheep for wool practice crafts, always giving back as much if not more than I receive. I dream of environmental stewardship, creating wildlife havens and planting trees. It is my dream and I've allowed myself to dream it.

Occasionally I surf the web checking out the prices of land, the availability, the locations. On my most recent search I came across a piece of land in Devon. The land reaches onto Dartmoor and is surrounded by The National Trust. It is beyond my means and more than I need but the treasure it uncovered made my lips mischievously curl.

The land includes the landmark of Bowerman's Nose. I had not heard of it before or the myth that accompanies it, but when I did I know I had to share it with Manya of Mythcolour. Manya shares wonderful insights into her life in Greece, story telling and felt making. Manya I am sharing this myth in response to your wonderful post about the crone. This post is dedicated to you. Please visit Manya at her lovely blog Mythcolour.

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The story goes that Bowerman was a rich and powerful man. He was physically strong and imposing in character. Bowermn loved to hunt with hounds and to relentlessly pursue his quarry.

It is rumoured that there were witches in the locale. These witches were powerful and feared by all except Bowerman who loudly and publicly ridiculed these 'hags' and their alleged powers. This angered the witches but they too were afraid of Bowerman and his hounds so kept out of his way for a peaceful life.

One day, the witches were gathered around a cauldron sharing and making magic when Bowerman and his hounds caught the scent of a hare. In hot pursuit of the hare, Bowerman ran through the witches, upsetting the cauldron, causing commotion and disarray.

The witches had had enough and felt they had to act. Knowing the lay of the land, the witches knew Bowerman and his hounds would have to return the way he had came. One of the witches had the power of assuming the shape of any animal she chose. She quickly transformed herself into a hare and waited for Bowerman to return. When he did, she revealed herself in her hare form and lured Bowerman into a trap. The legend goes that Bowerman and his hounds followed the hare and were ambushed by the witches who promptly turned him and his hounds into rocks which stand on the Dartmoor to this day. Sometimes the night winds can be heard carrying the hunting cries of Bowerman and his hounds.

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This story paticularly tickled me as I have spent many a season sabotaging the hunts and campaigning for the legal ban of hunting with hounds. I have been a hunt saboteur and will always be so in my heart.

Reading between the lines I doubt that the witches wished to be feared. Instead I feel that they must have been feared as their herbal knowledge and educated ways made them curious and unknown to those that are not familiar with these customs. Historically, man has always demonised that which he cannot understand, that which is different.


The picture at the head of this post is used with the permission of the artist Paul Hopkinson who has his own website which displays more of his artwork and provides a generous tutorial in the techniques of water colour. Please visit this link to see more Of Paul Hopkinson's work.