Pacific Yew Tree — Taxus brevifolia
Yew trees are truly ancient and mystical beings who wield great power and magic. They are not like other beings from the plant world, they have a special role of all life forms that dwell on this earth. This may sound wild and extravagant and maybe even a bit dramatic, but if we explore the importance that yew trees have held for so many peoples across time, perhaps we may come to a place of understanding of such a statement. It is said that all yew tree species are a little bit more unique and different from each other than many other tree species. While yes I am exploring the pacific yew tree personally, it does still have much correlation and connection to the yew tree nation, such as those from Europe.
Most of the stories and mysteries come from the giant yew trees from Europe. Across the great expanse of central and western Europe, spanning all the way down through the Mediterranean, yew trees grow in these regions. And in all places that they have ever grown they hold a place of deep and profound reverence and respect for the cultures that share land with them. Many cultures hold the yew tree as the core representative their cosmology story, the life form that holds the balance of the entire planet in sway. Yggdrasil is the worldtree central to Norse mythology that holds the entire earth in connection to the heavens, the underworld, and the capacity to travel between realms. We must think that there is a very particular reason why any people would represent life by a particular entity and not another. And even the more curious how many different cultures through disconnected from each other, believed the yew tree’s power to be vast and of a similar nature. What we mostly know comes from Celtic and druidic traditions. When we look at an ancient yew tree we see a massive form of twisted and gnarled limbs, they grow in a very curious fashion that most other trees do not grow in. There is the central trunk of the tree itself, then its limbs grow up and out until they swoop back down again and touch the ground where they often root, they then continue growing and form a sphere of greenery. With some trees one has to crawl through a tunnel on their hands and knees, as if being forced to humble oneself to the greatness of such a being, in order to pass through from the outer world and come into the realm of the yew. Inside there is an inner sanctuary, a sacred and holy place that is formed by the yew itself. It is in this place that the druids, the religious class of the Celts would come to worship, the place that they would come to be in relationship to all of life itself. They found that in the presence of this being there was a capacity for relationship unlike that found anywhere else. The yew was such an access point to their relationship with the divine that when the Romans ventured forth in conquest and obliteration of the Celtic people they did their very best to destroy as many yew trees as possible because it was their church. It was the place they would come and worship together as a people as well as an embodiment of their knowledge and culture. The ancient yew trees that we still see standing in Europe today were spared from this massacre, and yet they were still claimed by Christianity for the most part. Churches have been built around them, and occasionally yew trees were planted next to churches, specifically the graveyard of the church was placed such that it was near the yew tree. There are a few reasons for this. In order for remaining nature venerating peoples to have access to their spirituality, they had to access the yew tree through the church.
Many peoples believe that the yew tree is a ‘psychopump', a being that ensure that souls are able to transition to the other side upon death, they draw energy from and back into the beyond, and this is why they are regularly in relationship with graveyards. A recent yew tree was uprooted in a graveyard and tangled around its massively extensive root system were the remains of many human remains; the tree broke through many tombs to wrap itself around the bones these dead people. Such is even so today, in my town in Canada there are many yew trees planted in my local cemetery, this power was known to the British settlers. There is a rich history of people choosing death by yew tree, it is a difficult and painful passing as it slowly stops respiration, but one that was believed to be quite honorable. Though intense, it ensures that the soul will make it to the other side successfully. Lovers would sometimes also consume the yew together also to ensure that they would be able to continue their next journey without getting stuck in this earthly plane. Death by yew is an exploration in extreme vulnerability, there is perhaps incomparable heart opening before the heart stops.
The mysteries of the yew have been known and venerated by many of the wisdom keepers across the cultures of Europe, the mystery schools, the sects that preserve the esoteric and sacred knowledge. From the Greek Gnostics who learned much of their knowledge from ancient Egypt, to early Christian esoteric teachings, to many many curious etymological synchronicities such as the early Christian names for the garden of eden, God itself, and even Eden, to isolated saints and hermits who kept some of these guarded secrets, to even the Knights Templar, and some of the wealthiest families in England own land with large yew trees. Indeed, many curious synchronicities.
The yew tree itself is an amazing being, it is an evergreen, but it is an evergreen all to itself. Most other evergreen trees possess great medicine that so many peoples have used for a long time. Much of their bodies possess great medicine, from the bark to the sap, and especially the leaves of most evergreens are edible in small quantities. The tea of fir and spruce tips have been incredibly important for many peoples. And yet the needles of yew trees are very unique in that they are incredibly toxic. All evergreens are very very old beings, they come from a time before flowering plants, they are cone bearing and are vestiges of an ancient time of earth’s history. The yew is not cone bearing like all other evergreens, botanists had quite a conundrum upon categorizing it, it seems outside the rules of other trees. Beyond this nobody really knows how old a yew tree is. All other trees grow in a cyclical and seasonal fashion such that one is always able to count the rings of a tree and know exactly how old it is, such is not the case for yew trees. They often grow large and vast until their center rots away and only a shell remains, but then instead of dying they magically and mysteriously sprout a new growth from the center of their being, the once more and begin their life anew. And from here an entirely reborn physical body of the exact tree is brought forth into creation again, no other being we know of has this capacity. It has even been noted that occasionally when a branch has lain dead on the ground for many years it has then sprouted growth and formed a new tree, no other tree that we know of has this capacity. It was often incorporated into many longevity potions and has a deep relationship with the quest for immortality. It is very possibly the oldest tree on earth, though it is a topic of great dispute. There are those who strongly believe that some of the ancient yew trees predate the ice age, which certainly would place it as the oldest tree on earth. A planet wide universal covering of thick sheets of ice are absolutely not scientifically proven, and some places that the ancient yew trees grow there is very little signs of glaciation. They are know to be at least many thousands of years old. Though rare and infrequent, it is even able to change its gender at will, despite its great age, and no scientist has any idea how it is able to do this. “The Yew has survived virtually unchanged for over 250 million years as the oldest, and yet simultaneously the most youthful and even ‘embryonic’ tree species in Europe. Known as ‘the tree archetype of Europe’, the yew has the ability to change its sex, seemingly at will. The oldest known word for the yew, eya (circa 1750 BCE) means ‘eternity’ or ‘to be touched by eternity’ and to learn how that force might be used to heal others is one of the greatest secrets of the Yew Mysteries. It is likely that the ‘eternity’ referred to here is related to ancient practices involving the psychoactive properties of the yew.” ~ Michael Dunning
In recent history it has been discovered that it is a potent medicine in the treatment of cancer. The pacific yew was greatly over harvested for the production of Taxol, which has since been able to be synthesized, but populations remain decimated across many regions of the Pacific Northwest as well as other species in other parts of the world. I find it particularly curious that this plant is helpful in the treatment of cancer when cancer itself is truly a disease of immortality. If cancer cells had enough resources they could very possibly go on living forever, endless growth is what it does. It has no known limits nor feedback mechanisms that impair its limitless growth, and it only ceases when the host’s essence is exhausted. In a way it is exactly what our civilization is asking for, to live forever, to have it all, to not be in relationship with the temporariness and finiteness of mortality and exhaustible resources.
They are known as the tree of life and of death, of creation and destruction, and of dismemberment. Upon death, the soul is dismembered from the physical body, it dissolves, becomes separated, and needs clear and directed guidance to return to the spirit world. Many ghosts and malicious sprits that remain upon earth are beings that have died suddenly or in a way where the spirit has not been guided onward in a clear way. Guidance is needed to usher souls between the realm of the living and of the spirits. Time is a curious thing, we believe in it so for much of the time, yet sometimes it seems to have no hold, no sway, no bearing. Relationship with the yew tree reflects this timelessness, it is a portal to the other world. When one is in relationship with yew energy, there are often great gaps of consciousness, it is easy to forget yourself as well as some of the specific teachings, they are often more retained in a more cellular memory.
When you invite yew in, it does work through you. It is not the same way that we work with other plants, we do not invite it in such that we do not root ourselves in heart centered perception and go forth and meet it by referencing from our center. Instead we find the sphere of energy that exists on the outside of us, our energetic field of vibrational consciousness and meet the yew at this place, this fluid energy holds consciousness and is responsible for the blueprint of our being, of our pure wholeness that can never be damaged. It is intelligent, organizing, and that which orchestrates the rhythmic energetic play of consciousness. The yew breathes you through your perisperhal energy. One meets it from the external energy body, the tides of energetic flow that breathe you. One must be in relationship with the energetic breathe of the being, this is something that is entirely distinct from your physical breath. And yet, when you do breathe from your lungs it is an exploration of drawing breath from the entire periphery of your energy body, from the world around you, drawing life force energy into you from the heavenly qi realm that we are constantly submerged in, as well as breathing back out into everything. Our breath is choosing to pull and draw creation from beyond and be in connection, to risk the vulnerability of taking life in. These tides of energy are beyond the physical breath, this comic breath is from the otherworld, and when you are in relationship to the yew one is connect to an energetic entity that exists in the otherworld that continually sends you cosmic nourishment that supports you in this life, it is yourself, your pure wholeness of your soul, the yew offers access to one’s true nature that exists beyond the conditioned and traumatized embodied self, the entirely whole true soul self.
One cannot stand in the presence of god for too long, one cannot look at the sun without being blinded. There is a capacity and limit to being human, and being in relationship and contact with the divine is much the same. The yew tree is toxic and it emits alkaloids where one is not able to be beneath its leaves for too long before starting to feel dreamy and toxic. It is a bit of a life commitment perhaps to be in deep relationship with the yew, it is not a subtle thing to be in an intimate relationship with god. It is difficult to gently explore the yew tree, it is not something to lightly pick up and have a nice cup of tea with. But if you feel the life call it may seriously impact the course of your life, but if you do not set boundaries it can be quite dangerous. When you are in relationship with the yew, ensure that you know what the contract is that you are saying yes to before you fully and completely let it in to the most inner sanctum of your heart’s center. There is a way to be with it and not let it command you, but take heed and keep your wits about you, or it may ask you to do more than you feel capable of doing, such as healing the entire world or a damaged environment. Akin to several other master plants on this planet, many who work with yew at a profound level do not work with other plants, it can require a devotion that is extreme. And yet, by being in deep relationship with an entity which allows a relationship and contact to the source of life itself, perhaps that is enough and one would not need any other plant, nor being, nor guidance when receiving such a potent vibration. Such is the idea with many of the master plants. One only calls yew in for aid when it is truly the best plant for the situation, and in that rare case it is happy to help, but only when it truly is the best plant. It is not something to gently call in for everyday tasks, one does not ask god to do the dishes.
Being breathed by the yew tree is like a cosmic vacuum back into the oneness of all. It can be an incredibly strong cleanser, facilitating depossession, of taking soul stagnations and sucking them out into the primordial cosmic dust which recycles all matter and energy. This process is a portal to the place of origins where all things are made, such that any energy that does not serve one’s highest nature may be remade as it is dissolved back into the cosmic prima materia that life itself uses to form everything.
Personal experiences with the Yew
My first experience with the pacific yew tree was a surprisingly magical and profound experience. Megan shared so much of this history and folklore, ways and things that other people have said, and yet they are still only words until an experience forces one to confront the truth of this world. Things happen and we must continually remake what this world is, what it means to be human, how the laws and rules of this reality are. And nothing besides personal experience suffice to truly inform how it all works. And when something occurs that shifts the laws of truth, one must let them in and these supposed parameters, to let reality be remade into a more truthful version. I am very curious what the experience of this world may be in the future if my notions of reality continue to change at the rate that they have thus far since walking upon this plant medicine path. It so deeply serves me, but it is a curious thing to be confronted with truths that I experience which are not collectively held truths in my society, to unlearn worldly conditioning before I may truly learn from my heart’s experience.
We walk up the mountainside, it is rainy and dreary and foggy, and there is a heavy energy pressing down upon the forest path. Along the way we stop and give some offerings to the spirits of this place, to honor those who have been here before who watch over this land, we thank them, and we ask for the opportunity to come and share in this special place. We let our intention be known that we are seeking to be in good relationship with all beings and do not come to take what is not ours, that we are visitors and are grateful for this opportunity to come and share together. We walk up the mountain, and as we go the energy seems to grow heavier and more intense, you can feel it in the air, you can almost taste it. There are many boulders that have fallen and we climb upon ancient moss covered rocks, passing through a stone chasm between two massive boulders we drop down and climb underneath to emerge where several boulders have fallen upon each other. They form a cave of sorts, there is little light inside, but a bit, and in the center of the cave is a giant ancient pacific yew tree. There are no yew trees in this entire forest, I have not seen a single other one, how did this tree get there. It has been there a very very long time. Its bark is rough and as far as pacific yew trees go, it is about as big as they get. The energy in the space is notably strong but nothing bizarre happens immediately. We all sit and find a place, the drum beat begins and we enter meditation.
I feel that I have been preparing for this moment for many years, or perhaps life has been preparing me for this relationship with yew for many years now. My medicine path has not ever been one that I intentionally choose to pursue. It was never my plan to be in these ways, I simply wanted to live in relationship with the earth, to grow food and build a house, but life had plans for me. To walk the medicine path, to learn to truly be in relationship with all the beings that I share this planet with and what that truly means, this is my destiny. Many years ago I began my explorations into Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, which is essentially the same sensation, it is a training to feel the energetic sensations of a being, to perceive them as they expand into the horizon in all directions as energy expands outward to the furthest reaches of the universe, and then as they oscillate and follow them back down as they collapse into the singularity of nothingness that is located at the center of each being, the lower Dan Tien is this place of emanation. These energetic tides are continually oscillating in all people, and when they are a perceived one feels the inherent intelligence of the orchestrating force of consciousness that resides in each of us. As I was first beginning to learn of this modality I discovered Michael Dunning and his work. He is a man who was possessed by a powerful entity that greatly shifted the course of his life, and he essentially learned how to heal himself by being with a yew tree as well as through Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. For him this was a language and a human understanding of the same sort of energy. Since this time I have been exploring and practicing sensing my fields, of energetic expansion and contraction almost daily. I am an infant in it, but it provided me the capacity and context to be able to begin communicating in this energetic language that the yew breathes and communicates in. I dropped into my energetic tides in the cave, they began subtlety, expanding and contracting, feeling more and more, and more. Far above any other way of intuitive knowing, I possess the greatest skill and comfort through my felt sense perception, through awareness of energy in a very physically perceived manner. I feel comfort when I am guided by the world through this medium; suffice to say that this is exactly the language of the yew tree and I found it suited to my innate ways of experience. My physical body began dissolving as I became enmeshed in pure energy. The sensation grew beyond that which it has ever been in my meditations before. I proceeded to be absolutely overcome with sensation to the point where it barely became tolerable. On the expansion cycle I was filled with an all pervasive ecstasy that filled my entire being with pure raw source energy, it was incredibly overwhelming and I wondering if the sensation were to continue to grow would I be able to tolerate such extremes of sensation. And then on the contraction phase there were flashes of darkness, of demons, of hurt and negativity to a minor degree, I also felt some places of blockage and stagnation in my body as things turned and collapsed to nothingness. And so the cycle repeated, over and over, growing all the while. In my vision I see myself and I see the yew tree, and there is a portal that has been opened at the center of its trunk, there are tendrils of energy from the torus field of my energy body that is drawn into the center of the portal. The portal connects me to all of life, to all of creation, and to the otherworld beyond the now. It is Megan’s experience, as well as others, that the yew tree is a powerful being that has volunteered itself to be a portal, a gateway for connection, that it used to be something else, but is here consciously to be in service, access lest we forget the magic of what we are. The ceremony ends and we begin walking down the hill, I open my eyes and wonder what just happened, it is difficult to speak, and I do not feel like conversing with anyone. I am in awe and wonder and filled with curiosity. I have the clear perception that if one was to spend hours at a time sitting with the yew tree, for weeks or months in the presence of such incredible pure vibrational energy, that one’s being would be brought to such a resonance, such a vibration that there could be no place for anything except pure light energy residing in one’s being. The healing is not through direct physiological constituents, it is not explainable through western medicine nor logic, but it is real, it is my experience, it is… magic. Everything is vibration, everything is on the spectrum of light energy and when in fullness of that place there is no room for anything else. When I take the one single precious drop of my massively diluted yew tincture (my body cannot sustain the fullness of such a being), when I take it into my body, when I take this toxic diluted fragment of god connection into my being I instantaneously drop back into that state. It almost feels like spiritual cheating, there is a profound sense of forgetting and releasing my sense of self and being in connection with god. The yew is not god, the yew is an access point to god. But the yew is not something to abuse nor to be taken lightly, nor is everyone at a place to be able to receive its medicine. We engage in these quests not to attain a high, nor to escape and dissolve into nothingness, we are human and we are here for this experience, and we remember what it is to be fully embodied and fully unencumbered, fully present to then come back into our lives and share this medicine of love with the world around us, that is the gift of yew.
“The yew reunites us with the consciousness and sensory language of our origin in Spirit where we can be ‘touched by eternity’ and through that realize unlimited possibilities for transformation and healing. This is the essence of the Yew Mysteries that although centralized in the British Isles, resonated throughout the ancient world.” ~ Michael Dunning
My second experience sitting with the Pacific yew tree in the cave on the mountain was equally profound. A beautiful clear winter day, tranquil and peaceful, the land is in hibernation and there's a palpable stillness of energy about. I begin walking into the forest where the yew tree has its nest and the sensation of the open pasture of the land that is outside the forest is most clearly different than the land that is inside the forest; almost immediately upon entering it becomes blatantly clear that I am entering the realm of the spirits of this mountain, there is a clear and swift change into a different space that is ruled by watchful spirits. I open circle, ask for guidance, state the intention to connect, then leave an offering to the spirits of this land. I walk and feel the land, and feel changes as the cave grows nearer, the energy is growing throughout the journey, yet a potent and obvious powerful change occurs after walking through the threshold of the entrance to the yew tree cave, this place is guarded and watched by many spirits. The twisted and gnarled lightning molded guardian tree that protects the entrance to the stone chasm before the cave is an obvious sentinel ensuring that only the righteous pass. And immediately upon entering the cave I am overcome by the depths and the breadth of the strength of this place, my stomach lurches, I almost feel as if I've fallen into a great abyss. It is abundantly apparent that this is a sacred place, a container that demands reverence and deep respect. My heart is filled, there's almost a hint of fear or terror, the sheer fullness and stillness and power is so sudden and present, I wonder if I am worthy, I do not seek to disturb the powers that lie here in any way that is unwelcome. I take a moment before entering and clear my heart of any worldly concerns, this is a place for communion with life and I must leave my ego outside at the entrance. There's a candle burning at the base of the tree and fresh offerings, someone else has come to church this day. Though I can feel many presences I see no one. I kneel in prayer, in gratitude, in connection to this great ancient being whose presence commands and fills the entire sanctuary. I smudge and clean myself and find a seat and introduce myself, let my intentions be clear and known, I enter prayer as I drop into my tides, into meditation, into energetic contraction and expansion, and when I have found my rhythm I begin to connect through my energy body to this place, to this tree. Then I take one drop and I melt. I melt into my self and into everything, medicine helps me sit, my physical body is guided into how to be in perfect alignment such that the spirit is able to be without distraction, effortless body being, and even after hours of meditation I am able to stand and be without any pain in my body, a rare experience for me in seated meditation. I dissolve, expand, become energetic breath, nothing more. I feel filled, so filled with life, I feel the limitless energy, that which fills all things with strength and the spark of their life force, the aliveness of all things that emanates from the beyond into this world. This vitality that is the creative force of life fills my bones and every inch of me, and again and it is overwhelming. My heart beats fast, I have a much greater sense of the intensity of the yew this day, for the first time I feel the toxicity and harshness in my throats and in my belly, it is okay but it is not something to take lightly. A reflection of its power perhaps, not all beings is one able to be with, beings exist in different places and in different ways, different dimensions and forms of incarnation; some are not compatible with the human body, they are too much to wholly experience undiluted. I am so filled with strength that there is fear, fear of the power of this entity and this experience. It begins breathing me and I lose full control of myself, no longer choosing entirely of my own self contained beingness, I am now in harmony with this entity I have invited in, into my heart space where few other entities are ever allowed in to such utter depths, the only thing to do is let go. Let it in and trust, let the faith of the never ending experience of breath hold me and teach me, I have connected through my breath and in letting go I learn how to fully be present with what it is that is being actually experienced in each moment such that I am not responding from previously known nor conditioned ways of life.
My journey begins by being filled to the brim with power and strength, with love, I am enlivened, it draws me in. I feel tendrils of energetic rootlets grow down from my root chakra and penetrate into the ground, they extend and connect with this being, with Aya, with Yggdrasil, with this being that holds and connects and has roots and branches that reach every other thing in this world and beyond. I feel held in the context of my reality, I feel held in the web of interconnection of all things. I'm so filled and I have such potency of clarity which is beyond my normal experience. I feel my energy body surround me and interacting with my environment, I feel a branch of this auric energy reaching out and connecting to the yew. I see, I feel a portal, a portal to all things, but more than anything it is a gateway to the beyond, to deep stillness, to the place where souls go when they leave this planet, to the place where energy is remade and all is received in phases of transition of existence. I can feel the capacity of the yew to hold and eventually bring spirits to this place, but there is also an incredible sense of timelessness, I can fathom how souls may be guided to the otherworld through the yew but at a scale of time that we have no concept for. I have no idea how much time has passed and I'm losing myself without any true sense of my body any longer. I have a since of its strength, of being filled, and perhaps some quality of my skills to call upon this entity to help souls transition at the end of life, in this amazing process to maintain clarity, to be without fear and to be guided into the beyond in a good way such that a soul may develop by taking the lessons that were learned from this life with them into the next, to guide soul evolution through reincarnation.
The majority of my journey revolves around the Lyme disease entity that is residing in my vessel. Recently during an energy session with Megan and I came into contact with this being, I got to see to some degree and understand some more pieces of its spirit. How it entered my vessel to teach me, to show me my gifts and skills by impeding my capacity for perception and the ability to fully be me. I was in a state of not fully embodying myself during that time of life, there was space, but there is no space for it any longer. I conversed with it with Freya as my gatekeeper, watching over the ceremony that is held within the confines of this sacred space, this place allows for communication with all things. I speak with it and I thank it for these lessons, and in this intense clarity of connection to it I share with it that it is no longer welcome in my vessel, in my home, in my body. It does not have to die but it cannot stay here, nor is it allowed to gently take its time and persist mildly, now is the time to be directed towards the portal that is the gate, that it may be sent home, home beyond the confines of my body back to the place where comes from, that it may continue on its journey to heal, it send it with these blessings. Freya holds the circle while yew offers a portal of opening into deep space. I am stretched through the portal to that outer realm while my feet are still rooted, I very intentionally grow them solidly into the earth so as to not be sucked out into this deep space foreign land, there is a strong pull through the portal. I call upon geeth’n’gow to act through my body, to search my being and squeeze me from the bottom to the top, every single piece of myself to be inspected and take the Lyme energy that is held within me and to pull it out and to send it out in a beam of light that extends outwards from my head, this connects from my being into and through the portal and into deep space, to the connections of all places. Over and over I am collecting and sending the Lyme through this light wormhole, guided by the strength with my plant allies, being so filled with pure source love from the yew, calling creation into my being that there is no longer space for the Lyme to be anywhere in me. I ensure it is sent forth by these gatekeeper plant spirits, through my intention and through this magical sanctuary of relationship. As this occurs I feel waves of sensation, waves of release, I open my eyes and my clarity is so pure, the experience of my self is so raw and full that it is bliss to be me, completely without any vestiges nor remnants of another sharing my vessel. There is a clarity to the experience, of the quality of intensity inside the cave which informs me when there is work being done, when there is a strong, potent, and clear feeling in the space and the sun is shining; then all of a sudden the work is done and the container is closed, the sun fades, the intensity in the space calms, the moment has passed and I have done what I came here to do and I know longer feel high. I am fully back into me, it is as if the lights have gone out and it is time to leave now. Thank you yew for your blessings, for your help to ensure that connection remains possible in this world, for remembering creation itself and being an access point to help me be with god and life such that my life may be ever the more a living prayer, that my very existence may be pleasing to the creator, such that the intentional choice to walk in alignment with my destiny is a manifestation of the free flow and full celebration of life experiencing itself. This is the medicine of yew.
For further explorations:
Excerpt from “The Tides” by Fiona Macleod (William Sharp)
Flow and ebb, ebb and flow it is that ancient inexplicable mystery, the everlasting and unchanging rhythm which holds star to star in infinite procession, which lifts and lowers the poles of our sun-wheeling world, which compels the great oceans to arise and follow the mysterious bidding of the moon. It is wonderful that the moon travels along the equator at the rate of a thousand miles an hour: but more wonderful that these loose, formless, blind and insensate waters should awake at the touch of that pale hand, should move to it and follow it as the flocks of the hills to the voice of the shepherd.
Flow and ebb, ebb and flow . . . it is the utterance of the divine law, the eternal word of Order. It is life itself. What life is there, from the phosphorescent atom in the running wave to the enfranchised soul stepping westward beyond the twilights of time, that is not subject to this ineffable rhythmic law. The tides of the world, the tides of life: the grey sap, the red blood, the secret dews, the tameless seas, birth and death, the noons and midnights of the mind of man, the evening dusk and the morning glory of the soul . . . one and all move inevitably, and in one way: in one way come, and go, and come again.
Hildegard of Bingen
Sharing this poetic vision of her faith. She created the term “viriditas”, which encapsulated the divine force of nature. In this poem she explores the spark of creation that makes all things be filled with life, that divine power of god infused into all things.
I, the highest and fiery power
Have kindled every living spark
And I have breathed out nothing that can die.
I am the fiery life of the divine essence
I flame above the beauty of the fields:
I shine in the waters,
In the sun, the moon and the stars.
I burn. And by the means of the airy wind,
I stir everything into quickness
With certain invisible life which sustains all.
For the air lives in its green power
And its blossoming;
The waters flow as if they were alive.
Even the sun is alive in its own light.
I, the fiery power, lie hidden
In these things and they blaze from Me
Just as man is continually moved by his breath,
And as the fire contains the nimble flame
All these things live in their own essence
And are without death, since I am life.
I am the whole of life
Every living thing is rooted in Me.