The Spirit of the Sitka Spruce Speaks

Nature Spirits are trying to get our attention, trying to get us to connect with them. They want us to hear their messages, to realize that they exist in the subtle realms around us. Nature Spirits are a broad term that I use for beings that include Elementals, Devas, and Hidden Folk like dryads, fauns, faeries, sprites, elves, leprechauns, and many other beings that most of us don’t usually see, but are part of our world nonetheless. Since they share the world with us, they are trying to help us become conscious so we quit destroying so much of it. And then we can work together to create harmony and balance in it.

Some of these beings become emissaries. These are majestic, special, larger than life, and something we can relate to on an emotional level. Sometimes they become iconic, showing up on postcards, gift shop art prints, in films, on television and social media. They work their way into our collective consciousness in images of famous waterfalls, rivers, mountains, trees. They are part of our personal consciousness as the “make believe” friends we had in childhood, and in the gardens and backyards that we cultivate as adults.

I was fortunate to meet an emissary on a recent stay in Astoria, a port town on the northern coast of Oregon. We had done the touristy things on previous visits, going to the historic forts, and the Astoria Column. Now we just wanted a walk in the forest. We found a trail to the Cathedral Tree, a 300-year-old Sitka Spruce in a forest on the hills above the town.  The trail is well maintained by the city and climbs up through hemlock, Douglas fir, cedar, and spruce.  Another trail splits off it that leads to the Astoria Column about half mile away.  There was a family ahead of us, so we waited on a bench nearby as they took pictures of their Corgi pups in the hollow of the tree.

Everything about this tree is majestic. Its base has a hollow big enough to climb through. Its roots create a textured floor in the ground all around it. The solid, deep presence of its roots firm in the earth and its soaring height caused my energy body to feel the same way. As I sat there looking up at it, I felt the tree reach out to me. A gentle but sure voice arose in my head and said, “I am the original Astoria Column.”
I opened all my senses to the tree. Its energy is that of a guardian; not as a warrior, but as a teacher instead. It continued.

“I have opened myself to be a bridge between the spirits of nature and humans. Even to those who don’t consider nature as spirits being alive. When humans come and stand on my roots or duck inside the hollow of my trunk, they receive a subtle shifting. They give their permission to it by coming to visit me. It is a better take home than any postcard. They might not realize it, but in the exchange of energy between us, there is an exchange of love, recognition of connection, unity.

“Yes, I volunteered for this. I have seen, heard, and felt so many changes during my lifetime planted here. The cries of the native people as they slipped away, the silence of the fish as they have diminished, the static and strange smells in the air. But humans still come to visit me, and their hearts connect with me. And so I have hope that I will continue to stand here and witness more and more humans recognizing that they are all part of the web of all that is and that what they do, say, and think has an impact. When this is realized we will step into a new co-creative relationship. For that, I will stand here another 300 years. But let’s hope it doesn’t take that long. Thank you for coming. Thank you for hearing. Thank you for relaying my message.”

Nature spirits have interesting ways of reaching out to us. A couple days before our hike, we went to Astoria’s Fort George Brewery and Public House for dinner and sampled a few brews. One of the beers we had that we really liked was called Cathedral Tree. We had no idea what that even was then, but it planted a subliminal seed. This Sitka Spruce has a savvy spirit marketing team. 

The Astoria Column