Logger & the Rat | Pt 3

Lake Superior is a wild and untamed area – whether you’re a human or a nature spirit. Life and death on this largest of the Great Lakes seems to be in a constant battle with each other, and all life on these shores are known for their courage and resilience.

I met a maple tree in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore who was having a tough time dealing with these issues. He is a highly intelligent tree, and is part of a significant nodal group of trees that hold energy for their area. So his issues were affecting not only him…but the entire nodal point in which he participates.

I first walked into this story in September 2012, while on an outing with a group of photographers. I only had time to take a photo of the tree and situation, as the group was “moving on.” It so intrigued me that on my recent return to the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), I had to learn more…

In 2012, I had found the scene extremely interesting. I was told by the tree that he was expressing his – and the tree world’s – bitter humor about the excruciatingly heartless way in which humans were killing so many thousands of their community. (Loggers coming in and cutting down thousands of trees.) He was grounding this via an image he had fashioned of a “dumb” logger who was a rat for what he was doing!

Now – forward to 2019 (seven years later). I was back in the UP on a solo photo outing, and my inner team of guides was insistent that my first stop be to revisit this tree. I agreed it would be an interesting outing. When I got to the site, I was taken back by the changes that had occurred.

I came upon a scene of change, destruction, redemption and transformation. It was so profound that I had to sit with the nature community of that area for a long time, moving into resonance with them, and listening as the story slowly unraveled.

At a point between 2012 and 2019 – more towards the near end – there was a terrible weather situation in which many trees died, including several of the large maples in this tree’s significant nodal group. Many had fallen, including one of the maple’s friends who only just managed to avoid toppling directly onto him. The debris from the fallen friend still surrounded this tree. Nature had done this, not man.

When the storm was over, humans came to examine the situation. But these humans were very distressed, as they so respected the forest, and the loss of so many trees was disheartening to them. They worked with respect and care to cut up the downed trees so that the path through the woods was clear again for hikers. The maple tree enjoyed the energy of the hikers, and was happy to have them able to pass by again.

 

The tree’s rant against human destruction was now put in a different context. The reverses of perception of this situation – nature destroying and humans helping – was very shocking to the tree, and it made him ponder just what was occurring – perhaps he was wrong in his attitude.

(Note in the photos that the head is now deflating but is not yet the skull.)

 

 

 

 

 

This openness to other possibilities brought in the presiding nature devas and they began work to rehabilitate the tree and bring it back into harmony with the natural order of the forest. A male and a female nature spirit embedded their energy in the tree, marking their presence as they frequently do with their calling cards – their portraits.

The rat they left in place, as that was a living energy that existed and still exists in the area, according to their way of thinking. (They feel people should at the very least offer respect and gratitude to the trees for their self-offering before cutting them down to turn into lumber.) They drained the malignancy of bitter humor from the tree, leaving only a flat skull remaining.

Because this small enclave was a nodal portal point for many life form grids, a variety of other nature spirits came forward to help. They needed to strengthen the remaining trees, to replace the holding energy of the trees who had died. Shown below are some of the many solutions the nature world as a whole put in place.

In this significant maple, several spirits began working with the energy of the rat – of unconscious human hurtfulness. They are transforming the rat into a bird – right now it looks like a harpy, as it is moving and changing. Working on the rat are, to the right, an English-looking Shakespearean fellow whose mustache is a smaller spirit.

 

There is a gnome on North side of the tree – a very grounded nature spirit type who works with deep earth energies – assisting the perplexed tree energy (that form is below him) to cope with the new situation.

 

A large female nature spirit who seems related to the animal world holds down the story energy from the back side. Her mouth is formed of the story, and her lips are those of a Nordic raven – the carrier of Odin’s messages and will.

 

 

 

In the small circular ring of trees, another tree supports the heroic adventurous energy of this area – the bearded, helmeted image of a Nordic warrior. Above him resides a large spirit guide – a Nordic King, to whom the warrior pays allegiance. (I found several nodal trees in the UP with this powerful, resilient Nordic warrior image. It is part of the grid anchoring this wildly beautiful part of our country to its idealistic roots.) This Nordic tree was embodying another part of the story – that of the strong people who settled this area of the country.

The nature spirits explained that the maple tree had repented for his previous bitterness but was still a bit shaken by the death of his friends. In the face of death, the nature spirits told me, old enmities seem less important, and the value of the life we have yet left becomes more highly valued. Here was a tree who was making peace with itself, and moving on. As he is a nodal tree – his transformation will have a profound effect on his entire area.