 | The lovingly illustrated Be More Tree offers fascinating facts and meditations on trees around the world. Fifty-two trees from around the world are featured, from Acacia to Yucca, Dogwood to Date Palm, and many more. Each tree is highlighted with a water-color illustration (by Melissa Launay), brief essay, suggested meditation, and a pertinent quote. For example, Quaking aspens are part of a single organism. One 80,000-year-old colony in Utah contains 40,000 “individual” clone-trees spread across 105 acres, all connected by a single root system. |
The aspen organism illustrates the idea of the “interconnection of all beings.” The author quotes John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”
 | In Southeast Asia, Buddhist “forest monks” ordain trees in areas threatened by logging. They dress the trees in sacred vestments resembling the monk’s robes, an acknowledgment of the living spirits of the trees, to protect them from destruction. I was privileged to meet several ancient trees in Kyoto, Japan on Mount Kurama “dressed” in shimenawa rope skirts. One ancient tree was the reincarnation of a revered Buddhist monk. |
 | The flowering Cherry tree inspired a haiku poem by Kobayashi Isa: “Live in simple faith . . . just as this trusting cherry flowers, fades, and falls.” |
 | The author cites many spiritual traditions that hold Juniper smoke as sacred. In the Himalayas, juniper is considered “the abode of the goddesses of fertility and good fortune.” Mongolian shamans burn juniper twigs to help summon the spirits. Shamans of Pakistan also use juniper smoke to enter ecstatic trance. The author suggests adding juniper branches to a fire to appreciate this tree’s special qualities. |
The world’s biggest Banyan has branches spreading over 5 acres and a canopy of almost 23,000 square yards. “It’s so big, a small Hindu temple has been built within its massive trunk.”
 | The Kauri tree of Southeast Asia and Oceania, is one of the tallest in the world. One kauri tree is 58 feet high, with a girth of over 45 feet and is at least 2,000 years old. The Maori consider the kauri tree a relative and pray to its spirit for forgiveness before chopping one down. The author recommends a spiritual practice of cultivating gratitude to the trees who offer themselves to us in the form of paper or firewood, and praying to them for forgiveness. |
 | Hickory (and Walnut) trees secrete a chemical called juglone in their roots, leaves, and the shells of their nuts. The chemical, toxic to other plants, helps weed out competition for sunlight and nutrients. Because slow-growing hickories can live for centuries, “The hickory tree has much to teach us about perseverance, patience, and the healing power of taking our time.” |
 | A Callery pear tree was one of the few survivors of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center towers in NYC. The parks department dug it out of the rubble and a horticulturalist nursed it back to health. They then replanted it in the September 11 Memorial Plaza where it’s thriving. The author’s meditation: “Take inspiration from the pear, or from any tree. Even at the darkest moments of our lives, there is . . . hope for survival.” |
Delving into each tree’s unique gifts reminded me of the ancient Welsh poem Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees, which attributes different powers to each tree. A sample from the translation by Robert Graves (in The White Goddess): “The Alders in the front line began the affray. Willow and Rowan were tardy in array. The Holly, dark green, made a resolute stand; He is armed with many spear points, wounding the hand.”
The author notes that trees have monetary value beyond being used for lumbar. It’s estimated (in 1994 dollars) that a single tree provides $31,250 worth of oxygen; $37,000 in water recycling and humidity regulation; $62,500 in air pollution control; produces $2,500 worth of protein; $31,250 in wildlife shelter, and $31,250 in erosion control and soil fertilization. Imagine the value of an entire forest—and these numbers don’t even take into account the spiritual gift of trees. For example, forest bathing, the practice of mindful excursions among trees, has many documented health benefits.
There are many more fascinating tidbits throughout the book. I’ll close with a quote from transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau (included in the chapter on Beech trees): “I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.”
Be More Tree was a gift from beloved friends who appreciate my love of trees. It’s a beautiful book for tree nerds and anyone interested in a gentle introduction to tree-based spirituality.
Be More Tree was a gift from beloved friends who appreciate my love of trees. It’s a beautiful book for tree nerds and anyone interested in a gentle introduction to tree-based spirituality.
For more tree lore read my review of The Forest Unseen.
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