Bear's Blog

The sun’s energies - solar flares, geomagnetic storms, solar winds - affect our ionosphere. The Schumann Resonances (frequencies that bounce between the earth’s surface and ionosphere), trees and humans all resonate in the same 8hZ range. Called the earth's heartbeat, this native frequency affects our health and well-being - and that of our terrestrial world. We live in that flow of energetic communication and connection. We’re understanding more about just how much trees have to teach us!

The earth’s surface - the “crust” - gives rise to all living forms. It’s where we root. Although mountains and seas carry their own special qualities, we feel an especially strong kinship with trees. Trees make every place more habitable and appealing. That’s true in a scientific sense, but also energetically and spiritually. It's time to realize their value not just as a commodity, but as a model for how to survive and thrive with each other. 

In the traditional western practice of forestry management, the main goal is timber production. That single-minded approach, along with no real knowledge of what makes forests healthy, has been damaging and destructive to the environment. We’re starting to appreciate how forests and plant diversity contribute to maintaining a stable climate and nutrient-rich soil. That’s just the beginning...

Suzanne Simard’s “Finding the Mother Tree” is a revelation. She came from generations of foresters in BC Canada - mostly loggers! Yet back in the day they were attuned to the forest for practical reasons, and  doing their job safely. Like farmers on their land, they become energetically connected just by the amount of time they spend in the “field” (layers of meaning in that word!)

Following in their footsteps, she worked for a lumber company in clear-cut areas trying to maximize the health of new seedlings. Planting rows of one type of tree, in a now barren area, the directive was to remove all the “competitive” plants. She noticed that some of these plants seemed to help the young trees. Designing experiments to learn more, she found they provided shade and used water to complement each other at different stages of growth.

The timber industry, and the foresters it employs, have a typical resource extraction perspective. Ultimately she continued her education – and research – in the academic world. Years of painstaking experiments followed, looking for ways to re-create thriving forests after trees are harvested.

What she discovered is challenging the traditional thinking about forests. I’m referring to the European, Manifest Destiny approach to the earth; native cultures have always understood how to care for the environment. (We’re also waking up to the ways they safely manage fire for forest health.)

The first ah-has for Simard was that plants not only share water, but nutrients - and antibodies! She also found that a large tree sends extra support to the little ones growing up in its shade. It was a symbiotic relationship. At the end of life, the “mother tree” pushed a huge amount of resources – her remaining life force – out to the young trees surrounding her.

This research is inspiring a huge mindset change; from thinking that plants and trees compete for resources, to seeing they actually cooperate to create better health for all. When her scientific studies become fully accepted, forest management will look dramatically different.

Yet there’s another discovery she made that is mind-blowing. The way trees exchange resources and signal need is through the mycorrhizal fungal network in the soil. It’s a vast, far-reaching system of communication that looks strikingly similar to the neural network of our brains! Synapses between fungi and plant membranes transmit molecules, including the amino acid glutamate. Glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the human brain.

Brain chemistry allows us to think and communicate. Electrochemical processes in human physiology gauge, adjust and regulate our bodies. That operational level of discernment and precision that trees demonstrate begs the question - are trees as perceptive, as intelligent as humans? (To those of us who communicate with the plant world - it's an obvious yes.)

Disrupting any network, through clear-cutting or other artificial means, creates chaos. Simard believes science can complement, build on, and align with native sensibilities when we recognize all life is a complex web of interconnection.

Peace, love and healing -

Bear

There’s been a tremendous amount of solar and planetary energy affecting us the last few weeks - and “earthing” is the antidote to stay in balance! I’ve learned so much from my space weatherman, geophysicist Stefan Burns - check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanBurns

If you’re curious about Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, here’s the link: https://suzannesimard.com/finding-the-mother-tree-book/