Who Sings Now? ~ 9th Voice from the Forest (Cherry Tree)

Member Name: QuinnElaine

Product:	Cherry Tree
Date:	21/09/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wisdom

Disadvantages: gaining wisdom can be painful

"Sweet as Love's first kiss,
I ease aching bones,
quiet winter coughs,
and evoke joyful bliss.

Grace, Protection and
good Health I bequeath
to every child waiting to be born,
and every blushing bride
beneath my wreath.

Generous Heart
leads to
Generous Mind.
I will show you the path
of the Gentle Warrior,
Modest, loving, innocent, mercifully kind."

Who Sings Now?


"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails."
~I Corinthians 13:4-8

The Cherry belongs to the Family Rosaceae, making it a relative of pears, almonds, peaches, roses and apples. This Teacher has been associated with love, kindness, sweetness, playfulness, youth, psychic energy, healing, water, and joy around the world. Cherries have a very short fruiting season but tremendous health benefits. Cherries contain anthocyanins (the red pigment in berries) which have been proven to reduce pain and inflammation. Cherry anthocyanins have been shown to reduce pain and inflammations. Cherries help our bodies to produce a natural pain inhibitor that relieves arthritis! Consuming about half a cup of cherries three or more times a week will make a difference.

Anthocyanins are also potent antioxidants, and have been shown to contain high levels of melatonin. Besides being an anti-oxidant, melatonin has also been shown to be important for the function of the immune system. Excellent for heart health, circulation, healthy skin and general beneficial antioxidants, the Cherry is considered a "super food". The fruits are tasty fresh or cooked, and even the wood adds flavor to the food it cooks. Because it can grow rapidly in poor soil and provide food for birds and other creatures, the Cherry is an excellent candidate for reforestation projects. Medicinally, cherries have been used to treat coughs from the common cold to whooping cough, and most modern cough syrups are still based on a decoction made from cherry bark. Cherry is also a useful remedy for gout and arthritis.

In many Native American traditions one can find "talking sticks" and "question/answering sticks". These important tools helped councils to give and receive attention during meetings in a respectful manner, insuring that all participants could be heard; that their Sacred Point of View would be shared. Unlike the less elaborate Talking Feathers which have been used with the same care, special attention was paid to which woods went into the making of a Talking Stick by those who had called the meeting, as each carries its own Medicine which would be potentially valuable.

Cherry wood would be selected for the inclusion of high emotion, love and expression. It has been highly prized as a wood for carving, furniture making, and toy making over the centuries. Cherry festivals are held all over the world, perhaps the most well known being in Japan and Hamburg. Children in America are still told the myth of George Washington and the Cherry tree in schools every year, despite not having any basis in truth; a curious dichotomy.

Cherries are excellent friends for couples in love, those seeking love, in need of kindness or sweetness, those seeking psychic increase, a return to innocence, or joy in their lives. I like to keep a cherry branch in my bed room, usually over a door, window, or the bed. It helps me to feel loved and protected while I sleep, and sweetens my dreams. Cherries teach about the importance of kindness, both giving and receiving, in our lives. Strength through gentleness, honor and the concept of loving/kindness are important cherry lessons.

Life is fleeting and overwhelmingly beautiful, meant to be savored each moment for Death is as inevitable as Life is tenacious. This is one of many reasons that the Samurai chose the cherry blossom as their emblem. This Teacher is an emblem of Kwan Yin, and a symbol of her love. Cherry reminds me to be merciful and grateful, to myself as well as All My Relations.


"To those who withhold refuge,
I cradle you in safety at the core of my Being.
To those that cause a child to cry out,
I grant you the freedom to express your own choked agony.
To those that inflict terror,
I remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns.
To those who would confine, suppress, or deny,
I offer the limitless expanse of the sky.
To those who need to cut, slash, or burn,
I remind you of the invincibility of Spring.
To those who cling and grasp,
I promise more abundance than you could ever hold onto.
To those who vent their rage on small children,
I return to you your deepest innocence.
To those who must frighten into submission,
I hold you in the bosom of your original mother.
To those who cause agony to others,
I give the gift of free flowing tears.
To those that deny another's right to be,
I remind you that the angels sang in celebration of you on the day of your
birth.
To those who see only division and separateness,
I remind you that a part is born only by bisecting a whole.
For those who have forgotten the tender mercy of a mother's embrace,
I send a gentle breeze to caress your brow.
To those who still feel somehow incomplete,
I offer the perfect sanctity of this very moment."

~Kuan Yin's Prayer for the Abuser

Davy's Bit:

Potential Balancing energies: many Lepidoptera (butterflies/moths and their larvae), cuckoo, hummingbird, crow and turkey as well as many other birds, club moss, violet, aster, goldenrod, bracken fern, honey mushroom, tinder polypore, chicken mushroom, mice, rabbits, opossum, fox, raccoon, other trees like sassafras or oak, other near relatives like roses or apples, bee, wolf, spider, bear, ant, wasp, wind, dragon, otter or horse.

Key Concepts: Joy, Love, Beauty, Feminine grace, Childbirth, Protection of Home and Children, Fertility, Modesty, Immortality (Life, Death, Rebirth), Truth, Innocence, Grace

Associated Gods/Goddesses, Popular or Mythic figures: Kwan Yin, Aphrodite, Baldur, Musubi-no-Kami, Koyasu-sama, Kono-hana-sakuya-hime, Yaya-Zakurai, and any Deity of youthfulness, beauty, love, childbirth, or joy. Emblem of Japan and the Samurai

Summary: "Life is just a chance to grow a soul." A. Powell Davies