Full Moon+Tu b'shvat= She Who Dances With Trees

The Moon was oh so full and low in the sky when I noticed her last night. Appropriately enough,I saw here through stretching limbs of confused winter trees. Confused because many here are beginning to bud because of our very mild winter. Trees and plants beginning to wake up before their time could prove to be problematic since there is still at least 6-8 weeks of winter left and the possibilities of a harsh snowstorm are still likely. How sad it would be to lose those first buds, flowers or fruits. I began to consider today's holiday of Tu b'shvat, the New Year of Trees, and what this early awakening metaphor could mean.

People are often compared to trees and it was this comparison that caused me to think on this further. There are those of us, many of us, who may be trying to bud and bloom before we are quite ready. Or perhaps we are putting pressure on another to bud and bloom before his or her time. Every tree has their fruit according to their kind and according to their time. The sweetest and most enjoyable fruit is reaped when their fruit is ripe and the season is full. Otherwise, you are left with hard, tasteless or worse yet, bitter fruit.

Look at yourself. Are you pruning your branches too harshly? Are you cutting back that which you despise too cruelly? It's true, we do need to work on ourselves and we are always working to prune back the dead limbs so that the living may come forth. But there is such a thing as too much pruning or not pruning at the proper time. Pruning lavender in February instead of April proved devastating for me as I ending up killing a beloved lavender plant not so many years ago. Think on this, my friends.

Then look at your garden of family and friends. Is your well meaning advice simply more pruning to a tree who has already been quite brutalized? Have you carefully examined them to see if they need fertilizing and sunshine instead of more rain? Perhaps you are meant to provide shade or a filter of light for a young sapling so as not to expose it to the glaring sun before it's time. Gentle, compassionate caretakers tend to bring forth greater harvests than those who aggressive attack the landscape with harsh chemicals and pesticides. It may take longer, but the harvest gleaned will be worth the work and wait!

May we all celebrate this New Year of Trees by celebrating the Tree of Life within each and every one of us! May we grow in our proper time, not too early and too late. May we all bear fruit sweet, ripe and full! May we prune when necessary and may we flourish as a tree planted by the riverside!