Sunday, December 12, 2010

IN HONOR OF THE GLASTONBURY THORN TREE

I grew up under towering redwoods. Trees and I go way back, so I was upset to learn vandals destroyed the sacred Glastonbury Thorn Tree this week, a tree legend says is related to the thorn tree planted by Joseph of Aramathea. Pilgrims have been leaving offerings at the base of the tree since the earliest days of Christianity. People from around the world still climb the hill to visit the tree by Glastonbury Abbey.

Read more: Vandals Destroy A Sacred Tree



The morning I learned the news, I was still upset when I sat down to write. Luckily I had an email from The Nature Conservancy nudging me to donate one last time in 2010,and there it was right in front of me! The best way to fight back against what vandals did to the sacred tree was to give another donation to Plant A Billion Trees

I've been donating to Plant A Billion Trees this year to celebrate the book launch for THE DRAGONS OF NOOR because the dragons in the book fight to save the last forest in their world.

So I planted 100 trees in the endangered Brazilian rain forest to honor the Glastonbury Thorn Tree. Hooray!

I met some amazing trees last month on Maui. Can you believe the size of this beautiful banyan?




Bit more about Plant A Billion Trees:
Plant a Billion Trees goal: to restore one billion native trees to Brazil's highly endangered Atlantic Forest over the next 7 years.

Tropical forests are the lungs of the earth, filtering out ten million tons of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. Every day these valuable
trees help reduce global warming.



In THE DRAGONS OF NOOR the tree spirit Evver says to Hanna as they part:
~You have far and far to go to find the light beyond the dark. But feel the ground beneath your feet as you walk. Heart to root, remember the ones who hold you up. ~

Fellow Dreamwalkers, let us remember the ones who hold us up as we walk into this new year.

Janet

1 comment:

holly cupala said...

Such a heartbreaking vandalism! They should be ashamed of themselves. I love the picture of you by the banyan and hope to be visiting one myself in the next month or two!