 |
| Photograph courtesy of Lowell Downey. |
In a previous blog I have written about several large grafted valley oaks on the edge of a knoll just south of our property. These trees are at least 150- 200 years old. This was probably done before or around the time of the arrival of General Vallejo in the early 1840’s when this area was still home to the Michewal Wappo, as it had been for thousands of years before.
 |
| Crossing the meadow. |
 |
| In the presence of the grafted oaks. |
The knoll is on the eastern edge of a graceful cup of meadow on a saddle of land that is accessible from the valleys on either side, the Napa Valley to the east, Pickle Canyon on the west. Old timers say it was a picnic site for early settlers. It is now one of the last valley oak savannahs which used to stretch throughout the Napa Valley. By the looks of the grafted oaks, the flat space they encircle, and a second circle of valley oaks on the far side of the meadow, it was probably also a ceremonial site. Some say the circle of grafted oaks may be a place young couples spent their first married night.
Such awe the oaks engender! One hot July day a colleague in her early 90’s came to visit and asked to be taken to see the oaks. Our goats accompanied us as we walked across the dried grasses of the meadow to the knoll, and we all felt the presence of these old beings.
Lowell Downey, Napa photographer, took a series of photos on another visit.
 |
| Awakening the heart energy of the ceremonial grounds, and of ourselves. |
Jean Bolen visited the trees and rang a Tibetan bell attuned to the heart chakra to awaken heart energy for all concerned.
In visiting the oaks, are we also experiencing what Rupert Sheldrake would describe as a morphic field of a ceremonial site? Is that some of what we experience as awe? Is one of our tasks in learning to be more balanced in our approach to the earth to become more sensitized to these energetic matters, as early peoples almost certainly were?
 |
| Photograph courtesy of Lowell Downey. |