The trees have passed and she morns them…

This first short project was about a few trees local to me where I had spent time in their presence, walking my dogs and foraging under the branches, only to find out that my local council was cutting them all down to build houses.

I decided before they were gone to do something with them that would stick with me and soothe the connection I had with them.

Exploring the ideas of ritual, trees, and nature, using foraged materials to create the costume, I enrolled a family member and we performed a cleansing ritual with a homemade smudge stick of sage, bay, foraged lavender, and elder.

This was several years ago now, and my first foray into using my art practice for this subject of rituals within nature, we didn’t film the piece, we only took photos and notes.

This piece was more about connecting with and a feeling within the tree, where we bathed within the hollow heart of the still very alive tree, hoping to get a glimpse of its wisdom, and stories it held within its branches.

This tree was about to be cut down to make way for a housing development, we wanted to do this as a way of helping the tree pass and thanking it for all it had done. I wasn’t intending to use this as a project but since getting to this point on my journey it has become more relevant.

I have since found out that this ritual is actually performed by Druid, who have certain kind of tree worship I had not thought about but will be exploring and finding about their relevance with foraging, rituals, and if they are connected to wise women, and witch craft in any way…