- gary payton . tree of thanks . cherish tree @ burningman @ health and harmony . mike baker fundraiser
Our 25th Anniversary dedication to PEACE June 14-15, 2003
Please come and share a story from your heart about what is meaningful to you. Help us in honoring the past, celebrating the present and creating the future through writing, prayer, action and intention.
The altar will have the five pointed star pattern made with hay bails around the center pole. Each point of this central star will hold a memorial for those things and people we have lost and are honoring. Please bring an item for the memorial of someone or something you are honoring or mourning, . Photos, symbolic items, ritual items, incense, crystals, candles, etc ore some of the many items you can bring. This is a place to honor and then let go of the past and heal.
The cherish tree is metal tree made in five parts (legs) with rebar that is scrolled around and forms branches. It is made to be interactive. Each "leg" of the tree will "bloom" with a different color of prayer tie throughout the weekend. Each star point of the center memorial will face a different Cherish tree "leg".
Come by and make a prayer tie. You can write a word or a poem or a prayer. Tie some tobacco, rose petals or cedar into the bundle and fix it to the tree.
Gabe asks us to contemplate to following questions when we are making a prayer tie for the tree:
What do you cherish?
What do you deeply want in life?
What do you hold dear?
When you remove everyone else's thoughts from your head, what is most important to you?
What do you wish to nourish within yourself and your world?
What are your deepest desires and passions?
We will bring the five legs of the tree together for the closing ceremony in front of the main stage as a living symbolic of creating conscious community a envisioning a peaceful democratic future. You can join in by dancing around the tree at the closing ceremony.
I was struggling to put this into the context of honoring the past, celebrating the present and creating the future. I finally believe that The Cherish Tree as a symbol fits into celebrating the present by offering us a framework for connecting to ourselves in the present. I hope this helps to illustrate how.
Once the participants have gone to the center of the star/circle to honor that past, they will come to the limbs of the Cherish Tree.
My vision is that after participants visit the center of the altar to honor the past, they allow themselves to drop into a deep sense of the present. My wish for them is to drop their past experiences of who they think they are supposed to be-- to drop others expectations of them-- to drop away personal limiting beliefs-- and to feel into what they truly cherish. I hope that some people find themselves remembering and rebirthing a childhood dream that had died and been forgotten. I hope others uncover an entirely new sense of what sings to their heart.
My intention is that everyone feels empowered in this process and that each person claims the right to his or her own experience. I want people to feel that their interpretation is validated and that their feelings, whatever they are, can have the space to blossom. Most importantly, however one chooses to engage with the Cherish Tree is correct as long as she is holding the intention. One may choose to write something on the ribbon and tie it to the tree, another may just bless the ribbon with an intention, and another may create his own ritual.
I don't want this to be intimidating-- or too artsy, or even too strange, though I suppose for it to be effective it may not work for everyone. But I still hold onto the hope that it is for everyone.
I want participants to feel like they are truly a part of the creation the tree. I wish for us to give it over to them with complete trust and faith in their ability to express themselves while flowering the tree. Those of us who have worked thus far have brought the intentions of love, honesty and commitment. Now, what we offer is a framework (the altar with the limbs) and guides to help the community create life.
I continue to be honored to be a part of this project.
Thanks,
Gabe
******some of my own process below:
The things we deeply desire in our life are often denied to us by ourselves-- often because we don't believe we deserve them. It is that belief system that determines what is possible for us in our world. That belief system often masquerades however it can to pass itself off as legitimate-- even dressing up as spiritual wisdom-- "let go of your desire" the voice says, "if you let go, you will be happy"-- perhaps that desire is actually a key to our happiness. Embrace the moments when you forget the fears that hold you in rigor mortis-- that limit your capacity to choose.
What have you always wanted that voices inside you denied you because you didn't deserve it?
The Cherish Tree is a place for you to consider deeply what you cherish. Consider that it may be something so personal, it may be so deep within you that you have forgotten, or it may show up instantly-clear, powerful and simple.
The Cherish Tree lands at Burning Man and becomes the focal point of a meditation to manifest deep desires. Participants rocked back and forth slowly along a path of prayer flags and bamboo poles that carried a message of gratitude as a way to unlock access to getting what you want.
Otto asked me if I would create a Tree of Thanks for the BassCAMP benefit to send kids to summer camp. I thought it would be cool to find a city tree that had died-- and we could recycle it. I had heard that the city cuts down those trees on medians and dumps them. Before I could call the city to check, there was a car accident outside the warehouse I had just moved into. Nobody was hurt, but a 16 foot tree had been knocked down and it landed in front of our door.