Part of the 11:11 Movement ‘A ceremony for the Earth’
November 2021 - Mount Schiehallion - COP26 Glasgow
WHAT IS A TREEWALK&TALK?
In November 2021, during the Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26), a small group will walk about 30 miles in four days around mount Schiehallion. We met each other during the Guardians of the Forest Programme of Advaya in 2021 and felt a call for peaceful action (www.forestguardians.co). While walking we connect with the energy of the natural wisdom of the land with its stone circles, waters, mountains, animals, old trees and the last remaining parts of the forests. The trees of the land will have our special attention. We will sit, sleep, forage and communicate with the trees and share our skills and experiences. We are happy to share our love for trees and our experiences with their magical world on social media #treewalk&talk, posted by initiator& organiser Tanja Abbas.
WHY? We organise this Treewalk&Talk, to raise awareness to:
o change the mindset and the destructive relationship with trees in our modern society (trees as a ‘commodity’) into a new, healthy relationship (trees as our relatives on which all life on Earth flourishes)
o experience trees as sentient beings, who deserve our respect, care and love, for they also care, love and respect us
o the wisdom of trees, listen to them and learn from them (the teachings) for they are much longer on Earth then we are
o the medicine and healing capacities of specific trees and forests in general
o the need to act now to protect/rewild/restore biodiverse, natural forests in Europe and to do this wisely and community based
o the special (former) power places in the landscape, and the role of trees in it, which were known, honoured and respected by past generations and which we will need for the future
o remember, reconnect and reclaim our own natural roots with the European continent
WHY NOW AND WHY SCOTLAND?
This is the first Treewalk&talk organised like this. We believe the UN Climate Conference (COP26) is a good start to raise awareness. Meetings like the COP26 are welcome given the current, delicate situation on Earth, but there is something strange about it. Our fellow beings, with whom we share our planet, are not invited and their voices are not heard. And although all these voices should be heard, we especially raise attention to the voices of the trees on Earth. At this moment in time, the trees on Earth are at a critical level. Since the last Ice Age, their number went down from 6 trillion to 3 trillion, mainly due to human activities. Trees are still holding the space, but it is quite a delicate balance. We all know that if more trees are going down, none of the species on Earth, ourselves included, can survive. We urge decisionmakers to make this an absolute priority in their talks and especially listen to the indigenous communities who are invited to the COP26, for they still hold the wisdom of trees.
This Treewalk&Talk is also part of a larger event, organized around the COP26; The11:11 Movement ‘One hour of Ceremony for the Earth’. This ceremony is held on November 11th, 2021 from 11-12 am GMT or 1112 am your local time. All people can join this Global Ceremony from their own places/countries or create their own event. The idea of the ceremony is to raise the awareness that we – as a human family – are (part of) the Earth, we are nature ourselves, and we can only thrive and let the planet thrive if we unite in that vision. If you want to know more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/398033534942122/
HOW CAN YOU JOIN?
The walk will be with a small closed group, but there are 3 moments at which you can join us live in a ceremony:
o 9th of November at 9 AM, start of the walk Starting ceremony at the Fortingall Yew Tree either led by Tanja Abbas or Foraging&Tracking specialist Tamara Colchester (free participation)
o 11th of November at 11 AM, middle of the walk, Worldwide ‘One hour ceremony for the Earth’. It will be around Kinloch Rinnoch, but the exact location will be sent to you after you sign up. (free participation). For joining the 9th and/or the 11th please sign up by email:
tanja.abbas@icloud.com
o 12th of November at 2 PM, end of the walk. Closure ceremony; you can join a 2 hour mini Yew Immersion at the Fortingall Yew, led by modern alchemist Charlotte Pulver. Since we want to acknowledge the sacredness of this site, only a few people (max 8) can join. Admission fee 33 pounds, sign up directly with Charlotte: https://www.instagram.com/pulvers.apothecary/
MORE DETAILED INFO ABOUT THESE 3 CEREMONIES WILL FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE WE START
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE FORESTS OF SCOTLAND?
With our Treewalk&Talk we carefully select and invite you to donate directly to a Forest Restoration Project that is:
o connected to the land we walk on
o community based, working with local people and -if possible- people from abroad connecting humans with trees
o who has the integrity of planting trees wisely (i.e., supporting biodiversity & rewilding with heartbased knowledge related to the land)
In this case we would love it if you would support the rewilding of the Scottish Highlands by https://treesforlife.org.uk, established by Alan Watson Featherstone of Findhorn Foundation.
BACKGROUND INFO?
If you want to know more about the forests and the Scottish Highlands, we selected these four articles:
https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/what-left-old-caledonian-forest-and-can-it-be-saved-1483241
https://earthbound.report/2014/08/27/restoring-scotlands-ancient-forest/
https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/rewilding-stories/trees-for-the-hills
https://www.rannochandtummel.co.uk/Trees-of-
Scotland#:~:text=The%20great%20Black%20Wood%20of%20Rannoch%20is%20a%20remnant%20of,wildlif e%20can%20often%20be%20seen
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THIS TREEWALK&TALK?
BY SPREADING THE WORD! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS LEAFLET.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!