the mother

Her calls over the past 10 days:
March 27: While in meditation during a Power of 8 Zoom call, I receive a message from an "Oak person" that one of the participants within the group is a member of the "Oak People". I convey this message and she immediately responds with utter joy, saying "she's always had a connection to trees, seeing faces in them, and just commented to my friend a few days prior 'Don't you wish trees could just come alive and talk to us?'"

March 28: I talked to a friend about what transpired the night before and she then expresses how much she's "obsessed" with Live Oaks and then proceeds to tell me about several in her neighborhood that she believes have souls.

March 29: I wake up, meditate and open up a book I've been reading to a chapter titled "Angel Oak and..." The book is about a Kontomble diviner. Most of her chapters are very short and titled to her liking, not in typical fashion, correlating to the content within it. In the chapter, her and a friend are road-tripping from Florida to Oregon and almost make it to Asheville, when one of them expresses to the other that they'd like to visit Angel Oak (after the stories that were shared about it). They took a 10-hour detour to visit this tree. Angel Oak is located an hour south of Charleston, S.C.

Finding this highly synchronistic, I text this to the Power of 8 participant as well as the Live Oak-obsessed friend, because you guessed it... Angel Oak is a Live Oak.

The participant of the Power of 8 responds immediately, freaking out because she saw "a psychic medium about 10 years prior" who told her that she "had a very strong connection to trees and needed to visit Angel Oak." She was living in Myrtle Beach at the time but never got around to it. Needless to say, we're planning a sacred pilgrimage.

March 30: I gradually start to feel that an offering of gratitude needs to be made to a tree that the Power of 8 participant walks by everyday... the one she was passing by with her friend. But I wait, making the excuse that I'm not going up that way for any other reason so I'll wait until I'm in the area. As Spirit would have it, I end up needing to go up that way and decide to sprinkle tobacco around the base of the tree.

April 1: I experienced a milestone in my business that was completely unanticipated and unexpected. Seriously still puzzled.

April 3: Feeling drained from the week, I decide to treat myself to some nature nurture and head to Airlie Gardens, as it is free the first Sunday to New Hanover residents. It's quite busy but I manage to find a shady spot under Airlie Oak, an 800-year-old oak tree. Unfortunately though, I left my house in a hurry and forgot to bring an offering. As I lay there, it becomes clear to me that I am the offering. Without the slightest conscious intention, I start to receive a vision of me being absorbed by the earth. Sinking into the soil little by little, with the oak's roots overtaking my body.

I feel like this is where a lot of people chime in and say something like "Oh God that's freaky... why would you imagine that?" And this is where I say, "I didn't." Also, as a Shamanic practitioner who finds herself roaming in the lower realm more often than not, a vision of this nature is mild. Honestly, I didn't think anything of it. I just know that afterwards, I felt restored and ready to continue my day.

April 4: I bled and performed wombwork for the first time in about 9 months. I know. Never again.

I then log into Instagram and see @bojohn13 's post (https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cb6u-X7tbsW/?utm_medium=copy_link). This clearly warranted a convo, and as Spirit would have it, Bradley expressed that he felt Mother Earth was in her last days of the birthing process.

And today, April 5: I performed more wombwork and received the call. To share all that has transpired over the past 10 days.

Tomorrow, April 6: My birth day. Coincidental. Fvck no. Imperative.

Artwork: @tinamarieelena