Cathedral of the Trees
Cathedral of the trees has grown into an odyssey {a journey full of adventures and experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone}. As a project it is a collection of creative curious wanderings, sojourns & conversations. A starting point for experiencing reconnection and communication with the landscape, the natural world & those that are not human, with the intention of developing a culture of kinship and care of each other.
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Cathedral of the Trees explores the concept of healing ourselves through the land & the land through ourselves. It is a conscious remembering of our connection to the natural world. It embraces the possibility of working alongside those that are human and those that are conscious within the land, ancestors and consideration of future generations for the good of all.
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'That’s how were gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.'
– Rose Tico, Star Wars episode VIII
Cathedral of the Trees is currently asking...
Who are & how do we value the occupants of the empty seat & what can they teach us?
As human beings how do we begin to understand our place in the world without ego & how do we balance our current reality in the light of new thinking?
As human beings, what is our role as a conscious witness of human interaction / exploitation of the natural world?
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Your invitation to journey with Cathedral of the Trees...
You are invited to choose an adventure and become part of the odyssey of the Cathedral of the Trees:
Read about & choose a wandering as a solo traveller
Travel alongside others in a group wandering
Join a collective conversation
Propose a wandering
Commission a Cathedral of the Trees wandering for your space & view previous projects
​Keep a watch out for events posted on our social media @cathedralofthetrees
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Support the work of Cathedral of the Trees with a donation
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The backstory...
For many years I had a vision. The vision has been more of an intense feeling, a knowing of a place of peace. Over the years I have tried to quantify it. It has never happened; something just hasn’t fitted with the feeling. It just hasn’t been right.
As like many people I / we have spent much time through the pandemic meditating on the situation we are in and our future, our freedoms or lack of. I have spent much time managing fear and trying not to fall into it’s traps, not always succeeding. We have seen division and polarity in our society. Through it all, I held onto the concept of love and peace and the belief that I need to bring all my knowledge together as one into ‘a place of peace’. The more fear I felt, the more love and peace I needed to radiate to help bring about balance.
In July 2021, I had a vision of the Cathedral of the Trees, a place of peace, of reflection, or re-imagining, of change and of commitment. A place of pilgrimage. I wondered who I could speak to about working with trees. Although our home (Rhyddid) and my studio are surrounded by trees, I haven’t planted many and this project is a distinct change in direction from my previous work. So, I wrote to David Nash. He was kind enough to speak to me about the difficulties and the beauty of working with trees and the spirit that resides within them.
When we moved to Rhyddid we became guardians of the land. I have started to collect together the tiny saplings that grow as the result of squirrels planting nuts, birds distributing seed and the natural fall of fruits and nuts. It is not difficult to find saplings of oak, hazel, ash, hawthorn, blackthorn and not so long ago I found a walnut. The saplings are catalogued and placed in a safe area of the garden that acts as a tree nursery and there they will reside until they reach a size that they can take their place as an aspect of a tree cathedral. This peaceful ritualistic action is the starting place of the Cathedral of the Trees.
Cathedral of the Trees connects us back to the land through the old ways and ancestral paths (past), enables humankind time and space to share, re-imagine & reflect on peace (present) and to manifest change for the generations to come (future).​
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The Cathedral of the Trees aims to be a peaceful legacy for humankind and future generations. If you wish to support the peace work of Cathedral of the Trees, please contact Gaia.
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The projects work is shared on a dedicated Instagram page and uses the hashtags
#cathedralofthetrees #gaiaredgrave #conversationswithtrees
​‘If we can play together, we can live together’
Cas Holman