Three for trees

This looks like level treetops against a solid blue sky, I thought as I stood in front of the painting. The artist must have been standing some distance and looking up when he or she painted this. I began to scan for a signature. There was none or I just couldn’t see it. Maybe there wasn’t enough light. That’s why the sky looked so solid, the leaves without shadow. Then, suddenly, I felt my mind move from a painting viewer to a Jungian, a student of Carl Gustav Jung. Hmm, I thought, she only painted the leaves, no trunk, no roots. Hmm. I wanted to laugh out loud but restrained myself. I didn’t want the people I was with to realize that suddenly something had disengaged in me. I wasn’t at the painting exhibit with them, I was at the Romancing the Tree seminar.

When was that? I think it was in November last year on a beautiful, gray rainy day like we’ve been having. Rose Marie Yenko, a Jungian psychologist, launched her seminar called Romancing the Tree. It was held at the Ayala Museum, where she paid a lot of money for the rental of a lovely conference room that overlooked a lovely park with one very old big tree. The park had a carp pond that reminded me of my Calamba home and its own carp pond. I had a spell of missing it as I looked out at the rain, at the lovely fish.

Let me try and reconstruct what happened then. I was about halfway through recovering from my stroke, not quite well but getting there. Rose called me and invited me to brainstorm with her. The three of us – Rose, Babes Lioanag, and me – sat at her round table and in the end came up with the idea of enchantment seminars. Enchantment is good for the soul and the soul is an important part of Jung’s teachings. Thomas Moore, a Catholic monk once and a Jungian psychologist and author later, wrote first a book titled Care of the Soul and then another one called Re-enchantment of Everyday Life, a romantic book that discussed the importance of the ordinary things we do daily. These two books, which I think we had all read, fed the idea of enchantment seminars. Then it was decided that we would begin with trees as reality and as a symbol of the self.

So we decided to launch Romancing the Tree. It featured Dr. Ike Tolentino, a silviculturist who talked to the participants about the trees in the forests, how to care for them. Then Rose and Babes shared the lecture on the tree as a symbol of the self. They made the students draw their trees and discuss them for insights. One of our participants then, Ricci F. Barrios, wrote about her friend’s experience. "Now looking at my wishing tree, I realized that I need to trim it of clutter and just ‘grow’ the basics that will help me grow more in mid-life, not only for myself but also for others who are in my life right now and for those who will come into my life in the future."

She goes on, "There are ‘fruits’ in my wishing tree that I do not need – they’re just taking in more food and water. I need just a few fruits and more shade at this point in my life. Bottom line: de-clutter, simplify my life... I am a reformed pack rat," she says with a wry smile. "I feel lighter already."

Finally I come in and teach you to write about a tree experience.

On Saturday, September 24, there will be a re-staging of this enchanting seminar at Ricco-Renzo Galleries. The Romancing the Tree seminar will begin at 1 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. Register early for P2,500, inclusive of snacks and handouts. Who should come to this seminar? Anyone who likes to look into him/herself and get some insights, anyone who wants to discover something new; anyone who is looking to expand him/herself and refresh his/her spirit.

If you’re interested, reserve with Lito at 898-3826 or 0927-4923143 or 0916-3023763. Call the cell phones over the weekend so you can get in touch immediately. Then you can discover the mystery of drawing treetops against a solid blue sky. I will see you there.