Celtic Sacred Trees, L System and Tree Meditation
Nature based thinking for sustainability, business and wellbeing
Hello there,
I hope all is well during the last days of the year. Please find your biweekly roundup email below. Curated topics and tools of what I’m re-exploring and learning. And please feel free to forward along if the spirit moves you.
#Natural Systems and Digital Ecologies
L Systems
L-systems is one of the pillars of parametrical design. It helps to model and simulate the growth through a mathematical system. I always find it amazing how the branch of the trees grow from within itself. You can see the structural system when looking closely. L systems is the model that it explains this and more in nature.
The system is named after the Hungarian biologist and botanist Aristid Lindenmayer, who introduced them in 1968. Lindenmayer initially developed these systems as a formalism to describe the growth processes of plant development and to study the structure of algae. Since then, L-systems have found applications in various fields, including computer science, computer graphics, and generative art.
The system starts with an initial "axiom," and through successive iterations or generations, the symbols evolve based on the specified rules, generating complex and often self-replicating patterns. It is worth to know to understand how natural systems grow and evolve.
#Nature Library and Thinkers
Walking in the Woods
Japanese nature connection concept and idea Shinrin-yoku is translated into English and Turkish as Forest Bathing. It is certainly more than a bath. The term, includes the meanings of renewal and healing, is a kind of state of being in the forest, meditation, and mindfulness practice.
I had never heard the term Shinrin-yoku during my education in Japan 20 years ago, but the practice of meditation in the forest and respect for nature is a part of all rituals and national traditions. It does not offer anything completely different from daily life, so Shinrin-yoku. This book and thesis of Professor Miyazaki explains Shinrin-yoku with its achievements as a ritual. It also offers a guide that can be done anywhere, under any condition.
Shinrin-yoku was suggested by the Japanese minister of health in 1982, and institutions were given practical and practical advice.
One of the researchers who examine this from a psychological and medical perspective is Chiba University professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki, the author of the book.
Measurements have shown that being in nature and listening, feeling and focusing in silence, and when not possible, looking at any natural beauty, including flowers, by focusing on it as a picture, reduces the level of stress. Of course, these metrics belong to the Japanese people and culture!
He also explains in detail in his thesis how this can be applied to different profiles as a therapy method.
Shinrin-yoku can be applied to daily routine in various ways today. By looking at and listening to nature to get to know it, it can bring calmness and peace to your weekends. No matter where you are.
#Nature Connection and Mind
Celtic Sacred Trees
Do you also wonder how our ancestors communicated with nature, finding guidance in the leaves and ancient trees? 🌲
I always thought we had lost the language that allows us to communicate with Nature and we need to develop a new one upon the remnants of the ancient traditions. By superposing their wisdom.
It is a topic that linguistics should study more.
And this should be essential to sustainability studies, and even reporting. Maybe even a sustainability report that is written with a kind of natural language would be more interesting and influential 😉
One of these ancient languages I want to share is the Celtic Tree Alphabets: I discovered the celtic traditions during one my trips to Scotland with my friends, and was truly amazed by the myths, and beliefs, how they had made meaning around the landscape there.
In the heart of the ancient Celtic traditions, there is a language system of sacred trees and the utilization of the Ogham alphabet.
The alphabet system is not only agriculturally practical but sparks spiritual and mystical significance by reading the landscape there.
At the center of this connection were the trees, each possessing unique qualities for their symbolism and practical applications.
They attributed sacred status to specific trees, considering them as beings of divine energy and wisdom.
Among these trees were the Oak, representing strength and endurance; the Rowan, believed to offer protection against forces; and the Holly, symbolizing protection and resilience.
Isn't just so wise and eloquent? What is your sacred tree? And do you know any other lost language of nature? Let's share!
#Quote of my Week
"Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Happy holidays.
Enise