The Holy Tree

THE HOLY TREE

Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them
all, and around me was the whole hoop of the world.
And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell
and I understood more than I saw: for I was seeing
in a sacred manner all shapes of all things in the
spirit … as they must live together as one being.
I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of
many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight
and as starlight. In the centre grew one mighty
flowering tree to shelter all the children of one
Mother and one Father. And I saw that it was holy.
–From “Black Elk Speaks”

Page 190 Sign of the Tree
Meinrad Craighead
1970s; Stanbrook Abbey; Ink on Paper; 9×12; Mat is signed.

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