When I’m preparing for a Tree Spirit Medicine workshop, I first get a “calling” from a tree that it has medicine it wishes to share with us. I then dream journey to its spirit to learn its medicine. After that, I deepen my understanding of the medicine through meditation, research, contemplation and dreaming.
An important part of understanding a tree’s medicine is by simply sitting with the tree and opening to what arises in me physically, emotionally, and cognitively. I also notice what shows up around me during the meditation and see if it is communication from the tree about its medicine. For example in my Sumac meditation, Redtail Hawk calls, so I am contemplating its medicine in relation to Sumac’s and seeing what arises.
The following video is my observations while meditating in our stand of Sumac in preparation for a Sumac workshop November 2025.