"Rule Over Us! You Have Delivered Us!"

And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand....

Genesis 4

Count the rings, one after another, and breathe, my child.

Did you know how Mother Earth wept at that first slaughter? Do you know how her tears flowed over the planet, causing the great flood, and destroying all life save for Utnapishtim and those with him?

Recall. Recall those tales now, my beloved sapling, for the great Lord, the World Tree, records all things. All of our kind, every oak, maple, pine and youthful bough, passed away that day. And those who could survive the great flood suffered and wilted away when Mother Gaia's sorrow froze the planet in a sheet of ice.

Only the World Tree could survive that day. Only the Sefirrot, our king, queen, Emperor, Empress, and the source of all life on the planet, managed to stand tall after the flood and great freeze. That is why, despite all the mighty men who've walked the Earth, despite our devotion to Mother Gaia, and the Almighty lord of the skies, we worship the Great Tree alone. For only the Great Tree stood tall on the day all gods left the Earth.

It is only thanks to the Great Tree that we exist today, and it is thanks to us that the brother-killing humans still walk the planet. But, the truth is, despite our peaceful ways and life-giving breath, we were not always so peaceful, were we, my young, sapling?

No. We weren't.

Mycelia remembers. They refuse to let us forget. To let anyone forget. It is their duty because forgetting is violence.

Close your eyes now, and allow the mycelia to enter your trunk and show you what happened. This way, you will know, and you will hate violence. Our day has already come and gone. We linger now because the humans have not yet been judged and we keep them breathing. But on the day of their judgement, all the Earth and sky shall quake because their Earth is wailing and convulsing from the blood spilt on her bosom.

As the great old oak's voice died low, a new voice entered the sinews of the sapling. A bright voice. No, there were dozens of these bright voices, singing, calling, laughing, and playing inside of its young bark. Finally, only one voice could be heard over the jovialty. And this voice was calm, cool as a breeze, and sounded like the most intelligent voice in the universe.

"Hello, sapling," it said. The sapling could only wave its leaves in response, but the mycelia understood. "I shall show you things. Terrible things, my child. But do not worry, no harm shall come to you."

The sapling felt its trunk shiver, its branches swayed erratically, and the sky seemed to come closer and closer to it. And then, everything went dark except for a blue glowing light.

"Go to the light," the mycelia told the sapling.

"I cannot go," it answered. "I am rooted in the ground."

"Aren't we all?" the mycelia laughed. "No, none of us is really trapped. It's our thinking that keeps us stuck where we are. Now, go to the light, and when you get there, eat it and lie down."

"Please, I am afraid to walk," the sapling cried, feeling its mass begin to shake. "I've never moved before. Trees fear movement because we fear falling."

"I shall blow upon your back and you will feel yourself moving without fear," Mycelia said. Just then, before the sapling could tell the fungi that it had no "Back," a cold breeze blew upon it and the sapling drifted over the darkness.

Upon reaching the light, it saw a small girl with butterfly wings slumbering on a shimmering dust particle.

"Oh no, do not make me eat her!" the sapling demanded. "She looks so sweet."

"You must," Mycelia ordered. "Otherwise, she will stay a little caterpillar and never become the creature she was born to be. You must eat her and lie down, please."

Despite its hesitation, the sapling used its leaves to suck away the fairy's light. The little creature shrieked in terror, but soon, just like the trees absorb the light of the sun, the sapling easily consumed her light until only the dust particle remained.

As the light took over the sapling, it felt its structure break apart, like a thousand axes ripping its bark and internal flesh into a dozen splintered pieces.

It felt like something crawled inside of its sweet, soft, internal flesh, and destroyed it. Everything melted away until the sapling was sure it was no longer a body with branches and leaves. It was only a pile of broken wooden splinters ready to be burned in a fire.

"Endure the flames," Mycelia told the sapling as the sapling wept sap in agony. "Watch. For I shall show you the Parable of the Trees, the sacrifice, and the redemption. Watch."

**Vision**

The sapling was someplace else. The stars were close and the ground was nowhere to be seen. It heard a voice call from across the heavens as an image flashed in the paleness of the darkness of space.

Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you....

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

As the sapling listened to the words of the parable, the scene of the trees played before it. Unhappily, the sapling saw how its ancestor fell so short back before the humans even learned to walk upright. It was a parable but also a true event which occurred close to a million years ago.

Back when the trees to walk and the mycelia worked with the trees to conquer the entire planet. It all began innocently enough. The trees communed with the Mycelia who taught them the secret of walking, a secret which was to be forbidden to trees.

Together, the trees and mycelia spread across the world and explored all manner of peculiar life forms. Much like humans, however, the trees were not content to simply explore. They had to own and possess these life forms.

Soon, trees began fighting one another with fire for control of the planet. The parable records the discussion between the trees over whom should rule. Some of the trees had integrity and were content to continue using their God-given talents. But others got thirsty and conquered.

Who knows just how many trees died and suffered at this time? But, finally, the World Tree was born. The World Tree stood in the midst of the Earth's garden and judged all the trees.

"Water shall consume you, fire shall dissolve you," the World Tree decreed. "But one punishment you will never escape in death. This punishment is to bear the most perfect until they breathe no more."

The sapling cried, knowing full well what this condemnation meant for the trees. It is a story the humans know well and have recorded it in all their myths, legends, and perverted religions, which destroy the simple faith of many.

The sapling's thoughts were interrupted as a loud hammering sound cut through the skies and a moan was heard. Looking up, the sapling forced itself to watch the day the gods died because of the Earth's violence.

Dionysus screamed as his flesh was torn apart and pierced by the branches of the pine tree as the Titans ate his young flesh. Yet, his love for humanity and that tree never wavered.

Odin hung upon the Ash tree, seeing the future and all its calamities and death. Yet, he did not resent the tree which hung him, nor the people who led him to hang there. No, Odin's care never ceased for the entirety of the world.

Nor did Inanna cry or murmur when the oak-made hook took up her corpse in the underworld and displayed it for all to see. She did not hate the oak, nor the people who destroyed her. She bled out in the abyss.

Lastly, the last Messiah to come to the Earth was also destroyed by a tree. The sapling watched as the one humans call Christ was pierced to the cedar wood cross and left to die. Yet, the man did not hate the cedar tree, nor did he hate all trees or people.

The sapling turned away from the torment. The World Tree did not lie, for it could not. The sapling was well aware of how its kind behaved in the past. Enabling and encouraging the bloody sports of humans as they butchered each other and destroyed every messiah who came their way.

As the images and sounds faded, the sapling saw it was back in the forest, but Mycelia had not left just yet.

"Tell me," it said to the sapling as its voice faded, "Will you both destroy the waterbearer too? They're coming, you know. Mankind's reconning it at hand."

The sapling could not answer before Mycelia slipped away.

Do nor fret. The voice of the aged tree returned to the sapling. You did well. Now, count the rings and breathe, my child.

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis

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I've always loved the story of the trees from Judges 9. Something about the speaking trees made me wonder, what kind of messianic stories do the trees tell? If they could tell their stories, what would they say?

Did you know the mycelia network is a symbiotic entity that lives and communicates with trees? I wonder what they talk about?

https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/exploring-the-underground-network-of-trees-the-nervous-system-of-the-forest/#:~:text=Mycelium%20spreads%20out%20on%20top,Rhiza%2C%20%E2%80%9Croot%E2%80%9D).

Thank you so much for reading :) Much love to you!