PRESENCE OF OAK.

On Sunday, February 8, 2015, Martin Law <martin.rainbowmaker@gmail.com> wrote:

In the beginning, if there ever is one, was the oak, and the word was ‘ac’ to the Anglo-Saxon, hence ‘acorn.’ ‘Dair’, ‘doire,’ and ‘darach’ to the Goidelic-speaking tribes, and lots of other names to lots of other people.

The oak embodies many noble and sturdy attributes, being both Goddess and God, wisdom and knowledge, and it was universally ‘ac-knowledged’ to be so, and pristine forest covered the face of the land. Hence there was more bark than dark or how would the forest thrive.

The ‘creator’, if one were even necessary, was, and is, eternally immanent, omnipresent, one-with the creation, there being no such thing as separation except in thought. Diversity being the quintessential component of unity, and all is wrong if only one can be right.

So whatever the long list of noble attributes we say the oak stands for, it, self–evidently is well able to stand for itself. Exponentially more decisively and solidly so, despite humans with many axes to grind, who think trees are made of wood. So oak is worthy of reverence for setting us such a good example of strength, longevity, and selfless service to all.

The most undeniably indispensable attribute to celebrate and be humbly grateful for, being its presence. Though it’s a pity to have to state the obvious.

Words can do untold damage if used without undue consideration. Since the structure of language is designed so as to infinitely divide the indivisible, right down to the finest fractal of differentiation. The explicit purpose, of course being to have an adequate supply of separate bits of reality, so as to be able to rearrange them in a variety of different orders.

That’s understandable, so long as we realize it’s only the bits or concepts which are separate, and not that which they refer to. Otherwise reality would fall apart. That being so, i turn to paint. How’s that for a neat bit of shape shifting?

There are already enough, probably millions, of paintings of oak trees in the world, and more no doubt, presently being created. Just an aspect of what we do, one with it all. So here’s another one.

My motivation is not to later swap it for bits of paper with numbers on, and ‘difficult to duplicate designs’, which we strangely regard as having intrinsic worth. Thereby playing into the supposedly ‘only game in town’, namely: enslavement to numbers.

Paper comes by common courtesy of trees but the real currency is shared appreciation. So, drawn into the presence of oak, the natural ritualistic play of creative expression is also a gesture of shared appreciation.

Art has more to do with gratitude, generosity, and community, than with commerce. The latter has reached such heights, or depths of absurdity, that people with more paper than poetic passion pay tens of millions in ‘money’ for one painting. Thereby keeping the illusion of monetary worth, as opposed to intrinsic worth, firmly established as ‘the only game in town.’

This playful wordplay preamble simply to say, i present a succinct string of chronological photos of the distinct (but not separate) significant stages in the progress of the process. Hopefully of more help to whoever may feel they need such a thing, and worth more to me to be able to do so.

“Do trees have standing?” The intentionally odd sounding question put forward by many who are coming forward in droves in defence and support, and healing of the much abused Earth we are inescapably one with.

That said, as a present and enduring firm and stable affirmation in representation, speaking for ‘the standing people’, the trees, of the ‘Presence of Oak,’ *

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Martin Rainbowmaker.