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December - The Elder Tree (Ruis)
Focus: Completion, Reflection, and Wisdom
Suggested Intentions: As the year draws to a close, the Elder brings us a time of reflection, completion, and the harvesting of wisdom. This month is about looking back with gratitude, honoring the lessons learned, and preparing for the next cycle of growth. The Elder tree teaches us that endings are also beginnings, and that we can carry the wisdom of the past into the future.
Each Sacred Tree Guide within Friends of the Forest is a self-paced journey designed to be lived with slowly, over time. Every guide offers a balance of ancient wisdom, embodied practice, and gentle reflection—inviting you into a personal relationship with each tree spirit.
Within each guide, you’ll find:
🌿 History & Sacred Symbolism
Explore the cultural, mythic, and spiritual history of each tree, including its role in Celtic tradition and ancestral storytelling. Learn how each tree was understood as a living being—protector, teacher, and threshold keeper—and how its symbolism still speaks into modern life.
🌿 Ogham Wisdom
Discover where each tree sits within the Ogham alphabet, the ancient tree-based system of wisdom used by the Druids. Understand its seasonal placement, energetic qualities, and the deeper meaning it carries within the Wheel of the Year.
🌿 Rituals & Earth-Based Practices
Each guide includes thoughtfully designed rituals and practices you can do at home or outdoors. These offerings are simple yet powerful—created to help you mark seasonal shifts, create sacred space, and embody the teachings of the tree in your daily life.
🌿 Connecting with the Tree Spirit
Learn how to cultivate a personal relationship with each tree through nature-based connection practices. These invitations support listening, sensing, and communing with the living spirit of the tree—whether you meet it in the wild, in meditation, or through imagination and intention.
🌿 Four Weeks of Reflection & Integration
Each guide unfolds across four weeks of reflections and activities, allowing you to move at your own pace. Weekly prompts invite journaling, contemplation, creative expression, and mindful observation—helping the teachings root deeply into your lived experience.
🌿 Crystals, Animals & Elemental Allies
Explore the crystals, animal guides, and elemental energies traditionally associated with each tree. These allies offer additional layers of insight and support, helping you work intuitively with the tree’s medicine on both a spiritual and energetic level.
How to Use These Guides
There is no right way to move through a Sacred Tree Guide.
You may choose to:
Follow the four-week rhythm as written
Spend longer with a tree that calls to you
Return to a guide again in a different season
Weave multiple trees together as your practice evolves
Each guide is offered as a downloadable, self-paced experience, meant to meet you exactly where you are.
December - The Elder Tree (Ruis)
Focus: Completion, Reflection, and Wisdom
Suggested Intentions: As the year draws to a close, the Elder brings us a time of reflection, completion, and the harvesting of wisdom. This month is about looking back with gratitude, honoring the lessons learned, and preparing for the next cycle of growth. The Elder tree teaches us that endings are also beginnings, and that we can carry the wisdom of the past into the future.
Each Sacred Tree Guide within Friends of the Forest is a self-paced journey designed to be lived with slowly, over time. Every guide offers a balance of ancient wisdom, embodied practice, and gentle reflection—inviting you into a personal relationship with each tree spirit.
Within each guide, you’ll find:
🌿 History & Sacred Symbolism
Explore the cultural, mythic, and spiritual history of each tree, including its role in Celtic tradition and ancestral storytelling. Learn how each tree was understood as a living being—protector, teacher, and threshold keeper—and how its symbolism still speaks into modern life.
🌿 Ogham Wisdom
Discover where each tree sits within the Ogham alphabet, the ancient tree-based system of wisdom used by the Druids. Understand its seasonal placement, energetic qualities, and the deeper meaning it carries within the Wheel of the Year.
🌿 Rituals & Earth-Based Practices
Each guide includes thoughtfully designed rituals and practices you can do at home or outdoors. These offerings are simple yet powerful—created to help you mark seasonal shifts, create sacred space, and embody the teachings of the tree in your daily life.
🌿 Connecting with the Tree Spirit
Learn how to cultivate a personal relationship with each tree through nature-based connection practices. These invitations support listening, sensing, and communing with the living spirit of the tree—whether you meet it in the wild, in meditation, or through imagination and intention.
🌿 Four Weeks of Reflection & Integration
Each guide unfolds across four weeks of reflections and activities, allowing you to move at your own pace. Weekly prompts invite journaling, contemplation, creative expression, and mindful observation—helping the teachings root deeply into your lived experience.
🌿 Crystals, Animals & Elemental Allies
Explore the crystals, animal guides, and elemental energies traditionally associated with each tree. These allies offer additional layers of insight and support, helping you work intuitively with the tree’s medicine on both a spiritual and energetic level.
How to Use These Guides
There is no right way to move through a Sacred Tree Guide.
You may choose to:
Follow the four-week rhythm as written
Spend longer with a tree that calls to you
Return to a guide again in a different season
Weave multiple trees together as your practice evolves
Each guide is offered as a downloadable, self-paced experience, meant to meet you exactly where you are.