M of West Des Moines, Iowa writes:

Q. A cottonwood tree near us had a large branch split and break during a storm. It has since had to be removed. I am wondering if the tree spirit can anticipate things like this happening? If they can, how do they prepare and how does it feel? And if they can not, is there any difference in the impact on them?

A. Tree spirits are fully tuned into the energies of all that is. We feel the minutest tug and pull within the web of all things, the faintest current of electricity, the tiniest energetic surge. I short, we do know what is going to happen. We are tuned into the nuances of the subtle shifts in energy, in the air, the wind, the silence of the earth, the weather. We feel change coming and know it long before you humans have knowledge of the event. You might call it pre-cognition, and think it is “magic”, but we call it full awareness. Our senses are more finely attuned to the shifting energy of all that is than those of humans.

We do not brace for death or fear the lightning strike. We let go of life just as you might drop a handkerchief on the lawn. When the jig is up, we know it and allow it to be so without a fight. It is simply part of the cycle of life and death and new life that has ever been and will always be.

What we do know while we are living is life. To send our roots into the rich black earth, to reach to the sun and soak in its life giving light, a gift beyond all price. This life. Then when this life has ended, we endure as spirit, loving all of you, holding the joy of all existence in the world of spirit that can never be destroyed.

Joyful! Joyful! Joyful!