Red Wood's Heart

An exert from (UP, UP, and Away)

We are called, “The Red Woods.” I can only assume because of the color of our spirits, although I’m not convinced that the veins that have supported me for nearly a thousand years, would consider my girth, red. The description lacks a certain panache.   I prefer to think of myself as the confluence of a time and place, that exhibits itself in a curtain of auburn sky that forms just over the rise, as the sun kisses the pale sky, causing it to blush for just an instant, before it disappears.   

It is during that period of contemplation, when I find myself absorbed in the search for the meaning of life hidden in my organic memory, that I feel the intensity of being alive.  Some I’ve heard, call my concentric means of affirming my past, memory rings.  They are however simply a collection of time, much like the stars, scratched on the night sky by the perpetuity of the revolving heavens. 

I am considered fortunate by my departed cousins, to have been protected from their fate, who like the parents I never knew, died during a capitalist revolution. We have since, because of our majesty I can only presume, having been granted the status of Giant, we are left alone to provide a sense of awe to the mundane existence of those who have been labeled, “couch potatoes.”   

Giants I am aware, come in all forms, so I did not know how to interpret the information. Was it another sleight that has evolved from the inability to understand, appreciate?  Or could it be simply that we live longer, and tower above everything but God. Appearances can be deceiving, as I can attest to personally. It is not the mass or status of an individual that engenders acceptance, but what can be gleaned from an exchange of doctrine.

All living things emit an aura, a spiritual mist, a cloud if you will, that allows those who are in search of knowledge, to tap its wisdom, a metaphor of course, painful no doubt, should they wish to experience the projections based on a recorded history. Most, I have noticed from an animal and plant prospective, either do not appreciate the advantages this offering affords, or simply wish to remain ignorant of the spirits available to them. Whether they are aware of such possibility depends upon their stage of enlightenment. By that I infer, the ability to drop the façade of arrogance, and assume the nature of a newborn, capable of influence from all available stimuli. Recalling that time when all things were possible, because no walls had yet been erected to prevent inclusion, is possible, but only if you permit yourself to visit another’s cloud, where their particular essence is on display. 

The Cloud I refer to, is only a reference to collective thought, that is shared amongst those who recognize its significance and take part in its possibility. That may sound nebulous, and it is meant to be, as explaining what a Cloud is, would be more difficult than explaining what air looks like, or how the sun dissipates the fog that comes and goes as it pleases.

Our cloud is an expression of what you would refer to as thought, recollection, remembrance, but it is in actuality, none of those things. It is an emotional plain that exists, but only for those that believe it exists, and participate in its existence. It allows an entity to release the curtain of pride or doubt and reveal their true beliefs.

Our cloud is a way to communicate our spiritual interpretation of events to all life forms. We experience the emotion of a sun rise, not its appearance, as that is a physical manifestation. We accept the message a warm breeze conveys, or the anger generated between humidity and temperature that manifests itself in the explosions that reverberate in the ground, where they are not only felt but understood.

The verbal communication animals exhibit, whether it be in the form of developed language, or simply sounds that transmit a message we are incapable of understanding, is no different than the exchange of knowledge by thought. We have therefore developed a means to exchange emotional essence, for lack of a better description, which enables us to understand the circumstance of other life forms, without them having to directly communicate with us, individually. 

Communication takes place on what we have conceived, a Cloud, a euphemism for a spiritual plain that exists around every living entity in the universe. Inanimate objects, rocks, meteors, stars, do not have a spiritual plain, but those that utilize them do. Light is a form of energy created by friction and heat, which radiates a spirit that can be interpreted by other life forms, therefore gaining some insight into the essence of the object, even though it does not possess life itself.

There are also those who have stored the essence of a life. Once they no longer live in a physical sense, their spirit, that has evolved from their past, remains. It is that spirit that houses and protects their past, based on its experiences and collected knowledge.

Stump, the one called Grandfather, I never knew. He was toppled by greed and lack of respect, to become the exterior of a building I understand. The remnants of his existence remains. Now a decaying reminder of a living entity, who although gone, has provided not only the tendrils of new life, but his spirit shared with all that exist in this new time.

When I communicate, it is not with an individual entity but with the spiritual plain as a whole. Those who participate have the ability to review my projections and interpret them in their own way. I do not have the ability to dispel interpretation of another. All interpretation is considered personal, as every life form has its own experiences that are relevant to only that individual. It may not be an interpretation accepted by a similar group of individual or families, as each individual has the power to interpret messages on the Cloud for themselves. 

I am able to communicate with Ralph, a petulant neighbor, because he accepts my contributions to the spiritual plain and interprets them in a way that only he is possible of doing. I have no influence over his interpretation or ability to do so. My contribution is mine alone, as his interpretation of my contribution, is his alone. Other Aspens may have a similar interpretation, or theirs might vary drastically, because it reflects ones experience in interpreting information.

I look at areas of the Cloud I am familiar with, as I know that is where postings relevant to me reside. I am also able to investigate areas I am not familiar with. My interpretation of events may not be what the one posting a message intended, but that is how the transfer of information works. When you place an idea or emotional response in the cloud, you cannot control the interpretation of the one receiving the information. It is a responsibility therefore, to be as accurate and precise as possible, so as not to purposely distort information.

If that however is the intent, then it will be recognized as such overtime and be discredited by factual information, not only clarifying a deception, but chastising, and sometimes revoking their ability to participate.

I don’t know if that clarifies your perception of how we communicate, but it causes me to feel significantly more responsible for the personal data I relay, recognizing it may be interpreted in a way not intended. Information, no matter the form, is powerful because it stimulates or immobilizes action, which may result in a person, family, or species being unable to accept their role in a universe too complicated to be understood in its totality, so must be interpreted individually, as it relates to circumstances in one’s existence.

I trust you will use this revelation in the transparent manner it was imagined, and find peace and understanding, in a cloud of your choosing.