"The Celts believed a tree's presence could be felt more keenly at night or after a heavy rain, and that certain people were more attuned to trees and better able to perceive them. There is a special word for this recognition of sentience, mothaitheacht. It is described as a feeling in the upper chest of some kind of energy or sound passing through you."
"From my understanding of plant, I work towards the human body; and from my understanding of the human body, I work towards the plant. I have never failed to fin a point, or points, where they meet. Every plant is intimately tied to human beings and our health. The people of Lichens knew this and a great many other things."
"I can now say that the whole of our 160 acres is designed with the goal of encouraging life in just these kinds of ways."
"But inside your head and heart, when a problem seems beyond your ability, it doesn't much matter how far beyond - impossible is impossible. That day taught me to take the first step anyway. It taught me that our limits, alone and together, lie much further out than we imagine. It taught me that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation."
"Mother trees can feed and protect other trees within the expanse of their canopy. They are the leaders of the community we call forests. And across the globe, forests represent life."
"Mother trees of deciduous forests are always nut-, legume- or acorn-producing species, because those sources of primary protein attract all manner of animal life. Mother trees are a common trait shared by every forest on Earth."
"Of course, mother trees were the support structure for the ancient forests of Ireland, too. The Druids knew all about them. When Nellie spoke to the lone ash in Lichens, she spoke as mother to mother, and traces of that understanding filtered down to me."
"You've got to stay on your hind legs and take a swing - all of us do. You've got to take a first step towards a goal that seems unachievable, and have the integrity and courage to believe that you will reach it one day. We all have immense courage. Every one of us is capable of extraordinary things."
"There is a deity in nature that we all understand. When you walk into a forest - great or small - you enter it in one state and emerge from it calmer. You have that cathedral feeling and you're never the same again. You come out of there and you know something big has happened to you."
"After a dark, overcast winter's day, or a prolonged period of rain, go out into the sunshine. Take a stand and spread out your arms, palms up. Tilt your head up, too, and let the sunshine land on your face, your hands, the rest of you. Feel the sun on the surface of your skin. With this act, you are becoming like a tree. You are acting like a tree, with your arms spread out towards the sunshine just like ht leaves in a canopy."
"Their belief system was governed by the concept of the soul, anam, and the spiritual guidance, anamchara, that arose from everywhere. They believed that the living world was filled with soul and, because of that, life in all of its forms needed to be protected. Anam spread into the afterlife, like a great sheet of consciousness. The fairy people lived in this parallel world and could come and go at will. They announced to the living the upcoming deaths of all members of the ancient Celtic families whose names began with Mac or O."
