5. Oriental Plane Tree – Open Sociability

The Tree Story
Oriental Plane Tree (Open Sociability) – Platanus orientalis

This tree can live for many thousands of years and the old ones are found only in Greece and the surrounding Eastern Mediterranean. Their branches droop toward the earth in a protective gesture before bending skyward again. The periodic shedding of bark is a way of emitting pollution.

The Greek word broad and large is platys. The Greek word for village square is plateia. The square is the only “broad and large” space in villages where people can gather. In every village square across Greece there is an ancient plane tree, (platanus), shading a kafeníon or a taverna . Most villagers pass through the square at least once a day. It is a local social center, where people greet and exchange news. It is the heart of the village.

the resonance

This essence resonates with the Heart Chakra. From this place, we reach out to others, share our generosity, open ourselves to intimacy, find compassion, and nurture unconditional love. It brings us a sense of equilibrium and balance.

 

The Myth

“If I allow myself to feel, it will hurt too much. I cannot connect with people. They will invade me, or see that I have nothing to give. I feel nothing. Love is poisonous.”

 

The Transformation

This majestic tree acts as a heart soother and protector. When the heart is protected it can send out tentative feelers to find connections that begin to heal their wound – the myth that they carry. It allows them to look deep into the dark places so they can recognize the wound. Once they see it, the healing begins. The tendrils of trust find a way into the heart of others. They will know how to recognize the clues given out by others and intimacy will return. It resurrects their “feeling” places.

Possible Scenarios

For those whose hearts are closed to others; there is no compassion. They cannot reach out because of some past betrayal from which they are unable to recover. They cannot find peace within or without. They might become automatons, as a way to compensate, or perhaps become control freaks. The truth, however, is that behind the frenzied deadpan, cut off from the world, they are sitting on a mountain of unrecognized pain. Behind the need to control is a grieving, out of control being.

Oriental Plane Tree might be paired with 12, Cypress.