Visions of the World Tree

This glorious image, titled "Roots in Heaven", is by French artist Annick Bougerolle. In many indigenous cultures there is the tradition of a tree between the worlds whose branches are actually rooted in the sky, making a ladder to what Aborigines call the World Up Top. In the adventures in shamanic dreaming that I lead, our early work often includes finding and rooting a Tree of Vision firmly in our imaginations and inner senses. We then proceed to use the tree as a portal for exploring the Lower World, the Middle World and the Upper World of the shamanic cosmos. 

World Tree by Annick Bougerolle

We were fortunate to have Annick with us at my recent workshop on exploring the multidimensional self at the Hameau de l'Etoile, the restored seventeenth-century stone village near St Martin de Londres in southern France where I lead many retreats. 

Tree Self-Portrait by Annick Bougerolle

Annick tells me that in one of her reveries, in that highly creative in-between state of consciousness the French call dorveille, she saw a great tree with an opening that looked inviting. However, instead of going through the hole into a world-beyond-the-world, as she has often done, she was thrilled to see interesting characters coming out of the tree and engaging in the world on this side. This fired her artist's imagination and she has been painting new images of the World Tree.

The Tree and the Mist by Annick Bougerolle

I have a special love for Annick's painting of "The Tree and the Mist". As anyone with a drop of Celtic blood knows, the mist is the veil between the worlds, and a way of crossing between them. The resemblance between the antlers of the deer and the branches of the tree is one of those deep mythic correspondences that is embedded in the French language, where the word bois means both "wood" and "antlers".
    I am delighted that Annick has given me permission to share some of her extraordinary work here. Please note that all these images are (c) Annick Bougerolle. Contact Annick via her website.