The Wisdom of Birch, Oak and Yew
by Penny Billington.
(Llewellyn Worldwide)
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t got time any more for those endless books on recycled occult lore that I devoured in earlier years. I like practical down-to-earth material that actually helps me grow and learn, and that’s why I like psychology. But I need magic too – I need to feel I am close to the Mystery that can never be explained, but which feeds my heart and soul.
Along comes Penny Billington’s latest book, The Wisdom of Birch, Oak & Yew, and here I find both the magic and the practical psychology. This is not a book of rehashed treelore gleaned from other books, but a fresh and innovative approach to working spiritually, emotionally and physically with trees. Penny takes the central Druid idea
that trees are our brothers and sisters, a source of great healing and wisdom, and puts this idea to work in our daily lives so that we can start to change, heal and grow. And she starts by inviting us to consider a quotation often attributed to Einstein: ‘No problem can be solved from thesame level of consciousness that created it.’ With
that as a starting point, we’re off on the journey, which Penny suggests can be followed at any pace you like, or perhaps over the course of nine months. The main thing is not to hurry through this book, but to savour it, and above all, to put its ideas into practice, to find the wisdom of Birch, Oak and Yew!
~ PCG