Honoring the Great Higueron
The Goddess is "more than meets the eye but everything your eye can meet".
On Sunday, October 22nd we will meet at the Great Higueron (banyan) tree at 2pm. This is a fairly informal event. The idea is we stay within SHERO FEST spirit and honor the Navdurga of the day, Mahagauri, by wearing (or accessorizing with) the color purple, and bringing natural adornments to leave at the tree. I will bring the "tiny temple".
Mille had an idea that It would be lovely if we had enough people hold hands and hug the great tree. I agree with her. However, we would need a lot of people so please come and bring some friends!
The Goddess in many cultures has also been associated with trees, including the Tree of Life. Adonis was born of a tree. There's so many nurturing benefits we receive from trees, and like with mothers, we sometimes take for granted.
This event is part of the Tiny Temples for Devi "movement'. We will have a small temple (or "nicha") we will leave at the tree. Please bring consenting flowers or any beautiful, natural items that you want to leave to decorate the tree and place around the tiny temple. You can even bring food offerings such as dried nuts or fruits, sesame seeds, and unrefined cane sugar (like tapa dulce).
For more information on why we are doing this, check out the Tiny Temples for Devi post. It should also be said that as the world continues to experience hardships, beautiful places such as ours will seem ever more appealing. Sometimes, as we have seen in the last few years, people from other places may fall in love with the beauty here but not really have a full inner standing of the importance of trees, compassionate land stewardship, and our wildlife. Just in the last 6 years we have seen a 25% increase in deforestation. That is one quarter of our trees have been chopped down in just over half of a decade.
It will be through continual cultivation of a culture of reverence of our Nature that we can all assist in its conservation. If we show acts of love and service for Nature, and share about it, we may, by default, teach people without shaming them. This is typically the best way for a person to learn. We be the change. They wish to emulate our behavior.
The Cabuya tree consecration is a free event. There are great restaurants in Cabuya. Calala is close by and Habitat. If you need to head back through Delicias to come home, you may want to stop by Aves for lunch. They are currently running a special whereby 20% of the money from lunch goes to a nonprofit of your choice such as Wild Sun Rescue Center (protecting our wildlife).
This event is dedicated not just to our local trees but trees around the world, and specifically the Great Banyan of Lahaina who is on her way to recovery from the fire.
Below are some pictures from the Santa Teresa tree consecration that kicked off SHERO FEST.
Support Nicoya Forest Conservation efforts here.
