Barkfall

It’s that time of year again. The days are warming up, the humidity is rising, and the trees are starting to shed their bark like they’re headed for the beach. “Barkfall” is the name I use for this time of year when the bark starts coming off the trees, usually in the lead up to the summer solstice. It can be a bit later, depending on the species of gum tree we’re observing, but a species that seems to be a reliable timing marker is the angophora costata, or Sydney Red Gum. These beautiful trees have a bark that is a blueish almost purple colour before they shed, and when they let go of their bark they transform into bright orange colours and almost reds. If the days are wet, they are a deep rust colour, and their branches wind up into the sky in stark contrast to the greens that surround them.

They are also known to bloom at this time of year, though that can also come later in the summer. Like many Australian flowering plants, they are opportunistic, blooming when the conditions are right for them, and this has more to do with temperature and water availability, than it does with sunlight.

Another plant that tends to bloom at this time of year is the callistemons, or bottlebrush. Their beautiful red blossoms are also opportunistic – mine bloomed twice this year to prove it – once in June and again in November. Waratahs are another beautiful red bloom of the season. Their red colours remind me of Beltane, and together with the angophora blooms and the tea tree that also blooms between now and the summer solstice, we have our red and white colours of the holiday season.

For us here, the red can represent fertility, love, the blood mysteries of women and warriors, and also the fiery energy of summer, bushfires and rebirth. The white doesn’t represent snow, but the foam of the ocean’s waves as we’re invited to the sacred waters, the healing energy of the gum and tea tree plants, and the mysteries of man and the seed of life. Red and white of course are symbolic colours of Xmas and the popular holidays, but they’re also the colours we dance around the maypole, representing the God and Goddess, the dance of life and fertility, creativity and coming into being through union.

It’s a magical time of year, and a time out of time as we let go of our schedules to fit in end of year parties, family get togethers, and time off from work. Our regular lives fall away like the bark from the trees, and we gather together to heal, to create, to celebrate, and enter into the fire time of the Summer’s heat.

I hope you find some time to visit your sacred waters. I hope the red and white blooms remind you of the dance of life, and the depths of creativity that are available to you through your connection with the world around you. I hope you’re able to shed what you can to find the space for some celebration and joy as we approach the Summer Solstice.

Many blessings!

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