What if…
Surely everyone is familiar with the saying/exercise if you could wave a magic wand. The latter fragment is often completed as a question by adding something along the lines of how would your life look today(?) or what would your future lover be like(?). As practitioners of the magical arts, perhaps we find the question a bit amusing, especially if we actively employ wands within our workings. It’s a great exercise, one that can help you fine-tune your intentions and stay true to your deeper or higher (as you prefer) desires.
Tree Trumps Wand
I’m going to one-up the magic wand idea by several notches in this article, and anyone who uses a wand regularly will know, this is a bold claim indeed! If you had a magical tree empowered to grant your every desire, what would you use this tree to experience or accomplish in your life?
It’s a question worth answering, as you’re about to be introduced to this awesome tree. It contains the magic to fulfill all your wishes and wash away your wants.
I’m not trying to sell you a miracle Maple or pouch of enchanted seeds. This isn’t an article about the Tree of Life or the mighty World Tree of Norse lore, though I am rather fond of both of these avatars.
In botanical terms, the tree of focus is a type of Fig. If you don’t live in a tropical zone and don’t want houseplants, you needn’t be concerned so please don’t click away.
The archetypal form of this tree dwells in the garden of Indra, which I believe is not very far from the Garden of the Goddess in the realm of Victory, or maybe I’m confused and it’s close to the other Goddess Garden on the path between Wisdom and Understanding. Shoot, better not pull up Google Maps just yet and, thankfully, you won’t need to go looking anyway.
You already have an offspring of this marvelous tree. Think I’m kidding, or just crazy? Hold that thought.
You Must Harvest Your Own Fruit Before You Can Share
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, you can’t use this power to directly bless other people. I simply mean your wishing tree is unlikely to create change within the life of another person, absent your participation or interaction within that life. Certainly, you can do worlds of good with what I’ll be sharing in another moment, but miracles and joy for the people you wish to help will be the secondary results, coming from the action you choose to take with the blessings you receive from your tree.
This may come across as selfish. I can only tell you I don’t make the rules for this wonderful game; I’m just the guy who wants to share it with you.
I should also disclaim: There are practitioners who disagree with my interpretation (from above). Such challengers insist the power of this tree can be employed without limitation and can, therefore, definitely be used to directly benefit another without your ever getting involved physically with that beneficiary’s life.
Maybe they’re right, and I’m just not smart enough or sophisticated enough in my magic to get it done their way. I can only relay what I have, through experimentation and journaling, found to be the reliable truth of the matter.
What and where is this Magical Tree?
The tree called Kalpataru (or Kalpataru Kalpavriksha) lives eternally in the paradise of Indra, and a child, some say reflection, of the tree exists within the Anandakanda Lotus, just below your heart chakra. The Light of the sun ever shines above and behind Kalpataru, and a jeweled altar rests before it. The sun is both the light of divine truth (in paradise) and the radiance of your soul (within you). The altar, partially in shadow and otherwise glimmering in the solar rays that fall upon it, represent the totality of ALL, clarifying that you and whatever you desire are not separate, but indeed already part of one another.
The metaphysics of this vision goes quite a bit deeper but I’m neither qualified nor inclined to teach Hindu theology. The amazing point is that if you simply close your eyes and intend to see into this part of yourself, linked inextricably with its cosmic counterpart, you will begin to see what I have described!
Better still, what follows is a very simple and efficacious method for attaining the presence of Kalpataru within you and accessing its tremendous power.
The Path to Your Wishing Tree
Let’s have a walk along the subtle pathways to your personal Wishing Tree. Shall we?
Lovely. You’ll of course want to read this exercise through at least once before stepping away and executing it.
Cleansing Breaths
Close your eyes, if you will, and have three cleansing breaths. First push, firmly but without urgency, the “stale” air out of your lungs and then allow your diaphragm to begin pulling air back in; this should happen right away. Inhale deeply, first bringing the air into the bottom of your lungs and gradually filling from bottom to top. Breathe in renewal and positive charge. Hold a moment, allowing the energy collected to surge and circulate as it will. When it feels right slowly exhale, releasing the air from the top of your lungs first and expelling the air, along with any harmful negativity or unhelpful energy, from top to bottom. Repeat this sequence twice more for a total of three.
Clearing the Manifestation Channel via Descending Tone Chakra Sequence
The subtle energy conduit discussed herein is also known as Sushumna and the Middle Pillar, and it is the main pathway for circulating and distributing life force and other mystical energies throughout your being. When the Middle Pillar is in a state of drawing spiritual energy down through the seven major chakras, to the base, it can aptly be called the Manifestation Channel.
This moniker is readily understood when you consider the qualitative nature of the energies each of the seven chakra centers deals with. Without digressing over much, we begin with spirit and mind at the crown and third eye centers, flowing through sound and ether via the throat chakra. At the heart, we reach the finest of the more “worldly” elements, which of course is air. The energy processed becomes gradually more and more dense as we descend, working with fire, water, and finally earth when focusing upon the solar plexus, sacral, and base chakras respectively.
Such is the cycle of creation, or manifestation, wherein the unmanifest evolves into cause and inspiration, then emerges as an idea, passes through the lips of the creator as a name, and is finally brought into being by the works of planning, passion, formation, and solidification or construction. The actual process, or methodology, is called the Elemental Ladder by magicians, the Work of Creation by Kabbalists, and many other names by initiates and adepts worldwide.
It’s a great idea to familiarize oneself with the personal Manifestation Channel, to strengthen this vessel and keep it energized and free from blockages. You can do much good by holding this intent while meditating with a citrine crystal and/or a piece of hypersthene. Burning the herb Rue or incense made from this herb is also helpful, as are banishment proceedings like the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. I personally believe one of the most effective ways to treat and maintain your channel of manifestation is direct work on the chakras along the channel.
Empowerment of this channel and regular cleansing exercises will promote any sort of magic or mystical work you engage in, assuming there is some vein of manifesting or creating involved with the work. Your subtle body knows how and when to employ a strong Manifestation Channel, and much of the metaphysical process involved will be handled unconsciously unless you choose to be actively involved.
Think of it in the same light as exercising for a strong heart. You do what you can to improve your heart’s ability to handle stress and strain, but you have nothing to do with the day-to-day operation of the heart muscle, at the conscious level anyway.
Descending Tone Chakra Sequence
Allow your awareness to float gently outward and upward, perhaps into your aura, and then settle your focus upon the crown chakra, at the very top and in the center of your skull. Sound a long “e” (eee) at a comfortably high pitch; let this tone ring for three to four seconds.
At your own pace, ideally allowing three or four seconds per tone, work your way down from the crown to the base chakra using the vowel sounds below. With each new tone, you should lower the pitch slightly, ending up with a very low note by the time you arrive at the base.
The Do Re Mi song used by musical instructors and featured in the old Sound of Music film is a great model to base your tones upon. As you are working in descending tones, be sure to reverse the progression of notes or tones so you’re moving from highest to lowest.
- Just a reminder, we began with a long “e” (like see) at the crown.
- At the third eye, between and slightly above your physical eyes, sound a long “a” (aye).
- For the throat chakra in the center of your vocal cords, sound long “I”, as in eye.
- Dropping to the heart chakra in the center of your chest, behind the sternum, tone short “a” for an “ah” sound.
- On the solar plexus, found on the centerline of the torso just below where your ribs meet, make a long “o” (oh) sound.
- For the sacral chakra, approximately an inch and a half below your belly button, sound a long “u” (like the vowel sound in “new”).
- When you arrive at the base of your spine and the base or root chakra, the tone is a short “u” (uh).
With the completion of this cycle, you have cleared and charged your Manifestation Channel. You may repeat the process if you like and can even flow back up the ladder of the chakras toning in reverse from low to high. When you are finished, whether after the first descent or following several trips up and down the spine, continue with the step in the next paragraph.
Spend a few to several seconds (longer is fine if you wish.) feeling solid, settled, stable, and strong with your weight comfortably beneath you. Find and release any tension in your neck, shoulders, and finally your hips. Imagine your feet sinking several inches or more into the earth or floor below.
Raise the Column of Light
With your focus on the base chakra, visualize and try to feel a cord of light wrapped tightly around a solid, ruby-colored sphere in the center of your base center. Deliberately unwind this coil of light one, two, and three times.
The cord rises immediately, becoming a shaft of light that alternates between gold, silver, and white as it shoots back up the path along your spine. Follow or guide the shaft of light into and through the six remaining chakras until you reach the crown once more.
On this return journey, be aware of each sphere as you pass through it, and either notice the following sensations/experiences, or apply visualizations. and the imagination to produce the appropriate experience.
- Sacral Orange. The thrill of good friendships. A favorite song or dance.
- Solar Plexus Yellow. Ambition and competitive drive. You are great!
- Heart Green or pink. Deep love of a familial or intimate nature.
- Throat Turquoise or light blue. “I am. The whole universe moves inside of me.”
- Third Eye Indigo, dark blue, or purple. Look into your future and see.
- Crown Purple orwhite, or clear. Be with absolutely nothing, in fact, be as nothing, completely free from obligation or attachment, if only for a fleeting moment.
Like letting go of a rock, let your attention drop, from crown to third eye, throat, and then stop.
At the heart, compress no less, in fairness, than your full awareness to a small point.
Now thrust this point of awareness to enter into the inner of the heart center.
Pause right there, light as the air without a care.
Have your being, as fully as possible, at the center of your heart chakra and allow the experience thereof to occupy all your silence and stillness.
Rest here with closed eyes. You’ve surely earned it.
Behold the Wishing Tree!
Keep your eyes closed but lower your inner gaze as if actually looking just below the heart center. The Anandakanda is there; a flower formed of light, with eight petals. Maybe this luminous flower is golden, or white and purple, or even has crimson streaks flickering through it. At this time whatever your inner being is showing you is perfect. Move your awareness, as if floating inward, down through the light into the center of the flower.
Imagine your feet touching down in a grassy field spotted with wildflowers. Behold the sight in front of you, your Wishing Tree!
This vision will unfold before you just as it should and you will perceive whether seeing with your inner eye or experiencing by intuitive knowing, the specific imagery that is proper for you at this time.
The glow or glare of the sun behind the tree is commonly observed, and it is typical that the branches of the tree sway and dance in the wind of a steady breeze. The shining altar, for some made of gold while others see a stone pedestal inlaid with gemstones galore, sits between you and the tree.
Approach the tree and kneel or sit in a relaxed manner before the altar. You aren’t being pious, just getting comfortable.
Focus on the tree. Open your heart and listen to the breeze between the branches.
In this moment you are alone with a higher aspect of yourself. There is no one to impress. You are obligated to no person, organization, or cause. Let the blowing breeze carry away all ideas of what you “should want” or what is “supposed to be important” for you. Allow the solar glow to purify your desires by burning away preconceived ideas or the things you think you want.
If you sit and concentrate gently for long enough, your true desires will emerge within your consciousness. You might be surprised, a little or even a lot, by what it turns out you want. Give yourself the chance to come into this moment of honesty with yourself.
This happens a lot for spiritual or magical practitioners. Our desires and intentions are continually evolving, and we find it increasingly difficult to be interested in trivial things that were once anything but trivial to us! The things we want tend to become more straightforward and also more about service or understanding than about material enjoyment.
Is it possible you’ll still want that shiny new car or amazing luxury getaway with your main squeeze? Definitely and if that turns out to be the case run with it guilt-free! We are inclined to wish (you know when we find Genie lamps laying around or travel to the Wishing Tree) for whatever our hearts really need at the time for healing and for sharing our compassion with others, and nobody can truly say ahead of time what that will look like.
It’s also possible that you will sit there before the splendid Wishing Tree and not want anything. That would be awesome. You’d be quite the spiritual rockstar to find out you don’t want for any wishes right now and are perfectly content, thanks anyway.
If this happens take the opportunity to pour gratitude and thanks onto your Wishing Tree and general heart region. As we know, gratitude is like steroids for magical energy, except there’s no drug test looming here and a mojo boost from saying “thanks” won’t get you kicked out of any league.
You get to decide how you communicate with the tree, what if anything you leave upon the alter, and when the time has come to return home, or to normal consciousness. A few deep but short breaths prior to opening your eyes is a good idea, as is taking a moment to feel into your body again after any vivid astral experience.
Cautionary Consideration
When you read Hindu or Buddhist accounts of the wishing trees, you’ll find language that suggests there is no distance between you and what you desire, and no time gap to delay fulfillment once your wish is known. This all relies, naturally, on the authenticity of your wish or desire, i.e. whether or not it comes from your true heart.
Add this to the lore about the heavenly wish-fulfilling trees once being on the earth. They had to be taken up into paradise because some people abused their power and wished for evil things.
What we have in these statements about no distance between wisher and wish, instant creation of the desired thing, and the possibility of evil deeds being enacted, is the ancient recognition that human will is a potent force that is accommodated more often than denied. That’s my overly dramatic way of saying: careful what you wish for, as you’re likely to get it.