There is a mighty tree, a World Tree, which holds together all the worlds. Yggdrasil is one of its names. Three great roots reach down to the underworlds and holy silence. Here sits Hel, queen of the realm of the dead.   

 

Beneath those roots, the great well Urðarbrunnr is tended by the Norns: the weird sisters Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld. Together they spin what once was, what is, and what shall be. A great dragon slithers in the darkness.

 

In Yggdrasil’s sunbathed branches there is much activity. An eagle circles above the caws of ravens, while stags chew at its leaves. The sky godds wander down to meet and gather, the healer and seer Freyja among them. It was She who taught Odin magic, the same Odin who hangs in sacrifice to himself from Yggdrasil's branches to learn the power of the runes. All the while the squirrel Ratatoskr scampers up and down the trunk chattering and passing messages, both false and true.

 

Thus Yggdrasil, fed by the Wells of Wisdom and bursting with the life of all the worlds, can be a place to reflect, rest, recuperate, and rejoice.

 

Together, in person, we approach the great ecosystem of this holy and magnificent World Tree. What will we sense, sitting at the base of this Mighty One? What will we learn from the rustling of its leaves or view from its canopy? What wisdom may we be offered for where we are going?