Lupuna

Nature of the tree

The Lupuna, also called ceiba or kapok tree, is one of the largest trees of the rainforest. It rises far above the canopy and stands on mighty buttress roots. Its seeds float through the air in white wool. In Amazonia it is regarded as the mother of the forest and the home of powerful spirits; for the Maya the ceiba was the world tree connecting heaven, earth and the underworld.

Inner attitude

The Lupuna is tall and serene. It stands firmly in the ground and yet reaches into the sky. It has time. It overlooks what grows around it.

The essential qualities

• connecting
• sublime
• motherly
• rooted
• vast

It carries the forest and lets itself be carried by the wind.

Meaning

The Lupuna calls when you feel small or have lost sight of the bigger picture. It teaches you to root deeply and to grow tall – and to recognise yourself as part of a greater whole.

Voice of the tree

«Root deeply. Then you may rise high.»

Encounter & working together

You meet it between its buttress roots, which rise up like the walls of a house. Stand beneath a large tree and look slowly from the ground up into the crown and back again.

Pay attention to

• where you would like to root more deeply
• where you may grow tall
• where you are part of something greater

The Lupuna works when you are ready to take your place in the whole.

Essence

I am rooted in the earth and open to the sky.