.: Under the Linden Tree :.

Adam Sommer
3 min readJul 24, 2020
Linden Tree by Tricia Newell

When Chiron came into the world, he discovered a chapter of isolation not many of us can even begin to fathom. No father around. No mother. Not even other centaurs to look up to. Alone. Completely alone. Abandoned in the dark forest of this world.

There was a tree though, one he found great shelter under. It minimized the scorching lessons of the Sun at midday and cradled him on those howling Full Moon nights. And little did he know in those early days of being protected by this tree’s caring canopy that it was actually his Mother, in the form of a mighty Linden Tree.

After giving birth to the world’s first centaur, Philyra begged to be released from her current form. She couldn’t deal with raising such a ‘monster.’: The memory of Chronos’s galloping pursuit; That violation of everything sacred. No permission ever granted. The Gods were listening that day and felt pity for the beautiful nymph, so they turned her into a tree-a Linden Tree (Philyra translates in Greek to “linden-tree).

Many cultures throughout Europe knew it to be impossible to tell a lie under one of these trees. Because of this, marriages were held underneath them. Ancient courts were also held there, so justice could be served cleanly. Like Mistletoe for kisses, the Linden brings nothing but the truth to the surface. It was under this tree Chiron spent his early days, learning about the truth embedded in Nature-our nature-and how to live from this place.

On July 14th, there was the semi-rare meet-up (conjunction) between Chiron and Mars. It happened in Aries. The two have a mythic kind of relationship, in that Chiron specializes in working with Mars. Those Truths he learned under his Mother’s tree distilled into the most potent strain of wisdom in the ancient world. He was so revered that Kings and Gods alike would bring their kids to him to be taught properly. From Jason to Asclepius, Theseus to Hercules, Chiron was the mentor to countless heroes throughout the ages. His cave, in some sense, was a Hero Factory. A place to become fully human. A space for initiation and a time for rewilding.

Mars will be in Aries for the rest of the year. Night after night he is coming closer to us. There will be a retrograde, there will be furious aspects made, and the only way to navigate it with grace is to open our minds and hearts to what Chiron can teach us under the Linden Tree.

Lesson 1: The Truth is in the wild. Flora and fauna rarely tell a lie.

* I will be teaching a class this Sunday all about this rewilding process. About the dance between Chiron and Mars. If you would like to join, CLICK THIS:

https://www.holestoheavens.com/product/rewilding-with-chiron/

* Or you can get 50% off by becoming a Patron HERE:

www.Patreon.com/adamsommer

Eudaimonia,

Adam

--

--

Adam Sommer

Dedicated to Kosmos, Mythos, and Psyche. “Great stories are worthy of constellations.” Substack: https://kosmognosis.substack.com/