Although "trimming the tree" at Christmas time may have
secular roots, the symbolism of both the tree and its festive
decorations aptly lend themselves to expressing the true spirit
of this holy time of the year.
At Mt. Ecclesia, as the Fellowship grounds is called, residents
have resumed the practice of hanging long lines of lights on its
tallest pine tree: Araucaria heterophylla (alternately, excelsa),
commonly known as the Norfolk pine because Captain Cook first
observed it when he discovered Norfolk Island in the South Pacific
in 1774.
Pyramidal in shape, "tall and imposing," it can attain
a height of 200 feet. Its scale-like, awl-shaped, incurved, stiff
leaves, 1/3-1/2 inches long, uniformly clothe the smaller branches,
which whorl out from the main shaft, often five branches at a
level, thus occasioning its nickname, star pine, the upper branches
particularly creating the appearance of a star. While small the
tree is popular as a house and glasshouse pot plant and it has
been cultivated in the Mediterranean area as an ornamental.
Planted in Mt. Ecclesia's early days, as near as we can gather
around 1915, photographs indicate that from the outset the tree
seemed "a natural" for bearing Christmas lights. In
grand view, it stands forty yards inside the Fellowship archway,
each of whose two piers is flanked by a regal sejant lion — a fitting
tribute to the Fellowship's founder, who was a triple Leo! The
tree rises to a height of one hundred and twenty feet.
The species has remarkable symmetry, its branches extending widely
with a slight upward rise, spaced at regular intervals both vertically
and laterally, resembling rungs of spokes on a wheel. While redwoods
are primarily columnar, and spruce, most varieties of pine, larch
and hemlock are densely foliated, the star pine's branches are
long but do not thickly ramify, nor are its "leaves"
long. Consequently, it is permeated by space and its entire structure
is graphically articulated against the sky.
Its well-ordered and open aspect makes it particularly suitable
for hanging lights, since they are visible from all angles. This
year the tree will carry eight strands of lights, seventy-five
lights per strand, issuing from a common chain collar, placed
about fifteen feet from the top, and descending outward in graceful
arcs to the tips of the lower branches. Two intersecting pentagonal
stars, whose borders are traced by tiny white lights, is mounted
on a pole that extends above the tree so that, from a distance,
the three-dimensional star seems to hover ethereally over it.
Since Mt. Ecclesia, as its name suggests, occupies a prominent
site in the local geography, the tree is visible not only from
the San Luis Rey Valley to the east, but also from northern, western
and southern exposures.
We can see the beauty and elevation of this inspiring Christmas
spectacle as an emblem of our purpose and influence. As the illuminated
tree is visible for a considerable distance, we know that the
spiritual enterprise of the combined membership is a source of
light and inspiration that issues from the inner planes. Seen
from another aspect, as the vine is to its branches, so is the
tree to its branches. The spiritual tree is Christ and we are
His branches, whose life is in Him.
When our lives are adorned by the gifts of good deeds, we become
beacons of hope and comfort to those in our radius. And we best
transmit the light and beauty of the teachings when we embody
them. Year round and daily we orient ourselves to the Christmas
Event. Guided from afar by the Star of Truth, we journey toward
our individual Bethlehem, toward the birth of the Christ body
or etheric tree of light. Keeping in mind this radiant prospect,
we may more fully appreciate the Rosicrucian salutation and blessing:
May the roses bloom upon your cross.
— C.W.
— Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, November/December, 1995
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