FOR FORESTS
Beloved Forests, breath of the Earth, You are a vast and ancient community, A tapestry of life woven from kinship and collaboration.
Forest Gratitude Ceremony
Have you ever stopped to listen to the wisdom of the Forest?
Forests are a chorus of voices, speaking in the language of wind and water, roots and mycelia. Each being, from the oldest oak to the humblest moss, belongs to a story woven in reciprocity. The trees do not stand alone; they hold one another in quiet conversation beneath the soil, sharing water, nutrients, and wisdom through the vast fungal networks that bind them.
To walk in a Forest is to be invited into an ancient kinship, to feel the breath of the Earth moving in rhythm with our own.
Forests are our elders, offering their gifts freely—carbon held in their trunks, rain summoned from distant oceans, shelter for the winged and the four-legged. The rivers that flow from forested hillsides carry their nourishment far beyond the canopy, feeding not just the land but the deep ocean. In return, they ask for our care, our gratitude.
To honor the Forest is to remember our place within the sacred web of life, to listen with humility, and to give back in reciprocity. As we gather in conversation, let us do so as kin—ready to listen, to learn, and to give thanks for all that the Forest teaches us about how to live well in this world.
Printable Ceremony Instructions
Planning Your Soil Gratitude Ceremony
This is a coordinated prayer that you offer in your own landscape (not an online event).
For A Tree coordinates this ceremony for people and Nature around the world, so that each gratitude ceremony, like yours, is one of many bright shining lights on Earth.
So that all the ceremonies can shine together, we have created a printable instruction sheet to provide guidance and the framework for you to bring your creativity and open heart.
Reciprocity is a cornerstone in good relationships with our Nature kin, and expressing gratitude is vital to building Co-Creative Partnership with our landscapes. Preparing for this ceremony and sharing your gratitude will deepen your connection and understanding with Soil.
As you express your gratitude for the Soil where you live, you’re contributing your heart and energy to a vibrant future for Earth and all life.
The Forest Gratitude Ceremony
Printable Ceremony Instructions
In the universal spirit of gratitude and reciprocity…
Set your intention and put into motion these simple, sacred actions.
GATHER
Gather a cloth to define your altar space.
Offerings: a bowl of water, flowers, herbs, pinecones, or leaves
Gather dried herbs for smoke purification.
CREATE
Locate a Forest, grove, or stand of trees for your gratitude ceremony—
A woodland, a sacred grove, a city park, a single beloved tree,
Or any place where Forest whispers to you.
Lovingly assemble your altar and offerings, including the bowl of water.
Ignite the herbs, and with the smoke, cleanse yourself, the altar, and the offerings.
STATE YOUR INTENTION
Standing before your altar, express your gratitude for
all Forests sustaining life on Mother Earth.
ENTER SACRED SPACE
Give thanks to the ancestors of the land—plant, animal, fungal, elemental, and human.
Acknowledge the Indigenous stewards of the land you stand upon, honoring their ongoing relationship with the Forest.
Pause for a moment of stillness. Breathe, hum, rattle, sing, ring a bell, light a candle, or incense.
OFFER YOUR BLESSING
Place your hands on the Earth. Feel the roots beneath you, weaving in an unseen embrace.
Breathe deeply into your heart center, and when you exhale.
Send love and gratitude down through your fingertips into the soil, into the mycelium, into the roots of the Forest.
Beloved Forest, breath of the Earth,
You are a vast and ancient community,
A tapestry of life woven from kinship and collaboration.
You are sanctuary and refuge,
Lifting the sky with your branches, bathed in golden light.
Your roots embrace the unseen world, deep in the fabric of creation.
With all my heart, I offer you my gratitude.
Beloved Forest, guardian of waters,
alchemy of light and leaf,
You call the rains, cleanse the streams,
Turn sunlight into breath,
Holding the memory of the ages.
Thank you.
Through mycorrhizal threads, you whisper wisdom,
Through seeds and pollinators, you weave renewal,
Through fruits, roots, and medicine, you nourish all life.
I pause, breathing with you.
Inhaling your gift, exhaling gratitude.
In your stillness, I remember—
I am not separate from you.
May I walk gently among you,
May I listen deeply to your teachings,
May you be honored, protected, and restored.
May your trees stand strong, your waters run clear.
May your roots entwine with ours in remembrance,
That we, too, belong to the Forest.
Beloved Forest, I offer you my profound gratitude, my love, and my vow:
To care for you, to stand with you, to protect you and remember you always.
CLOSE
Pour the water from your altar at the base of a tree, or onto the soil, returning your offering to the Forest.
Offer your own words of gratitude for the magnificent Forests sustaining all life.
