Drinking tea and infusions is part of cultural traditions all around the world. The surrounding rituals might start the day, invite conversations between people or create space for gratitude and appreciation.
Linden (Tilia) trees are deeply rooted within European cultures, surrounded with symbolism and stories, but have moved from being at the centre of rituals towards lining the sides of busy roads.
Tilias are appreciated for their vibrant green leaves and sweet smell in June, they line cars with their sticky sap in summer and bike paths and roads with fibres in winter. Their wood, silky and smooth, is easy to carve, a preferred material used for religious sculptures.
Might a tea ritual surrounding the linden tree help us to remember, appreciate and pay tribute to the gifts nature provides?
The tea ritual places the linden tree at its centre, providing flowers and leaves for the infusion, fibres and bark to carry the tea set, wood for cups and a bowl holding the tea and mats made of leaves to mark place. We pass water, flowers and leaves to each other, giving and taking, sensing in presence of the tree.