Carol Alleman - Gingko: Seed of Hope

Original Poetry and Certificate of Authenticity included with Bronze.

The Gingko: Seed of Hope vessel was created as a privately commissioned piece. It stands tall and slender (a male tree) with a typically irregular form, smaller branches out-growing the long ones, and often crossing the trunk. In Japan, the gingko is revered as the Bearer of Hope. One gingko, growing adjacent to a temple in Hiroshima, is recorded to have survived the atomic blast of World War II, unscathed. The temple, less than a mile from the center of the blast, was destroyed. Gingko is highly resistant to storms, bacteria, viruses, pests, pollution and fire even radiation.

The whispering of the gingko continue to send timely and tender messages of hope, peace and the unity of the opposites. We all endure various forms of large and small personal, community and worldly blasts in our lives. And, we are influence powerfully by these events, whether consciously or subconsciously. The gingko whispers a seed of Hope. Can I, regardless of the sometimes utter challenges of life, temptations to forget my deep and real connection to all others, hold my center in love and peace? Is it not out individual centers - our heart space - where the purest, proliferative seeds of hope and peace truly grow? What is created in my heart space when I witness the so-called pests, storms, viruses, bacteria, fires and pollution in my life? And, in out world of seemingly constant dualities and opposites, wars and separation, severe humanitarian needs, am I able to plant even a few small seeds of hope and peace, acceptance and love; or do I spout yet more separation and illusion? Can I, like the gingko, trust my inner strength and power to act? Can I trust the power of love more than the illusion and love of power?

Another striking and unique attribute of the gingko is its brilliant autumn foliage - a breathtaking golden palette. In a few short days, or often even in the period of a few hours, it suddenly drops its hundreds of tiny, golden fan to the earth as if in complete and unreserved surrender - as if in one huge, deep breath. Am I willing to surrender without attachment, my most prized attributes, gifts, possessions? Am I willing to take a deep breath, and truly let go - right now - of judgments, separation, old wounds? Can I trust I will bud and sprout anew when I do? Through its rhythmic shedding, year after year, seemingly without notice, we might all be invited to seasonally look at ourselves in terms of what we might shed without hesitation. In our shedding, in letting go, we make possible the sprouting of yet another new season and a new vision of and for ourselves and our world.

A Seed of Hope is born to bless ourselves, our earth, and all of us, at once. The edition size chosen for Gingko: Seed of Hope is 33: combining the three doves with the three trees. (Three plus three equals six, a number of harmony and three times three equals nine, a number of completion.) The three doves, a highly creative number and the result of opposites brought together are intended to give wings to Gingkos inspiration and message. The dove has long been regarded as a symbol of peace. According to Ted Andrews, author of Animal Speak, the dove represents the traditional feminine and mother energies - giving birth - and a symbol of peace. Doves are also associated, he suggests, with female sexuality through numerous goddesses, such as Isis. The male trees in the vessel join the feminine energies of the dove, birthing Gingko: Seed of Hope. May it create the same in our hearts.