Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees

by Beth Norcross, Leah Rampy

There is great wisdom to learn from trees, and when we connect intimately with them, we can deepen our spiritual lives and grow in the understanding that all beings are part of the fabric of the holy.

There's something about a majestic redwood, the sweet pink blossoms of a cherry tree in spring, or even a scrawny little pine that moves us in ways we don't fully comprehend. Trees have much to offer as soul friends, and their millennia of growth and loss provide deep wisdom, if we know how to pay attention. The Spiritual Wisdom of Trees encourages us to revel in the beauty and wonder of trees as they increase our capacity to bear witness to loss and grief. Integrating science and spirituality, coauthors Beth Norcross and Leah Rampy explore the knowledge held within the living world of trees and planted within each of us.

Drawing on extensive experience in both forest ecology and spirituality, Norcross and Rampy invite us into a deep mutual relationship with trees, whose wisdom provides comfort, resilience, guidance, and hope during these challenging times. Living amid the uncertainty of climate chaos and biodiversity loss, we experience loneliness, anxiety, grief, and fear. Such times call us to a fuller spiritual presence, richer connections to the world around us, and a deeper knowing that all are held within a sacred web of life.

Pulling from the Center for Spirituality in Nature organization's coursework, Norcross and Rampy offer us guidance and practices based on their experiences leading walks, retreats, and pilgrimages for over two decades. Having witnessed the profound healing and restorative power of trees, they offer us the wisdom of trees as wordless ministers to weary souls. When we learn the ecology of the forest and how to be present in nature, our eyes are opened to the awe and wonder of our world, deepening our sense of sacred oneness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Environment

211 pages, Hardcover

Published April 22, 2025

Reviews

[Stacey Remick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leah Rampy and Beth Norcross articulate what I have known most of my life. I could not have expressed these truths and profound observations as they have managed to do. The lessons and wisdom revealed here is life changing in a way that can get beneath the surface.

I have moved it to my life-books shelf. These are books which have had a profound impact on my thinking, my spiritual direction or have inspired a new way of approaching something that is life changing for the better.

I recommend this book for everyone especially in this time with disconnection, destruction and sorrow is the mainstay of daily living in this age.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book resonated so deeply!! I’ve never felt alone among trees & reading about those feelings from others was such a gift. This is going on my shelf right next to Braiding Sweetgrass & Mary Oliver.

Beautiful mix of tree science & gentle guidance towards living a life of awe, reciprocity, and connection with all living beings. Nature knows what to do & has answers for all our human woes if we listen.

[Phyllis Northup · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a total joy to read! I learned so much fascinating information about trees and their ecosystems, and I loved how that was blended with the personal stories, reflections, and insights about how much trees have to teach us. There is so much wisdom we can learn if we can just be open to it! This is a book that will have a permanent place on my bookshelf to be read many times, I absolutely loved it!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees is a gem of a book. A little science, a little spirituality and a lot about how the wisdom of the forest has so much to teach us.

[Emily Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book. Clearly written, personal yet informative and reflective. I so appreciate how it offers tangible theory about how to apply these ideas to my daily life. This book really shows that science and our current culture is catching up to what the poets have known all along - that nature and the world around us is spiritually alive and has so so much to teach us. Thank for you a book that gives such a clear insight into how to access it.

[Katie Mata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how thorough this book was. The chapters had an easy flow and they all connected in a way that really worked. At the end of each chapter was an exercise for one to find and engage with their teacher tree. This exercise also corresponded with what the chapter has been about.

Both authors took turns writing a chapter, sharing personal antidotes while also highlighting the links of information between chapters. They also connected multiple ways that everything comes together, how we're all connected.

There was a lot of hope and positivity in this book as well as advice and calls to action that can be done in small but impacted ways. There was a strong focus on reciprocity, being there and giving back. I really appreciated this element after some of the other nature focused, non fiction books I've read of late that just left me feeling down and anxious. It felt like this book actually gave me ways to deal with that anxiety that will actually help me.

Not only did this book share some religious/spiritual aspects of connecting with trees, it also provided a lot of scientific information, such as explaining the inner workings of trees, the stuff that we can't see (at least what we understand of it so far). There was a lot of references to back these views plus also referring to Indigenous teachings.

Thank you to Netgalley and Broadleaf Books for providing me with a free copy of this book for my honest review.

[Mhughessc · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees" was co-written by Beth Norcross and Leah Rampy, in connection with the Center for Spirituality in Nature. These ladies both grew up in the church but became disenchanted with the restriction found within the four walls of the church. Along the way, they discovered God's presence best in the woods. Trees can teach us about renewal, rebirth, handling change, and even the importance of community. I was especially touched by this quote: "The tree offers an important lesson -- those who have withstood the most, who have grown the most slowly under the most difficult circumstances, are the strongest and hardiest and most prepared to endure whatever circumstances they meet."

I enjoyed parts of this book, but it was much more detailed than I was expecting. If a reader is interested in a more science-based and religious vs. Christian field of thought, they would really enjoy this book! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Lindsay J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only begun reading this wonderful book, but already it is nourishing me, so I must write a "Pre-review"...a more full one will come later. Beth and Leah lead the reader on a whole-hearted, embodied journey deep into the realm of trees...and through trees, deep into the animate, wild Earth. This is just what I need and want in these times, when I need strong medicine and firm nudges to turn away from the poisonous story of separation and into the fullness of relationship/kinship with trees and all more-than-human ones. The book is chock full of knowledge, both the scientific/arborist kind and the wisdom kind that rises out of other ways of seeing. I will continue to read with relish....

[Clint Stretch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully written little book meets a real need. Popular books about trees and forests abound as do ones that encourage spiritual practices with nature serving as a backdrop.

Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees invites the reader into an authentic spiritual relationship with trees based simultaneously in open hearts and souls and in ecological knowledge. The authors clearly have abundant experience from which to guide the reader. They share their experience in a rich blend of storytelling, careful explanations and humor. Beth and Leah have written about something they obviously know well and love well. The reader will find themselves listening to, and looking at, trees in an entirely new, richer and deeper way.

[Avery Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beth Norcross and Leah Rampy (wise souls clearly belonging to the Quercus and Salix genera, respectively) have crafted something truly special in Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees. This book offers the kind of deep-rooted, grounding insight desperately needed in our moment of ecological and spiritual uncertainty. Reading it felt like touching the textured bark of my own tree companion—a practice I learned from its pages. Rich in stories and spiritual depth, this book is best enjoyed outside, under the gentle shelter of branches. Go find yourself a comfortable place beneath a tree, open this book, and let its wisdom nurture you.

[Heidi Holliday McKitrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored the book over the past few weeks, and incorporated the practices into my hikes. The final four chapters were particularly meaningful to me this week as I try to ground my work in the larger political reality, which feels so scary, chaotic, and depressing. Yesterday, on my early morning hike, I visited my favorite hiking area and hugged an oak tree. As I observed its knots, burls, and growth journey, I felt a deep sense of groundedness and resolve, and hope. It was exactly what I needed.

Thank you, thank you for your beautiful book, and the wisdom contained within. I can't wait for you to share it with the world!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is a book whose time has come. It's for everyone seeking to connect more with that elusive universal element that most of us sense at some point -- often fleetingly -- that promises us we are part of something larger than ourselves. A collective Whole. Call it The Spirit, call it God, call it nothing at all...you've probably felt it sometime and wish you could feel it more. This is the book that shows you how. A little nature instruction, a lot of spiritual guidance, and each chapter ending with easy, everyday exercises to make what I call The Connection a more frequent experience in your life. I'm so glad these women have produced what so many of us have been waiting for.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combining science and spirituality, the authors invite us to slow down, pay attention, and learn from the deep wisdom of trees. I learned a lot about trees and appreciated the spiritual metaphors woven throughout the book about light and dark, grief, loss, hope, resilience, gratitude, reciprocity, and more. Each chapter concludes with a spiritual practice involving a reader-selected “tree teacher,” which I thought was a beautiful way to integrate the insights from the book in a practical way.

As I have begun to wade more deeply into contemplative spirituality over the past 5 years or so, I find myself drawn more to the quiet wisdom of the natural world as an antidote to the overwhelm I sometimes feel with our noisy world full of reactive hot takes. This book is the perfect companion to that end and serves as a gentle guide for those desiring the quiet but enduring wisdom of our beloved tree relatives.

Thank you to Broadleaf Books for my advance copy of this beauty!

[Mark Bourdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The forests and the future that we plant and nurture today will mature well after we are gone. We will almost certainly not see the results of our efforts. The story of the forest and of our ailing planet is not yet written. We can barely imagine what the future might hold. There is opportunity, though, to participate in hope in the here and now by planting those literal and metaphorical seedlings and trusting that they will bear fruit in a future beyond our knowing.”

The challenge of the authors is to “attend to the wisdom of trees.”

[Ishieta Chopra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not quite sure what the book was trying to do. I read both books on spirituality and nature/gardening & trees & this book didn't fit quite into either genre.
I enjoyed reading Beth's chapters more & speed read quite a bit of the book.
There was a lot of basic science which I feel most adults would know of and so the parts where rhe authors spoke of their own experiences were more interesting for me.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn’t just a message. It’s a ministry calling us back to the earth. I don’t think we realize how much being disconnected from the earth disconnects us from our selves, and this book is a reminder to reconnect with who we really Are. I loved it!

[Kaeley Mcevoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is food for the soul. It's a beautiful mixture of the scientific and the spiritual. Particularly in our current difficult political times, this book is grounding and inspiring. Beth and Leah share their own personal journeys with great vulnerability and connect their truth to greater wisdom with ease. I would highly recommend this new volume for spiritual seekers of all kinds!

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovering the spiritual wisdom of trees is the perfect blend of science and spirituality, informational and interesting. I learned so much and so much of what I've already learned has been affirmed. Well written, good flow, easy to read, beautiful book.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed thinking about trees while listening to this, but I can't say I learned much from the book itself. It was still a peaceful feeling book full of meditations on trees and our reciprocal relationship with them.

[Lucia Coppola · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very powerful. It speaks of the many ways that we, as humans, are connected to the world of trees and how we are ultimately connected to one another. The book is full of interesting facts and spiritual wisdom as it reminds us of the consolation we receive in the beauty and profound intelligence of this planet.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly this was wonderful. BUT. I wasn't in the right space for it and I probably should have taken more time with it. I felt like personally it was a 3-star, but it's worth more than that.

[Maryclaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. I enjoyed the nature references the most as they were very accurate.
I have read many books on nature and the forests, and this book did not disappoint.

[Lisa Bardack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with expertise and wisdom, this gem of a book has so beautifully deepened my relationship to the trees, to the forest. A perfect blend of science, story and soulful reflection, Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees has expanded my capacity for awe and wonder for these ancient beings and the extraordinary relationships they have with each other, with life teeming below the surface and all about them. We have so much to learn from trees! Walking in the woods will never be the same!

[Erin Dall-Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying reading this! It’s witty, informative and very grounding. Excellent work Beth and Leah.