The Cordae Blessing
A short blessing spoken over Cordae tea, the brew of the old Cordae tree Natural History Cordae Tree The Cordae Tree is a needled, narrow-crowned species standing between three and twelve metres, its resinous bark rising in silence on broken slopes, rocky passes, and the misted.... It is a quiet rite of release: pain and sorrow are surrendered to the earth and the deep silence, that none of it be carried further.
Key traits
- Origin: the folk rite around the Cordae tree and its tea.
- Occasion: spoken over a cup of Cordae tea before drinking.
- Theme: the surrender of pain and the unbinding of sorrow.
- Imagery: oldest needles, the breath of stone, root of earth and mist of sky.
- Tone: hushed and consoling, addressed to the deep silence.
- Performed quietly, as blessing rather than song.
The Cordae tree is old, and the tea brewed beneath its oldest needles carries a small rite with it. Before the cup is drunk, the Cordae Blessing is spoken over it. It is not a prayer for gain but a release: a handing-down of pain and grief into the earth and the deep silence, so that the one who drinks carries none of it further.
The blessing is this:
"Beneath the oldest needles, we surrender pain. Beneath the breath of stone, we unbind sorrow."
"Root of earth, mist of sky, Carry this burden into the deep silence, and leave none behind."