Jules's Arcanum of cricket and baseball bats
This weekend, sat in a country pub on such a sunny autumnal day overlooking a village green cricket match the ‘sweet sound of a leather ball resounding off a willow bat' drifted over to us. A quintessential sound of the English summer. I am not waxing lyrical and I am definitely not a fan of cricket, it is just that as always my intuitive mind went off on a tangent. Why do professional cricketers use willow bats that are mass produced? All trees as a living and interconnected part of our universe, offer specific energy or ‘medicine' that centuries ago we were much more in tune with, the same way Bach Flower remedies came into being and the same way the Native American Indians studied the medicine of all animals.
So.... back to the cricket bats. Willow to the subconscious signifies a designated sadness which probably isn't the most flamboyant, strong, successful wood to use. On a physical level the answer may well be that willow is used for the hardness of its wood, cost effectiveness and aspects of tradition, but with today's technology and the treatments available it should be possible to use any wood. On a flippant note in the same vein that surely there is a better way to get a ‘20'er' conker than sprinkling vinegar on it and putting it in the airing cupboard.
Michael Vaughan for example, who recently emotionally resigned as captain of England - that still pees me off that it's called English when Welsh players are in the team - had only recently returned from injury, so for him a bat made from apple wood or another fruit tree would have been more befitting. The energy of most fruit trees is that of re-growth and rebirth - perfect for a return to the game after a long layoff. Liam Botham who followed his iconic father into cricket before a career in rugby could have used a Cedar or yew tree bat. Both those trees hold the ‘medicine' of ancient records, wisdom and knowledge - not that I'm calling his old man ancient - so he could have tapped into the positives of that rather than carry the burden. Any overly self-critical player could use a bat made from beech and resonate with the ‘medicine' of self tolerance, and a new captain could take on a hazel bat to bring inner strength to their new role. Someone who is stuck in a pattern of being out for a duck, or a habit of poor shot choices time and time again in certain situations would benefit from a walnut bat - a habit breaker, ‘medicine' that gets you out of a self perpetuating cycle.
It is amazing that professional players to whom their bat is like an extension of their arm have very little energetic and individual relevance to their tools of the trade. A samurai warrior back in feudal Japan, who granted, wasn't turning out for village cricket, but the extension of their arm and tools of their trade - their katana /sword - was treated with the reverence it deserved. They would stay with the metallurgist who forged their sword to specific requirements. The samurai would meditate on the purpose and intent if their sword, chant incantations whilst it was being heated, folded and fashioned. They would have a power symbol or image etched onto the blade. They would never let another person touch their katana and cleaned its energy.
Even if cricketers stayed with purely willow bats I wonder how many would meditate on channelling a specific intent to it, clear it of negative energy when needed, inscribe it with a power symbol or relevant numerology, and store it in a sacred space when not using it... By which I mean a quiet place where only his cricket bat and positive energy is - not the family house's foyer where everyone is kicking off shoes, coming and going, shouting, slamming doors and fumbling with keys. We all have no qualms about feeling uneasy around a piece of wooden furniture that belonged to your irascible old grandmother, or avoid going to certain places because of such feelings. We are all vibrating energy, and a cricket bat is vibrating energy too, meaning it can resonate with other forms and sources, of which are thoughts and emotions are the most powerful.
There is a wonderful scene in the baseball movie The Natural with Robert Redford as a promising baseball kid who after his father dies a lightning bolt strikes a tree on his farm and he fashions it into a baseball bat and etches wonder boy onto it. Without giving the plot away, it takes years before he returns to the game and makes the majors. He is brilliant and they are all checking out his bat - so is it talent, or does the energy and emotion tied in with his bat give him an extra edge. David Beckham wears a brand new pair of boots for each match and has personal words stitched into them, a warrior looking after and honouring his tools of the trade - his right boot.
This is why I used the word ARCANUM as the title of today's blog ‘a great secret of nature that alchemists sought to discover, a secret and powerful remedy. As with all information it is always applicable to our own relevance in everyday life. How do you work with, resonate with, state intent with, and meditate on the things that are important in your life. I saw a client last week who when she turned up I picked up a real anger and sadness attached to the dress not her... She traced back that it was what she was wearing when her fiancée called off their engagement and only then realised that she actually wore it when not feeling good about herself.
On a final note, I added the cricket picture of the guy and the girl playing cricket on the beach because obviously for that kind of match he might want to make his bat out of primrose wood with qualities of fertility, and blossoming.