In Paul Friedrich's book Proto-Indo-European Trees he identifies the "semantic primitives" of the Indo-European tribe of languages through a group of words that have not changed much through twelve thousand years - and those are tree names: especially birch, willow, adler, elm, ash, apple and beech (bher, wyt, alysos, ulmo, os, abul, bhago). Seed syllables, bija, of the life of the west.
Gary SnyderWhy should the peculiarities of human consciousness be the narrow standard by which other creatures are judged?
Gary SnyderAll this new stuff goes on top turn it over, turn it over wait and water down from the dark bottom turn it inside out let it spread through Sift down even. Watch it sprout. A mind like compost.
Gary SnyderWildness It is perennially within us, dormant as a hard-shelled seed, awaiting the fire or flood that awakes it again.
Gary Snyder