This is the story of the “Juniper Tree”, under the shade of which people pray by tying rags to its branches and strengthen their bodies by healing their illnesses through the same branches, and the “Juniper Bird”, which soothes the souls with its beautiful voice and ensures the Juniper Tree’s full existence even though it is not well known. The story of these two lovers, who cannot be imagined apart in their own nature, is perhaps our story too…
The whole of Istanbul had turned into a dry desert in her eyes, except for this tree under whose shade she was resting… Aliye had been sitting under this tree for hours. She made this tree a partner in her troubles that she could not find the meaning of, and tried to cool her heart in its shade, where even her tears were not enough to cool it. In fact, for as long as he could remember, he had been living with this fire in his heart, searching for the source that would bring him a little bit of peace in the real picture of his life, which looked so glamorous from the outside. Aliye was beautiful on the surface. A magnificent face that no one who saw her once could ever forget, a dignified stance that left those who stood in front of her speechless as if mesmerized, hands that made everything she touched beautiful… So much so that a gentleman who had seen her years ago, when he heard Aliye mentioned, could only say “her hands” and could not find the strength to describe the qualities of her beauty. He was wealthy; he belonged to a noble family, and his wealth was magnificent. In short, he had almost everything that people consider to be prosperity and peace in this world. However, this life that people desire with all their might, he was living like a prisoner in his own shell with his momentary sorrows and joys, and all the equipment he had was not enough to provide him with the peace he was really looking for… it would not be enough… He had no more decision…
Today he desperately needed the water of life that would turn his desert world into a paradise, that would stimulate his parched lips. For a moment, his eyes, misted with grief, rested on the tops of this lush green tree that had been a companion to him; on its branches that stretched out their arms as wide as they could, reaching up to the sky in prayer… Then he noticed the various colored rags tied to each branch. The tree he had been sitting under for hours was a Juniper Tree, which people called the “Wishing Tree”. I wonder if this tree, which those who are waiting for their loved ones look to for help, which those who want healing for their illnesses cling to, and which many more sufferers bind with their hopes, would convey their troubles to the sublime and mediate their wishes? Perhaps the cure for his troubles, which he could not find on earth, was hidden in the sublime…
The tree’s reachable branches were too full to accommodate a single feather. The only place to make a wish was on the highest branch, but Aliye had neither the ability nor the courage to climb up there. As his shoulders slumped and the darkness he had fallen into began to grow again, a quote he had read years ago echoed in his mind like a command, “Don’t say I can’t reach those heights! Cling to the skirt of the merciful one…” She quickly got up from her seat, grabbed her kerchief, which she had taken off her neck and wiped her tears, and crossed the branches one by one and tied this green-colored kerchief to the highest branch of the tree. It was time to make his wish, but where to start? Raising his head to the sky, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly and murmured only these words “O Lord! Reveal to me my hidden troubles that burden my heart. Help me to find my way…”
When Aliye opened her eyes, there was a distinct freshness in her heart, just like the white clouds in the sky… This wish, which found its way to her tongue not from her mind, but from her heart, brought her a little peace, as if it lit a light in her heart, which was fluttering in darkness. He looked once more with gratitude and appreciation at this tree, which had provided him with a nucleus of the peace he had been longing for. Its flowering branches were like a sign that would carry it from the season of haze to spring. Then he noticed seed-like fruits hidden among the flowers. He found the way to repay the juniper tree, for which he owed a debt of gratitude, in the seeds hidden among the colorful flowers…
With the seeds clutched tightly in his palm, he set to work. He began to dig with his hands in a patch of earth he had spotted near his benefactor to bury the seeds. These seeds that would be instrumental in his multiplication would turn into a tree under whose shade people would find peace, and this tree, which he knew as Kerim, would be a friend to who knows who else…
It was as if Aliye was lifting not the earth but the darkness that had descended on her heart with all its might. Each earth he palmed made the light that had just been burning inside him more visible, and as the hole he dug deepened, it was as if he was ascending towards the peace he had been longing for for so many years. But the work he had been doing had exhausted him, so he took refuge in the shade of the Juniper tree, his companion, to rest. His eyes, which were about to close from fatigue, focused on the wish that had just broken out of his heart and ascended to the heights, that green-colored loincloth, with a sleepiness between sleep and wakefulness…
The voice that blew like a sweet breeze chirped incessantly, woke Aliye from her sleep and sent her off towards the absolute truth with a letter in her earthy palms. That bird sang the following song to Aliye: My beauty! The way to make this seed, which you will sow to provide shade for people, blossom should pass through a Thrush’s nest, not through your gentle hands. Know well that the Juniper Tree can only exist by melting into the crucible of a Thrush’s existence. The juniper seed is structurally made up of hard layers, but these layers are the useless parts of the seed that prevent it from becoming a true seed. When a Thrush eats those seeds and digestively strips away the useless layers, then the nut becomes a real seed. The Thrush endures this ordeal to bring the juniper tree into existence, even though it has no need to do so. Their story is just like that of Lover and Mashuk. The Juniper Tree cannot fully manifest its existence without its Beloved, but the Thrush is always alive and vibrant…
Nature, with its various aspects, invited Aliye to her own nature and showed her only glimpses of the gems hidden within her. Indeed, it was only by the hand of a master that the seed could turn into a tree and the human into a human being. Like the seed that was purified from its shells in the crucible of the Thrush Bird’s existence in order for a great tree to emerge from it; he had to purify the seed of his existence in the boat of love and humility of a master, and reveal his hidden troubles that burdened his heart through him…
