In April, 2012, at the suggestion of a good friend who had a connection with Native American spirituality, I took a walk in the woods of northern Virginia. I had no idea what I was looking for, nor what I would find. Less than 50 yards into the forest, I came across the most unusual tree I had ever seen. It had branches that, instead of reaching upward and outward, grew at skewed angles to each other, crooked, asymmetrical and totally imperfect. I felt drawn to this tree and