THE NEW LIFE MAY BE GROWING MORE THAN YOU THINK ✨ NOT EVERY SACRED SHIFT SHOWS ITSELF RIGHT AWAY, BUT IT CAN STILL BE DEEPENING WITHIN YOU ✨ APRIL 21, 2026
“Dear friends, one of the most important parts of any real transformation is learning not to measure everything by immediate outer proof. There are days when the energy moves clearly, the signs feel obvious, the responses come quickly, and the path seems to shine back at you. And then there are other moments, when the movement becomes less visible, but no less real.
These spaces can be deeply meaningful. Because they often reveal whether we are willing to remain with what is true even when it is not being immediately confirmed from the outside. They show us whether we can continue honoring what has begun, even when the next sign has not yet arrived. They ask whether our faith in the shift depends only on momentum, or whether something deeper is beginning to root within us.
With the Sun now in Taurus, there is wisdom in this slower and more grounding rhythm. Taurus does not rush to prove what is growing. It roots. It stabilizes. It gives life time to gather substance. It reminds us that not everything sacred is loud, and not everything real is immediate. Some of the most important changes begin beneath the surface, then deepen through steadiness, patience, and repeated self-honoring.
And if the past hours have felt a little more stirred, sensitive, restless, or energetically charged, that too may be part of a G1 geomagnetic solar storm moving through our planet. But even when the atmosphere feels stronger, the deeper invitation remains the same: to stay close to what is true, to move more gently with yourself, and to let steadiness become part of the medicine.
For many, this may be part of the deeper lesson now. The new life may not need to perform in order to be trusted. The next chapter may not need to announce itself in dramatic ways in order to be true. Sometimes the soul is simply asking you to stay close to what has already been shown, to keep choosing what feels more aligned, and to stop assuming that a slower rhythm means nothing is happening.
This is where deeper maturity begins. It is easy to believe when the signs are bright. It is more transformational to remain devoted when the process becomes less visible, more interior, and more subtle. This is often where the becoming deepens. Where the roots go down. Where the nervous system begins learning that stability itself can be a kind of grace.
So if things feel less visible right now, do not rush to assume that nothing is moving. Not all sacred growth is dramatic. Not all confirmation arrives right away. Sometimes the new life is deepening more than you realize, asking only that you remain honest enough, patient enough, and faithful enough to keep meeting it where it is already growing. Have a beautiful day. Much love” 💖
Johnson’s Willow stands beside Stowe Pool in Lichfield. Planted around 1700, the original tree became famous for its great size and its connection with Lichfield’s most famous son, Samuel Johnson {1709-1784}- author, lexicographer and humanitarian. When Johnson was young, he would have often seen the Willow, which stood next to his father’s parchment factory, and whenever he returned to Lichfield in his later years. He is reported to have described it as the delight of my early and waning life.
The First Willow c1800
The Willow also attracted the interest of the Lichfield poet Anna Steward {1742-1809} and the American poet Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson {1737-1801}.
In 1781 Johnson asked Dr Trevor Jones of Lichfield to write a detailed description of the tree, which is still an important source of information.
The Lichfield Willow (Johnson’s Willow) in July 1785
This engraving of the Lichfield Willow, based on a drawing by Edward Stringer, appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine for August 1785
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson
In 1787 Fergusson wrote two long ‘Odes on the Litchfield Willow’, in which she celebrated Johnson and other cultural figures who might have walked and studied under the Willow’s boughs. To further boost the tree’s claim to fame, she created for it an ancestry stretching right back to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, and passing through the gardens of classical Greece and Rome before arriving in Lichfield. In this way she made the history of the Willow a metaphor for the transmission of civilisation and the arts from the ancient world to modern Britain. She expressed the hope that the Lichfield Willow’s ‘Emblematic Boughs’ would ‘ages Hence wave ore the Brows/Of true Poetic Swains’.
Three stanzas from Fergusson’s first Willow ode are quoted below.
In her second ode, she expressed the hope that a cutting of the Willow would one day reach America to symbolise the spread of cultures from Britain to the New World; this hope was finally realised in 2024 by the planting of cuttings at Graeme Park near Philadelphia {Fergusson home}, Vassar College {New York State} and other locations in the USA.
Oh may we hope some tender twig, The Willow well can Spare Some thriving, blooming, verdant, Sprig; May yet be wafted Here!
Elizabeth had hoped that her Willow odes would (like a number of her other compositions) appear in The Columbian Magazine; for some reason, however (possibly because of difficulties in deciphering her handwriting), this did not happen. Brief extracts were quoted in books and articles, but the full text of the odes remained in manuscript until the appearance of the first complete edition in 2020.
The tree eventually became decayed, and in 1829; however, a cutting from it was planted on the site in 1830 to become the Second Willow, which was itself blown down in a great storm in 1881.
The Third Willow – again a true descendant – was not planted out beside Stowe Pool until 1898; in 1956 it was found to be unsafe, and was felled after cuttings had been taken to raise a new tree.
The Fourth Willow was planted in 1959 as part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Johnson’s birth. Because of decay and concerns over safety, it was felled on 8th October 2021, after being pollarded in 2014, 2016 and 2018 to prolong its life.
The Fifth Willow after its planting. Photo by Stephen Brierley
The importance of preserving the tradition of Johnson’s Willow had, however, been recognised by both Lichfield District Council and the Johnson Society, who had been working together to repeat the replanting process once again. In 2018, cuttings were taken from the current tree; these were tended and raised by the District Council’s Parks Department, and one of the saplings grown from them became the fifth incarnation of Johnson’s Willow.
The Fifth Willow was planted on 2nd November 2021 with a ceremony which included the reading of a new poem about Johnson’s Willow by Sarah Dale, hers was the winning entry in the Johnson Society’s Willow poetry competition.
The window of Johnson’s Birthplace in June 2021, created by Sarah Dale
Today, Johnson’s Willow is an important part of Lichfield’s heritage, and remains, for residents and visitors alike, a much-loved link with Johnson and his age.
Johnson and His Willow Sure Phoebus’ Son was Johnson named He various talents Shared! Verse, Genius, Knowledge, Wisdom claimed A Genuine Bard Declared! His native Soil he oft Retrod, which Reared this wondrous Tree; With filial Love marked the abode Of Both their Infancy. Thus when in Future each is known to Bloom with lengthened years He like His kindred Willow Shown yet Vernal both appears!
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, ‘Two Odes on the Litchfield Willow’ (extract from first ode, transcribed from manuscript, with modernised spelling)
Johnson’s Willow stands on the north side of Stowe Pool in Lichfield. To reach it from the cathedral end of Dam Street, turn down Reeve Lane, then take the path nearest to the pool, which runs along the embankment; the Willow is located next to this path, at the point where the parallel lower path is joined by one running from Gaia Lane (see map).
Johnson’s Willow crosses the pond
The Johnson Society – which co-ordinated the project as a whole – presented bronze plaques for the cuttings at Vassar College and Graeme Park. Ceremonies were held at both sites in September 2025; these were attended by representatives of the Johnson Society, who were grateful for the hospitality shown to them, for the appreciation of the work that had gone into the project, and for the care being taken of the young willows.
Professor Robert DeMaria, Jr planting a Johnson’s Willow cutting at Vassar College, 3 May 2024The young willow beside the pond at Graeme Park on 11 September 2025
The Johnson Society wishes to thank Paul Niven of Lichfield District Council, Dr Sage Thompson and Dr Joseph Foster of the United States Department of Agriculture, Professor Robert DeMaria, Jr and his colleagues at Vassar College, and Carla Loughlin and Beth MacCausland of Graeme Park for their support and participation in this project. Thanks also go to the staff and volunteers at Vassar College and Graeme Park who devotedly care for the young willows.
Tree Weaver 