Our capacity for soulcentric romance can be deepened through a cultivated relationship to nature. In some villages of the Huichol Indians of Mexico, before a young man or woman is considered ready for marriage, they 'wed' a tree for four years. This initiatory rite, undertaken at about age fifteen, rests on the understanding that the chosen tree represents the initiate's own perfect partner, what the Huichols think of as the opposite hidden within. The initiate regularly visits their tree and pours out their longing for 'the perfect love.' The young woman or man talks to their tree when happy or sad, when scared, angry or confused; they confide their losses and successes.
Through this relationship with their tree partner, young Huichols enter the depths of their own psyches, with the tree acting as the screen for projected hopes and fears associated with joining with another person. They cultivate this relationship for four years, an appropriate duration for a beginning marriage with the self.
~Quoted from Soulcraft
