Tree

Hey, so my college is a Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

The College of William and Mary

Williamsburg, VA

Old and Ancient Campus are flanked by Jamestown and Richmond Roads, which are main roads in Williamsburg. Jamestown Road goes to Jamestown, VA, and Richmond Road goes to Richmond, VA. I know, it makes no sense. Anyway, east of the Tree, divided by Boundary Street, is Colonial Williamsburg (aka CW), the restored historical town of yesteryear complete with everything from the Capitol Building, Courthouse, shoemaker, Magazine, taverns, gardens, baby lambs in spring, horses, oxen, wooden stocks, jail, windmill, apothecary, and actors in colonial garb. Duke of Glocester Street (aka DOG Street - Siriusly.) bisects the corner perpendicularly.

There's a statue of the 4th Baron Botetourt in front of the Wren Building, a Brit who served as the Governor of VA. There is a paragraph on it basically saying how cool he was to leave his country to come here and make everyone happy. His successor, the 5th Baron Botetourt, was Grand Master of the Freemasons.

The Wren Building is the oldest academic building in continuous use in the US. It used to be the entire college - dorms, classrooms, offices. The Wren Chapel is still used today. I read a passage in my friend's wedding there. The Wren Cross controversy made national headlines.  (The college president at the time removed the cross to make the space more inclusive, but he had to resign after conservatives withheld millions in funding over it.)

Tiferet: At first when the idea popped in that WM was a Tree, I thought, "There is no building in the Sunken Garden." But then I realized that these steps are in the right place. They allow you to look over the whole Sunken Garden at once - a unified view. And it is beautiful.

The Sunken Garden basically functions like a quad - people lay out here, study, play frisbee, have protests, memorials, and dances here. 

How awesome is it that the Philosophy department is at the Chokhmah Sefirot? I didn't really think to include this when I drew my map (I love maps! (just saying)), but there is an echo spot here. All you gotta do is stand in the Tyler garden (three busts of Tyler men), face the western wall of James Blair Hall, and speak. It's spooky-cool.

Deter: There is an arc on this spot, described by a fence. The ground below it drops down into the woody, leafy dell. I really like that it changes to nature here. It's a nice quiet spot.
There are some benches in the clearing and a path that leads to the Crim Dell Bridge.





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Before students graduate, campus tradition is that they must complete the WM Triathlon:

1) Jump the Governor's Palace wall in CW after hours, and go through the hedge maze (amusing labyrinth). Seven VA governors lived in the palace, including the Baron Botetourt, plus founding fathers Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.

next, you giggle your drunken way up DOG Street, through Ancient Campus, disrobe, and
2) Streak across the Sunken Garden
3) Swim in the Crim Dell (baptism/mikvah/purification process?)

It's interesting that the Tree that inspired this discovery is located at the end of the Oregon Trail, where this one connects (via Jamestown Road) to the first permanent English settlement by "gentlemen" entrepreneurs and is in the colonial capital of VA.

The end connects to the beginning.