Huna Article

Huna International

The Daisy and the Oak Tree
by Graeme Kapono Urlich

Not so long ago, a beautiful spring daisy was born. She was full of awe and wonder at the beauty around her, and as she grew, she began asking questions about her world. Sadly, many of those around her had fallen into a mundane life and lost their own sense of wonder.

"How does the rain fall from the sky?" she asked the passing bee.

“I don’t know and I don’t care!” the bee answered gruffly. “My wings are tired and sore, and I still have a lot of pollen to collect today. If it rains, I won’t be able to finish.”

"Why does the wind come and tickle my petals?" she asked the beautiful butterfly.

“I don’t have time for silly questions,” the butterfly replied, sounding tired. “Summer is here, and I need to find a place to lay my eggs. The strong wind makes it hard to fly straight.”

"How did I get here?" she asked the passing sheep.

“I don’t know,” said the sheep, chewing a mouthful of grass. “Ask someone else. I have to eat plenty of grass so I can grow back my wool. I’ll be cold in winter if I don’t.”

The little daisy’s questions began to annoy them, and they ridiculed her for being foolish and fanciful. Didn’t she know that life was short and there was so much to be done?

She did not lose her wonder or her love of fairies, angels, and magic, but she did begin to withdraw into her heart, placing a fence around it to protect herself from the cold, logical world. It was safe there, but there was still a longing for something that seemed just out of reach. She searched and searched for her answers, but her questions grew quieter and quieter as time passed. She just wanted to be.

Long before the daisy was born, near the edge of the meadow where she would one day grow and explore her world, an oak tree had also taken root. His heart was also full of awe and wonder at the beauty of the world but those around him had grown cold and distant. Theirs was a world of logic and duty where the oak's job was to grow tall and strong and support the birds and animals that nested and played in his branches. "You must learn the rules of the world and stick to them. Listen to us and we will teach you," they insisted and he followed diligently.

As time passed he became very analytical and others began to show appreciation for his skills at solving complex problems. This made him feel good. He enjoyed the recognition, and it gave him great pleasure to solve problems: helping birds find safer places to nest, sheltering small animals from storms, and giving insects better paths through his bark and branches. All the while, he felt lonely and isolated, sensing that a part of him was lost and calling to him from somewhere unknown.

As time went on, he began to grow ill because he continued to ignore and suppress the inner voice that called to him more and more strongly. The more he resisted moving towards the voice, trying to work things out with logic alone, the more unwell he became, until one day he was left with no choice but to stop striving and become still, or break under the strain.

After a while, he discovered that his mind held the key to unlocking his heart. He had to learn a new way of thinking, a new language of symbols and feelings, so he could awaken his heart and communicate with it. He had to learn that the heart used a different kind of logic from the intellectual, linear logic he knew so well, but he struggled to do this alone.

As the seasons changed, leaves and acorns began to fall around the daisy. She had been so used to looking at the world around her that she had never thought to look up. One day, wondering where they were coming from, she lifted her face and saw the tall oak tree nearby. Through the cold winter months that followed, the oak sheltered her from the harshest winds, and in time they became great friends.

The oak saw in the daisy the warmth and love he longed to awaken more fully in himself. The beautiful daisy recognised in the oak a quiet strength and clarity that she had never known in herself, and it frightened her a little as it began to stir within her. At first, she felt annoyed and tried to push the stirring back down.

As the oak tree and the daisy became friends and learned more about each other, the oak learned to listen for and trust the inspiration that came from his heart. He learned that things did not always have to be logical or make sense, that it was okay to be spontaneous and do things just for fun, and that sometimes things could magically work out without being reasoned through or forced.

The daisy, in turn, learned to use her mind to observe her feelings and reactions to the world around her. She learned that by making conscious choices, and by understanding what she enjoyed and did not enjoy, she could influence the direction her heart took her. She learned what she feared, and how to change the rules she had been living by rather than be restrained by them.

Together, they were able to awaken the parts of themselves that had been lost as they grew from childhood. For it is only when the mind and the heart work together that imagination, beauty, and love can truly blossom in the world, allowing the soul to shine in its full glory.

Graeme Kapono Urlich (July 2011 - Updated June 2026)

Aloha New Zealand - School of Huna and Hawaiian Shamanism