Dating back to before William Penn arrived to establish Pennsylvania, this white oak houses the image of one of the ruling devas of this area, and a Guardian Angel.

Note the fine chiseled profile, left, of the deva. She has a distinctive hair style – bangs and long layered hair. She apparantly has responsibility for a broad geographically area –  there is another portrait study of her at Crosslands Community some six miles away. Behind her on the right is a Guardian Angel – a cheerful round-faced protector with a very long wing, indicating her height (and standing in the angelic realms) with multiple flames of wisdom emerging from the crown of her head. 

The image is located at the heart of the tree, from where its many branch/arms reach out in all directions. The energy of this image area reaches down into the ground, serving as a gateway between the worlds all trees occupy – inner earth (roots), outer earth (trunk) and spirit (branches and leaves).

For clarity of viewing, I diagrammed the two images (see left).

This richly fertile area is known as the Brandywine Valley. Its first Western settlers were primarily the English Quakers in the late 1600s. London Grove Meeting was one of their earliest meetings houses for worship. William Penn himself visited the area a number of times.

Meetinghouse

This site housed the first meetinghouse of the Quakers of the area and over the centuries since the buildings expanded. You can see behind the tree one of the old horse carriage shelters.

The current Meetinghouse, seen through the trees, was built back in the late 1700s. It is classic Quaker design and of classic Pennsylvania brown stone. The indoors meeting room still has the old pews, the wood well-worn from centuries of use.  The Meeting is still active, serving as the Quarterly Meeting site for the area.

Penn Charter Tree

But back to the tree. This white oak is highly valued by the community, due to its historical significance.

The oak is one of a number of trees found throughout Pennsylvania and called Penn Charter Trees because of their association with William Penn and his efforts on behalf of religious freedom.

Today this specific white oak has reached a massive size, with a girth at breast height of 22 feet 2 inches; a height of 82.5 feet and a spread of 117 feet. Once a month, in good weather, Sunday worship is held under the tree itself.

Tree labels giving details about this tree, which was here in 1682, prior to the arrival of William Penn.