I enjoy these thoughtful questions of yours, Dawn! You keep taking my mind to places I hadn't gone!

I'm glad Chris answered first. I like her answer.

Lately I have come to feel that the earth is alive and that its spirit animates what is on it, at least plants, and water, rocks, etc., since all these things are made up of energy and spirit.

Perhaps it works like a human soul where a portion of the soul exists in the body, while the majority of the soul (if it can be quantified as such) resides "outside" or elsewhere. And only when the specific incarnated identity of the soul dies, it reunites with its whole. Therefore, perhaps if a tree has an individual identity (as I feel it does), it remains separate until it dies and its identity goes back into the whole soul of the earth.

I can say that when the huge eucalyptus trees across the street from my house were recently taken down, and I had been out at the time and returned home to smell eucalyptus in the air and then to my horror to see the trees gone, I began sobbing. It felt like a murder to me (and I am not necessarily a "tree hugger" type person...I think ). It was just this very solid feeling that overcame me and made me feel literally sick. Sure there was some logic in there, as I enjoyed looking at the trees and feeling somehow protected with them there, so I can't discount that. But there really was that something else there, too.

Also, anecdotally, I find with older trees I get some really cool fierce looking spirits from them, like the huge serpent and the Chinese dragon. So maybe there is some stronger organization of spirit in them due to their age than say to a young bush or sapling.

Does this answer the question... I don't know . But it was lots of fun to ponder and conjecture about.