Talks with Trees; A Plant Psychic's Interviews with Vegetables, Flowers and Trees

Talks with Trees contains a collection of over thirty "interviews" with many different species of plants and trees including ancient redwoods, a Japanese maple, a garlic bulb, an onion, an apple tree, two heads of lettuce, a purple potato and many more. The author, a spirit channel for over fifteen years, one day realized that if he could successfully make contact with the spirit guides of the many people for whom he provided psychic readings, he might also do the same with the spirits of plants and trees.

His first "interviewee" was a potted plant sitting atop a bank counter. While waiting for the teller to return, Leslie Cabarga asked the plant, "How are you?" With the words of the plant's response forming clearly in his head, Cabarga heard, "Oh, not very well. We are trying our best to grow lushly and beautifully for everyone to appreciate but it is hard under the circumstances." As the author writes, "I looked around. Rows of fluorescent lights lined the ceiling. There was no natural illumination. The piped-in air was stagnant. I understood. The plant repeated its intention to do its best and I was struck both by its selfless resolve to fulfill its function, and the lack of resentment over its situation. This delicate little assortment of flowers was a kamikaze of love, fulfilling its obligation to its creator with every ounce of energy, and oblivion its only reward."

Leslie Cabarga then decided that when he'd interviewed at least fifty plants and trees, he would group them into a book. Ultimately the contents were edited down to just over thirty interviews. Author Comments: "Although I occasionally meet with skepticism when I talk about Talks With Trees, I've been gratified and sometimes amazed by the many people I meet who 'come out of the closet' by admitting their own love of trees and nature, and of their own experiences of deep spiritual communion-and conversations-with trees. 'Oh, I always talk to trees!' they'll tell me, 'Why, there was this one tree'

"But nothing amazes me much these days, except the disbelief that so many still have around the subject of spirit communication. I like to ask, 'Hasn't the thought of someone suddenly come into your mind and the next minute the phone rings and it's them? Haven't you ever dreamt an event that later came true? Haven't you ever glimpsed a ghost or heard a noise or voice that you couldn't rationally explain?"

Almost everybody has had experiences of this sort at least once in their lives. And doesn't that indicate that there is more to life than the physical sciences can yet comprehend?

As well as having made a living for over 25 years as an illustrator, Leslie Cabarga is the author of over 30 published books on subjects such as cartoon animation, illustration, graphic design, clip art, and lettering. As an illustrator, he has done numerous covers for Time, Fortune, Newsweek, and Business Week magazines, and is credited with reviving the popularity of Betty Boop through his paintings of Betty on more than 50 greeting cards, several lines of ceramics, and many other products. Cabarga's first book, which he began writing at the age of 16, was "The Fleischer Story; The Max Fleischer animation studio in the golden age of animation," (Second edition available from DaCapo Press ISBN: 0-306-80313-5). In addition to all this, Cabarga began practicing spirit channeling in 1979 and since the 1980s he has given psychic readings to friends and acquaintances. This experience has so changed his perspective that he feels his future books will relate to the same New Age field as "Talks with Trees." Leslie Cabarga lives in Los Angeles with his wife Marga Kasper, and their daughter, Anna.