💮 FREE mini plant healing ritual
Painting by Brian Froud
In this email, I'm going to take us all a step further on our healing journeys by sharing with you some information along with a ritual to ensure that we can access the wisdom of the web 🌐 of life that we are embedded within.
Without the guidance of this web, even the keenest of us can end up chronically managing our physical and emotional symptoms; jumping from healing modality to healing modality; anxiously adjusting our self-care routines; and constantly on the lookout for “the key” that will bring our efforts to an end.
With this guidance, we have the opportunity to uproot our illnesses from their source with grace, freeing our vital life force 🪔 to start working towards the greater goals of our incarnation with balance, peace, and clarity.
The guidance of the 🕸️ web is a gentle, loving sensuous internal monologue that any of us can access at any time!
All you need to do is learn to notice it…
See, like all eco-systems, the body is a miraculous self-healing organism…a microcosm of the miraculous planet 🌏 Gaia that you stand on,
🐚 the solar system you see spiraling around you,
and the entire infinite 🌠 beyond bespeckled by starlight.
Modern humans have simply forgotten this truth and blocked our own flow of power.
But the plant & stone kingdoms have been (and will be) here with open arms calling for us to remember…to 👂🏽 remember how to listen…
…our greatest teachers are singing to us from between the cracks in the sidewalks,
in the courtyards of our workplaces,
and in our own backyards…but precious few can hear their song🎶.
The art of listening is something that doesn’t get taught in most herbalism courses. And I think that is a great injustice to our plant brethren who so desperately want us to join again in the great dance of creation.
The plants need us in the dance as badly as we need them!
(Painting by Brian Froud...a glimpse into the imaginal realm that our plant kin can open our eyes and ears to)
But unfortunately many who seek healing from herbs expect them to work like a magic💊 pill…or rather hope that they will.
If I drink this tea I will feel better.
If I eat this mushroom powder my hormones will balance.
If I take this tincture my liver will work better.
And it may be true that that tea, that mushroom powder, and that tincture helps short-term…but it will not penetrate to the roots of your illness if you aren't listening to the teachings and guidance that those powerful plant elders 👵🏽 are passing onto you.
The great news is that when you start to do this work, you get to start living a second childhood…seeing the whole world with brand-new eyes that can create wonder in even the most mundane of places.
Do you want to start living your second childhood now?
Get your feet wet with a little play-time🪁 ritual
1. Step outside and walk towards the very first plant☘️ that catches your attention.
2. Forget (or pretend to forget) that you know its name or anything else about that particular plant…no cheating!
It should be as if you are meeting this plant for the very first time…and you likely are meeting this particular emanation of its species for the first time…especially if you live in the northern hemisphere where spring is fresh.
This plant is as unique to its species as you are to the human race. Its ⚕️ medicine can be absolutely anything that wants from spring forth in this particular space and time and in relationship with your gloriously unique being.
3. Get as comfortable as you can in proximity with this plant teacher and act exactly as you would if you were meeting a new human friend.
How much personal space would you give a new friend?
What would you like to ask or 👁️🗨️ know about a new friend?
What would you like them to know about you?
Feel free to ask your questions aloud.
4. After a few minutes of such contemplation and conversation, sit back and recognize everything that you cannot know 🌌 about this new friend:
you will never know what it is like to grow roots in soil,
to have bees dance on your flowers,
to communicate through a mycelial network of 🍄 fungus beneath ground…
...and most importantly, what this plant's perception of you is right now.
5. Recognize that there will always be an element of mystery in your relationship…and honor that that element of mystery is where newness will be birthed.
That newness is healing.
6. As you settle into this realization take your awareness to your heart 💗 center and if it doesn’t occur naturally turn on your wide-angle vision (awareness of your peripheral vision, as well as the above and below).
7. Gradually allow your circle of visual and embodied awareness to increase.
8. Keep your gaze on centered on your new 🌿 plant friend while you remain aware of your heartbeat...this will direct the rhythm and nature of the stream of your thoughts, perceptions, and impulses.
You will notice your thoughts shift. You will notice different senses taking the forefront of your consciousness.
9. Focus now on your sense of 👃🏾 scent. Next on your hearing. Next on the sensations on your skin.
10. Allow your feeling sense to penetrate deeper into your body. Keep gazing 👀 upon the plant.
11. Messages will arise in the form of sensual communication from your body and shifts in your perception.
Now you are listening!
This kind of work will form the heart of how we learn, heal, and alchemize ⚗️ with plants and stones in GAIA.
If you struggled with this exercise, understand that it is perfectly natural. It takes time to learn to put on the child-mind again…but I promise you it is oh so worth it.