Lessons and Gifts from Pink Lady's Slipper

Pink Lady's Slipper is a rare native Orchid which grows in the Northeast.  After a 29 year search, I recently reencountered her.  This is a sharing of some of the lessons which I have learned from her.  (I have learned more and I know that there are many more to come.)

Community:

One of Pink Lady’s Slipper’s (PLS) gifts is to help us live in community and cooperate with others.  The seeds of PLS do not have food to support them through germination.  Instead PLS has created a symbiotic relationship with a fungus.  This fungus will break open the seed and attach threads to feed the seed.  When the plant is mature enough to produce her own food, she feeds the fungus.

Pink Lady’s Slipper assists us in opening to our community, towards broadening our definition of community.  Often we have particular belief about who we want in our lives, PLS helps us to release these limitations which allows us to discover healing and gifts we were otherwise limiting.

Music of the Plants:

About a month ago, after a Music of the Plants presentation, someone asked me about connecting the device to Plants who live outside.  Since there are many roots in any area of soil, she was curious how we could be sure that we were listening to the song of a particular Plant.  While we were listening to PLS, my friend asked me a similar question.  To be honest, this is something that I have been grappling with, my method was to set an intention to connect to a particular Plant’s roots.  This question presented itself because we could clearly hear PLS responding to the shifts in energy of the Mountain.  In particular, when humans would come by, she would quiet and slow down.  The answer that I received that day is that the song we were listening to is the song of the Mountain as interpreted by Pink Lady’s Slipper.  When a Plant becomes a good singer, what she is doing is interpreting the energy of her environment.  We can think that the song from the potted Plant is more pure because there are not other roots; however, this is analogous to extracting a compound from a Plant and saying this is the healing component.  We know that the real power lies in the wholeness; the more “pure” song is that that contains all the connections.  This does not mean that the song from a potted Plant is not healing or powerful, for it definitely is.  For sure, Plants have ways of connecting beyond their roots.  It is just a reminder to keep us from getting carried away with our pseudo purity.  Purity has come to represent the absence of other substances.  We have become somewhat obsessed with sterile environments, particularly focusing on anti-bacterial soaps, etc.  However, Purity is when something is True and in alignment with the highest possibility.  This occurs when we live in balance with all life, honoring the fullness and the varied aspects of diversity.  This is where the richness and magic lives.

Stewardship:

Pink Lady’s Slipper is a reminder of our delicate balance.  She once grew in abundance in this area.   Though now she is very rare and is listed on United Plant Savers’ “At-Risk” List.  (There are areas of the country where she is thriving and supposedly in “abundance”.  Because of this, there are some people and groups who propose that she is not endangered and think that it is okay to harvest her.  I don’t live in one of these areas and this has not been my experience with her.  I also think our idea of abundance may be skewed because PLS was over harvested before we were alive.) PLS was over harvested for her medicine (and I imagine her Beauty).  She helps with nervousness and can help with epilepsy.  However, she is also a slow grower (generally takes 7 years to produce a flower) and requires specific growing conditions.  PLS is a reminder of the beauty (and healing gifts) that we can lose if we do not take care of our Home.  

Pink Lady’s Slipper and Sexuality:

When I first met PLS, he looked like a pink sac, frankly like a scrotum.  Another name for PLS is Moccasin Flower, I felt that this was more fitting for the flower felt rather masculine to me, delicate yes, and masculine.  As I went about my herbal and Flower Essence studies, I often heard PLS described as being feminine.  Her blossom was said to resemble a vulva.  I really couldn’t understand this.  Until I sat with her again.  For as the flower matures, an opening forms in the middle of the pink “sac”, which most definitely does look like a vulva.  According to the USDA: “Bees are lured into the flower pouch through the front slit, attracted by the flower’s bright color and sweet scent. Once inside, the bees find no reward, and discover that they are trapped, with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch, there are hairs that lead to a pair of exit openings, one beneath each pollen mass. The bee must pass under the stigma, so if it bears any pollen from a visit to another flower, it will be deposited before picking up a fresh load on the way out.”

This is beginning to paint a picture of the very sexual nature of Pink Lady’s Slipper.  And indeed this is a Plant of extreme sensuality and sexuality.  The Flower Essence can be used by individuals who are sexually shy or who have difficulty embracing and expressing their sexuality.

As I shared my story with my friend about first thinking that the blossom was a scrotum, we began to wonder if Pink Lady’s Slipper could help Transgender individuals.  Well, the answer from PLS is “Yes!”  

As we listened to Pink Lady’s Slipper sing, I felt such strong Kundalini energy rising.  My body began to vibrate.  It was amazing and intense and lasted many hours.  I think this healing gift is important for our culture now.  As I have said before, we need to shift and heal our mainstream view on sex.  Sex has become another way of having power over and another way of debasing women.  This is not how it is meant to be.  Sex is meant to be a way to connect with the Divine including the Divine within oneself and one’s partner.  Sex is a way in which to succumb to and become Love.  Pink Lady’s Slipper can help us to reclaim our innate Divine Sexual Being.

Pink Lady’s Slipper and the Heart: 

PLS also opened my Heart even further.  When I listen to the Music of the Plants, my Heart automatically opens or put another way, I automatically move into my Heart space.  Pink Lady’s Slipper helped me to move to a new level of open heartedness of being able to give and receive more love and of connecting deeper with all of Nature.  My Heart remains open.  I generally think of myself as an open-hearted person and I concentrate on bringing more Love into this world.  However, as I continue to learn, our Hearts can (and need to) open more.  We have been conditioned to fear including to fear Love and to fear heartbreak.  While heartbreak generally isn’t pleasant, what it is doing is helping your Heart to expand more, so that if you are willing to process your pain, you are able to experience more Love.  Heartbreak also helps us to learn the lessons that we agreed to learn in this life.  If we want to evolve and grow, we need to open our Hearts wide, we need to live in our Heart space, and we need to Love more (including loving ourselves).  Pink Lady’s Slipper can help us with this.

Right timing:

As I wrote in my earlier blog piece, "Of Plants and Magic", Pink Lady's Slipper helps us to accept right timing.  That is that sometimes we can get impatient or think that things need to occur or need to occur faster.  However, generally, everything occurs when it is needed.  If we would have certain experiences earlier, we wouldn't have been ready or they would not have been as powerful.  PLS helps us to let go of our supposed to-s and move into the flow of right timing.  Of course, this does not mean that we do not take action and are simply passive waiting for life to occur.  For more info on this particular gift, read my article here. 

Opening to Magic:

Pink Lady's Slipper helps to increase our awareness of the Magic and gifts that surround us.  We can be blind to them, often having a limited periphery vision or walking through life with a narrow focus.  To see PLS, you need to broaden this vision and be willing to go deeper into the wild - which is also deeper into yourself.  When we do this, we suddenly discover things that were always there; however, we did not see before.  This gift can be utilized in other areas of our life.  Through PLS, we can discover the jewels that have been lining our path all along.

More Possibilities:

I am continuing to work with PLS and understand her gifts.  As with any Plant, this could be a life-long pursuit and I could still have more to learn.  One of the areas that I am noticing and intrigued by is that it appears that PLS helps to open one to Possibility.  I have also noticed a huge connection to the Past.  I suspect that PLS could help us to heal old wounds, particularly those that are connected to a certain place.  Oh, there is so much.  I am happy to say that I continue to dream with her and of her.  May the magic continue!

Of Plants and Magic

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”

~ Anatole France

I am rather fortunate with my work and my life, I get to experience and witness miracles, magic, and out of this world adventures.  I work (play) with the Plants in this world and others.  For the past 29 years, my relationship with Pink Lady’s Slipper has been solely in the dream world.  Fortunately, I believed, planned, and acted and my dreams came true in incredible ways.

My first (and only other) meeting with Pink Lady’s Slipper (PLS) was in 5th grade.  Ever since then, I have wanted to see this rare, native Orchid; however, I could never find him.  PLS would often visit my dreams and journeys.  I wrote stories and poems about him.  I have seen his relatives around the world and have seen many different Orchids, but this unique pink bloom was elusive.

Twenty-nine years after my first encounter, my search is complete, my dream realized!  With the help of a friend, we found several patches of PLS in Ramapo Mountain State Forest in NJ.  Seeing the first bloom, brought tears to my eyes.  Finding the Plant to sit and spend time with was life changing.

Someone asked me, "Was the wait worth it?"  The short answer: “YES!”  The real answer is that I have learned there wasn’t a wait, there was a journey.  Had I met Pink Lady’s Slipper before this day, it would not have been the same experience.  The dreams, the shamanic journeys, my life events, even the walk up the mountain all contributed to the magic.

Earlier this Spring, I received the message from Trillium that the wait is worth it.  In the case with Trillium, I have wanted to make an Essence with ki* for many years.  Every year, I would miss the opportunity; I would either find a Trillium and not have my essence equipment or I would be set to make an Essence and would miss the flowers.  In the beginning of April, I finally saw a Trillium blooming AND I had my essence supplies!  I started making the Essence; however, Trillium kept telling me to continue further on the trail and to come back for the Essence later.  I reluctantly listened, which ended up leading me to an unbelievable experience with Dutchman’s Breeches aka Faerie Laundry and the Faeries (and the making of another Essence).  Completely blissed out, I returned to Trillium only to discover that a volunteer for the Preserve took my essence bowl!  I was so sad and dumbfounded.  I decided to make another Essence, but Trillium would not agree this time.  Instead he kept pushing my attention in another direction, which lead me to find two flowering Trout Lilies.  While I was sad that I yet again, did not make a Trillium Essence, I was grateful for the amazing way that Trillium directed me and could feel our relationship strengthening.  Several weeks later, I went hiking in the same Preserve, assuming that Trillium had stopped blooming.  What a surprise when I found a later blooming variety!  And this time I did make the Essence.  It was then that I received the message about being worth the wait.  I understood.  If I had made an Essence when I first wanted to, years ago, I would have missed these other experiences.  Plus, my relationship with Trillium would not have been the same.  I needed the searching and waiting (and frustration) to prepare me to be in relationship with him and to be able to receive his medicine.  Tears of gratitude ran down my face as I bottled the Essence.  

The same is true with my experience with Pink Lady’s Slipper.  I have learned much in the past 29 years, my life is drastically different from what it was when I was in fifth grade (and what I imagined that it would be).  I needed all of these experiences, I needed the dreams, I needed the wondrous walk in the woods to prepare me to understand and incorporate the magic of PLS.  Adding to the magic, I was now able to connect her to the Music of the Plants device.  So not only could I feel her magic, I could hear ki too!

Of course, we do need to take action and make intentions.  I would not have found either Trillium or Pink Lady's Slipper had I stayed home.  There is a balance between forcing and being passive.
While spending time with the Plants, I move into a different realm. In this place, I am able to understand more, able to see solutions, able to make connections.  I find listening to the Music of the Plants during this time opens other worlds.  This was true during my encounter with PLS.  While listening to her sing, I could see how her song enlivened the other Plants in the area, particularly the other Orchids.  Her song also helped Elementals to come out of hiding. The song attracted more Animals, particularly Birds.  Her music was helping me to move beyond conceptual understanding towards experiencing and being in connection with Nature.  I was able to really witness (and experience) the threads between the species.

Working with Trillium and Pink Lady’s Slipper these last several months has helped me to let go of my timeline and to understand that sometimes when we think we are waiting or wasting time, we are actually preparing.  And here’s the best part, what we are preparing for ends up being even better than our wildest dreams.  We could not have envisioned this because our earlier selves did not have the tools or capability of thinking it possible.  It is not achieving our goal or desire that creates the magic; it is our dreaming, our growth, our preparation, our journey.

This is only a small snippet of the magic that I experienced that day (and continue to experience) with Pink Lady’s Slipper.  My friend and I had an incredible encounter.  Even before we sat with PLS, we were witnessing exquisite Beauty, interacting with Animals, and aligning with the Possibility.  We were in a place that allows magic to exist.  Yet, as we encountered other Humans, I noticed that they were not experiencing this.  They were focused on the exercise and the destination.  They were practically running past PLS without even noticing that she was there.  Which to me speaks volumes about our lives.  I wonder how often we miss the magic, we miss the gifts, we miss the Beauty.  I of course encourage you to keep your eyes and Heart open to the Beauty and Magic, they really are all around.  And Dream!  Dream awake, dream asleep.  It is through our dreams that we create our reality.



*I am transitioning to using ki and kin as pronouns for Earth Beings.  This comes from Robin Wall Kimmerer and I really appreciate her work in returning our relatives to their rightful place of Honor in our world.  Here is an excerpt from an article that Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote for Yes! Magazine, "Nature Needs a New Pronoun: To Stop the Age of Extinction, Let's Start by Ditching 'It'":

“Ki” to signify a being of the living Earth. Not “he” or “she,” but “ki.” So that when we speak of Sugar Maple, we say, “Ohthat beautiful tree, ki is giving us sap again this spring.” And we’ll need a plural pronoun, too, for those Earth beings. Let’s make that new pronoun “kin.” So we can now refer to birds and trees not as things, but as our earthly relatives. On a crisp October morning we can look up at the geese and say, “Look, kin are flying south for the winter. Come back soon.”

Language can be a tool for cultural transformation. Make no mistake: “Ki” and “kin” are revolutionary pronouns. Words have power to shape our thoughts and our actions. On behalf of the living world, let us learn the grammar of animacy. We can keep “it” to speak of bulldozers and paperclips, but every time we say “ki,” let our words reaffirm our respect and kinship with the more-than-human world. Let us speak of the beings of Earth as the “kin” they are.

Pink Lady Slipper

She wanders in woods

Discovering wonders

Gathering precious jewels

Delighting in secrets revealed

Conversing with Gnomes

Dancing with Faeries

Kissing Trees

Sleeping on mats of

Chickweed and violet

She does not know it

Yet her heart is searching

Yearning for something

As she walks

She sees an opening

There is a glimmer

radiating light

She falls to her knees

There he is

Long has she heard the stories

But they were only whispers

Now he is in front of her

She could touch him

Smell him

Oh what should she do

She wants to embrace him

But she knows that would

crush his delicate beauty

Oh and the beauty

the perfection

the awe

of the Precious

Pink Lady's Slipper

She reaches out

Touches him gently

He brightens at her touch

Stands taller

Opens, revealing his inner heart

Cradling her in his pink petals

How rare indeed

How wonderful her life was

before finding him

Now all seems meaningless

and dull

How she wishes she could

keep him forever

Take him with her

But that would destroy

him, his beauty

She must be content

to admire him

and enjoy this time

Until he returns to the otherworld

Knowing that his absence

Too is temporary

Revel in the ecstasy of 

such a discovery,

a Divine gift

Fill her senses

and her heart

with his grandeur

Allowing his essence

to flow through her

fill her

lighten the way

even when he is gone

And so she continues

Wandering through the woods

Something is different though

Her eyes are far away

She has a knowing look

And why shouldn't she?

She has tasted bliss

Seen the center of the cosmos

Learned the secret of life

And she knows he is here

Even when he is not

For love is all around

_________________

* I wrote this poem in 2014 before my encounter with the Feminine aspect of Pink Lady's Slipper.