Evolving Beyond Toxic Masculinity

There has been much in the news lately demonstrating Toxic Masculinity: the Trump rhetoric, the Stanford rape case, the mass shooting at Pulse.  As with everything, I recommend looking at the whole picture (as much as we can) to see what energies are at play.

Around Summer Solstice last year, I participated in a Mugwort Sacred Plant Initiation.  One of the gifts that I received from Mugwort during this ceremony is that she took me to another dimension.  From this place, I could see the whole of our dimension.  I could see how our dimension fragments everything, so that we see good/bad, etc.  However, from this higher dimension there is not fragmentation; the good/bad of our dimension is all the same, they both serve the same purpose.

In our current dimension, these are atrocious acts and yet, on another plane, they are part of the Beauty.  These acts are part of the goal to bring more Light into this world, to help us evolve.

So let’s talk about Toxic Masculinity.  First of all, I want to stress that this is not male bashing.  I have witnessed females expressing toxic masculinity.  We all have masculine and feminine energies, in fact, as we are starting to witness, gender is a more fluid construct than most previously thought.  Toxic masculinity is one of the byproducts of Patriarchy.  It is the expression of the “power over” dynamic.  It is also the epitome of the illusion of separation.  Toxic masculinity occurs when someone uses a power over dynamic to hurt another (in any form) or to make themselves feel better.  

Patriarchy and particularly this dynamic has contributed to many wounds in our society.  And not just for women, I think the men are the ones most hurt by patriarchy.  We know that patriarchy is ending, it no longer serves our society, our evolution.  As any good healer will tell you, often before you completely heal from a dis-ease or trauma, there is a last hoorah - one last, giant outbreak or breakdown.  I believe that this is what we are seeing with the toxic masculinity.  People who think that they have benefitted from the “power over” model can feel things shifting and it scares them.  So like any frightened animal, they will try to make themselves bigger to appear more fierce, they may even go on the attack, but what they are really expressing is their fear and insecurity.

As best we can, when we witness or experience toxic masculinity, it is in the highest good if we can meet this with compassion.  To see beyond the false front.  While we want to meet this with compassion, it is also important to name it.  To let those who are expressing their fear in this way know that this is not acceptable and of course to model a different way.  To help them understand that they have nothing to fear.

Patriarchy is ending.  The Feminine energy is increasing.  This does not mean that we are returning to Matriarchy.  This is a balancing.  Our evolution is about Unity Consciousness.  This means that all are honored and that we evolve together.  There no longer is an us/them dynamic (there never was).  We are the same being.  When we hurt someone (or some “thing”), we are also hurt.  This is why it is important to meet those who display the toxic masculinity with compassion, for they are also hurting.  No one has ever been healed by being shamed or attacked.  We heal through Love.  We heal by being seen.

So on this longest day of the year (for the northern hemisphere), when the Light is the strongest, I invite you to align yourself with this Light.  Allow yourself to feel the shift that is occurring and to remember that these acts are part of our evolution.  I invite you to meet fear and anger with compassion and Love both in others and within yourself.

And of course, there are many Plants that are here to help us.  They are here to help us regain balance, to heal the wounds of patriarchy, to evolve, to open our Hearts, to become Beings of Love and Compassion.

This is a small list of Plants/Essences that can help do this.  Unless otherwise noted, these are Essences from Brigid’s Way, they may have a different action and description than Essences of the same Plant from another company.  (You can always work with the Plant Spirits of these Plants.  The Essences from Brigid’s Way do contain the imprint of the Plant Spirits.)

Rose: Rose is the Queen of the Heart.  She holds our Hearts so tenderly, allowing them to expand even further.  She is a balancer of the masculine and feminine energies.  She teaches us how to be strong and soft at the same time.  A new form of strength which is needed for our evolution.

Male Fern: Male Fern heals the wounds of patriarchy and religion.  He is Phoenix energy and helps us find nourishment and strength among the ruins.   Male Fern helps us connect to ancient Sacred wisdom.

Motherwort: Motherwort is a boundary setter and protector.  She is Mother Bear.  Motherwort is also a balancer, helping us to balance the masculine and the feminine, and has a particular affinity for men who are not in touch with their feminine qualities.  For women who lack courage and masculine energy, Motherwort can help.

Blackberry Lily: Blackberry Lily is an incredible Essence for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse (one of the worst displays of toxic masculinity).  This essence clears the trauma from your energy field, which immediately heals the wounds and allows you to re-member how to have a healthy sexual relationship.  (Brigid’s Way does not currently have this Essence for sale.  I use Delta Garden’s Blackberry Lily with my clients.)

Queen Maeve: Queen Maeve is both Goddess and a historical figure.  She is fierce and feminine at the same time.  This Essence connects to the Divine Feminine, both in the greater world and within.  Queen Maeve is very empowering, giving strength, fierceness, and resiliency.  This Essence strengthens the feminine force within both males and females.

Achiote: Achiote is a protection essence, the Plant of the Warriors.  Achiote helps piece back together the wounded, lending strength and sense of wholeness.  This Essence is good for recovering from abuse; increasing self-confidence, and improving body image. Achiote helps recovery from eating disorders and taps into Hidden Wild Wise One. 

Grandmother Ayahuasca: Grandmother Ayahuasca is a Master Plant.  She is a guides our evolution by helping us connect to Nature, Divine, All, the Great Oneness.  More than connect, Grandmother Ayahuasca reminds us of our Oneness and helps us to experience the Divine.  She opens our Hearts to Nature and the Divine and allows us to experience the sensuality of Life.  This is a great shamanic journey Essence.

Hila: Hila is a protective Essence, she is the guardian of the Forest.  Hila also helps to clear trauma from the energy field and brings us back together, creates wholeness.  Infuses one with deep reverence for Earth and her Beings.

Be Still Tree: Be Still Tree fills you with great Peace and Presence, softening the edges, dissolving the separation, connecting with the Flow of the Universe.  Be Still Tree clears the debris, like shedding layers, increasing one’s vibrancy, filling with Golden Light, bringing into alignment with one’s soul path, with Unity Consciousness.  Assists with both Karmic and Ancestral Healing.

Calla Lily: Calla Lily is the Essence of Mother Mary.  This Essence helps us know compassion and increase our ability for compassion.

Tulsi: Tulsi is another major evolutionary guide.  Tulsi helps to connect our Hearts with the Holy Heart, the center of all.  Tulsi also reminds us of our soul’s purpose and can guide us through soul challenges.  Tulsi brings a soft, healing energy and helps us to (en)lighten.  (You can experience the depth and beauty of Tulsi during the Tulsi Sacred Plant Initiation.)

May the Light shine Bright within you and illuminate your path ahead.  May compassion fill your Heart.  May you re-member your connection to all.  May you be Love(d).

Blessed Solstice to you!

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.

Of Plants and Patience

With love and patience, nothing is impossible. 

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Patience is a difficult lesson that many of us are trying (read struggling) to learn.  For myself, I thought I was a patient person until I had children.  It was the 20 minute walk down our 200’ walkway that would push all my buttons, particularly since we generally were running late due to a missing shoe or clothes that suddenly needed to be changed or a book that must be brought along.  Over the years, I have made significant improvements in this area (or so I think).  Of course, it seems that whenever I feel that I’m becoming more patient, I get a lovely little test to remind me that I’m a work in progress.

Why is patience so important (and difficult)?  It is a way of moving beyond our ego, it is a way of surrendering.  Plants have an incredible ability to help us learn patience.  Of course they do, they move at a much slower pace.  As we learn patience, as we learn to surrender our ego, we more easily move into co-creative partnership with Nature.  A benefit of this is that we discover, we are not alone nor do we need to do everything on our own.  Co-creative partnership does not mean the Humans do all the work, it means that all of Nature works together (and yes, sometimes there is a balancing).

Spring came early this year in Pennsylvania (actually it was more like Summer).  We had 80 degrees on days that the previous year there were several feet of snow on the ground.  My body was saying that I need to work in the garden (as were my neighbors); however, when I checked in with the Garden, the message I got again and again was to stay out.  I have worked enough with the Garden and the Plants to know to pay attention to this message.  Still I watched as Lamium purpureum (Dead Nettle) took over my herb patch.  I will admit, I had anxiety thinking, “If I don’t do something soon, this will be completely uncontrollable.”  Well, isn’t that part of the problem, we are always trying to control.  I did get excited as I saw some of the Plants beginning to return from the underworld.  I thought, surely I can clean up the beds now.  Again, “No.”  Well, at least I can take down the dead Sunflower stalks, there aren’t any seeds left.  “No.”  

Earlier this month, I received confirmation of the Garden’s messages.  We had snow and heavy frosts, the “weed” cover and the dead Plants provided protection for the newly emerged Plants.  Plus the birds continue to use the stalks of the bigger Plants as a platform from which to sing their songs and rest their wings.  This did help me to relax and wait.  I could still feel the pressure from my neighbors to clean up the garden (they do have rather pristine yards).

I was so excited when I returned home from California earlier this month because I received the okay from the Garden to begin work.  I had great plans, I was going to enlarge the garden, prepare all the beds, begin planting some of the hardier crops, move some perennials ...  And then, I broke my toe.  Now all I could do was ice it and keep my foot elevated.  I had work to do!  How was I supposed to do that with a broken toe?!  See what I mean, about having more lessons in patience?

Well, here’s the thing, my toe is almost completely healed now and I was able to work in the garden for the first time earlier this week.  And I was completely surprised by what I saw.  You see, all that time that I thought I needed to be working in the garden, the Plants were taking care of it.  The Lamium purpureum is dying on his own, no need to take the time to pull him.  He and other “weeds” have helped to provide nutrients to the soil and provide protection for the young Plants.  (And food for me.)

For years, I have thought that I had to work hard to have a healthy garden.  When I first started, I listened to others (humans) and thought the garden had to be completely weed free.  Years ago, as my Love affair with Plants grew and I began to communicate with the “weeds”, I realized that many of them were providing a service for the garden.  I started following their advice of the Plants for who to take out and who to keep in, sometimes we did have to negotiate.  When I lived on the farm, I developed a relationship with the Groundhogs who started weeding my herb garden for me, they were particularly fond of the Ragweed and stayed away from the herbs that I planted.  

Of course, in order to move into this relationship with the “weeds” and groundhogs, I had to be willing to have a garden that most likely would not be on the front of a magazine (Whew!  That’s a relief!), I needed to be willing to communicate with other Beings, I needed to have the courage to Trust, and I needed to learn patience (at least a little).  After years of this, I am still learning.  And what I am learning is that I do not need to work as hard as I thought, for I do not need to do it all on my own.  This is a partnership.  This is also a give and take.  So it does mean that I’m willing to honor the other species too.  When the Japanese Beetles came into my garden last year, I set 2 Basil plants aside just for them.  I promised that I would not harvest these and I didn’t and they for the most part stayed away from the rest of my Plants including their favorite, the Roses.    

This is only 1 example of what can happen when we can listen to Nature and when we can be willing to move at a different pace than we think we should.  When we can do this, whole worlds can open up.  We can use our energy more efficiently.  (For while the Plants were preparing the garden, I could focus my energy on other projects.)  It is the difference of walking upstream and going with the flow.  Having patience and awareness, allows us to tap into the flow or the “Yes” vibration of the universe.  It allows us to access resources we didn’t realize were there.  All of this, allows our stress level to decrease.  Which we all know that too much stress is detrimental to our health, even if our culture feeds on stress.

As I said, Plants are great teachers for patience.  I have found Trees to be particularly helpful.  Simply spending time in Nature (particularly sitting, meditating, or napping) helps to adjust our rhythms, helps our breathing to slow, and our nervous system to relax.  We can say that spending time in Nature allows us to access our Heart intelligence.  The Heart has the broader perspective, is more comfortable with patience than the brain who can overthink anything and create an urgency out of nothing.

Good energy hygiene (such as smudging, egg limpias, sacred bathing) can also to help increase one’s patience.  When we do not take the time to clear the excess/unwanted energy, it clogs up our energetic field (and attracts more).  This increases our level of anxiety and makes it more difficult to access the Universal flow.  Anxiety is an adversary of patience.

Letting go of the “shoulds” also helps to increase one’s patience.  As I shared with my garden, I needed to let go of what a garden should look like.  Often, we have ideas of where we should be in our lives or how we or our house should appear or many other shoulds.  It truly is to everyone’s benefit for us to release these and to accept and Love ourselves and others as we are, imperfections and all.  When we can let go of the shoulds, we open ourselves to other possibilities and we can enter the flow.  Through my work, I have seen that many of the shoulds are a bandaid for an earlier wound.  The Plant Spirits and Flower Essences can help us to heal these wounds and release these bindings, allowing us to more easily express and experience who we truly are. 

I encourage you to take some time this Spring to be with the Plants and Nature, to stretch your patience muscles, and to release what is feeding the impatience.  As Francis Bacon says, “Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul.”  It is time that we take possession of our souls and start living the lives we are meant to live.  The world will be a more beautiful place for this.  And remember, it is about progress not perfection.  There are always more lessons to be learned, this is the gift of Life.

A World of Beauty

As a sensitive person, my Heart hurts sometimes when I look around and see how we live and how we treat one another and Nature.  And other times, I look out and all I can see is Beauty.  My Heart wells and I begin to cry with Gratitude and Hope.

This Winter, I was watching events unfold with horror at the hatred and violence that was being expressed, especially through our (the US) presidential campaigns.  (Don’t worry, I’m not going into politics.)  As I listened, my Heart hurt; however, I started realizing that none of this was new.  Some of these racist, sexist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, homophobic, and classist sentiments have been expressed openly; others underlie our cultural structures; and others have been thought but not expressed, at least not publicly.  While I do not in any way condone or agree with these, I am grateful for the expression.  I consider these thoughts, statements, and actions as an expression of our cultural Shadow.  When we are afraid of our Shadow or when we try to suppress it, it only festers and grows.  From my experience, the best way to “deal” with the Shadow is to acknowledge it.  Then we can begin to see what the underlying issues are.  Generally, what we consider to be the Shadow is a fear that was created due to a wound or unmet need.  When we begin to shine Light on this area, we realize that the fear is not as big and scary as we thought and now, we can bring healing to the wounds and ultimately ourselves or in this case, our culture.  Let’s be honest, there are many wounds and unmet needs in our society and we have been allowing our fears to run rampant for too long.

As I look out now, I again see Beauty and Hope, for these expressions have created dialog.  We are now talking about the hidden and subtle ways that our culture promotes racism, sexism, and the other forms of discrimination.  This is great!  Now that we are acknowledging them, we have a better chance of healing and changing these.  We are all connected; therefore, hatred directed at someone else, effects us.  We are also effected when someone is treated with Love.  It is like the story of the two wolves, we have a choice, we can respond with fear and anger or we can respond with Love and compassion.  Our response determines the world that we live in.  Again and again, the message that I receive is that this stage of the evolution of humanity requires a collective evolution.  This means that while it is important that we each do our individual work, our next big step will only occur by working together for the good of all.

The World of Love and compassion is the world that I want to live in and I imagine what that feels like every day.  As I do this and as I work with the Plants, I am continually told that we have all the tools we need to create this world.  We have many wonderful Guides who are willing and wanting to help the Humans learn to work cooperatively and co-creatively.  The issue is that we need to be able to receive their teachings, lessons, and gifts.

We all have an innate ability to communicate with other species; however, most of us have forgotten this or been taught that it is not possible.  I believe that it is imperative that we remember this skill, our survival depends on it.  More than this, when you learn how to communicate with Plants and Nature Spirits, your life becomes fuller and more meaningful.  You gain a better understanding of yourself and why you are here.  You are able to actively participate in the world around you.  This is why I offer Plant Communication classes.  We are capable of communicating with all Beings.  I teach Plant communication because I think it is the easiest way to start down this path.  We have an incredible relationship with Plants (even when we are not conscious of this).  It is Plants who provide the air we breathe and it is Plants who are the basis of our foods (including animals).  With every breath and every bite of food, we receive messages.

The Plants have been stepping forward in amazing ways asking us to connect with them and remember who we are.  Now it is our responsibility to meet them.  If you do not remember how to communicate with other species, I encourage you to join me for the Plant Communication Workshop June 3rd-5th in West Chester, PA.  This weekend is focused on awakening and deepening your relationship with Plants.  You will learn various ways of communicating and receiving information from them.  Through this process, we often gain insight into ourselves and receive healings.  If you can not join me, then I highly recommend that you find another class or workshop to re-learn this skill.  If you email me, I can share some other recommendations and try to help you find the right class.  I truly think that it is the responsibility of every Human to know how to communicate with other Beings.  We so often think of responsibility as a burden; however, in this case, it’s like winning the jackpot!  It is such an amazing gift, for which I cannot even begin to explain the rewards.

Once you know how to communicate with Plants (and other Beings), the magic begins!  If you have this skill, then I have a special opportunity for you, Plant Initiations!!  Plant Initiations have been important in cultures around the world for ages; Carole Guyett of Derrynagittah in Ireland has brought the work forward by having Initiations with “common” Plants.  This is another way for us to go into deep harmony and connection with Nature and to learn from the Plants.  I am hosting a Tulsi Sacred Plant Initiation July 29th-31st, which is 3 days of fasting (recommended, not required), consuming a Sacred Elixir, and doing ceremony with Tulsi (Holy Basil).  Plant initiations are a chance to move into deep union with a Plant, where the Plant is initiating you into the world of the Sacred Human.  Of all the work that I have done, it is the Plant initiations that live the strongest in me.  If you have any interest in working with Plants or if you want to awaken and grow, I HIGHLY recommend that you experience a Plant Initiation.  Pam Montgomery is hosting a Dandelion Initiation in Ohio, a St. John’s Wort Initiation in Vermont (which is full), and a Nettle Initiation in the UK.  Carole Guyett, the author of Sacred Plant Initiations, is hosting a Primrose Initiation in Ireland.  Go ahead, dive in, allow yourself to be connected, to be One.  As Pam Montgomery writes in the Forward for Sacred Plant Initiations: “The plants and trees are calling us to take up our rightful place and reclaim our birthright of being a part of Nature, not separate from it.  They are asking us to remember who we are, where we live, and how to live.  They are guiding us in our evolution to know the truth of our lineage as sacred humans, those who walk with Spirit and aliveness each and every day.”

If you look out at the world and wonder what is going on, why we are living this way or if your Heart is hurting from the violence, hatred, and destruction; I invite you to turn to our Guides and Helpers.  Go to the Plants.  Go to Nature.  Go to your Soul.  For there is Beauty in this World.  And there is Hope beyond Hope.  We have everything that we need to create the World of our Dreams.  It is up to us to work together with all the Beings to bring this into existence. 

Dreaming the Earth of Love

Several nights ago I had a extraordinarily vivid dream.  I woke up in the early morning hours and went outside to look at the sky.  What I saw was mesmerizing.  There were 6 Planets in a cluster, not quite in a line, more like in a formation of some sort.  What was more incredible, these Planets were large and clearly visible, about the size of full Supermoon.  It felt like I could reach out and touch them.

I called to the person that I was with and asked him to come outside.  He had to see this.  I said, "I've heard people talking about the line-up."  We were enthralled with the beauty.  We started naming the Planets.  Jupiter was very clear (and large).  That's when I saw her, a Planet of blue and green.  She was whirling through the sky and my Heart leapt.  I said, "There's the Earth!"  I had such Love for her and was completely enamored by her Beauty.  (I wish I could share the Love that I felt and that was pouring out of me at the sight of her.)

Suddenly I realized that if I was looking at the Earth, I was no longer on her.  I awoke shortly afterwards.

While I do want to do some more work with this dream and get some clarity around where I was, the more important part for me was the Love I felt.  I, like most people, have had moments of utter despair.  Times when I was ready to leave this planet, when I thought this is too difficult a challenge.  But seeing the Earth like that, feeling the Love that I have for her, made me realize that for better or for worse, I am committed.  I will do what I need to do to help her (which includes her inhabitants) thrive.

I have long been an Earth Lover.  Enchanted by her Beauty and delighted by her abundant bounty.  When I was a teenager, I learned that this is "odd".  I was given the title, environmentalist (this is one of the nicer names).  I really didn't understand this.  Now, 20 years later, I am just as confused.  Doesn't everyone Love the Earth?

I don't understand how you could not fall on your knees and weep tears of gratitude.  I know that it is difficult for some to be in their Hearts or to cry tears of anything.  Even so, it only takes a minute to realize the pure miracle of life on this Planet.  Think of the air that we breathe and that it is the Plants who give us the gift of oxygen.  Or the water and how she is continually recycled.  Or the seed, that precious little package that contains 25 Zucchinis or a Maple tree.  Each of these is part of many complex processes, which we simplify for ease into the water cycle, etc.  Really, just trying to think about all that is involved in one of these processes, blows my mind to the point, that I can't think anymore.  And so, all I can do is feel and Love and be overwhelmed with Gratitude.

There is much fighting and discord these days (both internally and externally).  I think, "Why?"  What is the point?  When we are surrounded by such unbelievable Beauty and so many incredible gifts, why would we waste our precious time on this remarkable Planet like this?  Surely there are more important things to do like sitting with a Tree and thanking her for the air we breathe, for the warmth her branches provide, for the tasty fruit she so willing shares.  Or sticking your nose in the ground and smelling that delicious Earth, thanking the Earthworms and Mycelium and all the many creepy crawlies who decompose the plant matter and turn this into Soil to feed new life.

And isn't it time to turn to the people who share this Planet with us and say, "Hey!  I see you there!  Isn't this a crazy ride?  How did we get so lucky?!  And look at you, with that skin and those bones.  Look at the many shapes they make.  Look how Beautiful you are!  I have skin and bones too, mine make different shapes and colors.  Isn't it crazy?!  Who would have thought that you can combine the same elements and get such varying results?  Truly amazing!  Hey, did you eat a fig yet?"

We are all part of this round spaceship.  Our survival and even more important, our ability to thrive is intricately linked to the surviving and thriving of everyone else who is on this with us.  (By everyone, I mean every Being - not just humans.)  As humans, we each only have a relatively short time to enjoy this experiment.  So enough with this separation bullshit.  Enough with fighting or hating or not-worthiness.  Enough with better than or exploitation or destruction.  Let's move on to exploring and delighting in this beautiful spaceship, in the bounty that she provides everywhere you look, in the truly artistic creations, and in each other.  Humanity is capable of so much, I mean really, it only takes a quick perusal through reality TV to see the many different talents that people have worldwide (and this is far from the best humanity has to offer).  Just imagine what we are capable of, what we could experience, the Beauty that we could create (with the other Beings on this spaceship), if we would stop wasting our time and start focusing on the Love that connects us all!

I know it can be difficult.  I know that there are systems set up to keep us from re-membering our connection, our Love.  When you see the Earth like I did in my dream.  And your Heart leaps out of your chest.  When you see her like that, you don't remember the arguments or the separation, all you remember is the Love!  So let me tell you, it is time.  It is time to re-member and remember.  It is time to awaken.  It is time to Love.