WILDWISDOM

Sending down our Roots and remembering the Soul

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Evening Primrose Medicine

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Last year someone had suggested they would like a workshop on Evening Primrose. This sounded like a grand idea as there were many Evening Primroses at Emerson College, so after watching them open in the evening we could walk a candle lit labyrinth. Perfect timing I thought.

From initial conversations with Evening Primrose I felt a soothing coolness, a white soft enveloping light. Relaxing, nourishing, revitalising. It spoke to its connection to the moon and the feminine yet at the same time seemed connected to the solar plexus, suggesting sun and warmth, its stems and seed pods have a red tinge of fire to them. Some see this plants element as being most associated with Earth, yet I felt a strong connection with the solar plexus suggesting fire? However the strongest feeling was of a soft, velvety, cooling, soothing, ‘moon’ness’. Perhaps the element of Yin Earth . Plants, like ourselves, contain all the elements to varying degrees and Evening Primrose seemed to be voicing a balancing of both the yin and yang. Male and female aspects.

The uncommon activity of the flowers opening during the evening and in to the night suggested of its ability to shine its light in to the darkness, expressing itself in fullness and in its relation with the moon. I felt a plant for working on the subconscious aspects of ourselves, shining the light of our conscious awareness on to the shadow parts of ourselves and in doing so releasing bound up energy, unlocking creative life force, opening to our individual power through the solar plexus helping us to express more of our true essential nature.

My journey with Evening Primrose didn’t stop there. Looking back now, I can see the deep work that I was just stepping into was in the processing of unconscious patterns that were formed within my childhood and even ancestral wounding. Evening Primrose was helping me in this process of uncovering those wounded parts of myself. I now know she does this through encouraging us to relax. In feeling relaxed, at ease and safe we are able to feel in to the parts of us that have not felt heard, the wounded parts that are afraid. These parts can influence our relationships, our decisions, every aspect of our lives. We carry them as unconscious thought patterns, story lines, underlying fears, feelings and emotions that got stuck frozen in time. It is not that we need to fix them, change them, even ‘heal’ them as such, but simply bringing them in to awareness and letting them know they are now heard and acknowledged.

Ways to work with these aspects.

We might say, ”I see you”, or, I prefer ”I hear you”, when we feel these parts or stories coming up in the moment. Each time, simply returning to our breath and conscious moment awareness. If doing deeper work, we can sit and feel in to these parts, acknowledging them, telling them that it’s ok to be here and that you hear them now.

You could visualise a child in the corner of a room, head bowed down, crying. How would you react to this child? What would you say to this child? The way in which you interact with this child may be the way in which you engage with these parts of yourself. There is no need to fix them but as they feel more heard they may completely transform, they may shrink or they may remain but as life goes on we grow in peace. We grow in awareness of ourselves as we fully flower into the light of our true essential nature, bringing all aspects of ourselves together, the darkness included.

We all have childhood wounds, this does not mean we had a rough childhood or were abused. The act of simply being born is traumatic. We may even be carrying wounds from the womb, prior to birth, as we soaked up the emotions or situations that were presenting in our environment. I believe the very essence of life is to experience it in its full gory, sorry glory. The pain and the pleasure, the bliss and the heartbreak, the joy and the sorrow. As we navigate life through living in self awareness.

The following link below is a good description of evening primrose essence. It amazed me how support was already informing my life prior to me even being aware of the deeper work I was about to engage with. Plants, indeed life, is supporting and informing our growth in ways we have no idea of. https://www.spiritoftransformation.com/Essencedescriptions/eveningprimrose.pdf

Evening Primrose

Nature connection / communication.

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When we begin connecting to nature and experience the intelligence that is permeating and penetrating every inch, of every thing, in all that there is. We can begin to form a reciprocal relationship with this greater part of us. There seems to be a natural tendency towards expressing our inner questions, our pain, our troubles, in order to find answers, guidance and healing. At least that is the way in which I have felt compelled to work and guided in relationship to our natural world.

At this time it is essential that we re-establish our connection, particularly in Britain where we have largely forgotten this connection, but in which now a growing calling is being heard by many to re-member our ancestral lands. For a long time we have been going to other cultures to find our spiritual connection, nothing wrong with this, but we are now being asked to connect with the plants, tree’s and spirits of this land. I am not bashing our choices and callings to other lands and traditions, I feel very drawn to the Aboriginal culture of Australia and feel they hold vital keys in aiding in our remembering how it is to live in harmony, reverence and true relationship with our Earth. The point I’m making is that we possess the ability to go directly to the plants, tree’s and nature of our homeland in order to heal, not only ourselves and others but our relationship to our Earth and our collective consciousness.

In asking for help we open a dialogue with the greater source of intelligence that is streaming through us and everything else. There is no shame in asking for guidance and help. Once we realise we don’t have to figure it all out ourselves and that we have support all around us, we can move in to a place of humbly asking for help. A vital principle in this relationship is in offering something in return, I struggled with this concept for ages as my culture and my head would say, ”whats the point in that”, what will a tree gain from my giving a gesture of thanks? It took me a while to develop a way in which it felt right. The modern day culture with which I grew up in saw trees as inanimate lifeforms, though I knew this not to be true, the programming was still there and frankly it seemed kind of pointless to me. Initially I would simply smile and give thanks, just as you would a friend who had helped you out. My teacher, Pam Montgomery, would say to make gifts from our hands, as trees do not possess hands and we have the ability to create with our hands, our hands are extensions of our hearts. I’ll often offer beads that I have coloured but what has emerged to be the most rewarding, enjoyable and effective gift, is to sing. Again my cultural conditioned mind will sometimes mock my vocal offerings. Feelings of shyness, feeling odd to be singing, toning or making guttural sounds if somebody is to walk past is no doubt my own childhood inadequacies of not feeling heard or being able to fully express my self.

Nature will often respond to tone and vibration in elaborate, meaningful ways. I believe that at the atomic level, the atoms connecting the fabric of space, reverberate, sending powerful healing tones out in to the environment of which get reflected back to you.

Asking questions and receiving answers. I felt drawn to working in the following way. In this process we are reclaiming our connection with the spirit of the land, plants, trees, animals and become a part of our own healing journey.

This is specifically referring to a way of healing with the aid of nature but this communication and relationship forming is ongoing. An individual can then carry on building upon this relationship on their own.

A further aspect to this reciprocal relationship is that we may also then begin asking what nature is asking of us, in what ways may we serve. What are we humans being asked to do at this time of great healing.

The process might look something like this;

Whilst out in nature, You ask a question..

Without looking for the answer with your mind, you simply become present, creating a space inside of you where the intelligence of nature can be heard.

Being present within our bodies and feeling in to our, ‘Gut brain’ and ‘Heart brain’, centres, helps us to bypass the conditioned thinking mind. You simply remain in this space of bodily awareness, aware of the presence you feel inside of you. You may feel pulled in a certain direction or you may notice changes in your outer environment, a sudden change in weather, a breeze that kicks up, an animal that crosses your path, a plant that calls to you or the sun piercing a cloud touching its radiance upon your face. Don’t try to ‘logicalize’- (its a new word, I’ve just made up) Don’t, ‘logicalize’ your experience, instead stay present, you may receive an instant knowing or clarity from the answers but simply remain present to the unfolding. It is also possible that the answers will not come in your desired time frame, yet later on you receive the answers in your life circumstances. Asking questions opens up a relational interplay where life/ spirit starts to unfold through you, you are signalling that you are ready to live the answers you are looking for. It may be a longer or shorter process, depending upon the nature of your question.

I will shortly be offering one to one sessions supporting and guiding in this process as well as plant spirit treatments which will soon be up under the plant spirit Healing heading.

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Re-wilding with the Labyrinth book

For the last two years I’ve been writing, on and off, a short book on my journey with the Labyrinth and the unfolding of its message about its ability to facilitate states of awareness that are conducive to communicating with the plant world. This way of being is rooted in an awareness of our bodies, in particular our Heart and Gut. Our ancestors, indigenous peoples and people living closely to the land tend to live in this state of awareness, simply moving through the natural landscape tends to ‘activate’ this more natural state within us.

This year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to the stage of handwriting and illustrating the book. Its been such a fun and enjoyable process. I’ve loved getting back in to drawing again… Cup of tea, some lush music and the zoning in or out of worlds that bring deep peace, tranquility or excitement. It’s a form of meditation and a way for the soul to say what its ‘feeling’. Another creative outlet in more recent years has been singing! which has come as a bit of surprise! Its helped me in expressing my self vocally but also it appears to be a natural response in the human when connecting with nature. I found it would come in involuntary vocal tones at first. I’d sometimes connect with a plant and a tone would arise from my chest. Looking at other cultures such as the Australian Aborigines and Amazonian tribes they sing directly from the plants and the land. I think there is a natural synthesis that happens when people work closely to the spirit of the land that evokes within us the response to sing or make harmonic noises. Its very primal, it feels amazing and creates an energy as the elements around you dance and celebrate. Watching a recent documentary on the Aborigines I loved the way they creatively expressed their connection to the land and spirit. Everything they seemed to do was an expression and an honouring of that through their art, dance, ritual, song, ceremony. It seems to me that is our true place within the web – As hunter gatherer, expressing our gratitude and celebration with the creation through our own creations, what a beautiful way to live!

Here’s a taster page from the book…23131927_10155820858807640_7602955459804799100_n

If you wish you can connect here on FB – https://www.facebook.com/Wild-Wisdom-172830619533379/

and a new Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/_wildwisdom_/

 

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Testimonial from the Working with plant Spirit workshop, 21.3.17, Rose Moore. Although I have always been a lover of nature, my conventional scientific education made me somewhat sceptical about the concepts around plant communication on an intuitive level. However I had no difficulty in quickly recognising my plant ally and enjoying her gifts. Little did I realise that I was about to experience unexpected insight and some deep healing of grief associated with the destruction of a beloved place. The beautiful candle lit labyrinth was the culmination of a very special day and I am grateful to Mark for this introduction to Wild Wisdom work.


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Re-Wilding with the Labyrinth Workshop

 

 

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Just wanted to add some photo’s from the day and a little write up of how it went. As usual with these sorts of events / workshops when a group of like minded individuals get together it makes for a really special time and this was no exception. There were 8 of us in total including myself and Julie who were facilitating the day.

We started off with a short physical and breathing exercise to get us in to our bodies. Bringing our awareness down from the head space and in to the body. We learnt of how we are able to experience our connection to the natural world we are a part of through being aware of our senses at a deeper level.

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I shared the journey that has taken 2 1/2 years from my initial meeting with a Labyrinth in Ireland at Carraig Dulra Permaculture Farm to the finishing of the Herb Labyrinth at Tuppenny Barn. The process has been one of intention, communication and deep listening then allowing and facilitating for the co- creation to emerge, an organic unfolding if you like.

Just before lunch we walked the Labyrinth testing out some of the body awareness techniques.

We shared one of the most exuberant banquets I’ve ever had pleasure to be a part of, it makes for such a heart warming occasion when everyone brings something to share for a feast, creates a real sense of community. 13565385_10154169135616469_165269228_n

In the afternoon Julie led a meditation/communication exercise with St Johns Wort, the plant which was the focus of the day. Its always magical how people’s experience matches that of the plants characteristics. Everyone had such beautiful experiences to share and I will update this post with one or two of those. St Johns Wort really shone giving us all personal insights to take home and digest.

We walked the Labyrinth for the second and final time but this walk was to pay homage to St Johns Wort, to give thanks and ground our experience of the day.20160626_145136_resized


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Working with the Labyrinth

The Labyrinth as a tool for Re-Wilding.

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My journey with the Labyrinth has been an unexpected and synchronous one. It started one Summer whist looking after a Permaculture Farm in County Wicklow, Ireland. Myself and a friend had been given the job of replenishing the ‘Herb Spiral’ at Carraig Dulra Permaculture farm. We instinctively used the spiral path as a walking meditation, setting intentions and in sacred ceremony. It wasn’t until two years later that I came across the work of Eve Hogan that I then realised the ‘Herb Spiral’ was also a 3 circuit classical Labyrinth. So two years on I followed the signs and ended up in Scotland doing a Labyrinth Facilitators course with veriditas www.veriditas.org, it deepened my knowledge and understanding for what this ancient archetypal symbol was about. Energy flows in Spirals. From the Spiralling of the Galaxies and planetary bodies to water down the plug hole, in a seed head or the shell on a snails back we see this spiral design throughout nature and it is within us as the spiralling DNA strands and of spinning energetic chackras.

Connecting the dots…Walking the path… At a recent event, ‘Plant Consciousness’, I met Dr David Bruce Leonard, an amazing guy who has studied extensively with Hawaiian Plant teachers. His was the first stall I wandered over to and picked up his book by the name of ‘WildWisdom’! In the middle of the book he has a Labyrinth!! Dumbfounded I asked what the connection was and he tells me its the best thing he’s ever found that connects an individual to the state of consciousness that is required when out collecting medicinal plants!!! The Labyrinth is a great tool for bringing our awareness from the exterior in to the inner realms of feeling, emotion and awareness, also bringing our sight to the peripheral vision that the Hawaiian Healers use in their meditation technique of Hakalau that David Bruce Leonard was taught by his Teachers.

You can practice Hakalau by staring at a fixed point just above your line of sight, as you focus all of your attention on this point after a while you will notice the peripheral field coming in to your awareness, now concentrate more on your peripheral vision than the centre point. The Hawaiian Plant medicine practitioners would use this practice, along with bodily awareness whilst out collecting plants for healing an individual. They would hold the vision of the person they were collecting plants for and in their altered states were able to ‘hear’ which plants were needed and in what way to use them.

Dr David Bruce Leonard found that the Labyrinth bought about this state of consciousness  instantaneously. He has some thoughts on why this was, he says, ”We enter a Labyrinth with reverence, thereby creating sacred space. We quiet our minds and pay attention. This is exactly the same meditative state we create as we prepare to enter the forest to gather plants. In a Labyrinth we spend most of our time moving our bodies in a relaxed way and with compete awareness. This also has a lot of similarities to the way we move in a forest. And lastly when we are in a Labyrinth their are often people around us. We generally do not look at them when passing, but we are very conscious of their movements and we tend to track them out of the corners of our eyes. Tracking what passes by us as we use peripheral vision is exactly what is entailed within the practice of Hakalau and Hakahele=(Hakalau practiced whilst walking)

Below is a picture from ”The Art of building a Healing Labyrinth” course I attended with Geomancer and Master Builder Dominique Susani in Co.Cork. Ireland 2015. The Labyrinth was built using exact measurements and equations worked out by the locations latitude in relation to the Sun and the Moon at Summer Soltice. This gives an equation that can be formulated to give you a harmonised space, Summer Soltice being the highest energetic point in the year. So when you create an object, building or space using those measurements you are creating an energetically harmonious space. The tradition of the European Master builders went back to the Druids who built sacred sites, many sacred sites around the Globe, e.g. certain Pyramids, many European Gothic Cathedrals would have been built using this knowledge but like many things today its something we have lost, our connection to nature, but that is what we are reclaiming!

Links :- 

David Bruce Leonard’s website – http://earthmedicineinstitute.com – David’s School in Hawai’i.

Dominique Susani – http://www.sacredgeometryarts.com – Sacred Geometry Products.

Plant Consciousness. Davyd and Emma Farrell – http://www.plantconsciousness.com

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How to build a Herb Labyrinth

The Herb Labyrinth project was Inspired by a Permaculture Herb Spiral and the ancient symbol of the Labyrinth. The design will utilise the Four directions and the Four elements in correspondence to the healing plants and in relation to the actions the plants have on the human body as well as the effect of walking the Labyrinth has on a persons well being and potential for inner transformation.

The following describes a step by step process of how to create your own. 638px-cretan-labyrinth-round-svg

You may need – >15 sticks/bamboo sticks. > Measuring tape > String > Flour/Sand something to mark out the path. > Spades, wheelbarrows, mulch, helping hands, feet and herbs.

1. Find a piece of land big enough. This area was in amongst an orchard and just about big enough for a Labyrinth about 26 foot across. Any smaller than this and it may take away from the quality of using it for a walking meditation. Labyrinths are walked to slow the mind and centre one self, if the path is too short it may hinder this. 2015-01-08 12.21.28

The Above location is an Apple Orchard at Tuppenny Barn Organic Farm in Hampshire, UK.

2. Measure the area and find the centre point. Once you have the centre spot put a stick in the ground and attach some string this will help you mark out the circumference of you circle, It doesn’t have to be an exact circle. Place sticks around the perimeter of your circle to denote the edge leaving enough space for herb beds around the outside edge if that is what you are going for.2015-03-26 15.55.39

3. Now mark out the beds or the path, I chose sand as I had some bags of it lying around and its not toxic like using a spray on the ground, flour would also suffice. I decided to mark out the beds, it isn’t exact but gives me an idea where things will go. Its quite an organic process and as you work you will decide to change things as you go. IMG_1566

4. You can now begin to dig out the path ways turning over the cut turf on to the beds upside down. The grass will die off adding a layer of nutrients to the soil. You could add further layers of cuttings and mulch to enrich your beds. IMG_1585

Lydia cutting out the path and turning it over to form the bed on her left. IMG_1580

You don’t need to be too accurate with your path and beds, what ever best suits your needs. Bare in mind what your labyrinth/Herb Spiral is being used for? you might need to take in to account the location? materials? what your aims are? who’s going to be using it? what will it be used for? We have made adaptations along the way, for example we decided to create a gentle gradient on the path, reaching a higher perspective as you walk in to the centre. This also has an impact on the planting, creating variant changes to the climate within the Labyrinth. I was unable to work for a month and on return the plants that had grown in specific areas were noticeably different. The South was drier, sparse and smaller plants in comparison to the North end. Plants in the South included: Lots of Fat Hen, small Thistle, Plantain, Dandelion, Fumitory. Interesting that most of the plants have a use for the liver. I wasn’t sure about Fat Hens relation to the liver but just found that it is used in India for liver complaints. North: Plum tree runners from the Orchard,(West to North), a vine with marsh mallow type flowers (pink and white) Not sure of the name? Lots of Yarrow, Clover, Grasses. Much thicker, lush coverage in the North side. IMG_1923

Building up the Gradient in to the centre. DSCF1029

A month after returning you can see the difference here with the South side on the right and North on the left. DSCF1028

Here’s the Labyrinth after I have weeded and strimmed the outer path. I have now weeded and strimmed the whole lot and covered it with tarps held down by tires. Important that you cover it over when not working on it over long periods.

This has been an awkward project in that I live 2 hours away so sometimes it has been a few weeks until work commences giving nature a chance to re-establish. We were originally going for a material membrane to keep weeds under control but while attempting to lay it down we realised it wasn’t going to work in relation to the contours of the beds/paths, it wouldn’t have sat evenly and would have risen up being exposed (Not a good look) and wouldn’t have worked in prevention of growth. We have now decided upon mulching with wood chip that we access to on the land.

The next step will be to mulch the paths and beds, possibly plant some over wintering herbs? and cover for the winter ready for a Spring planting. Thanks for reading if you got this far and any feedback is much appreciated. I’ll be posting up more from our upcoming sessions in August/September.