Last Night I attended the first of four 'Plant Encounter' sessions with Jean Atherton-Dow www.jeandowherbalist.co.uk/ and a sister One Spirit Minister Kim Atherton-Dow.
I especially loved 'meeting' the plant through smell, taste and intuition.
We learnt about the historical and modern uses for the plant (realising biology might have been a useful subject in school after all... if only if taken it beyond the age of 12).
And we learnt how we might use the plant in ceremony linking to its properties... this felt an opening into something new and exciting!
We have a rich history of herbal medicine in the West and its not just an Eastern thing... obvious when I think about it!
I loved how we didn't just skim a few plants but went deeply into one so that it landed with us and we remember it's properties.
I kept thinking of this quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer "Yes, I have learned the names of the plants, but I have yet to learn their songs."
I wrote in my Earth Path assignment on my Ministry Training 'I long to learn their songs' and it felt that last night was a tiny step into that!
This morning I'm noticing something different in me and wondering if it's somehow related to the plant... off to share with Jean and Kim to find out...
#plant #herbal #medicine #encounter #meet #intuition #smell #taste #tea #tincture #decoction #treacle #earth #nature #natural #thesongsofplants #herbalist
Shoutout to Annie Spratt on social for photo.