For years I have been journeying with the natural world, learning different ways of communicating and Be-ing nature. I believe that there is a consciousness in all organisms which we can connect to through practise. I talk to plants and have received information that I could not possibly have known before. I have created this blog so I can share the techniques from my personal investigation evolved from training as an Arts and Nature Psychotherapist.
This blog will be a series of exercises that enable us to deepen our connection with ourselves and others by being in partnership with nature. On the first Monday of every month a new activity will be posted.
“We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So, when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.”
Andy Goldsworthy
LUNGWORT Pulmonaria
Pulmo is Latin for lungs as its leaves resemble a diseased lung and is used in herbalism for this condition. Lungwort is also known as Bethlehem/Jerusalem sage, Joseph and Mary and spotted dog. It is a member of the borage (boraginaceae) family, thriving in shady and damp parts of the garden, flowering in late winter and early Spring.
THE SPIRIT AS IT WAS GIVEN TO ME
I crouched down under the branches of the apple tree to shield against the rain, there in the shadows was the spotted leaves and bright blue flowers of Lungwort. The leaves reminded me of a tongue, I had a vision of a mouth open, coughing in order to clear stuff out. This image then formed into a tall waterfall cascading over purple rocks, I felt as if this was a clearing and cleansing process, bringing movement into a stagnate place. The purple rocks symbolised a spiritual support for this healing.
Lungwort’s communication indicated a clearing out of material and emotional stuff in our lives. It may help to do this with a friend, this clearing out is often psychologically linked and not necessarily easy.Make a list of what is cluttering your life in your physical environment. These could be: Unworn clothes, unnecessary paperwork, old electronic devices/leads, out of date medicines, objects related to a person no longer in your life…Make three piles:1. Do not want anymore.2. Unsure whether to keep.3. Definitely still want in my life.Notice if anything stops you from letting go of certain objects. Is this reason still valid? LUNGWORT HEALING EXERCISE
DECEMBER 2024
BAY TREE LAURUS NOBILIS
CELEBRATE YOUR NOBLE QUALITIES
This tree is here all the year round, aromatic and evergreen. In Latin the name is Laurus nobilis, meaning green noble.
As you stand under this sweet smelling pungent leaved tree you notice the dark maroon wood trunk that delves deep into the earth below. Looking upwards this tree tapers into an apex reaching into the winter’s sky, or is it the heavens?
Nature in Winter is a season of letting go of what is not needed, let it compost into the ground. However keep and attend to qualities that are honourable, loving, dignified and noble. Note what these are and think of ways to express these abilities more in your life, celebrate these parts of you.
NOVEMBER 2024
FIELD MAPLE – Welcoming Self
Acer Campestre
You are standing in a woodland, a damp early morning mist rises from behind the trees, piecing rays shine through naked boughs and a carpet of gold lays underneath your feet, this is Autumn.
It is Field maple that lines the ground with her five-softly pointed leaves. There is a sense of friendliness and holding, as remaining leaves reach out to us in a welcoming manner.
Field Maple encourages us to bring out the sunny side of our selves by linking in to our five best qualities and to bring these out each day.
OCTOBER 2024
YEW Taxus baccata
It’s a cool September afternoon as you enter Blean churchyard drawn towards an ancient towering Yew tree. Surrounded by orange and gold leafed oaks, Yew stands out with dark green fingered needles reaching out and beckoning you in. Ducking down under the low-slung boughs you emerge into an emerald canopy-like tipi. Touching the maroon-red trunk you feel as if this could be a portal into another world.
In the Celtic shamanic universe, the Yew tree is recognised as ‘the world tree’ that enables journeying into other worlds. Maybe consider joining a shamanic workshop where you can experience travelling into other worlds. Always advisable to journey with a teacher who can guide you through this powerful experience.
FACTS ABOUT YEW
Yew trees are associated with churchyards and there are at least 500 churchyards in England which contain yew trees older than the buildings themselves. It is not clear why, but it is thought that yew trees were planted on the graves of plague victims to protect and purify the dead.
Yew trees were used as symbols of immortality, but also seen as omens of doom. For many centuries it was the custom for yew branches to be carried on Palm Sunday and at funerals.
The name "Taxus baccata" is derived from the ancient Greek term "taxis" meaning "order or arrangement" and "baccata" meaning "carrying berries". The words "toxic" and "textile" are derived from the the root "taxus" due to the tree's toxicity and its bark's utility as a weaving material.
SEPTEMBER 2024
TURKEY OAK Quercus cerris
Teaches us mindfulness
Imagine yourself standing on a breezy Cornish coastal path. You peer down from above through the evergreen leaves of turkey Oak to an idyllic sandy cove below. The branches form a diamond shaped window, the captured scene feels intimate. You can smell the sea-salt waves, feel their eternal motion, ebb and flow, ebb and flow, as if being rocked to sleep in a cradle-like boat. You awake from this reverie that felt physically real, and relook at the spectacular view, the whole scene, of sea, sand, blue sky and sun.
Turkey Oak teaches us that we can focus on small things and experience their intimate nature but also to hold that they are part of a bigger picture. It is healthy to practise mindfulness, a way of focusing on the here and now through all our senses. However one cannot be like this all the time, it would be too intense, we also need to just ‘do’, be in the whole world.
AUGUST 2024
ROWAN Releases worries
Walking in Blean woods, bright orange berries amidst bright green mountain ash leaves, silver bark emerging from dense undergrowth – this is summer in Kent. Standing under this mythological tree, also known as Rowan, you shut your eyes and imagine a pale pink sun rising. Maybe you have some re-occuring worries/thoughts, the pale rose solar sphere surrounds you, it feels as if it melts the negative energy. A new lighter way of being expands out from your head and dissipates out into the ether, dissolving and releasing.
JULY 2024
NASTURTIUM teaches us to calm and revitalize.
Imagine yourself sitting by a wall, bright orange and golden flowers spill over the stones; this is nasturtium. The sunlight streams through the petals lightning up a deep red throat with stamens full of yellow pollen. The leaves seem to be reaching out towards you, light green and fan shaped.
FACTS ABOUT NASTURTIUM
The name Nasturtium comes from the Latin nasus tortus, meaning "twisted nose", due to its strong peppery flavour when eaten.
This plant originally came from South America, and in Peru the ancient Incan culture believed that the sweet-smelling scent of this flower gave them energy and the strength to ward off invaders.
EXERCISE
The message Nasturtium gives us for July is calming to revitalise.
Visualise yourself sitting in the centre of this leaf
waves of calming energy wash over you, sit here awhile.
As you come back to earth maybe there is a sense of revitalised energy coursing through your veins.
JUNE 2024
FIG - Abundance & Joy
As I spoke with Fig I heard the words, ‘enjoy the fruits of your labour’. Looking up on the internet I found the whole quote,
“You will enjoy the fruit of your labour. How joyful and prosperous you will be!” Psalm 128:2-4
This made complete sense to me as I had just had the opening for my art exhibition which had been quite a journey, and I was hoping for abundance in sales!
FACTS ABOUT FIG
The fig is one of the first plants that humans cultivated dating back to 9400 BC discovered in a Neolithic village of Jordan. It is mentioned in Christian, Judaism, Moslem, Buddhist and Greek texts relating to spiritual enlightenment, wisdom, fertility, abundance and longevity.
EXERCISE
The message Fig gives us for June is enjoying abundance!
Is there something that you have been working hard at, even if it is still an ongoing journey, to celebrate:
· bringing up children, your job, decorating your house, your own psychological/spiritual journey . . .?
· Bring to mind what you have learnt, gained from this journey and express gratitude to any support you have been given, from the physical and spiritual worlds, including towards yourself.
· Relish in your glory that you have created, enjoy the fruits of your labour, be joyful.