Plant spirit healing is an aspect of shamanic work in which we build relationships with plants so they become our allies, providing wisdom, guidance and healing on a spiritual as well as a physical level. It combines knowledge of traditional herbal techniques with deep energetic understanding of the plants. There is nothing new-age about this: many cultures that that use plants for food and medicine also work with the spirits of plants as part of centuries-old healing traditions.
According to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, there are an estimated 350,000 species of vascular plants in the world today, with more being discovered and named each year. Of these nearly 3000 can be found in the British Isles. Nowadays, however, many people suffer from “plant blindness” – the inability to notice or recognise the plants that surround them; while our ancestors depended on many plants for their very survival and would have been able to distinguish between hundreds of native plants, as a species we have largely forgotten this knowledge, in no small part as a result of societal conditioning and technological “progress” which has meant that we don’t need to source our food and medicine ourselves.
Yet the natural world has much to teach us and plants are the most willing of teachers, giving their knowledge and healing generously. Each plant has unique qualities and can help us in different ways, expanding our understanding of ourselves and the world around us and gently guiding us through our lives as we experience challenges and obstacles.
Plants are living allies, and we can benefit from them both physically and spiritually. Everything in the universe is energy and has its own vibration. When we learn to resonate at the same vibration as a plant, we can connect and communicate with it on an energetic level. And it is truly magical.
Working with a plant spirit ally offers us the opportunity to deepen our conscious relationship with nature and, by extension, with ourselves. When we connect with the natural world, we awaken that primal part of ourselves where our awareness and understanding of the natural world is stored. We start to remember our sacred relationship with the plant world, and we instinctively know that it is the right path. And in doing so, we connect more deeply with our own ancestors as we start to learn about the relationship they would have had with the natural world.
And plants are waiting patiently for us to remember; they are calling us to remember for they have so much wisdom and guidance to share with us. Plants love to be noticed; they love to be loved. And they ask nothing return, except to be treated with love and respect. And it is in this spirit of mutual love, gratitude and respect that we are able to learn from them.
Working with a plant spirit ally is like opening a portal to another world. Sometimes a plant will appear in our life at exactly the right time when we need some wisdom or healing; this can be spontaneous – one day we might suddenly we notice a flower that we’ve always walked past before, oblivious to its existence or a herb might simply appear overnight in our vegetable garden. Other times we might actively seek the wisdom of a tree by reflecting on what lessons it has to teach us. Either way, we are the proverbial babes in the wood and have so much to learn from the plant world.
In my next article, I’ll share my thoughts on how you can start building relationships with plant allies to learn more about them and support you on your own healing journey.
If you’re interested in learning more and experiencing the magic of plants for yourself, why not sign up for one of my Plant Spirit Healing workshops?
Joss Anderson is a qualified and experienced Shamanic Practitioner, Shamanic Reiki Master Practitioner and ICF-accredited coach, based in Cambridgeshire, UK and online.
© Joss Anderson 2022; © The Wild Edges 2022
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