I've been thinking about the language of flowers for a few days now, trying to figure out exactly what that might be. I know that when I am in my garden and thoughts come to my mind, I often wonder if I had that thought, or if it was told to me by some other entity in my presence. For instance, when I notice that the tops of my peppers look a bit too tired, had the peppers just called out to me to inspect them, to ask me for help of some kind? Or was I simply observant in that moment? How much of what I choose to do out there is a result of my intelligence, or of some other, more intelligent, intelligence?
I love flowers. Their colors, their fragrance, their vigor, their healing properties, the way they dance on the wind and glisten in the rain. I smile while picking them to bring into the house and pop them in a vase, or hang them to dry, or crush them to clean the air I breathe. I talk to them, and they talk to me, but how?
Sometimes, when a haiku of mine is finished, I find I understand something more deeply, more simply. So of course, I thought to write a few haiku about this mystery. Alas, nothing came to me, and I feared I would not find anything to write about for this week’s creative garden challenge.
This morning I woke up to a slew of comments on my posts from @carolkean, whose comments could almost always hold their own as full published posts. In one of them, she provided a video of Ruth Stout. Curiously. I had heard of Ruth Stout from several disparate sources over the past few weeks, and here was yet another.
I decided to give this video a bit of my precious time, expecting to skim the thing as I usually do. Instead, I found the video absolutely riveting. This woman lived her life in the language of all things and I would love for you all to watch it.
Nature, if only we would let it, could teach us how to be free and loving beings.
can turn to a heartstone
with one glimpse of gold
This is my entry to Hive Garden Community's weekly creative garden challenge for which we were prompted to write about the language of flowers. Please come spend some time with us. Together, we can bring peace to the world and love to every heart.
The silent scream of "water me".
The dying sound when being choked by weeds.
The smiles of open petals.
If there is anything like the language of plants generally, it will be telepathy. Explains it perfectly well.
Yes! We need to open ourselves to hear the other minds of the universe.
I speak to my plants all the time, I find speaking to them works miracles in my garden.
Plants speaking back to me - oh yes they do
A rose gently hooks my clothes asking me to take a closer look at her.
A wilting leaf sadly asks for a quick drink of water,
A marigold with a bright smile greet me good day,
They speak the universal language of love, compassion and communication.
Like you, I know that they speak.
And you speak in beautiful poetry!
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Keep Up the good work on Hive ♦️
Thank you!!
@owasco you're most welcome
Fabulous haiku to finish off the wonderful ladies video, teacher without realizing how much she imparted in one short video.
@tipu curate
Thank you!! She imparted the wisdom of the ages, just in being on this earth. I wanna be her.
Using what the land already offers, by leaving leaves on the ground another great resource many rake and throw away. She lived by what made her happy and content, quite unusual during those years.
She would be quite unusual today too. I loved her mother, how she never told her children what to do, they had to figure that out for themselves.
Her mother sounded a strong woman who had control even though never telling them what to do, perhaps parenting today needs to learn from this style.
I tried to do that, but nearly everyone I knew condemned me for it. So I stopped, much to my regret. I'm not good at telling others what to do, I simply am not certain I know enough to do that.
Not in my nature either to tell folk what to do, much more comfortable offering advice if approached. We all look through a different pair of eyes, walk in our own shoes, bad decisions are ours to learn from !LOLZ
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Thank you!
I could see her in you. I loved the video but did not understand the last part about he was looking out the wrong window.
I didn't either!! I'm flattered if you can see her in me.
Oh goodness, you nailed it with that haiku at the end. Just Extraordinary. I'll watch that video asap .. taking the Landie to port today so hella busy, in fact, so busy I forgot to write my own post!!!
Plants sure do teach us things.
Their colors, their fragrance, their vigor, their healing properties, the way they dance on the wind and glisten in the rain. This is just a small sample of the wonders that flowers offer us, they simply have a charming language that inspired many of us in this challenge. Greetings @owasco
Many of us love the color and fragrance of flowers. But it is very important to find out the reason behind our liking. We can cultivate flowers around the house or in various places which make us happy every moment. So let us grow flowers and enjoy the beauty of flowers and share this beauty with our neighbours. I hope God bless you always.
Here's the flowers I'm picking right now:
I will have family here for Christmas, and we'll use this China.
But I love flowers myself, I'm using a lineament made from Arnica flowers right now; and drinking hibiscus tea!
👍💗🙏📖🙏💙🤠🤔👌
LOL, you're a woman after my own heart - deciding to give the Ruth Stout video "a bit of my precious time, expecting to skim the thing as I usually do." I skim. Yes, there are consequences. Still, I skim! Precious Time
I'm still skimming that book I keep mentioning here (especially the parts on Tarot cards and Ayurveda) but his information on how to match plants to people is mind blowing. How we need to heal ourselves first and how we will become the medicine the world needs.
Evolutionary Herbalism: Science, Spirituality, and Medicine from the Heart of Nature
by Sajah Popham and Matthew Wood | Apr 30, 2019
Last night, I read the section on how wood betony spoke to him.
Fascinating stuff!
"We all carry a wound inside of us. It is a part of what makes us human. But for every wound on this Earth there grows a medicine." 💗🌿
"The plants are calling us to heal ourselves so we can heal others. They are calling us to reenvision how we live on this Mother Earth so we can exist in harmony with the tapestry of Nature, of which we are a mere thread. The plants beckon us to become instruments for their medicinal power to reach out and heal the world." 🌎🦋🌱
More from the same author, same book, via his Instagram page:
Tone is the state of tension the tissues of the body are in. It exists on a polarity of either overly relaxed/loose and overly constricted/tense.
To describe this I like to use the analogy of a guitar string; if it’s overly loose it doesn’t produce proper sound and is floppy and sagging. Yet when it’s overly tight it also doesn’t make the sound it’s supposed to, but the pitch is higher and the string feels extremely tight as if it were about to snap.
This is a great analogy for the state human tissues can get into when imbalanced, and they're qualities that aren't expressed by the temperature and moisture qualities.
What I’m often looking at in terms of tone within people is the specific tissue types that are prone to either tension or relaxation (or looseness). This specifically afflicts the connective tissues, musculoskeletal system, and nervous system (especially tension).
Connective tissue anchors all of our organs in their proper place keeps our joints from hyperextending, and stabilizes our body in a variety of ways.
When the connective tissues become overly lax or loose, it enables organs to prolapse or fall out of place. The same is true for the smooth muscles which line many of our organs and vessels- when they’re overly lax fluids are less able to flow through them as easily, secreting organs aren’t able to squeeze as strongly to release their fluids, and in general their contractility decreases.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have the state of tension, which is seen as the connective tissues and muscles being overly tight, limiting movement and flexibility, increasing spasm and cramping, and reducing the size of the vessels and channels due to constriction. When this affects the nervous system, we see tension in the cardiovascular system and various manifestations of psychological, emotional, and physical tension.
Swipe to learn more about Tone and the Relaxant-Tonic Polarity within Herbs 🌿👉🏽
Oh no here I go again.
"Yarrow teaches me about sacred warriorship, defending and protecting what is sacred and true, not with unnecessary violence, but with the strength of love.
Yarrow is strong and resilient, tough, growing in dry and rocky soil of mountaintops with few resources, yet sweet and soft in nature, relieving the pain of physical wounds, staunching bleeding, and clearing infections.
Yarrow also helps to heal the battle wounds of the spirit, healing tears and weak places in our energetic boundaries (even from emotional trauma) and strengthening our emotional boundaries overall, so that we can move through the world without being wounded by every emotional blow and by holding our power, not absorbing the energies of others around us.
Yarrow- is a warriors ally... and in these days we are all becoming sacred warriors- for our brothers and sisters under attack, for our land being abused, for justice and for the future.
Whatever it is we hold sacred, the time is nigh when we must stand up as warriors to protect it with our fierce love.
This common graceful weedy wildflower was one of the first two plants I learned and used for medicine as a 12 yr old plant curious girl- and has been beloved to me for 25 yrs."
https://www.instagram.com/evolutionary_herbalism
Herbs to Support the Heart in Times of Grief :: 💔🌿❤️🌹Grief isn't a subject that’s fun to feel into, easy to confront, or effortless to talk about. With the English language being so limited, there’s no real translation meticulous enough to render how this tumultuous heartache really feels on the inside.
Sometimes grief feels so grueling to face, that attempting to turn a blind eye seems easier – I know I’ve hoped the heavy feelings would just slip away into desolate winds… but this is simply not the case.
The green allies can help so much in supporting and building the heart whole once again, helping us find strength, courage, and relief as we move through these emotions into greater healing. The intelligence of these beings is so brilliant, that sometimes we might need to accept that we don't have the capacity to understand them in our limited human mind and simply trust that these plants will shine a light that will open our hearts towards a healing that we may have not known possible.
Swipe through to learn about a few plant allies who may shed some light into those of you who may be also experiencing grief right now👉🏼🌹
#herbsforgrief #plantmedicine #plantsforgrief #evolutionaryherbalism #theplantpath #herbalist
Sorry, I didn't hyperlink the image. I swiped right but didn't find much.
After losing two sisters in less than a year, I was gifted a colony of wild roses.
Every day I'd bask in their scent and the loveliness of all that pink.
After reading this book, I'm feeling more confident that the roses were not accidental.
They were there to comfort me.
That's incredible to contemplate!
It's interesting that you ended all this with that particular comment, because throughout reading all of these, I was thinking "do the herbs we need, come to us somehow? Will I find exactly what I need, withou knowing or looking, as I walk along?"
Someone gave you rose plants? I had roses in my first garden over 40 years ago, but I pulled them all up - they were infested with all sorts of diseases and I had to spray them with toxins to keep the foliage looking good. This past year, I tried again with a Rosa Rugosa, but I don't think it gets enough sun where I put it. I really want the fragrance, and the medicinal properties, of roses now!
I have the perfect spot for yarrow, which I have never been successful with before. Maybe this year's the year, because it sure sounds like an herb I need.
I ordered the book! I'm in Nashville now, so it will be delivered to me here. We've had glorious weather, my airbnb is spectacularly comfortable and in a great neighborhood, my daughters will both be with me for Christmas, and I am feeling fine!
WISH YOU WERE HERE!
The roses are wild - planted by birds!
I had been cutting them back every year, knowing how "invasive" even a native can be.
Then I just let them go.
And it's as if they know: here, have a riot of roses, and trust that your sister live on in Nature (somehow).
You bought the book!
Which quote fit - this one?
".... we might need to accept that we don't have the capacity to understand them in our limited human mind and simply trust that these plants will shine a light that will open our hearts towards a healing that we may have not known possible."
I'd love to be with you in Nashville!!!!
“Plant by plant you walk this path, progressively healing the deepest parts of yourself.
As you do so, these plants become a part of who you are.
You carry their medicine within you. They reassemble the integrity of the architecture of your soul.
Their essence and your essence become one.”🌿💚🌿
The nature that surrounds us is always speaking, sometimes softly, and sometimes loudly, all we have to do is be in a place of receptivity. Your sentiments show the wisdom that resides within you. I will watch the video when I am done here. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.