“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.”

~Theodore Roethke, 20th-Century American poet

Some of you may be aware that, as an herbalist, I prefer self-healing to westernized medicine. Of course I do not advocate skipping immediate medical treatment in cases of extreme illness or emergency, but I feel that all intuition and common sense has vacated the local doctor’s office and gone searching for greener pastures.

For acute illness I do often suggest an herbal or vitamin remedy. They may not always taste like a dream but the results can be seen within about 24 hours and the illness or ailment is often sent packing much faster than the over-the-counter, knock-yourself-out-and-forget-about-it, type of remedies that we are all used to taking.

How do herbs heal? They work on a chemical level to correct any imbalances in our various physical systems and also to kick-start those functions whose sluggishness most likely led to the infection, sickness, etc…

Yet, as I have mentioned here on the blog in the past, all things are made up of light and all light is energy. So the purest and most subtle form of healing the human body, or any living thing for that matter, is energy.

There are many forms of energy healing, the most important one being thought. The power of positive thought has been expounded upon ad nauseum lately, but it cannot be over-emphasized.

My own preferred form of energy healing, for it pleasant effects, is the use of flower remedies. (Because energy signatures are universal, the essences are also great for use on animals for their healing.)

Flower remedies, most famously those of Dr. Bach, are a liquid containing the energy signature, or essence, of the flower from one or more plants.

Flower remedies can be made from the flowers of vegetables, trees, herbs, wildflowers and even the decorative garden flowers that we all know and love.

These simple essential healing remedies are made by infusing pure water with the blossoms in the noonday sunlight. Although I use the light cast during various astronomically and astrological phenomena, noonday sunlight is the most common method of creating flower remedies.

The light beams directly onto your vessel, passing through a floating layer of flowers and carrying their energies into the water.

Once the flowers are skimmed off, the energy water (or Mother Essence) is then cut or diluted using a preservative such as vinegar or brandy.

Some healers then ship the product as is, I prefer to bless or “activate” the essence for healing by stating the properties of the flower or flowers aloud and asking the universe to help it carry out its higher purpose within the life and body of the end user.

The properties of each flower are not made up quickly by some creative mind, but instead come from the energy experiences of test users around the world, from ancient healing knowledge that has been passed down, by looking at the physical design of the plant (often the shape of flowers tells you quite clearly what their usage is) and also from herbalism. Often the herbal use is related in some way to the energetic use of the same plant.

Though they most certainly can heal major physical ailments over time, the most pronounced effects of flower remedies come when used for emotional, spiritual and psychological healing.

I have used them for psychic development, youthfulness and vitality, all with great results. They have been prescribed with positive effect for depression, self-esteem, bravery and stronger will power.

The flower remedy treatment formula, usually a combination essence made specifically for the ailments and needs of the client based on their own answers to some brief questions, can be mixed using a variety of intuitive and research methods.

My general approach is to read the clients answers, get a sense of appropriate remedies based on my own personal experience and then to channel additional suggestions for remedies from my guides.

The end result is a subtle but highly attuned energy essence that benefits the whole person as opposed to focusing narrowly on one desired outcome. This is most beneficial since sickness creates many locales of imbalance and does not operate solely on the element or “symptom” that we have come to notice in ourself.

Flower remedies can also be taken as a solo essence, right from the original dosage bottle. This helps to treat more acute symptoms that come on more suddenly or have built up to an unmanageable level over time.

I have used this single remedy approach quite successfully on myself for treating a feeling of getting old, getting more tired and feeling less energy. Within just a few days that shine in my eyes had returned and my skin looked younger. The essence was Elderflower.

I have also seen this method used for swollen joints, arthritis, stress and panic attacks.

By locating a flower essence practitioner you can get access to your own custom blend of flower remedy, designed to alleviate long-term illness and readjust hormone, energy and mental imbalances in order to bring you to your best possible health.

Please consider doing some research yourself on these wonderful healing essences, the gifts of the universe for our souls. Please incorporate them into your life however you can for I truly believe that healing is meant to be subtle and natural, not harsh and chemical.

Best of Health to You All!

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
~ George Washington Carver, American Scientist, Inventor and Educator

It is certain that we all have our bad days. Even the most enlightened of people can sometimes feel a lack of energy and be overwhelmed by the external reality of this world.

In these times we, as individuals, often wish for just one soothing moment, just an hour or two of peace and quiet.

Seeking outside of ourselves for security or happiness is, of course, not going to help us find it.

We certainly can only find lasting security, happiness and peace within our own spirits.

But the environment that we find ourselves in can often make it either easier, or more difficult, to achieve connection with our spirit.

When we strip away all the flash, the lights, the mechanical noises, the social pressures and the workload, what truth are we left with? The truth that we are all natural beings.

In this truth can be found the answer to that unknown longing which we, as seekers on a spiritual path, can feel tugging from within us, but cannot seem to put into words.

We miss our daily connection with nature.

It seems so simple, and may not immediately appear to be at all helpful. But in our moments of stress, illness, doubt, sadness and lethargy, we can indeed once again be filled with simple goodness. And the prescription is not a chemical one at all.

Get yourself out amongst nature.

I kid you not, it works! Even if you have to get in the car, or on the bus, and drive to nature. Do it!

Go alone or take your dog, but don’t bring another person with you all the time. Other people talk, other people enable us to keep our masks on. What we are going for is silence, room to think, complete freedom of self.

It doesn’t matter if you go for a hike in the mountains, a stroll in the park, a slow meander along the lake shore or a bike ride across the mesa. The location isn’t the point.

The breeze, the birds, the cool air, the tickling grass and the tallest tree…these are the point. Feeling the slow, beautiful and seemingly purposeless rhythm of nature is what helps reconnect you.

The air that you breath will seem more energizing, and the worries that you carry will seem less heavy, less real.

Being silent, in nature, is a meditation. I would argue that it is often the most powerful kind, for it feeds both your body and your spirit. Now that is a lovely balance.

Everyday I feel extremely blessed that my current home is so close to open fields and tall hills, that there is a bike trail nearby and mild weather most days. This has not always been the case, and yet I was always willing to drive far afield to reach somewhere natural and beautiful. No matter the weather, our true place as creatures of the planet Earth is out in nature.

Today, if you do nothing else for yourself, take a walk under that tree or up that hill. You’ll be glad that you did.

Blessings!

“They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of him as somewhat of a recluse.”
~Emily Dickinson, 19th-Century American Poetess

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This article is a repost from our old blog – originally dated April 2008.
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Today started out quite foggy and dreary, but now it seems to be brightening and drying up.

I don’t know how long this buzz will last, so I will take this opportunity to write a post about what I have recently been observing.

~

So many people, myself included, spend a great deal of their spiritual life or spiritual intentions attempting to find a connection with God, the Creator, the Divine One. We look for it outside of ourself, we expect and hope for grace and guidance to come TO us.

For some religions GOD is something that one must earn, something that one attains at the end of life. GOD is something that you must believe in, dedicate to and look for. GOD wants you to teach others to believe in him, to bring others to the path of seeking for him as well.

But God exists for you, already, within yourself. SO that is the only place that we can and should cultivate our connection.

But by its nature, the Creator is in all things. You are now, and have always been, God. God is in you and is in me. The oneness of all creation never ceases, not for one moment, no matter the circumstances.

The beauty of creation (ie. All that the creator has created) is that it is limitless. Creation has all possibility, there is no limitation to the forms that it may take.

I feel this truth acutely today. How the beauty and magic of existence is equal in both the flower and the thorn, in both the new leaf of this springtime and the old dried leaves of autumns past.

The death and the birth are equally magnificent, possessing equal mystery and magic. For without the one, there could not be the other. There could not be constant birth, for we live on a limited plane, a planet that is not ever-spacious. Thus death is equally beautiful. The magic of creation is the balance in all things. God’s loving creation, the true nature of the Creator, is present in ALL, whether light or dark.

We may perceive one set of creations as being more positive or more valuable than others, but this is only our perception, not necessarily a truth.

Both the water and the plastic bottle in which it is carried are a beautiful creation of God. They are equally amazing and loving in their existence despite any attributes that they may or may not possess. Goodness and Godness are the same thing, and all is of God.

So, if God is in all things equally, without exception, it is not wrong to say that you are God, as am I.

We are all of the same Creator. You and I, the flowers and the thorns, the dog and his feces, the mosquito and any disease that it may carry, the clouds and the sun.

Owing to this knowledge that the perceived attributes, behaviors and thoughts of a person or thing can never diminish the true Godhood that it possesses, it must be true that no action or thought, feeling or mistake that you ever make can diminish your true divine nature.

You are good. You are God. That makes you divinely good, no matter what.

Let yourself embrace both the vastness and the simplicity of this reality.

In speaking it we can feel the inner truth of it and begin to let go of the pain and heaviness that we have carried with us for so long in our hearts and minds.

At every moment your inner nature is one of divine goodness, even should you choose to act in a way that you or others perceive as not good.

Accepting your innate goodness, bestowed upon you by your very creation and existence, allows you to put down all of the collected “badness” that you have carried. You no longer have to accept that “badness” as who you are. It is simply what you have done or experienced, or what others have done and experienced, but it is not a living “thing” that you must tend to and care for. You are not required to carry it with you and make it your own.

Our badness, or our conception of our badness, is merely an energy. It has been attached to us only by our acceptance of its truth. When we realize that the ultimate truth is that of our divine goodness, we may see the untruth of our continued badness and be freed of its burden.

Like both the flower and the thorn, our true inner self as well as our outward actions and experiences are divine.

I am beginning to integrate this understanding into my view of myself and my purpose and to train my Ego-mind to treat me as a divine spirit instead of a collection of actions and thoughts.

You are welcome to accept the same process yourselves.

Blessings.

“So as long as a person is capable of self-renewal, they are a living being.”
~Henri Frederic Amiel, 1821-1881, Swiss Poet & Philosopher

With the birds chirping outside and the cool, yet sunny days growing longer, it is not difficult to appreciate the beauty of the springtime. The tulips poke their heads up through the ground, the squirrels and birds return to their business and the deep snows melt away. Still, spring is even more powerful than its inspiring visions of colorful flowers and running streams.

Spring carries with it a very unique energy, burgeoning with the buzz of renewal. Renewal, or to make all things new again, is a sacred energy, one that life could not continue without. The circle of life, so sacred to the belief structures of many cultures, would be an incomplete circle, and therefore not a continuous cycle, without the renewal, the rebirth.

How many times have we each wished that we could start things over again? Wished that we could have fresh energy or undo the mistakes or simply be young again? Well, spring is your time!

Though we may not know it, living in our fast-paced modern world, humans do enter a phase that is similar to hibernation during the winter months. Our energy gets lower, our bodies get looser, our sleep gets longer. With the natural return of the sun, spring begins the cycle of awakening, and thus renewal. We can embrace that energy and awaken feeling freshened, full of energy and ideas.

A very simple way of getting a little bit of this springtime energy into your soul is to go out and be in it and work with spring at its own level. Spring is the beginning, so try getting outside close to dawn, if possible. Put on a thick sweater, take a thermos of hot tea and walk out in your yard or garden or in a local park. Get down close to the ground and look at the plants just pushing up through the soil. Grab a rake and clean up some of last autumn’s and winter’s debris. Don some garden gloves and plant some new seedlings to harvest later in the year. By working, as the springtime does, to renew the Earth and take in its changes, you will be embracing the same type of growth and renewal for your own life.

Of course, in embracing this energy, it is important to know that nature’s cycles can be both gentle and violent. It is not experienced the same by every one of her creatures. Sometimes the flower that pushes up through the soil will tear up a wide swath of ground with its force, leaving the place looking ragged and unkempt, until the blossom finally beautifies all with its glorious color and scent. Perhaps you may have a sweet and flowing journey through your time of renewal, while I may experience explosive change and a sense of confusion or regret. That is the gamble that we all take in renewing ourselves, in beginning again.

Though change is never easy, it promises the excitement of the unknown, the opportunity to keep learning and growing. Just as the new seedlings in the spring must first push their way through the hard, cold ground before they can grow tall and blossom.

Like it or not, at times we all reach a point of stagnation in our lives, when we can’t seem to go forward or backward. This can be the death of us, whether of our hope, our health, our faith or our relationships. In such situations we often cannot see the need for change in ourselves, or we cannot see the way of making it happen. We look outside of ourselves for an answer, even just a subtle push. The springtime is nature’s season for giving that subtle push, though our personal season of renewal can come at any time, in any month of the year.

Spring has been the harbinger of changes to come since before mankind walked this Earth. It has been worshipped as sacred, as the time of the new dawn, by countless cultures and religions, both ancient and modern. It is worth pausing to reflect on this time of renewal while it is happening around you. Let spring fill you up with hope, for spring is an energy which never looks backward or allows regrets. Spring is the looking forward, the building up, and it is filled with optimism and promise.

The groves were God’s first temples.

~William Cullen Bryant, “A Forest Hymn”

A tree is an interesting entity in the realm of creation and in the realm of nature. It is a living being, an energy form that, more than any another, records within itself the knowledge and history of its surrounding environment.

A tree begins from seed, embodied within which is its own original energy. But then it amasses its self and its mature energy from the environment around it.

The trees are the books of time, just as their wood may provide fodder for the books of mankind, so, too, does the environment provide fodder for the books of the trees. The trees are like braille waiting to be read, like a musical recording waiting to be played.

The trees are all-absorbing, whether good or bane, and do not judge what is to be left behind or discarded from what is to be retained and preserved. The trees stand for lengths of time, comparable, but often longer and more robust than those stood by man.

Just as the tree’s rings can be read to discern the history of the environment and the weather patterns, so, too, can the tree’s energy be read to discern the history of human development in their life spans and even before, as they are informed by the ancient dirt from which they grow. Ask a tree on a battlefield for the truth of the battle, ask a tree on a Lovers Lane the truth of romances past.

The trees are impartial, but feeling, taking their very bark and internal fluid of life from the air, ground, rain and energy of the living environment around them. Many annals of human life are recorded within the sentient and sacred trees.

So it is that the scrolls of the Akashic can often be more easily touched in this world and on this plane by the simple knowing of a tree, ancient and wise.

A tree meditation:

Place oneself at the foot of an ancient tree, whether physically or mentally.

Begin with slow, deep breaths.

Do not focus on the world outside, but, instead, close one’s eyes and follow the path of the breath as it rushes into the mouth, flows down the throat and fills the lungs. Follow its swirl there and its easy and cleansing path back out from within.

Do this several times until you feel yourself calmed and focused.

Lean back against the literal or metaphorical tree which you have chosen.

Tune in and feel its energy mingle with yours, acceptingly and peacefully, without expectation.

Imagine yourself to have roots, growing from your bottom and reaching into the rich, fertile ground of Mother Earth.

Feel, at the same time, ethereal roots of sparkling energy extended from the top of your head and connectimg you with the bright, spiritual ground of the cosmos above you.

Breath deep and let the energy from each flow through you to meet one another at your core.

Use this conduit to pull energy from above and pass it through to the roots below.

Do the same again, pulling energy from the roots below and passing it through to the etehreal roots above.

Say aloud: As above, so below.

Feel yourself to be one with the tree, you within it and it within you.

Say words of welcome and words of greeting to the tree.

Give it honor for its beauty and strength.

Now, having reached a balance with this living tree creature, you are free to ask it questions.

Trees are more apt to answer questions about the self, the wise path, about energy work and about the human past, specifically the human connection to the divine.

When you have finished your tree work, thank your sibling tree for its wisdoms and energy.

Ask it if you may come to it again another time. Give it honor and say your farewells.

Breath deep and balance in your center.

As you are breathing in, see your roots being drawn back down from above and carrying their energy back into your self.

Do the same for the roots below.

When you are whole and contained again, balance your inner self and then stand.

Leave a gift at the base of the tree. (You may do this by pouring a glass of water or leaving a strand of your own hair as a token of kinship and of thanks.)

For a little bit of inspiration and some great visuals of ancient trees, try either of the following fantastic books:Remarkable Trees of the World or Tree: A New Vision of the American Forest.

Blessings to you all!

~Vera Nadine