Welcome to Walk withTrees, an initiative Devoted to plants!
Your support will help our invaluable work of raising awareness as well as planting and preserving our beautiful plant friends.
If you visit this page regularly you will find nature articles exploring different landscapes and the plants, trees and wildlife that live within them from city scapes to ancient woodlands and chalk downlands.
Sit back and give yourself the gift of immersing in the beauty of Nature.
Bright Blessings, Jonathon Huet.
For our most up to date articles join our mailing list and become a patron to support our work
Your support will help our invaluable work of raising awareness as well as planting and preserving our beautiful plant friends.
If you visit this page regularly you will find nature articles exploring different landscapes and the plants, trees and wildlife that live within them from city scapes to ancient woodlands and chalk downlands.
Sit back and give yourself the gift of immersing in the beauty of Nature.
Bright Blessings, Jonathon Huet.
For our most up to date articles join our mailing list and become a patron to support our work
Plant Profiles
Please click on the images below for our native plant profiles which I will add to over time.
I hope you enjoy the plants and I am open to your suggestions of profiles on other British Native Species.
nature connection course- please scroll down.
'O the prickly sow thistle that grew in the hollow of the near field I used it as a high jump coming home in the evenings.
A hurdle race over the puce blossoms of the sow thistle.'
Patrick Kavanagh
A simple common plant has the ability to awaken a joy within us, there is no need for a new system, there is no need to go on a retreat and live in the wilds on nuts and berries, you simply just need to 'Be'.
This course will provide an in-depth source of plant knowledge and access to many techniques for nature connection but ultimately all you need to do is to create the time to allow the magic to happen.
I have designed the course so that it is clear for absolute beginners as well as in-depth enough for those of you who have an established practice or already have a working knowledge of nature. This is deliberately so to encourage a connection which is not based on any progressive model where we have advanced practitioners.
You do not need to be a master Shaman or Tracker or meditate for hours on end to connect with nature. You do not need to live in the wilderness or come from a lineage of Seers. You are already enough just as you are, wherever you live and however you spend your time.
A hurdle race over the puce blossoms of the sow thistle.'
Patrick Kavanagh
A simple common plant has the ability to awaken a joy within us, there is no need for a new system, there is no need to go on a retreat and live in the wilds on nuts and berries, you simply just need to 'Be'.
This course will provide an in-depth source of plant knowledge and access to many techniques for nature connection but ultimately all you need to do is to create the time to allow the magic to happen.
I have designed the course so that it is clear for absolute beginners as well as in-depth enough for those of you who have an established practice or already have a working knowledge of nature. This is deliberately so to encourage a connection which is not based on any progressive model where we have advanced practitioners.
You do not need to be a master Shaman or Tracker or meditate for hours on end to connect with nature. You do not need to live in the wilderness or come from a lineage of Seers. You are already enough just as you are, wherever you live and however you spend your time.
Stage 1 : Let us begin....
Am I late? Am I tired?
Is my heart still sealed from the ravening passion that will eat it out till not one pure moment is left?
Patrick Kavanagh
Is my heart still sealed from the ravening passion that will eat it out till not one pure moment is left?
Patrick Kavanagh
STep 1 - Creating time and space
Please read through all the steps at least once before implementing them and keep re-reading the steps until you are familiar with all of them.
In order for Nature connection to be a part of your life it has to be a daily and eventually a constant process in the same way that we need food, drink and sleep. It is a natural part of who we are and all that is needed is to firstly create a space and a time where you will not be disturbed. Initially this may be just ten minutes a day and can be lengthened accordingly.
This can happen in a small room or a small space within a room in the centre of a busy city. I live in a one bed roomed flat in the centre of Brighton, being a morning person my time is early morning before my partner awakes. It could be in the evening or during the day, the important part is not being disturbed.
This does not sound as glorious as living in the wilds or going on a mountain retreat but a deep connection to nature is not dependent on dramatic or temporary solutions but simply in creating the space for that one pure moment that can infiltrate your entire life.
Due to the fact we are encouraging a connection to your native soil and plants the process will involve heading to your local countryside, park or even nearest grass verge, it is important the process is as regular and accessible as possible to all who wish to make that connection.
A trip to a wilderness area of course will be a wonderful way to top up and reflect but to then bring that experience into your daily life is the essence of this course.
In order for Nature connection to be a part of your life it has to be a daily and eventually a constant process in the same way that we need food, drink and sleep. It is a natural part of who we are and all that is needed is to firstly create a space and a time where you will not be disturbed. Initially this may be just ten minutes a day and can be lengthened accordingly.
This can happen in a small room or a small space within a room in the centre of a busy city. I live in a one bed roomed flat in the centre of Brighton, being a morning person my time is early morning before my partner awakes. It could be in the evening or during the day, the important part is not being disturbed.
This does not sound as glorious as living in the wilds or going on a mountain retreat but a deep connection to nature is not dependent on dramatic or temporary solutions but simply in creating the space for that one pure moment that can infiltrate your entire life.
Due to the fact we are encouraging a connection to your native soil and plants the process will involve heading to your local countryside, park or even nearest grass verge, it is important the process is as regular and accessible as possible to all who wish to make that connection.
A trip to a wilderness area of course will be a wonderful way to top up and reflect but to then bring that experience into your daily life is the essence of this course.
Step 2 - Find a sacred text
This sudden splash into pure wildness--baptism in Nature's warm heart-- how utterly happy it made us! Nature streaming into us, wooingly teaching her wonderful glowing lessons... Here without knowing it we still were at school; every wild lesson a love lesson, not whipped but charmed into us.
Young hearts, young leaves, flowers, animals, the winds and the streams and the sparkling lake, all wildly, gladly rejoicing together!
John Muir
Young hearts, young leaves, flowers, animals, the winds and the streams and the sparkling lake, all wildly, gladly rejoicing together!
John Muir
Nature connection and indeed any spiritual endeavour is personal to you, it is what resonates with you and cannot be prescribed by anyone else. In all traditions you have sacred texts, in the earlier traditions they are oral and remembered rather than written down. I have found the amalgamation of written texts with oral traditions is a potent mix to instigate Nature Connection.
The chanting or recital of sacred texts from a book is an age old practice of focusing the mind and as the text is memorised it becomes a part of you. It is important the text that you choose resonates with your inner being. You will know if it is the right text for you by reading it aloud with feeling.
Notice if it invokes anything within you. Do you feel more peaceful or alive? If to start with it is an intellectual appreciation then that will be enough. We are all different, there are no prescribed rules, there is no rush and nothing to achieve, just enjoy, play and explore!
You may wish to start by reading the opening text above aloud which was written by John Muir, a pioneer of wilderness protection who was immersed in Nature Connection.
The chanting or recital of sacred texts from a book is an age old practice of focusing the mind and as the text is memorised it becomes a part of you. It is important the text that you choose resonates with your inner being. You will know if it is the right text for you by reading it aloud with feeling.
Notice if it invokes anything within you. Do you feel more peaceful or alive? If to start with it is an intellectual appreciation then that will be enough. We are all different, there are no prescribed rules, there is no rush and nothing to achieve, just enjoy, play and explore!
You may wish to start by reading the opening text above aloud which was written by John Muir, a pioneer of wilderness protection who was immersed in Nature Connection.
step 3- Connect to your inner landscape
Sit in a comfortable upright position on a chair or on the floor in your designated area where you will not be disturbed.
Begin by reciting your sacred text, feel free to use the John Muir quote above which I have found very effective.
Recite your text with focus and feeling being aware of any sensations and feelings arising in your body.
After your recital simply sit and breathe quietly focusing on peace and a connection with yourself and nature. This is your time, give yourself permission to indulge in this space where no demands or pressures are being put upon you.
Visualise a landscape you are familiar with, breathe quietly and make it as real as possible. If your mind is busy please do not worry just focus back on the breathe and a love for nature.
Imagine sitting on nature's floor whether it be a woodland or meadow, feel the texture of the ground, imagine the scents, the bird song and the extravagant outpouring of plant beauty. Just be still and quiet and give yourself this time of peace. Relax.
Begin by reciting your sacred text, feel free to use the John Muir quote above which I have found very effective.
Recite your text with focus and feeling being aware of any sensations and feelings arising in your body.
After your recital simply sit and breathe quietly focusing on peace and a connection with yourself and nature. This is your time, give yourself permission to indulge in this space where no demands or pressures are being put upon you.
Visualise a landscape you are familiar with, breathe quietly and make it as real as possible. If your mind is busy please do not worry just focus back on the breathe and a love for nature.
Imagine sitting on nature's floor whether it be a woodland or meadow, feel the texture of the ground, imagine the scents, the bird song and the extravagant outpouring of plant beauty. Just be still and quiet and give yourself this time of peace. Relax.
Summaries and Resources for stage 1
You have now created a time and space to connect with nature on a daily basis, this discipline is not to be underestimated. This focused practice will be a support for you when life is difficult. It will be a key to unlock many inner treasures that will keep you steady and able to cope more effectively with life's challenges.
There will be days when you do not feel so connected and times when you feel you need more. Nature connection is simple, it is your innate ability to feel joy and take it into your life.
If you are an experienced meditator simply sit for longer and make the landscape more real using your inner senses and if you are used to chanting or reciting texts expand your repertoire and repeat it throughout the day.
Explore the writings of John Muir and poets such as William Blake, John Keats and John Clare. The sacred texts available from Western mystics is inexhaustible, profound and effective. If you need more suggestions please feel free to get in touch and once you feel ready move on to Stage 2.
There will be days when you do not feel so connected and times when you feel you need more. Nature connection is simple, it is your innate ability to feel joy and take it into your life.
If you are an experienced meditator simply sit for longer and make the landscape more real using your inner senses and if you are used to chanting or reciting texts expand your repertoire and repeat it throughout the day.
Explore the writings of John Muir and poets such as William Blake, John Keats and John Clare. The sacred texts available from Western mystics is inexhaustible, profound and effective. If you need more suggestions please feel free to get in touch and once you feel ready move on to Stage 2.
stage 2: Meet new friends
Always fond of flowers, attracted by their external beauty and purity. Now my eyes were opened to their inner beauty, all alike revealing glorious traces of the thoughts of God, and leading on and on into the infinite cosmos....
my eyes never closed on the plant glory I had seen.
John Muir
my eyes never closed on the plant glory I had seen.
John Muir
The next stage is to connect more intimately with the plants themselves. Once you are familiar with your meditation practice you will begin to recognise when you feel connected. My experience is when I breathe I feel a peaceful joy flowing through my body which can be quite a subtle or a more dramatic feeling. This same sensation arises when we feel love for a person, place or thing. If we can hold that experience without needing to do anything with it we are connected in a place beyond desire, this is the ideal state to connect with nature, it is that simple.
'I jump over them and rub them with my hands.
And when a free moment appears brand new and spacious where I may live beyond the reach of desire.'
Patrick Kavanagh
And when a free moment appears brand new and spacious where I may live beyond the reach of desire.'
Patrick Kavanagh
step 1 - Approach the threshold
Please read through all the steps at least once before implementing them and keep re-reading the steps until you are familiar with them all.
On a country walk or in a city park you may have a favourite place. It might be where two trees frame the landscape or where the river meets the land or where suddenly and gloriously the landscape unfolds. This favourite spot if approached with focus as a threshold will enable a Nature Connection to take place, the same connection that you have been building in your meditation practice. As you walk to your favourite place greet it as you would an old friend, approach the place in a slow, peaceful and aware state and feel your connection with it. Each time you visit approach it as a threshold for your own personal connection to nature.
On a country walk or in a city park you may have a favourite place. It might be where two trees frame the landscape or where the river meets the land or where suddenly and gloriously the landscape unfolds. This favourite spot if approached with focus as a threshold will enable a Nature Connection to take place, the same connection that you have been building in your meditation practice. As you walk to your favourite place greet it as you would an old friend, approach the place in a slow, peaceful and aware state and feel your connection with it. Each time you visit approach it as a threshold for your own personal connection to nature.
step 2 - 'Seeing the plant'
Once you have arrived at your favourite place and approached it as a threshold you can then observe your surroundings. Allow yourself to be drawn to one of the trees or plants. Approach it as you would a shy child or a wild animal with awareness and care.
Soak in its external form and beauty and then allow time for its inner essence to be known.
If it is a tree you may wish to touch its bark and feel its texture and colour. If it's a plant you can touch its leaves and admire its form.
Please note if you have handled the plant please make sure you wash your hands before eating or touching yourself or anyone else and do not touch the sap.
When you are ready, sit with it and just be. Enjoy its company and meditate. This is all that is needed.
Soak in its external form and beauty and then allow time for its inner essence to be known.
If it is a tree you may wish to touch its bark and feel its texture and colour. If it's a plant you can touch its leaves and admire its form.
Please note if you have handled the plant please make sure you wash your hands before eating or touching yourself or anyone else and do not touch the sap.
When you are ready, sit with it and just be. Enjoy its company and meditate. This is all that is needed.
Step 3 - Gratitude
'Succumb to warmth in the heart where divine fire glows.'
John O'Donohue
John O'Donohue
After you have spent time with the tree or plant, simply rise slowly and before moving away, feel an appreciation and warmth in your heart.
You can then leave an offering such as clean water, a little soil or a sacred biodegradable item.
If it feels right and you can then pick a leaf or piece of bark to take back with you. At home you can connect with your new found friend by holding a part of it when you meditate.
This process can be continued with numerous 'plant people'. It is important you honour each plant and not rush to the next or miss out any of the steps presented here. Enjoy, be prayerful as well as playful.
You can then leave an offering such as clean water, a little soil or a sacred biodegradable item.
If it feels right and you can then pick a leaf or piece of bark to take back with you. At home you can connect with your new found friend by holding a part of it when you meditate.
This process can be continued with numerous 'plant people'. It is important you honour each plant and not rush to the next or miss out any of the steps presented here. Enjoy, be prayerful as well as playful.
SUMMARIES AND RESOURCES FOR STAGE 2
'I knew them all by insight long before I knew their names, we were in love before being introduced.'
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh
This simple three step process will create a deep lasting relationship with any tree or plant and can also be applied to any rock, stone or grain of soil.
Please also note this process can happen wherever plants grow including an inner city area on a grass verge, garden or even where plants are growing through concrete.
Still approach the area as a threshold and follow all the steps provided. Meeting plants in this way will bring many benefits and is the first step to working with them. It is important you enjoy them as they are without necessarily knowing their names and uses.
In the next stage we will begin to identify the plants which will enable us to explore their history and uses. If you already know your plants then you will still benefit from approaching them as new friends and can develop an ever deepening relationship with them by going back to basics.
Please also note this process can happen wherever plants grow including an inner city area on a grass verge, garden or even where plants are growing through concrete.
Still approach the area as a threshold and follow all the steps provided. Meeting plants in this way will bring many benefits and is the first step to working with them. It is important you enjoy them as they are without necessarily knowing their names and uses.
In the next stage we will begin to identify the plants which will enable us to explore their history and uses. If you already know your plants then you will still benefit from approaching them as new friends and can develop an ever deepening relationship with them by going back to basics.
STAGE 3: Identifying plants
‘So extravagant is nature with her choicest treasures, spending plant beauty as spends sunshine, pouring it forth into land and sea, garden and desert. And so the beauty of lilies falls on angels and men, bears and squirrels. wolves and sheep, birds and bees...’
John Muir
John Muir
Once you have got to know your plants without expectations and without factual knowledge you may then wish to research your new friends. This stage deals with plant identification which can be done along a verge, in a park or even looking through cracks in the pavement as well as in more rural areas. If you cannot get out at the moment you could study this material for when you get a chance to collect some plants. In the next Stage we shall bring the plants to you!
STEP 1 - Classification
‘Let me not moralise or have remorse for these names purify a corner of my mind!’
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh
The above extract from Patrick Kavanagh’s poem ‘On reading a book on wildflowers’ addresses the usefulness of classification, for although in another verse he states that he loved them before knowing their names, here he reminds us of the delight of a closer acquaintance.
In the same way we can create more intimacy with the landscape when we name its features, the same can be said about knowing plant names. It also enables one to discover more about the plant by cross referencing not only books but also other people’s experiences. Latin then becomes a universal language understood across many cultures and countries to deepen our connection to the kingdom of plants.
In the same way we can create more intimacy with the landscape when we name its features, the same can be said about knowing plant names. It also enables one to discover more about the plant by cross referencing not only books but also other people’s experiences. Latin then becomes a universal language understood across many cultures and countries to deepen our connection to the kingdom of plants.
Plants are classified according to their botanical features. The first division is between vascular plants that have the vascular tissues of xylem and phloem and non-vascular plants which are without a vascular system consisting of xylem and phloem. Although non-vascular plants lack these particular tissues, they may possess simpler tissues that are specialised for the internal transport of water. Examples of non-vascular plants are mosses, liverworts and some algae. Lichen is also non-vascular but is strictly speaking not a plant as it is part-fungus.
Plants are also divided by whether they use spores or seeds to reproduce (see diagram above). The seed producing plants are the flowering species which began to dominate in the Cretaceous period around 125 million years ago giving rise to the huge animals of this time. Insects evolved alongside these plants forging a very special relationship of mutual benefit. Without plants oxygen would not be available in the biosphere so the existence of all aerobic (oxygen dependent) life forms owe their existence to plants!
The seed bearing or flowering plants are then divided into angiosperms with enclosed seeds and gymnosperms which have naked seeds.
The angiosperms are then divided into monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The monocotyledons when they germinate have one seed leaf and often have elongated stalk-less leaves with parallel veins. The grasses, irises, and lilies are monocotyledons. The Dicotyledons are the bigger group which have two seed leaves when they germinate and often the mature leaves are broad and stalked with net-like veins such as the roses, daisies and oaks.
These are then further divided into families to which we have 91 in the UK and over 600 worldwide. The family a plant is put into is decided through the process of morphology which looks at the structure, shape and the number of plant parts. This means within the same family you may have trees, shrubs or plants that all share common features. For instance, in the rose family as well as roses you have the hawthorn tree, bramble, raspberries and small plants such as tormentil and silverweed.
Within the families you then will have the genus which is a much smaller group such as types of chickweeds for instance. The common chickweed’s family is Caryophyllaceae or the pink family. The chickweed’s Latin name is Stellaria media. The first part of the name is its genus and the second part tells us the actual species rather than a grouping. Some species may have further divisions categorised as sub-species or varieties which are only slightly different from the main species.
Here are some examples of key families in the UK:
Asteraceae - Daisy family - Composites, tiny flowers packed into compound head.
Rosaceae - Rose family - 5 petals and sepals, yellow stamens. Compound fruit.
Caryophyllaceae - Pink family - Stems usually swollen at nodes of opposite pair of usually untoothed/unstalked leaves.
Fabaceae - Pea family - Distinctive 5 petalled flower shape.
Scrophulariaceae - Figwort family - 2 distinct flower types either 2-lipped or 4-5 petals. Capsule fruit.
Brassicaceae - Cabbage family - Annuals/perennials almost all woody, petals arranged crosswise, often six stamens.
Rubiaceae - Bedstraw family - Often climbers with clusters of small flowers with 4 petals.
Apiaceae - Carrot family - Often aromatic with hollow stems, taproots, and flat-topped flower clusters known as umbels.
Lamiaceae - Deadnettle or Mint family - Hairy/downy, annuals/perennials often aromatic or pungent with square stems.
Ranunculaceae - Buttercup family - Many stamens, usually 5 petals or petal-like sepals. Fruit, many separate nutlets or tiny pods.
Geraniaceae - Geranium family - Hairy/downy except shining cranesbill. 5 petalled.
Polygonaceae - Dock and Knotweed family - Sheath at base of leaves forming whitish papery tube around stem at more or less swollen leaf modes.
STEP 2 - Plant identification
How much you wish to go into this is up to the individual. It may be that you start by simply matching the colours and shapes of flowers and leaves with pictures in books. A simple identification book with colour pictures or drawings may suffice in order to get you started. Sometimes looking at children’s books can be a good stepping stone along the way.
I cannot stress enough that unless you are an expert and can identify the plants 100% and understand their chemical properties including their long-term effects on the body please do not ingest or apply to the skin without professional help.
However, you do not need to be an expert to identify a few plants but a little knowledge of botany can be useful.
I hope the pictures and terms below will help you along.
I cannot stress enough that unless you are an expert and can identify the plants 100% and understand their chemical properties including their long-term effects on the body please do not ingest or apply to the skin without professional help.
However, you do not need to be an expert to identify a few plants but a little knowledge of botany can be useful.
I hope the pictures and terms below will help you along.
Sepal – The outer parts of the flower (often green and leaf-like) that enclose a developing bud.
Petal – The parts of a flower that are often conspicuously coloured.
Pistil – the female part of the flower located in the centre of the flower
Stigma – the sticky knob at the top of the pistil
Style – also a female part of the flower; the long stalk that supports the stigma
Ovary – usually at the base of the flower; the part of the flower that has the seeds that turn into the fruit that we eat
Ovules – female egg cells located in the ovary
Stamen – the male part of the flower
Anther – produces pollen
What is the Male Part of the Flower?
The “male” part is called the stamen, the part of the flower that produces pollen. It is composed of the filament and the anther.
What is the Female Part of the Flower?
The “female” or seed-bearing part is called the pistil and is composed of the ovary, the stigma, and the style. A flower may have exclusively male parts, exclusively female parts, or commonly, both.
Petal – The parts of a flower that are often conspicuously coloured.
Pistil – the female part of the flower located in the centre of the flower
Stigma – the sticky knob at the top of the pistil
Style – also a female part of the flower; the long stalk that supports the stigma
Ovary – usually at the base of the flower; the part of the flower that has the seeds that turn into the fruit that we eat
Ovules – female egg cells located in the ovary
Stamen – the male part of the flower
Anther – produces pollen
What is the Male Part of the Flower?
The “male” part is called the stamen, the part of the flower that produces pollen. It is composed of the filament and the anther.
What is the Female Part of the Flower?
The “female” or seed-bearing part is called the pistil and is composed of the ovary, the stigma, and the style. A flower may have exclusively male parts, exclusively female parts, or commonly, both.
The above terms to describe parts of flowers and leaves will equip you with the ability to identify plants more confidentially. Only when you are ready you can start to study keys and characteristics of the plants in a more detailed way. This will help you identify species within the same genus or group such as types of chickweeds as discussed above.
For a more detailed exploration I recommend Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland by Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter.
For a more detailed exploration I recommend Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland by Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter.
STEP 3 - Becoming Familiar
In order to become familiar with a variety of plants I now recommend that each time you connect with a plant you take a book with you and see if you can identify it, looking at the parts of the plant in much more detail. If you cannot get out at the moment you could study this material for when you get a chance to collect some plants.
This detailed observation will also serve to deepen your connection as you begin to appreciate the tiniest of details. At the end of your connection with the plant you can carefully pick a leaf and flower provided you do not damage the plant and it is not the only flower in sight or a rare species.
You can then press the leaves and flower by putting them between some newspaper or similar material and then putting heavy books upon them. You may wish to buy or make a leaf press out of wood. Once the leaves and/or flowers are dry you can stick them in a book with a description of the plant and its common and Latin name. You may wish to write notes about each flower, its uses, folklore and your personal experience of meditating/connecting with it.
The more you repeat the process of noting the leaf shapes and the flower types the sooner you will build up a rapport with many types of plants and begin an inexhaustible journey of plant exploration which will open you up to so much beauty.
This detailed observation will also serve to deepen your connection as you begin to appreciate the tiniest of details. At the end of your connection with the plant you can carefully pick a leaf and flower provided you do not damage the plant and it is not the only flower in sight or a rare species.
You can then press the leaves and flower by putting them between some newspaper or similar material and then putting heavy books upon them. You may wish to buy or make a leaf press out of wood. Once the leaves and/or flowers are dry you can stick them in a book with a description of the plant and its common and Latin name. You may wish to write notes about each flower, its uses, folklore and your personal experience of meditating/connecting with it.
The more you repeat the process of noting the leaf shapes and the flower types the sooner you will build up a rapport with many types of plants and begin an inexhaustible journey of plant exploration which will open you up to so much beauty.
SUMMARIES AND RESOURCES FOR STAGE 3
‘The whole landscape showed design, like man’s noblest sculptures. How wonderful the power of its beauty! Gazing awe stricken, I might have left everything for it. Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.’
John Muir
As already mentioned it is your choice as to how much work you which to put into this stage as the subject is inexhaustible. Most good wildflower identification books will have keys for identification and glossaries for botanical terms. As with all the steps the key is to enjoy and not rush for results. I feel it is better to be familiar with a few local species than to rush to the next species and miss out on the gifts each plant can bestow. Cross referencing books can be helpful and of course local experts will help considerably.
In the next stage we will begin to look even more deeply at the individual plants and the themes they present to us, bringing the plants to you!
John Muir
As already mentioned it is your choice as to how much work you which to put into this stage as the subject is inexhaustible. Most good wildflower identification books will have keys for identification and glossaries for botanical terms. As with all the steps the key is to enjoy and not rush for results. I feel it is better to be familiar with a few local species than to rush to the next species and miss out on the gifts each plant can bestow. Cross referencing books can be helpful and of course local experts will help considerably.
In the next stage we will begin to look even more deeply at the individual plants and the themes they present to us, bringing the plants to you!
STAGE 4: Awakening your inner senses
‘No pain here, no dull empty hours, no fear of the past, no fear of the future.
So compactly filled with God’s beauty, no petty personal hope or experience has room to be.
Drinking this champagne water is pure pleasure, so is breathing the living air, and every movement of the limbs is pleasure, while the whole body seems to feel beauty when exposed to it, entering not by eyes alone but equally through all one’s flesh like radiant heat, making a passionate ecstatic pleasure glow not explainable. ’
John Muir
The passage above adequately describes a nature connection, a place where we can be held and a state where we no longer indulge our worries but instead replace them with a deep satisfying feeling of non-duality.
So compactly filled with God’s beauty, no petty personal hope or experience has room to be.
Drinking this champagne water is pure pleasure, so is breathing the living air, and every movement of the limbs is pleasure, while the whole body seems to feel beauty when exposed to it, entering not by eyes alone but equally through all one’s flesh like radiant heat, making a passionate ecstatic pleasure glow not explainable. ’
John Muir
The passage above adequately describes a nature connection, a place where we can be held and a state where we no longer indulge our worries but instead replace them with a deep satisfying feeling of non-duality.
STEP 1 - Exploring states of non- Duality
'Once again do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
Therefore am I still a lover of the meadows and the woods
And mountains; and of all that we behold
From this green earth... '
William Wordsworth
The poet at one time was considered to be of utmost importance, in the Celtic lands it was the poet that was the healer, remembrancer, and guide for our souls. This meant they were often extolled to a kingly status for the soul’s destiny was of far greater importance than our physical achievements. Now for the first time in history the soul is put aside and people tend to focus more on physical achievements and sadly when they are troubled there is no foundation to hold them. If you can access the above state in times of trouble by simply looking at a landscape or plant and then with practice simply by accessing the inner landscape we have already spoken of it is likely you will have a richer, healthier and ultimately fearless life. This state where there is no separation between yourself and all creation is known as non-duality.
This means that this connection known as non-duality cannot be divorced from the physical realm for there is no separation. In order to access this state you need to be absolutely grounded in all realities and therefore it cannot exist as a form of escapism.
The Western mystics, the poets who have an understanding of the workings of the soul present a constant theme to us that illuminates the soul. A simple truth that being in a natural state of non-duality (not an altered state) awakens something ‘bigger’ in ourselves, a something that connects us to all of life from the tinniest grain of sand to the tallest mountains.
‘To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.’
William Blake
The above quote from William Blake summaries with ease this sense of non-duality and demonstrates how the poet’s art still continues to guide our souls. Blake goes on to continue this theme of non-duality in exploring joy and woe.
‘Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine,
Runs a joy with silken twine,
It is right it should be so,
We were made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know,
Through the world we safely go.’
William Blake
I invite you to explore the state of non-duality by meditating on the above quotations and continuing to access the inner landscape discussed at the beginning of this course in stage 1 by following steps 1-3. If you are able to, extend the time of your practice and really allow your inner landscape to come alive in order to experience deeper states of non-duality.
This may happen instantly or may take time. It is enough to just to sit in the same place each day and go through the steps and even if sometimes it feels bland it will be laying a foundation. I still remember my first experience of non-duality nearly 30 years ago, feelings arose in me that were so sublime I wanted to act and hug everyone and I thought I had achieved everything! Of course this was merely a first awakening which needed to be honoured, held and nurtured. There is no end goal but with practice these moments will last longer and longer and become an essential part of one’s life.
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
Therefore am I still a lover of the meadows and the woods
And mountains; and of all that we behold
From this green earth... '
William Wordsworth
The poet at one time was considered to be of utmost importance, in the Celtic lands it was the poet that was the healer, remembrancer, and guide for our souls. This meant they were often extolled to a kingly status for the soul’s destiny was of far greater importance than our physical achievements. Now for the first time in history the soul is put aside and people tend to focus more on physical achievements and sadly when they are troubled there is no foundation to hold them. If you can access the above state in times of trouble by simply looking at a landscape or plant and then with practice simply by accessing the inner landscape we have already spoken of it is likely you will have a richer, healthier and ultimately fearless life. This state where there is no separation between yourself and all creation is known as non-duality.
This means that this connection known as non-duality cannot be divorced from the physical realm for there is no separation. In order to access this state you need to be absolutely grounded in all realities and therefore it cannot exist as a form of escapism.
The Western mystics, the poets who have an understanding of the workings of the soul present a constant theme to us that illuminates the soul. A simple truth that being in a natural state of non-duality (not an altered state) awakens something ‘bigger’ in ourselves, a something that connects us to all of life from the tinniest grain of sand to the tallest mountains.
‘To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.’
William Blake
The above quote from William Blake summaries with ease this sense of non-duality and demonstrates how the poet’s art still continues to guide our souls. Blake goes on to continue this theme of non-duality in exploring joy and woe.
‘Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine,
Runs a joy with silken twine,
It is right it should be so,
We were made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know,
Through the world we safely go.’
William Blake
I invite you to explore the state of non-duality by meditating on the above quotations and continuing to access the inner landscape discussed at the beginning of this course in stage 1 by following steps 1-3. If you are able to, extend the time of your practice and really allow your inner landscape to come alive in order to experience deeper states of non-duality.
This may happen instantly or may take time. It is enough to just to sit in the same place each day and go through the steps and even if sometimes it feels bland it will be laying a foundation. I still remember my first experience of non-duality nearly 30 years ago, feelings arose in me that were so sublime I wanted to act and hug everyone and I thought I had achieved everything! Of course this was merely a first awakening which needed to be honoured, held and nurtured. There is no end goal but with practice these moments will last longer and longer and become an essential part of one’s life.
STEP 2 - Awakening your inner senses
Taliesin a legendary Celtic Bard talks of seven key senses and it is these we shall now explore to aid us in accessing a state of non-duality and deepening our nature connection practice. Taliesin describes them thus:
‘One is for instinct, two is for feeling, three is for tasting, four is for speaking,
five is for hearing, six for seeing, seven is for smelling.’
Song of the Macrocosm from Taliesin by John Matthews.
In spiritual practices all over the world they encourage the Mystic, Yogi, Shaman and in the Celtic ancestry the poet to turn the senses within instead of constantly chasing the urge to experience them in the outer world. I find it exciting that the Western Primal path is encapsulated in the poet as I can see this tradition running through my own land rather than trying to be something I was not born into such as a tribesman in the wilderness.
This means I can be authentic and not feel I have to wear animal skins and to chant in unfamiliar languages in order to experience a connection. Of course, there is nothing wrong in experiencing tribal traditions and enjoying their cultures and if it is done with full honour and respect adopting their belief systems. However, discovering that connection outside one’s own doorstep I have found to be truly nurturing and heart-warming.
‘The silent uprush of sap in plants, storms of every sort, each and all, are the orderly,
beauty-making love-beats of Nature's heart.’
John Muir
So let us explore our connection to nature through the seven senses. The step of ‘seeing the plant’ discussed in stage 2 is thus deepened by turning our senses within as you have already been doing in reading your sacred text and in your meditation practice.
To refine and become even more conscious of the inner process we can apply Taliesin’s advice in the following way when meditating with a plant, tree or even a rock or landscape:
Instinctively what are your impressions of the plant, tree, rock or landscape?
What do you feel as you deepen the connection?
Can you taste its essence? (NOT in a physical sense)
Is it speaking to you? What is it telling you?
Can you hear its voice? Can you write a poem or song about it?
Can you see its essence? What other forms does it take when you gaze upon it with the inner eye?
Can you smell its essence? Does it have an aroma?
Although I have stressed that the sense of taste does not mean in the physical sense this applies to all of the above senses. If at the moment you are unable to get out you can draw upon memories or your inner landscape. The other option is simply to find a plant as you go out for a walk be it in a city or in the countryside. As already mentioned, it is important we take our time with the process, practicing each sense one at a time until we feel comfortable with it. You may naturally experience several of the senses at any one time and eventually all the senses enliven upon approaching nature or your inner landscape. As always, there is no predetermined goal and no aim. You can just allow it to happen or not as your connection is always personal to you!
STEP 3 - Working with plants
The next step is to approach plants through the above process. My suggestion would be to connect with the plant first without doing any research or reading and see what your inner senses perceive.
You may wish to learn more about each plant once you have initially connected with them by clicking on the plant profiles at the beginning of this course.
Please note we will work with key trees in a later stage in the course.
Each plant in the above profiles is explored using poetry, factual information and a practical use.
The plants above are those that I have been drawn to but please feel free to choose your own plants or apply this process to any plant that you meet or have a memory of within.
For instance, if you decide to connect with a plant from your own locality and with a writer/poet that you have an affinity with who helps awaken your inner senses then please do so.
Please pick one plant at a time in any order that you wish and work with it for at least a week, you may stay with it for the month but whatever you decide really honour the qualities of each plant as if it were a dear friend and do not move on until you are ready. Once you have moved on to another species you will of course revisit the previous plant many times. It is said our ancestors would only study one or several key plants in a lifetime!
SUMMARIES AND RESOURCES FOR STAGE 4
In this stage we have covered several in-depth concepts which will be deepened over the coming months and years. Although you may experience non-duality and an enlivening of the inner senses instantly, the process is inexhaustible and as with the identification of plants can be explored for a lifetime. Always remember as soon as you ‘try’ or ‘do’ or think you have ‘mastered’ any of these concepts they will potentially slip away like grains of sand through your fingers. If you remain ‘open’ and ‘humble’, ‘spontaneous’ and in a state of ‘non-doing’ they will infiltrate your life effortlessly. In the next stage we will explore the uses of plants in even more depth.
STage 5 - The qualities of the Plants
In this stage we are going to look at the individual qualities and uses of the plants in more detail to help build confidence in starting to work with individual species. Although we will encourage you to work with the plants directly it is equally beneficial to order the herbs from a herbalist or ethical supplier in order to use them.This means you can leave the plant in position and intact and minimises the risk element when making or using the concoction.
However, before we enter the exciting world of making our own medicine and food, let us first pause, contemplate and explore the beauty of Nature.
However, before we enter the exciting world of making our own medicine and food, let us first pause, contemplate and explore the beauty of Nature.
STEP 1 - Exploring beauty
At the time of writing this many of us have been unable to venture out due to a lock down. If you are able, this is a perfect time to enter the inner landscape. I spent several hours last week reciting the following lines from the writings of John Muir that I shared in the last stage of this course:
‘Drinking this champagne water is pure pleasure, so is breathing the living air, and every movement of the limbs is pleasure while the whole body seems to feel beauty when exposed to it...’
After a little while of reciting the lines I actually felt my body, in fact my entire being come alive. My stiff limbs became more fluid so I started to stretch and I felt beauty permeating every pore of my being- I felt utterly alive!
During this experience I contemplated the power of words. I started the practice of ‘learning my lines’ many years ago as a result of not being able to read notes when I gave a lecture, this inevitably lead on to my skills as an oral storyteller but I soon discovered it was much more than this.
In the Western world we give a lot of focus to the written word and accumulating knowledge with a definite goal of a qualification after our efforts. If we do not then use the knowledge in our chosen profession that knowledge can be lost until we re-visit it.
However, in the oral tradition every word is absorbed one at a time, every sentence contemplated for hours or even days thus giving rise to creative and original thought. The sap of creative thought enables knowledge to penetrate our entire being to feed parts of us that will otherwise wither away like a plant which is over-fed and over- watered.
Therefore, spending hours just learning a few lines enables the words to be assimilated to such a point where one experiences the concept they convey. My feeling is this is more effective when learning lines from a writer who has fully embodied the experience they are conveying.
By learning these few lines I therefore actually tasted the water, breathed the air and experienced the beauty that John Muir spoke of. So simple and yet utterly profound and worthwhile.
In older traditions this is the essence of mantra repetition and the use of sacred texts we have already explored. In the Sanskrit language they say the actual word is not a label but actually IS the very thing it’s referring to. Poetry or contemplative writing I feel from any tradition can give us the very experience of what has been written which is why in the early stages I introduced the concept of using a sacred text.
To continue this theme therefore let us draw upon two other poets that embody beauty in their words:
‘Beauty is never stale; it is never the same. Beauty is always new in every different presence and it quickens distinctively each time.’
John O’Donohue
John Keats continues to expound the virtues of beauty as he states its immortal nature:
‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness..’
John Keats
By contemplating the poems and writings above we can therefore experience beauty which creates a doorway into the inner landscape.
Now enter your inner landscape as in the first stage of this course then use your inner senses as in the last stage of this course and then focus on beauty. This can also be practised with the outer landscape when you get a chance. Simply focus on the landscape and enable its beauty to take you into a deeper state. This is done by just absorbing its beauty, stilling your mind as in meditation and allowing it to happen without forcing it!
STEP 2- INDIVIDUAL BEAUTY
We will now continue to explore the individual qualities of plants alongside their uses. The important element to this work is to continue to meet each plant first before using it, remembering you would never meet a new friend with the objective of how to ‘use them’, you would always first connect with them, then enjoy their company and over time you may skill share. Therefore, let us observe the individual beauty of each plant, then question how you can help it and only then ask how you can use it.
Begin by focusing on the beauty of each plant either using the nine plants provided in the last stage of this course or choosing your own. This creates an opportunity to reconnect with the plants or to continue your studies with them.
As you focus on each plant either in ‘person’ so to speak or through your memories close your eyes and begin to meditate with a focus on soaking in its beauty. After meditation you may wish to pray for the plant and/or leave it an offering.
Begin by focusing on the beauty of each plant either using the nine plants provided in the last stage of this course or choosing your own. This creates an opportunity to reconnect with the plants or to continue your studies with them.
As you focus on each plant either in ‘person’ so to speak or through your memories close your eyes and begin to meditate with a focus on soaking in its beauty. After meditation you may wish to pray for the plant and/or leave it an offering.
STEP 3- Uses of Plants
In this final step we now move into the exciting journey of plant use, I will make some suggestions for each season, it is important as I always stress that you are:
100% confident in identifying the plant and if you have any medical conditions or complaints please check the plants suitability with a qualified herbalist!
Of course, it is perfectly okay to connect with the plant as discussed but then actually purchase the herbs for the suggestions below from a local herbalist or I recommend the company called Tree Harvest which has good ethics and prices!
Tree-Harvest Ltd
The Old Mill
by Umborne Bridge
Dolphin Street
Colyton
EX24 6LU
01297 552977
[email protected]
The main thing is to still honour the plant and to not use it as a commodity.
100% confident in identifying the plant and if you have any medical conditions or complaints please check the plants suitability with a qualified herbalist!
Of course, it is perfectly okay to connect with the plant as discussed but then actually purchase the herbs for the suggestions below from a local herbalist or I recommend the company called Tree Harvest which has good ethics and prices!
Tree-Harvest Ltd
The Old Mill
by Umborne Bridge
Dolphin Street
Colyton
EX24 6LU
01297 552977
[email protected]
The main thing is to still honour the plant and to not use it as a commodity.
Spring tonics- Pictured above left to right cleavers, chickweed, nettle and bittercress.
In the time of spring many wild plants start to grow. I always wonder at the effort one puts into growing early foods in green houses and poly-tunnels etc., which are sometimes heated to help the process. However if you go out on a sunny spring day the so-called weeds are rampant. The cleavers , chickweed, nettle and bittercress pop up in profusion just with a little heat and sun. Simply collect and eat, all of which can be eaten raw when young, it is however very important to watch the sticky hairs on the cleavers as it matures. You can make a herbal infusion especially of cleavers and nettle for a perfect spring tonic.
An infusion is how you make a cup of tea though I would steep the herb for at least 7-8 minutes. For most herbs I would use a heaped teaspoon, if you are using it as a medicine normally the quantity is far greater but we will not be teaching that on this course.
Click on the plant profiles above to find out more of their properties.
In the time of spring many wild plants start to grow. I always wonder at the effort one puts into growing early foods in green houses and poly-tunnels etc., which are sometimes heated to help the process. However if you go out on a sunny spring day the so-called weeds are rampant. The cleavers , chickweed, nettle and bittercress pop up in profusion just with a little heat and sun. Simply collect and eat, all of which can be eaten raw when young, it is however very important to watch the sticky hairs on the cleavers as it matures. You can make a herbal infusion especially of cleavers and nettle for a perfect spring tonic.
An infusion is how you make a cup of tea though I would steep the herb for at least 7-8 minutes. For most herbs I would use a heaped teaspoon, if you are using it as a medicine normally the quantity is far greater but we will not be teaching that on this course.
Click on the plant profiles above to find out more of their properties.
Summer ointments- Pictured above from left to right chickweed, yarrow and cleavers
For skin complaints from eczema and psoriasis to bites and stings make an ointment from chickweed. For healing wounds and inflammations make an ointment from yarrow or plantain. Both these plants can be collected in the spring and summer to make your ointment.
An ointment is made using beeswax and oil. Collect your plant and soak it in a vegetable oil for at least two weeks on a sunny windowsill, conservatory, greenhouse or similar. Strain the herb from the oil and then add some grated or chopped beeswax. The usual amount is 10 – 15 grams of solid beeswax to 100ml of oil, the more beeswax you add the more solid its consistency. Do not boil the oil just gentle heat it. It may be easier to heat the oil in a Bain- Marie which is a pan of hot water in which you place a cooking container to slow cook. The cooking container would have the oil and beeswax in it.
If you do not manage to soak the plant for the two weeks an alternative is to gently heat the fresh herb in the oil and add the beeswax afterwards. The herb would need to be heated in the oil for at least ten minutes and I highly recommend you use a Bain-Marie for this process. Boiled oil will scorch the plant and destroy the healing properties.
Once the beeswax is melted, let it cool a little put it in jars or tins and leave it to cool further until it is set. Make sure you leave the lid off the container until it is set.
For skin complaints from eczema and psoriasis to bites and stings make an ointment from chickweed. For healing wounds and inflammations make an ointment from yarrow or plantain. Both these plants can be collected in the spring and summer to make your ointment.
An ointment is made using beeswax and oil. Collect your plant and soak it in a vegetable oil for at least two weeks on a sunny windowsill, conservatory, greenhouse or similar. Strain the herb from the oil and then add some grated or chopped beeswax. The usual amount is 10 – 15 grams of solid beeswax to 100ml of oil, the more beeswax you add the more solid its consistency. Do not boil the oil just gentle heat it. It may be easier to heat the oil in a Bain- Marie which is a pan of hot water in which you place a cooking container to slow cook. The cooking container would have the oil and beeswax in it.
If you do not manage to soak the plant for the two weeks an alternative is to gently heat the fresh herb in the oil and add the beeswax afterwards. The herb would need to be heated in the oil for at least ten minutes and I highly recommend you use a Bain-Marie for this process. Boiled oil will scorch the plant and destroy the healing properties.
Once the beeswax is melted, let it cool a little put it in jars or tins and leave it to cool further until it is set. Make sure you leave the lid off the container until it is set.
Autumn syrups- Pictured above left to right elderberry, rosehips, hawthorn and blackberry.
Syrups can be made at any time of the year from the dried berries and are a welcome addition to the herbal first aid kit providing vitamin C and building immunity.
For syrups you can use elderberries, rosehips and hawthorn. If you use them fresh they are even better! Elderberries and rosehips can ripen as early as mid-august and hawthorn from September onwards. You could also add blackberries when they are in abundance.
A syrup is made of the berry, water and honey. Simply add your berries whether it be all three together or individually to a pan of water and heat gently for about ten minutes, drain and add a good amount of honey. You can use a similar recipe as you would for making jam and honey could be substituted with sugar which will have a longer shelf life.
I prefer to make several batches one after the other with water and honey which will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Please make sure you drain the berries especially the rosehips as they will irritate your gut. Drain through a muslin cloth which will also enable you to squeeze as much as the juice out as possible.
Syrups can be made at any time of the year from the dried berries and are a welcome addition to the herbal first aid kit providing vitamin C and building immunity.
For syrups you can use elderberries, rosehips and hawthorn. If you use them fresh they are even better! Elderberries and rosehips can ripen as early as mid-august and hawthorn from September onwards. You could also add blackberries when they are in abundance.
A syrup is made of the berry, water and honey. Simply add your berries whether it be all three together or individually to a pan of water and heat gently for about ten minutes, drain and add a good amount of honey. You can use a similar recipe as you would for making jam and honey could be substituted with sugar which will have a longer shelf life.
I prefer to make several batches one after the other with water and honey which will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Please make sure you drain the berries especially the rosehips as they will irritate your gut. Drain through a muslin cloth which will also enable you to squeeze as much as the juice out as possible.
Spring and Winter coffee- Pictured above left to right burdock and dandelion roots.
The time to collect roots is the spring and autumn which can be dried and roasted for the winter months or any other time. My favourite beverage consists of burdock and dandelion root with milk and a sprig of mint.
Collect the roots and dry them. The simplest method to dry most herbs is to put them in a brown bag and then put the bag somewhere warm such as a boiler room or on top of a radiator. You can also dry them on a rack in a warm dry place of your choosing.
Once dried chop the burdock and dandelion up into small pieces. You can then either flash fry them without oil or roast in the oven for about ten minutes on a low setting- please try not to burn them as the taste will change. You are aiming for a dark brown colour and will find the root will be more brittle.
Make the coffee by adding the roots to milk, simmering for a few minutes and then adding a sprig of mint. The roasted dandelion root can just be added to hot water and milk added according to preference. This beverage will help cleanse your system and is excellent for the kidneys and liver.
The time to collect roots is the spring and autumn which can be dried and roasted for the winter months or any other time. My favourite beverage consists of burdock and dandelion root with milk and a sprig of mint.
Collect the roots and dry them. The simplest method to dry most herbs is to put them in a brown bag and then put the bag somewhere warm such as a boiler room or on top of a radiator. You can also dry them on a rack in a warm dry place of your choosing.
Once dried chop the burdock and dandelion up into small pieces. You can then either flash fry them without oil or roast in the oven for about ten minutes on a low setting- please try not to burn them as the taste will change. You are aiming for a dark brown colour and will find the root will be more brittle.
Make the coffee by adding the roots to milk, simmering for a few minutes and then adding a sprig of mint. The roasted dandelion root can just be added to hot water and milk added according to preference. This beverage will help cleanse your system and is excellent for the kidneys and liver.
The pictures above show on the left an alter to the elderflower and on the right a selection of herbs I use in tins.
SUMMARIES AND RESOURCES FOR STAGE 5
Allow yourself to enter into the exciting world of plants.
Here are some recommended herbal teas which you could buy loose at any time of year from a local herbalist or as stated at the beginning of Step 3 I recommend the company tree harvest which has good ethics and prices.
I have selected the following combinations which are wonderful to try and those that I have found to be effective. I cannot stress enough although I recommend them as a tea I ask that you only use them for medicine by a prescribed medical herbalist and if you have any medical conditions please check there use will not interfere with the condition or with any medicine you are taking. As a beverage use a generous teaspoon of the mixture for example if you are using two herbs it would be half a teaspoon each and if you are using three herbs a third of a teaspoon etc..
Elderflower and Rose petals – My favourite tea combining the healing properties of elderflower with the aromatic rose.
Mint and rosehip – A soothing uplifting tea for digestion and good immunity.
Chamomile and elderflower- These two herbs help so many ailments and are a great combination.
Yarrow and vervain – A more bitter tea which helps nervous tension, nerve pain, fevers and colds.
Hawthorn flower or berries- Relaxing soothing tea for insomnia and high blood pressure- do not take if you have low blood pressure.
Lime flowers- A great relaxant and good for digestion.
Nettle- Good for immunity and hay fever (elderflower also helps hay fever).
It is good to try each herb as they are to start with and then if required sweeten with honey which also has many healing properties. Do use a tea strainer or other method to strain the herbs before use.
I really hope you manage to explore the plants and their uses for I know the pleasure and peace that it gives me. Please re-visit all the other stages on this course as remembering to keep connecting with the plants using the various methods we have explored will enhance the process, whether you use a hand lens, make flower and leaf prints or simply soak up their beauty.
The five stages now shared on this course as well as the various links to further articles will provide you with years of learning so do take your time and keep revisiting the stages.
In the next stage we will explore the ecological benefits of plants and connect with the true guardians of the Green world the trees.
Wishing you all a plant- filled month!
STAGE 6- THE WILD WOOD

STEP 1- LET’S ENTER THE WOODS
Now you have reached the half way point in the course although many of the stages so far could be tackled over years rather than months.
In this stage we shall explore our relationship with the giants of the plant world- the Trees.
The natural climax species and habitat for Britain is trees and woodland. When we enter a woodland it connects us to our primal self, our original home. Stories abound with wild wood tales where we enter the raw, untamed landscape which for some may bring up deep-seated fears whereas for others it may bring relief from a controlled, tamed world.
It seems from very early on in history the taming of the woods began with extinguishing the wild animals at the top of the food chain such as lynx, bear and later on the wolf. When we look at the history of the countryside the rate of clearance from even Neolithic times starting as early as Mesolithic times is astonishing.
I feel this clearance has been captured in Mythology through the disconnection of the Sidhe, the people of peace. The poem below written by Fiona Macleod captures the concept of the nature personified in the folk of the hills of Ruel.
Forth from his breast the old man drew
A lute that once on a rowan-tree grew:
And, speaking no words, began to play
“Over the hills and far away.”
An’ the moon came up, and the stars grew white,
An’ the hills grew black in the bloom o’ the night,
An’ I watched till the death-star sank in the moon
And the moonmaid fled with her flittermice shoon,
Then the Shadow that lay on the moorside there
Rose up and shook its wildmoss hair.
Over the hills and far away --
That is the tune I heard one day.
O that I too might hear the cruel
Honey-sweet folk of the Hills of Ruel.
Fiona Macleod writes in a way that stirs the imagination and enables us to enter a world that is not tamed but a world which we have to accept is out of our control and one that we share with others. Her poetry for me captures a Celtic twilight which transcends boundaries of tradition and cultural differences.
It seems the human disposition does not feel the need to share, certainly not on a big scale and this seems evident from very early on in history.
Some of the earliest stories in Irish Mythology stress this aspect. When the Milesians invade Ireland the current occupants known as the Tuatha De Dannan (the Sidhe- later to become the faeries) are forced to go underground and inhabit the wild untrammelled places in the hollow hills, wild woods, lakes and rivers. This may be symbolic of the taming of the countryside and the beginning of trying to bring nature under our control.
Is it any coincidence that we have no animals in the British Isles high enough in the food chain to compete for our food? Is it any coincidence that we destroyed the wildwood and created a food supply that we were more in control of or certainly aimed to be more in control of?
This element of control seems to be pushing nature further and further away in the form of genetics, growing foods out of season, land clearances etc., etc....
Symbolically entering the Wild Wood (it no longer exists physically in the British Isles) is to share the earth with all of its inhabitants from the tinniest grain of sand and flower to the largest animals, hills and mountains. We have already explored our connection and sharing of the world with the herbs of the land so let us now turn our attention to the Gods of the plant world – the Trees!
STEP 2 - THE IMPORTANCE OF TREES
‘Were they mere mechanical sculptures what noble objects they would be! How much more throbbing, thrilling, overflowing, full of life in every fibre and cell, grand glowing silver rods- the very Gods of the plant kingdom, living their sublime centaury in sight of heaven, watched and loved and admired from generation to generation.’
John Muir
Trees are such incredible beings and certainly more than 'mere mechanical sculptures.' They help maintain the very life cycles of the natural world including the water cycle and the carbon cycle absorbing both water and carbon to release and store it in more beneficial and effective ways to ensure the balance of the natural world. This is a complicated subject which has been more acknowledged in recent times although has been known about for several decades.
The Carbon cycle- A summary of key points
1/ When the earth was formed there were no leafy plants, insects or animals.
2/ When the earth was created the only life forms that could survive were anaerobic those who cannot exist in the presence of oxygen.
3/ The atmosphere once consisted largely of nitrogen and carbon dioxide formed by volcanoes and huge asteroids. Much of the carbon dioxide emissions were absorbed in carbonic rock and dissolved in the sea.
4/ Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe but wants to react and form compounds with just about every other element.
The only way to sustain oxygen levels in the biosphere in order to support aerobic life forms is through plants, without plants we do not exist!
5/ The first plants were blue-green algae called cyanobacteria which obtain their energy through photosynthesis which is when plants use the energy of the sun to combine water and carbon dioxide to create their food and release excess oxygen into the air.
6/ It took a billion years for plants to stabilise oxygen levels to the point where they support life on earth! Scientists call this period the boring billion!
7/ Plants began to dominate the land as well as the seas absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, this enabled new life to perpetuate on the planet.
8/ Vast forests now dominate parts of the world such as those in Brazil, Peru, Canada and in East Siberia, Russia and Scandinavia, the Congo Basin, Mexico and Borneo stretching across many countries consisting of millions of acres. They are providers of free oxygen and store billions of tons of carbon.
9/ Less spoken about is oceanic plants. Plankton is reasonable for at least half of the oxygen in the world’s atmosphere and creates more oxygen per year than all of the land plants put together. Plankton will increase its ability to absorb carbon dioxide depending on levels in the biosphere.
10/ Sussex Kelp Forests are amongst the most biodiverse oxygen producing habitats on the globe.
This kelp forest is as important for the planet as the great rain forests. This habitat has been reduced drastically but will regenerate if we fish in sustainable ways.
11/ Plants are locking up billions of tons of carbon as well as 25% of the carbon dioxide that humans have released. The amount of carbon take up varies from year to year but in general the world’s plants have increased their uptake since 1960.
12/ If there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the pores in plants that absorb carbon dioxide and transpire shrink, making the trees air cooling system less effective. This means deforestation destabilises areas that depend on wild fire for natural regeneration and prolonged drought may be enforced.
Now you have reached the half way point in the course although many of the stages so far could be tackled over years rather than months.
In this stage we shall explore our relationship with the giants of the plant world- the Trees.
The natural climax species and habitat for Britain is trees and woodland. When we enter a woodland it connects us to our primal self, our original home. Stories abound with wild wood tales where we enter the raw, untamed landscape which for some may bring up deep-seated fears whereas for others it may bring relief from a controlled, tamed world.
It seems from very early on in history the taming of the woods began with extinguishing the wild animals at the top of the food chain such as lynx, bear and later on the wolf. When we look at the history of the countryside the rate of clearance from even Neolithic times starting as early as Mesolithic times is astonishing.
I feel this clearance has been captured in Mythology through the disconnection of the Sidhe, the people of peace. The poem below written by Fiona Macleod captures the concept of the nature personified in the folk of the hills of Ruel.
Forth from his breast the old man drew
A lute that once on a rowan-tree grew:
And, speaking no words, began to play
“Over the hills and far away.”
An’ the moon came up, and the stars grew white,
An’ the hills grew black in the bloom o’ the night,
An’ I watched till the death-star sank in the moon
And the moonmaid fled with her flittermice shoon,
Then the Shadow that lay on the moorside there
Rose up and shook its wildmoss hair.
Over the hills and far away --
That is the tune I heard one day.
O that I too might hear the cruel
Honey-sweet folk of the Hills of Ruel.
Fiona Macleod writes in a way that stirs the imagination and enables us to enter a world that is not tamed but a world which we have to accept is out of our control and one that we share with others. Her poetry for me captures a Celtic twilight which transcends boundaries of tradition and cultural differences.
It seems the human disposition does not feel the need to share, certainly not on a big scale and this seems evident from very early on in history.
Some of the earliest stories in Irish Mythology stress this aspect. When the Milesians invade Ireland the current occupants known as the Tuatha De Dannan (the Sidhe- later to become the faeries) are forced to go underground and inhabit the wild untrammelled places in the hollow hills, wild woods, lakes and rivers. This may be symbolic of the taming of the countryside and the beginning of trying to bring nature under our control.
Is it any coincidence that we have no animals in the British Isles high enough in the food chain to compete for our food? Is it any coincidence that we destroyed the wildwood and created a food supply that we were more in control of or certainly aimed to be more in control of?
This element of control seems to be pushing nature further and further away in the form of genetics, growing foods out of season, land clearances etc., etc....
Symbolically entering the Wild Wood (it no longer exists physically in the British Isles) is to share the earth with all of its inhabitants from the tinniest grain of sand and flower to the largest animals, hills and mountains. We have already explored our connection and sharing of the world with the herbs of the land so let us now turn our attention to the Gods of the plant world – the Trees!
STEP 2 - THE IMPORTANCE OF TREES
‘Were they mere mechanical sculptures what noble objects they would be! How much more throbbing, thrilling, overflowing, full of life in every fibre and cell, grand glowing silver rods- the very Gods of the plant kingdom, living their sublime centaury in sight of heaven, watched and loved and admired from generation to generation.’
John Muir
Trees are such incredible beings and certainly more than 'mere mechanical sculptures.' They help maintain the very life cycles of the natural world including the water cycle and the carbon cycle absorbing both water and carbon to release and store it in more beneficial and effective ways to ensure the balance of the natural world. This is a complicated subject which has been more acknowledged in recent times although has been known about for several decades.
The Carbon cycle- A summary of key points
1/ When the earth was formed there were no leafy plants, insects or animals.
2/ When the earth was created the only life forms that could survive were anaerobic those who cannot exist in the presence of oxygen.
3/ The atmosphere once consisted largely of nitrogen and carbon dioxide formed by volcanoes and huge asteroids. Much of the carbon dioxide emissions were absorbed in carbonic rock and dissolved in the sea.
4/ Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe but wants to react and form compounds with just about every other element.
The only way to sustain oxygen levels in the biosphere in order to support aerobic life forms is through plants, without plants we do not exist!
5/ The first plants were blue-green algae called cyanobacteria which obtain their energy through photosynthesis which is when plants use the energy of the sun to combine water and carbon dioxide to create their food and release excess oxygen into the air.
6/ It took a billion years for plants to stabilise oxygen levels to the point where they support life on earth! Scientists call this period the boring billion!
7/ Plants began to dominate the land as well as the seas absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, this enabled new life to perpetuate on the planet.
8/ Vast forests now dominate parts of the world such as those in Brazil, Peru, Canada and in East Siberia, Russia and Scandinavia, the Congo Basin, Mexico and Borneo stretching across many countries consisting of millions of acres. They are providers of free oxygen and store billions of tons of carbon.
9/ Less spoken about is oceanic plants. Plankton is reasonable for at least half of the oxygen in the world’s atmosphere and creates more oxygen per year than all of the land plants put together. Plankton will increase its ability to absorb carbon dioxide depending on levels in the biosphere.
10/ Sussex Kelp Forests are amongst the most biodiverse oxygen producing habitats on the globe.
This kelp forest is as important for the planet as the great rain forests. This habitat has been reduced drastically but will regenerate if we fish in sustainable ways.
11/ Plants are locking up billions of tons of carbon as well as 25% of the carbon dioxide that humans have released. The amount of carbon take up varies from year to year but in general the world’s plants have increased their uptake since 1960.
12/ If there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the pores in plants that absorb carbon dioxide and transpire shrink, making the trees air cooling system less effective. This means deforestation destabilises areas that depend on wild fire for natural regeneration and prolonged drought may be enforced.
Trees and the water cycle.
Trees both absorb and release water which in turn balances the ecosystem to which they are a part of keeping it from being too dry and too wet. Trees therefore can help prevent desertification and excess flooding.
Water is an endless cycle of five processes known as: -
Condensation- water collected in the air condenses as it gets cooler.
Precipitation- the condensed water falls from the sky as rain, snow, hail or sleet.
Infiltration- the water enters the soil.
Runoff- water runs along the land surface as rivers, streams and into aquifers (underground reservoirs).
Evapotranspiration – the combined evaporation from land surface as well as from plants.
Water courses such rivers and streams flow into the land forming lakes and ponds and continue into the sea or are absorbed into the land.
The water evaporates and collects as vapour in the sky to condense and fall once again as rain, snow, hail or sleet and so the cycle continues.
STEP 3 - CONNECTING TO TREES
Already in this course we have learnt to connect with plants approaching them with a conscious intention of hearing their voices with all our senses. We can apply the exact same method when we connect with trees and in some ways due to their size and presence it is a little easier.
However, as already discussed the process cannot be rushed or forced to meet an expectation of success. Simply connect with the tree using the 3 steps in Stage 2 of this course with the added benefit that you can actually hug, touch and be enveloped by the mature tree.
As a reminder approach the tree as a threshold (step1) then see the tree (step 2), approaching it with care and consideration before sitting with it. After sitting with the tree and meditating with it you can then make an offering (step 3). As part of the final step of gratitude you could also hug the tree. Though I recommend just as you would a human to listen to your inner senses (Stage 4- step 2) as to whether the tree would like a hug!
In order to maintain Nature Connection, we have to adhere to the concept of sharing the earth with other beings fully. This means that every tree and plant you approach you treat as an individual and ask permission for any actions that you take that involves the plant or tree. I believe unequivocally that the moment you step out of this understanding you will lose that connection for it is only possible to maintain while we are humble and when we no longer see the world at our disposal.
Left to Right- Alder - Willow - Ash
Here are five key tree species to explore further, though as I have said before I recommend approaching and meditating with the tree before looking at the information given below. If you click on the tree name you will be able to read a brief article on each tree which will help explore the key themes it presents.
Birch - Rowan - Alder - Willow - Ash
For a much more detailed exploration of trees you can enrol on our Tree Folklore course.
SUMMARIES AND RESOURCES FOR STAGE 6
This section has explored the all- important acknowledgement that we share the earth. To fully take on board that we are just one of thousands of species is extremely important for Nature Connection. When we feel 'entitled' to dominate and take what we wish from the Natural world I feel it severs our connection to it.
The destruction of habitats and overuse of resources which has affected the cycles of life spoken of above has been going on a long time as mentioned at the beginning of this section. I would therefore like to end with yet another passage from John Muir who dedicated his entire life to helping the natural world.
'Man must be made conscious of his origin as a child of Nature. Brought into right relationship with the wilderness he would see that he was not a separate entity endowed with a divine right to subdue his fellow creatures and destroy the common heritage, but rather an integral part of a harmonious whole. He would see that his appropriation of earth's resources beyond his personal needs would only bring imbalance and beget ultimate loss and poverty for all. '
I hope you will enjoy exploring the incredible world of Trees and next month we shall explore the deep truths that connect us to the Natural world and the themes that they present.
Going deeper – A Folkloric state.
We are now entering the second half of the course and it now time to throw all caution to the wind:
‘The voice I know and dread was one with me,
As the uplifted grain and wind are one.’
Fiona Macleod
The course up to now has offered clear stages and steps for Nature Connection and I hope that following these steps will help you to create a practice that will enable you to explore the natural world in both beautiful and practical ways.
In the second half of the course we are going to explore the individual plants of the countryside and what they can teach us. Once we have a strong practice the ongoing process is in opening soul pathways and experiencing the individuals in Nature’s landscapes.
We share the earth with a myriad of beings and it is true to say that every one of them has a special place in the heart of Nature. Every one of them offers a service to this Earth without which she would no longer function.
Where the water whispers mid
the shadowy rowan trees
I have heard the Hidden People like
the hum of swarming bees:
And when the moon has risen and the brown
burn glisters grey
I have seen the Green Host marching
in laughing disarray.
Fiona MacLeod
These beings may well reveal themselves in a grain of sand, a chipped rock, a clumsy splash or a rapid fire. When we ask the question- ‘What can I do to be in harmony with the whole?’ it enables us to be humble and to acknowledge that the smallest particle on this planet is paramount for our survival. This encourages us to fulfil our true roles as caretakers of this land and all its inhabitants. The steady joy conceived by becoming part of the whole is beyond words as John Muir says:
‘Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.’
I therefore invite you to join me in exploring the sacred plants of the land and the themes they present. The themes are universal and can be applied and adapted to suit the plants that you know and study. If you are drawn to different plants than what are being explored in this course, just apply the same format to them remembering:
Do not try to grasp the words with your mind, grapple with your intellect or comprehend it with your ego.
For we are entering into the womb of the earth, the stirrings of the soul,
the wanderings of spirit.
The trees are our teachers, the plants are our healers, the landscape our senses and the elements our essence.
This journey is of the shadows, oblique, incomprehensible; enter the world of feeling, immerse yourself in being.
The trees have personalities, the landscape has expression,
the plants speak to us.
A world only understood in the depths of our being, by virtue of our soul,
by integrity of presence, by memory of spirit.
J.Huet
‘The voice I know and dread was one with me,
As the uplifted grain and wind are one.’
Fiona Macleod
The course up to now has offered clear stages and steps for Nature Connection and I hope that following these steps will help you to create a practice that will enable you to explore the natural world in both beautiful and practical ways.
In the second half of the course we are going to explore the individual plants of the countryside and what they can teach us. Once we have a strong practice the ongoing process is in opening soul pathways and experiencing the individuals in Nature’s landscapes.
We share the earth with a myriad of beings and it is true to say that every one of them has a special place in the heart of Nature. Every one of them offers a service to this Earth without which she would no longer function.
Where the water whispers mid
the shadowy rowan trees
I have heard the Hidden People like
the hum of swarming bees:
And when the moon has risen and the brown
burn glisters grey
I have seen the Green Host marching
in laughing disarray.
Fiona MacLeod
These beings may well reveal themselves in a grain of sand, a chipped rock, a clumsy splash or a rapid fire. When we ask the question- ‘What can I do to be in harmony with the whole?’ it enables us to be humble and to acknowledge that the smallest particle on this planet is paramount for our survival. This encourages us to fulfil our true roles as caretakers of this land and all its inhabitants. The steady joy conceived by becoming part of the whole is beyond words as John Muir says:
‘Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.’
I therefore invite you to join me in exploring the sacred plants of the land and the themes they present. The themes are universal and can be applied and adapted to suit the plants that you know and study. If you are drawn to different plants than what are being explored in this course, just apply the same format to them remembering:
Do not try to grasp the words with your mind, grapple with your intellect or comprehend it with your ego.
For we are entering into the womb of the earth, the stirrings of the soul,
the wanderings of spirit.
The trees are our teachers, the plants are our healers, the landscape our senses and the elements our essence.
This journey is of the shadows, oblique, incomprehensible; enter the world of feeling, immerse yourself in being.
The trees have personalities, the landscape has expression,
the plants speak to us.
A world only understood in the depths of our being, by virtue of our soul,
by integrity of presence, by memory of spirit.
J.Huet
Left to Right- Self heal- Cut-leaved Self heal- Beauty of Self heal flowers
We now have all the stages we need for nature connection so let us now continue by entering the magic of the plant realms:
Medicine of Self heal
Botanical Features
Common Name: Selfheal Latin : Prunella vulgaris Family: Lamiaceae
History and/or use: Excellent astringent for wounds and for internal bleeding.
Wildlife Value: Ground cover and nectar provider.
Habitat: Grassy, often bare place inc. lawns and woods.
Related Species : Cut leaved selfheal, P. laciniata- larger creamy white flowers than P.vulgaris, hairier leaves usually grows in dry grassy places. Upper leaves more or less pinnate giving the name cut-leaved.
Main Family members: Labiates (Lamiaceae) include dead nettles (Lamium), hemp nettles, ( Galeopsis) woundworts, (Stacys), calamints, (Clinopodium) claries (Salvia), germanders (Teucrium), mints (Mentha)
Family characteristics: Plants in this family are often termed downy or hairy and are usually aromatic or pungent with square stems. The flowers can be two-lipped and open mouthed except in the case of the mints and gypsywort and the upper lip is missing in bugles and germanders. The leaves are opposite, toothed and usually stalked and undivided. The fruit is a cluster of nutlets.
Qualities of Selfheal
'Delicate blooms of tenacious power, soft lush growth produced wherever it can flower.
Over rubble and concrete, plastic and glass, nature regenerates, cares not if you've asked.
Green fresh growth encapsulates beauty, every tiny flower tells a story.
Showing no fear it grows where it can, covering up the waste produced by man. '
J.Huet
Selfheal, what could be a better name for a plant to begin the second stage of our studies with? Plants continue to provide and heal us in many ways despite our war on their kind, providing as we have already explored food, medicine, dyes, cloth, clean air and clean water. In this Country we have around 2000 species of plant and each one has its own ideal purpose for the wellbeing of this planet. Each plant has its own history, characteristics and properties to explore and uncover.
‘When little Elves have cut themselves,
Or Mouse has hurt her tail,
Or Froggie's arm has come to harm,
This herb will never fail.
The Faeries' skill can cure each ill
And soothe the sorest pain;
She’ll bathe and bind, and soon she’ll find, that they are well again.’
Mary Cicely Barker
Selfheal has many folk names including Carpenter’s herb, hook-heal and sickly wort, each describing its use or how others have experienced the plant in different regions. The above names speak of the carpenter, farmer and patient’s relationship with the plant.
Selfheal survives well in grasslands, waste spaces and more open woodlands. A close cut lawn in summer can look beautiful with the purple flowers of selfheal to enliven the otherwise monocultural sward. There is a rarer species known as the cut-leaved self heal ( Prunella laciniata) which has cut leaves and white flowers.
Both the Latin and common name of this plant point to its continued use as a herb. Prunella or Brunella is the German name for a sore throat. Dioscorides knew of the plant’s use for sore throats and treated inflammations of the throat and tonsils with this plant.
The common name of selfheal as well as the folk names of hook- heal, sickly-wort and carpenter's herb all
imply an obvious link to medicinal usage. In the doctrines of signatures (the concept that every plant has a signature that tells us its use), the flower of this plant is said to resemble a hook and as in the past many common wounds were from billhooks and sickles this implied its use to stanch bleeding.
Selfheal does staunch bleeding effectively and is also used for internal bleeding as a syrup or as a tea.
It is also used for respiratory complaints, piles and in Ireland to treat heart trouble. It is less known as a cure for colds.
A closer look at the Doctrine of Signatures
The Doctrine of Signatures is merely a starting point for a much older concept employed by indigenous people all around the world. We tend to take our early references to plant usage from the Classical world as it is here we find the early written texts on the subject. The Doctrine of signatures is first noted in the works of Pedanius Dioscorides and Claudius Galenus of the first century and then is further endorsed in the seventeenth century by renowned herbalists William Cole and Nicholas Culpeper.
It is only when we enter the twentieth century and the scientific era we find this truly ancient system labelled as pseudoscience and considered dangerous; and of course this is absolutely true in the hands of someone who doesn't know their plants well enough to use it. This system is for those who work closely with plants in a certain way.
The development of drugs in the scientific era has been revolutionary and saved many lives, dealing with especially acute problems effectively and undeniably helping people recover from complaints untreatable not so long ago. However, the more long-term health benefits of using herbs cannot be denied as they work in greater harmony with the body than many synthetic drugs as we have already explored. It is also true to say that I have used herbs for allergies, coughs and colds and they have had instant results in alleviating the symptoms.
The Doctrine of Signatures has been used since ancient times and even Dioscorides and Claudius were reiterating a discipline already known in much older oral traditions.
Please do not use herbs unless you are an expert or they have been prescribed to you by a qualified practitioner.
Exploring ancient herbal tradition in the British Isles.
An old Irish tale brings to light the demise of herbal knowledge from a professional class to a lost knowledge only continued now through the dedicated work of herbalists.
The story is part of the early mythological cycle which is focused on the magical race of the people known as the Tuatha de Dannann, the Sidhe mentioned earlier. The story also addresses the age-old rivalry of Father and Son. Miach was an apprentice physician under his father Dianceacht who was extremely jealous that his son’s skills surpassed his own. This led to the murder of Miach by his father. When Miach was buried herbs grew out from his grave in the shape of his body, each herb a cure for the part of the body it had sprung from. Airmid, Miach’s sister collected all the herbs to honour her brother Miach and to keep the knowledge for posterity. However even now Diancecht was jealous of his son who he had murdered and he confused all the herbs losing all that knowledge for future generations. The famous pertinent line uttered by Diancecht after this act was ‘If Miach be not, Airmid will remain’
This line neatly describes how the knowledge of herbs was demoted from a professional rank to a more hidden practice of rural folk.
How can we revive this knowledge?
‘No tradition ever dies until the last person who honours it dies’ Wallace Black Elk a revered Lakota elder said to John Matthews according to the The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom (Caitlin and John Matthews 1997). Luckily throughout all history the traditions of the land have continued to be honoured even if only in a fragmented form compared to how our ancestors may have done it.
This course has already discussed at length how we can connect once more with the spirit of nature and start to revive that knowledge once more. We can look for clues in the folk names, speak to herbalists that are still working with the plants and then go to the heart of tradition with our own meditation practice. Sitting with the gentle energy of selfheal and seeing the plant with my inner eye I feel its gentle, understated, healing presence and listen to its voice once again.
Let us remember once more the words of John Muir that I quoted early on in the course:
‘Always fond of flowers, attracted by their external beauty and purity. Now my eyes were opened to their inner beauty, all alike revealing glorious traces of the thoughts of God, and leading on and on into the infinite cosmos....’
Generosity of Clover.
'Delicate blooms of tenacious power, soft lush growth produced wherever it can flower.
Over rubble and concrete, plastic and glass, nature regenerates, cares not if you've asked.
Green fresh growth encapsulates beauty, every tiny flower tells a story.
Showing no fear it grows where it can, covering up the waste produced by man. '
J.Huet 2017
‘Plants are generous’ this is an understatement as they pour over the land and grow in the seas providing us all with free oxygen, water, food, clothing and so forth. As we have already explored their generosity is paramount for our survival on this planet. As it took plants a billion years to create the right conditions for us to survive, I do feel that it's our responsibility to maintain the equilibrium that they have created.
Clover is known as ‘bee bread’ and it spreads through our grasslands offering pure nectar not only to bees but all pollinating insects of the grass sward that clover calls home. Made up of many tiny flowers which form a compound head it is a feeding station par excellence for our beautiful winged delights. The prose below is a true ode to these winged delights:
‘Butterflies coloured like flowers waver above in wonderful profusion, and many other beautiful winged people, numbered and known and loved only by the Lord, are waltzing together high overhead, seemingly in pure play and hilarious enjoyment of their little sparks of life.
How wonderful they are! How do they get a living and endure the weather? How are their little bodies, with muscles, nerves, organs, kept warm and jolly in such admirable, exuberant health? Regarded as only mechanical inventions, how wonderful they are! Compared with these, man’s greatest machines are as nothing.’
John Muir
Qualities of Clover
Common Name: Red Clover /White Clover. Latin: Trifolium pratense / Trifolium repens Family: Fabaceae
History and/or use: Excellent for throat irritations/coughs and good green compost as fixes nitrogen.
Wildlife Value: Main flow pollen producer for invertebrates
I’m little White Clover, kind and clean;
Look at my threefold leaves so green;
Hark to the buzzing of hungry bees:
“Give us your honey, Clover, please!”
Yes, little bees, and welcome, too!
My honey is good, and meant for you!
Mary Cicely Barker
Clover is a wonderful feature of our meadows and indeed many grass areas both in the countryside and in urban areas. It is one of the first plants to produce the ‘main flow’ nectar for bees and other invertebrates after the Dandelion and Sycamore have finished flowering. Its delicate scent attracts long-tongued flies, butterflies, moths and as already mentioned bees. Once the flowers have been fertilised they fold down over their young pods and the flower untouched which is still standing is referred to as an old maid as it has not been pollinated.
Both the leaves and flowers of this plant can be eaten unless it is high in prussic acid which makes it bitter and unsuitable for consumption. It can also be used as a green compost for vegetable growers as it is able to fix nitrogen and therefore enrich the soil. Organic farmers (and indeed other growers) simply dig or rotovate the plant back into the soil. It is also good animal fodder.
If you have any medical conditions please check with a medical herbalist first before taking any plant and only harvest it if you are 100% sure what it is!
As a herb clover flowers are traditionally used as a syrup for coughs especially whopping cough and help to purify the blood. To help relieve bronchial or irritating coughs a brew of flowers can be made by steeping them in hot water for about 8 minutes and it tastes great! It is also been said to be good for liver ailments and smoked in a pipe for toothache. Today we tend to use the red clover for medicinal cures although other species can also be used.
Clover is steeped in folklore, a candidate for the Irish Shamrock or Seamrog. This mythical plant brings great fortune to all who use it. The Shamrock is thought to be the white clover or more than likely the lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium).
It seems to be the quantity of leaves borne on clover which dictates its magical use.
The Physicians of Myddai
The red clover seduces nature with her delicate scent and her abundance of bright flowers bunched together on a single head of intense longing. She creates a healing syrup for persistent coughs and fixes nitrogen from the air into tiny packages of salt crystals which she then offers back to the soil from which she has taken.
Nature’s story is more fantastic than the most incredible tales as we look in detail at what a single soil hugging, compact plant can do. The mystery deepens and when we except the invitation to partake and live in harmony with nature as well as our own ideals, the fruition is endless.
On exploring the selfheal plant, we began a journey into the history of herbal knowledge and its demise. With the clover we will continue this journey with the Physicians of Myddai.
Strata Florida was the name of a monastery meaning ‘layers of flowers’ it was one of two monasteries (the other was Talley) sponsored by the Welsh Prince Lord Rhys in the twelfth century and it is likely they were schools and hospitals of herbal medicine.
The key practitioner of herbal medicine to the Prince was Rhiwallon assisted by his three sons, Cadwgan, Griffith and Einon. For their services to the Prince they were rewarded with the land around Myddfai. This knowledge of herbs that they employed was likely to have come from the tribes and villages of South Wales and therefore connects us to a story reminiscent of the story from the mythological cycle of Dianceacht, Miach and Airmid explored under the selfheal plant.
The Celtic folk soul is the soul of a spiritual awakening,
The touch of a Woman of Beauty who will
Come into the hearts of men and women...
Eleanor Merry
The knowledge of the Physicians of Myddai comes to light in the Welsh story of the Lady of the Lake (the touch of the women of beauty) as a young farmer is awestruck by the beauty of gazing into the lake and as he does so a beautiful women appears, the same women that is prolific through all Celtic tales and is the deity of lakes, rivers and streams which lead back to the primal existence of the sea.
This theme once more of the personification of our landscape and the beings that we share the earth with as discussed in the section on the folkloric state. This is a beautiful tale of a young farmer marrying a woman promising never to strike her more than three times. As they became closer and fonder of each other the farm prospers.
Unfortunately, the young man failed in his promise and does strike her three times forcing the woman to leave. When she leaves every sheep, lamb, cow, calf, hen, chick, duck, goose, pig and horse follow her.
This story is blatantly the relationship of man with the sovereignty of the land which is essential to maintain for the health of the planet and all who live upon it.
The final part of the story is the appearance of the Lady of the Lake to her children and instead of the ancestral legacy in the form of a Father’s mistakes being passed down the line, the children were trained by their mother to become the Physicians of Myddai.
This story is a common theme of forgotten knowledge coming forth from the Otherworld through the waterways in the form of wells, rivers and lakes. A tale of the forgotten feminine within all genders and the remembering of sacred herb lore. This has now been borne out in both the tales of Wales and Ireland and permeates the Celtic Folk soul in the form of Celtic Twilight tales to continue with Eleanor Merry’s words-
Her shadow is the forgotten mysteries
And lives in the sadness of Celtic Twilight tales....
William Butler Yeats also speaks of this sadness in his poems and writings. In his book ‘The Celtic Twilight’ first published in 1893 he speaks of this sadness contained within the poems of a young Irish man:
‘They, with their wild music of winds blowing in the reeds, seemed to me the very inmost voice of Celtic sadness, and of Celtic longing for infinite things the world has never seen.’
In the book he writes a footnote about this line stating he feels this sadness is part of all people that preserve the moods of the ancients from all around the world. In the same chapter he speaks of an older Irish man crying bittersweet tears of his experience of what happened under a thorn-tree forty years ago and describes both men as having- ‘the vast and vague extravagance that lies at the bottom of the Celtic heart.’
In one of Yeats most famous poems he states:
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats
It may be that the clover, sun-soaked meadows, exquisite tastes and smells seduce us to remember a world where we all live in harmony with creation and that sadness is part of the awakening process of knowing all is well but incomplete. That incompleteness drives us on to discover that perfection is in everything over time.
Clover is generous in her many shapes and forms, giving and sharing life as she adds nutrients to the soil and feeds the insects. Her strength is reflected in her name for clover is derived from the latin ‘clava’ which means a club. The club is the triple leaf shape, the three lobed club of Hercules as represented in playing cards which is the epitome of strength.
The symbol of three is prolific in Celtic tradition as well as Christian lore representing the three principles of all life in the stages of growth, perfection and age, and in the colours of red, white and black. The red of blood which is our life force, passion and consciousness, the white of snow which is our purity, illumination and hopefulness and the black of the raven which is our foundation, death and rebirth.
'In old traditions they say everything is perfect. In our human lives we cry out how can this be so? If it were not so the planets would fall from the skies and life would not exist.
The fact we are breathing demonstrates perfection and the wonder of all creation.'
Lucinda Boswell
Listen to the song of clover and indeed all of nature and see perfection in all that happens.
Triumph of Nettle
We are now drawing to a conclusion of this particular course and I really hope it has been an inspiring and supportive journey as we have plummeted the depths of the plant kingdom from discovering sacred texts, meeting and classifying plants and trees, exploring an inner landscape and discovering our innate inner senses, the joy of beauty as well as the incredible uses and folklore of our beautiful plant friends.
Every plant has an offering, our ancestors said they each had a unique signature which communicated to us their qualities and how they could help. John Muir spoke of plant friends and how they reveal the glorious traces of the thoughts of God. Wordsworth spoke of their ability to flash upon the inner eye and give the gift of solitude and Patrick Kavanagh claimed the common plant took him beyond the reach of desire.
Such an incredible world to uncover and of course the journey has only just began and I say that has someone who has been studying plants for nearly thirty years. If you are thirsty for more knowledge you may wish to continue with our other courses that are available which I hope to keep expanding as the inexhaustible depths of nature continue to reveal themselves.
The perfect plant to conclude this study course I feel is the nettle.
The nettle has triumphant qualities often used in times of crisis for food, medicine and fibres. Now is a good time to connect with the nettle and now more than ever to draw upon its triumphant qualities. I write this in my one-bedroomed flat in central Hove and still I feel nature's heart as the memories of my plant friends come to me when I can't get to them.
So sit back, breathe put your worries aside and immerse yourself in the qualities of nettle.
Latin : Urtica diocia Family: Urticaceae
History and/or use: Making of fabrics and dyes. Edible leaves full of iron, protein and beneficial minerals
Wildlife Value: Butterfly food plant.
Nettle, despite it being a noxious weed everyone is trying to destroy, is a ‘super’ plant that can be used for food, medicine and the making of cloth and cordage.
Nettle Cordage
Cordage making begins in the summer once the plant is more mature usually from June/July onwards. Remove the leaves, bash the stem and then open it up to remove the pith. The outer fibres can be plaited or twisted to make strong string or rope. I have found it as enduring as any plant fibre and as strong as deer sinew when made into cordage.
We are now drawing to a conclusion of this particular course and I really hope it has been an inspiring and supportive journey as we have plummeted the depths of the plant kingdom from discovering sacred texts, meeting and classifying plants and trees, exploring an inner landscape and discovering our innate inner senses, the joy of beauty as well as the incredible uses and folklore of our beautiful plant friends.
Every plant has an offering, our ancestors said they each had a unique signature which communicated to us their qualities and how they could help. John Muir spoke of plant friends and how they reveal the glorious traces of the thoughts of God. Wordsworth spoke of their ability to flash upon the inner eye and give the gift of solitude and Patrick Kavanagh claimed the common plant took him beyond the reach of desire.
Such an incredible world to uncover and of course the journey has only just began and I say that has someone who has been studying plants for nearly thirty years. If you are thirsty for more knowledge you may wish to continue with our other courses that are available which I hope to keep expanding as the inexhaustible depths of nature continue to reveal themselves.
The perfect plant to conclude this study course I feel is the nettle.
The nettle has triumphant qualities often used in times of crisis for food, medicine and fibres. Now is a good time to connect with the nettle and now more than ever to draw upon its triumphant qualities. I write this in my one-bedroomed flat in central Hove and still I feel nature's heart as the memories of my plant friends come to me when I can't get to them.
So sit back, breathe put your worries aside and immerse yourself in the qualities of nettle.
Latin : Urtica diocia Family: Urticaceae
History and/or use: Making of fabrics and dyes. Edible leaves full of iron, protein and beneficial minerals
Wildlife Value: Butterfly food plant.
Nettle, despite it being a noxious weed everyone is trying to destroy, is a ‘super’ plant that can be used for food, medicine and the making of cloth and cordage.
Nettle Cordage
Cordage making begins in the summer once the plant is more mature usually from June/July onwards. Remove the leaves, bash the stem and then open it up to remove the pith. The outer fibres can be plaited or twisted to make strong string or rope. I have found it as enduring as any plant fibre and as strong as deer sinew when made into cordage.
The first picture on the left above shows the stages of the creation of the nettle cordage from the freshly picked plants to the stems once the leaves and hairs are removed through to a reel of cordage. This first step can be done using gloves although it is said:
'Tender handed touch a nettle and it will sting you for your pain, grasp it like a man of mettle and it soft as silk remains.'
The above statement is true but you must be confident and firm. It is also important in the first step that you do remove all the hairs so that the cordage doesn't continue to sting you after its creation.
The second picture shows three types of cordage, from left to right the first cordage is made from the bark of Clematis vitalba often known as old man's beard. The second reel is made of the bark of the lime tree which was prized by our ancestors for making cordage which they called 'Bass'. When we discover woods with the word 'Bass' in its name this is referring to the use of the lime tree's phloem (inner bark) layer to create cordage. This material would have been used to hold medieval scaffold poles together but unlikely to have competed well against the 1500 year old cannabis industry which produced high quality material. The third reel is the nettle cordage.
The last picture on the right is a canvas tarpaulin being held up by hazel poles with nettle and lime bark cordage as guy lines to hold it all in place. I have found nettle to be the strongest of the cordage that I have made. I tend to cover it in beeswax to help waterproof it, traditionally pitch would have been used especially on hemp ropes.
The nettle fibres can also be used to weave cloth; a bronze age Dane was discovered wrapped in nettle fibres.
Even as late as the Twentieth century the nettle was still being used to make table cloths and bed linen in Scotland.
Nettles as food
Nettle leaves are full of minerals and contain many vitamins especially A and C. They have a 2.3% iron content and 5.5% protein content by weight. Nettle puree can be made by simmering the leaves for 5 minutes adding butter and seasoning with onion as a tasty alternative to spinach. You can simply boil and steam the nettle leaves if preferred.
To make nettle crisps just simply shallow fry the freshly picked nettle tops being careful not to burn them and then dab dry with an absorbent paper.
'Tender handed touch a nettle and it will sting you for your pain, grasp it like a man of mettle and it soft as silk remains.'
The above statement is true but you must be confident and firm. It is also important in the first step that you do remove all the hairs so that the cordage doesn't continue to sting you after its creation.
The second picture shows three types of cordage, from left to right the first cordage is made from the bark of Clematis vitalba often known as old man's beard. The second reel is made of the bark of the lime tree which was prized by our ancestors for making cordage which they called 'Bass'. When we discover woods with the word 'Bass' in its name this is referring to the use of the lime tree's phloem (inner bark) layer to create cordage. This material would have been used to hold medieval scaffold poles together but unlikely to have competed well against the 1500 year old cannabis industry which produced high quality material. The third reel is the nettle cordage.
The last picture on the right is a canvas tarpaulin being held up by hazel poles with nettle and lime bark cordage as guy lines to hold it all in place. I have found nettle to be the strongest of the cordage that I have made. I tend to cover it in beeswax to help waterproof it, traditionally pitch would have been used especially on hemp ropes.
The nettle fibres can also be used to weave cloth; a bronze age Dane was discovered wrapped in nettle fibres.
Even as late as the Twentieth century the nettle was still being used to make table cloths and bed linen in Scotland.
Nettles as food
Nettle leaves are full of minerals and contain many vitamins especially A and C. They have a 2.3% iron content and 5.5% protein content by weight. Nettle puree can be made by simmering the leaves for 5 minutes adding butter and seasoning with onion as a tasty alternative to spinach. You can simply boil and steam the nettle leaves if preferred.
To make nettle crisps just simply shallow fry the freshly picked nettle tops being careful not to burn them and then dab dry with an absorbent paper.
Pictures- Left to Right- nettle crisps- freshly harvested nettles- nettle soup
Nettles as Medicine
As a medicine nettle can be collected just before it flowers to relieve high blood pressure, cystitis, anaemia (due to mineral rich leaves) and can act as a diuretic. Use the leaves fresh or dry as an infusion as discussed earlier in the course. The root can treat diarrhoea and dysentery and be made into a tincture for eczema.
In World War Two the plant was gathered to supply chlorophyll for medicines and dye for camouflage nets.
Nettles for Wildlife
Nettles are also very important for wildlife as they support beautiful butterflies such as the comma, red admiral, peacock, painted lady and the small tortoiseshell.
The caterpillars of these species depend on nettles often for a whole month in the summer as a food source so do require large patches of them. The painted lady will use nettles but mainly will lay her eggs on thistles and the small tortoiseshell will also lay eggs on the small nettle (Urtica urens) which is especially common in Eastern England including Brighton where I live. The comma will lay single eggs fluttering from one patch to another whilst the peacock my lay up to 400 eggs in a single patch. The red admiral caterpillars are easy to find as they are grouped in silk tents.
So do keep a patch of nettles and look beyond its spiky appearance to its wealth of uses.
Qualities of Nettle
Let us for a moment enter into the imaginative realms of the nettle. Nettle grows in clumps, its distinctive yellow roots form mats which cling to the soil and are difficult to remove, it has hairs all over its stems and leaves which release an acid that stings the skin and yet it is full of life-giving properties.
Nettle once again proves that nature does not fit into neat label of good or bad and the biting, stinging poisonous world of nature always without question feeds into the eternal beauty of a balanced web. The minute humans stop trying to control and pigeon-hole concepts is the moment we are open to all the aspects of nature.
The plant to me feels brittle and empty, determined and tenacious and that quality creates strong rope, effective medicine and food not only for humans but for many invertebrates. Imagine all those caterpillars we spoke of growing on the nutrient rich food of nettle. Nettle contains the key minerals which are strong building blocks to maintain our good health such as iron and calcium as well as being rich in protein. This enables it to help many conditions as well as help maintain good bone health and reduce inflammations of the joints such as in arthritis.
In this country we have around 2000 plant species which all have a gift to give to the world, may we continue to reap the rewards of connecting to our precious world and help in our own unique way to bring harmony to the web of life.
I would like to conclude with the words of John O'Donohue 'In praise of Earth' :
'Let us remember within us,
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the winds,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.
That we may awaken,
To live life to the full
The dream of the earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit and light.'
Nettles as Medicine
As a medicine nettle can be collected just before it flowers to relieve high blood pressure, cystitis, anaemia (due to mineral rich leaves) and can act as a diuretic. Use the leaves fresh or dry as an infusion as discussed earlier in the course. The root can treat diarrhoea and dysentery and be made into a tincture for eczema.
In World War Two the plant was gathered to supply chlorophyll for medicines and dye for camouflage nets.
Nettles for Wildlife
Nettles are also very important for wildlife as they support beautiful butterflies such as the comma, red admiral, peacock, painted lady and the small tortoiseshell.
The caterpillars of these species depend on nettles often for a whole month in the summer as a food source so do require large patches of them. The painted lady will use nettles but mainly will lay her eggs on thistles and the small tortoiseshell will also lay eggs on the small nettle (Urtica urens) which is especially common in Eastern England including Brighton where I live. The comma will lay single eggs fluttering from one patch to another whilst the peacock my lay up to 400 eggs in a single patch. The red admiral caterpillars are easy to find as they are grouped in silk tents.
So do keep a patch of nettles and look beyond its spiky appearance to its wealth of uses.
Qualities of Nettle
Let us for a moment enter into the imaginative realms of the nettle. Nettle grows in clumps, its distinctive yellow roots form mats which cling to the soil and are difficult to remove, it has hairs all over its stems and leaves which release an acid that stings the skin and yet it is full of life-giving properties.
Nettle once again proves that nature does not fit into neat label of good or bad and the biting, stinging poisonous world of nature always without question feeds into the eternal beauty of a balanced web. The minute humans stop trying to control and pigeon-hole concepts is the moment we are open to all the aspects of nature.
The plant to me feels brittle and empty, determined and tenacious and that quality creates strong rope, effective medicine and food not only for humans but for many invertebrates. Imagine all those caterpillars we spoke of growing on the nutrient rich food of nettle. Nettle contains the key minerals which are strong building blocks to maintain our good health such as iron and calcium as well as being rich in protein. This enables it to help many conditions as well as help maintain good bone health and reduce inflammations of the joints such as in arthritis.
In this country we have around 2000 plant species which all have a gift to give to the world, may we continue to reap the rewards of connecting to our precious world and help in our own unique way to bring harmony to the web of life.
I would like to conclude with the words of John O'Donohue 'In praise of Earth' :
'Let us remember within us,
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the winds,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.
That we may awaken,
To live life to the full
The dream of the earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit and light.'
If you would like to continue your studies you may wish to enrol on our Tree folklore course.