Advice from the Crabapple
©s.nightsky
Hear the call of the land, the spirits of plants and trees, wild crafting with the green people with their feet deep in the forest floor. They give and receive energy from the elements, and offer their wisdom and energy to those who listen. Getting to know each plant, it’s name, and abilities as ally. Spring nears and the call of mother starts to nudge at the hedge woman to clean tools, make lists, and plan for the spring. Trance work during the thin veil of the moon to call upon the earth folk, communicating an exchange of natural wisdom. Wild crafting and working closely with plants to learn their wisdom and healing properties on all levels. Becoming wise in the way the ancestors, and integrating awareness of the spirit to medicinal magic. So, come and sit under the apple tree with me, and we will learn together.
What happens when you put your hands in the dirt and start planting vegetables? Communicating with nature and plants is in our blood, genetically transferred from our ancestors. Everyone has the ability to interpret the language of plants. The easiest way to learn about plants and their spirits, is working with them. When you find a plant that intuitively draws you, let yourself go to it. This is the first step in listening to the plant, for it may be calling you.
To connect and work with plants the shaman often makes allies in the plant world, becoming intimately aware of the plant, its personality and forms a relationship with the plant. For example, to learning how to work with “crabapple” the shaman will journey to the spirit of the crabapple tree, to become aware of all aspects, from root to seed/stamen. Each plant species possesses unique energetic characteristics, wisdom, sentience, purpose in the world and spiritual mission.
On one such journey, “Crabapple” declared itself an ally for specific work, on well-being. Shaman journey to be with the spirit of the plant and to become acquainted with all aspects of the tree, the way it grows, its seasons, bark, leaves, flowers, fruit, and so on. Malus Coronaria, common to Ohio, loves the woods, is of the rose family. Malus is a good friend of the fae, gnomes, and many of the other ally’s that work with me. The crabapple has medicinal properties too, good for constipation, and chronic diarrhea.
Through Plant Spirit Healing:
The shaman not only learns how to work with herbs, but with the realm of nature, trees, the creatures, and the elements that the plants inhabit. Plant spirit healing has many proven benefits:
- clear, strengthen and balance the chakras, organs and other aspects of our energy systems
- calming and soothing the heart, mind, spirit and soul during times of stress and tension
- restore vital force compromised by trauma, injury, illness, or sustained challenges in life
- release foreign or inhospitable imprints and entities caught or embedded in the energy field
- renew the spirit and address spiritual undernourishment after a period of struggle or painful loss PTSD
- ease depression, fears, relationship woes, lethargy, fogginess, indecisiveness, insecurities
- mediate soul retrievals, integration of the mind/body/spirit complex, embodiment of personal power
- help us clarify our self-identity, deepen self-awareness, and strengthen our true nature
A 2011 study at a juvenile rehabilitation center in southwestern Ohio with a gardening program showed that horticulture therapy helped the kids see themselves in a more positive light and helped them better manage their emotional and behavioral problems. Husted, K. (2012)
Come sit under the apple tree, while the crabapple speaks to me. Communicating with plants is a come-as-you-are exercise. You do not have to be anything other than who you are right now to begin. Let go of expectations and outcomes, relax, and trust that messages will come.
To get started communicating, take a journal with you and a pencil, color pencils if you want to draw the plants. Be sure to take a plant offering (spring water, corn meal, tobacco, a stone, something special). Ground and center, and then let your self be drawn to a plant. “Most plants will teach anyone who is interested. If you have the interest, follow up on it and see for yourself.” Cowan, E. (1991)
Say hello, and then just sit quietly with the plant. Pay attention, and after a time, you can introduce yourself and begin to converse. You may start with a simple how are you. If the plant gets enough water, what it eats, and then questions about how the plant can help you.
After Asking Questions
When you are done be sure to give thanks. A simple and loving “thank you” is all you need to show your appreciation. You may give the plant a drink of water, or ask if there is anything special that the plant would like you to bring on your next visit.
Blessings,
Sidonia Nightsky 2017 (c)
S. Nightsky©
Cowan, E. 1991, Plant Spirit Medicine, Amazon, ISBN-10: 1893183114
Husted, K. 2/2012, Can Gardening Help Troubled Minds, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/02/17/147050691/can-gardening-help-troubled-minds-heal
According to Derek Scott in The Singing Bourgeois, the World War Two hit “Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree” was based on “Long, Long Ago” by the Nineteenth Century British composer Thomas Haynes Bayly. Although it is sometimes credited to the band leader Glenn Miller, it was actually written by Lew Brown, Sam Stept and Charlie Tobias. Widely recorded, sung by the Andrews Sisters in the 1942 film Private Buckaroo.
Shamanic Wise Woman 