Walking in Awe
I am always amazed when old sayings come to truth. Sayings in the Herbal world for example When it is time to work with a plant, it will appear, or the plant spirit that is to be worked with will choose you and grow, and this one, when it is time to heal the plant spirit that is called upon will teach you.
It was 9:30 at night and I decided to go for a walk. Walking at night is one of my favorite things to do. As your eyes adjust to the night light, there is a sense of mystery and the unknown around every corner. The fireflies are lighting up the forest canvas as if someone had set up lights around the trees. This was a good season for them, and I was so pleased to see many of these silvery twinkly insects dance among the night. Little did I know this was going to be more than just a mere stroll.
Walking down the stone drive, listing to the peepers, taking in the smells, and stopping to watch some stunning displays of heat lighting I felt calm and peaceful and just fully present with myself and the surroundings. I had seen nothing out of the ordinary on the way down but as I started back toward the house, that is when the magic happened.
From the corner of my eye something made itself known. Over the years I have come to realize that this always happens when spirit wants to get my attention. How true that is. Walking over to the area which caught my attention, popping out of the moist dense litter of leaves were these beautiful silvery white, translucent, ethereal stalks of Monotropa uniflora, commonly known as Ghost Pipes or Indian pipes.
I was in awe. These are exceedingly rare plants and the spirit medicine they hold is very sacred. I have walked up and down this area and have never seen them and was so honored that this small cluster of five had taken up residency. I have always wanted to create a tincture of these amazing Divas but never found enough of them to even consider harvesting. Ethical harvesting is so important, and first rule of thumb is you never harvest the first plant you see and only harvest a plant when there is enough to sustain the population. All too often people just go and pick all they want without any reverence to the plant spirit they are harvesting. So, with only this small group I knew there would be no harvesting. I said goodbye and gave blessings and thanks to her for revealing herself to me. Little did I know she sent blessings back. As I turned to leave, and I heard her say “now is the time to harvest”. No sooner was I about to question what I heard there appeared another group and another, and yet another. As I shone the flashlight along the edge and into the forest more and more clusters were appearing. There indeed was enough to harvest a small amount to start walking the sacred path with this amazing sister.
She has shown up exactly at a time when I needed help facing pain and grief and wanting to do the work to elevate and move though it. This is one of the gifts this sacred plant offers, the ability to clearly see our pain (both physical and emotionally) and walk side by side with it to do the healing work necessary to truly get past the hurt and pain.
In closing, this plant has shown up and truly opened my eyes which have reminded me of one of my favorite sayings that I will leave you with. “Plants have enough Spirit to transform our limited vision” – Rosemary Gladstar.
Blessings In Love and Light, and journey well.
