I attended a medicinal herb workshop
At my neighbor's, a gifted herbalist.
The workshop was well attended.
About 20 people, spanning age 5 to 80.
After gathering in a circle,
Enjoying a mug of nettle-tulsi tea,
We walked to the big garden together
Where we were introduced to some herbs:
Yarrow, echinacea, chickweed, lavender, lemon balm and others.
We listened to stories about how these plants
Have helped people, often in unexpected ways.
We were invited to smell and taste each one.
Later we were asked to pick an herb
And spend some time with it,
About 15 minutes,
Introducing yourself, just see what comes up.
Our teacher emphasized,
Don't question whether you are just imagining something,
Then we will break into small groups
To share or just listen to each other.
And don't say that nothing happened!
I decided to sit with lemon balm.
There was one clump that, our teacher explained,
needed to be transplanted
To another spot in the garden.
I sat beside this clump and introduced myself:
I am Gary, I said.
I chose you because
I am saddened by how badly
The human race has treated nature
During my life.
I want to apologize for that
But I would also like to ask if you might help me
By lightening my spirits.
First nothing happened. I just sat there
Next to this lemon balm,
And then something did happen.
There was a stirring around the leaves
And all these beautiful tiny faeries appeared,
Half hidden, but clearly anxious
To reveal their presence to me.
They were in constant motion,
Peeking out, emerging from the shadows between leaves,
Just long enough for me to see them,
And withdrawing, only to reappear shyly somewhere else.
Recalling our teacher's admonition,
I fought back questioning whether I was making this up,
But I never succeeded 100%.
Funny thing is, the more I questioned myself,
The fainter they grew until
By the time we were being called back
They had completely vanished into the shadows between the leaves.
We broke into groups of three and four
And shared our experiences.
There was one woman who was in tears.
She had also chosen to sit with lemon balm
And was so moved by her interaction with the plant,
She couldn't talk about it.
Later we were invited to dig up a plant or part of a plant
And bring it home with us.
Several people wanted some lemon balm
And the largest plant was the one with the faeries.
I was the one who was handed the spade.
The plant was to be divided into four.
That was when I realized my mistake,
Or rather, it was when I applied my full weight
To the flat top of the blade and felt the plant resist
That I realized my mistake.
But by then I was focused on making the cut.
And another.
I was not the same person who had,
Less than half an hour ago,
Thrilled like a child
At the appearance of the faerie folk.
I was behaving just like humans have been behaving
Toward nature for hundreds of years:
For, as Thomas Hobbes, 1588 - 1679 wrote: "What is the heart, but
A spring, and the nerves, but so many strings. . ."
And Robert Boyle (1686) praised God for making
"So great and admirable an automaton as the world,
And the subordinate engines comprised in it."
I still wonder if the faeries will appear
In my fourth of the clump
That I sat with, when I was so sad
And asked for it to uplift me.
For I am certain that, if they aren't there,
My "spring" will be even sadder than before.
.........
I consulted with a friend about the "dumb thing" I did, that is, to not stop myself when I was about to divide the plant into fourths with my spade, but instead, to lay the spade down and ask my friends to give me a few moments alone with the plant, to communicate with both the plant and the faeries (my new friends), to see how the plant felt about being quartered and transplanted, and how the faeries felt about the same upheaval. Here is how my friend (a shaman and teacher of Celtic [and pre-Celtic] shamanic practices) responded: "My gut feeling is that they are part of the land where the plant grew and probably stayed on the land. However, you might discover that they went along for the ride to a new locale."
I think the reason I was dumbed-down was, I was not listening to my gut or my heart, but only my head, which does not believe in faeries, but is quite good at plowing ahead.
(Article changed on May 02, 2022 at 12:27 PM EDT)
(Article changed on May 02, 2022 at 12:53 PM EDT)
(Article changed on May 02, 2022 at 6:23 PM EDT)
