(an excerpt from "The Art of Connection with your Plant Ally' )
the beginning
It was the early 1990’s and I was in my early 20’s like so many of my apprentices are now. I had arrived at the Wise Woman Center in Saugerties NY (by way of Kenya!) to become a live in apprentice with Susun Weed. Though already having a certificate as a Natural Therapist I could barely identify a dandelion but knew all the terminology, pathologies and products. Right away it became clear that Susun was an anomaly! So different to my previous teachers. Classes (can you even call them classes?) started late in the day, we sat on ground, goats trampled on us as we spoke and followed us as we wandered, note taking was not encouraged, and there were no term papers, no exams or curriculums to be followed. I spent the evenings perusing her books, what a collection she had! (life goal- no marie kondo 30 books limit!!) In no time having handled most volumes making note of where I could find what info and made a long list of books I would read over the next 9 weeks. I had a plan (after all I am a virgo), my own curriculum.
Or at least I thought I had a plan....My teacher had a different plan! a challenge for me “Do not open another book through out this apprenticeship” She wanted me to learn directly from the plants (20 years later I can honestly say WOW THAT was a perfect assignment for me, thank you Susun- i do often wonder whether the woman who was told not to speak again for a few weeks feels the same way!)
We were then told that we were to find a “green ally” to work with through out the program.
“Choose a plant that grows very near to you. . . You don't need to know the name of the plant, or anything about it. You will be sitting with your plant every day, dreaming with it, journeying and journalling with it. . . You are to develop a special caring, nurturing, relationship with your green ally. Our green allies tend our souls along with our sores.”
I felt lost, no books, working with a plant I knew nothing about? A relationship with a plant? Talking with/to a plant? Is that really possible. How do you pick a plant? They pick you!!!! How do I know when I have been picked...then what? Introduce yourself? and they’ll speak back hmmm I was stuck here for 9 weeks and expected to learn, not take notes, learn herbal medicine, gain experience directly from a plant! I had no idea what plants were weeds and what were not, and which had all those good medicinal properties I had learnt about.
Day after day after our “Talking Stick Ceremony” in a cold sweat I would gather my journal and supples and head out to find me a plant ally, or to hide and make it seem like I was doing something, day after day i would come back a little more anxious. The next morning again, water bottle, bread and cheese in hand I would walk out the back door and get hit in the face or chest by some over grown, unruly plant that was trying to take over the cheese porch,! I would carefully put it back in place so as not to get it caught in the door wondering why Susun doesn’t she just cut this damned plant back as I balanced my belongings, held the door to move this plant out of my path and the door trying re-direct it, and yep everyday there is was back in my path. I do not remember how long it took, or when it finally occurred to me that that perhaps that plant was my plant, my ally. She had found me an ally indeed just as stubborn and persistent! I could not have chosen a better plant ally to get me started on this journey, she has taught me so much, named after the lunar goddess Artemis and, like the moon, she invites us to travel with her from the material world into the magical. Mugwort is particularly helpful when facing fears, working out problems and overcoming creative or emotional blocks, as she helps us to access deep memories (whether personal or collective) and bring them to light. Her intoxicating aroma has guided me for years.
Thats how Mugwort came to be my first green ally, a relationship that guided me, rooted me and very much helped form me into the woman I am today. Mugwort represents so many of the strong feminist women role models who have guided me some i have had the pleasure to meet in person, some just through social media and others just in spirit form. I have had many allies since Mugwort, not all of them have been tattooed onto by body but all have left a mark in my life.
To this day I carry Mugwort with me on my left arm along with a Poppy and some Mary Oliver wisdom from “Why I Wake Early”
“Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”
Why am i telling this story now you might wonder.
Twenty two years later I am revisiting my first ally, reconnecting, starting in reverse order reading all the first books I read Witches Heal! Billie Potts, Juliette De Baraicli Levy, Maude Grieves, I remember the day Herbal Rituals: Recipes for Everyday Living by Judith Berger came out! (life changing) , followed some early Gail Faith Edwards! I met her as a young woman, since then I have become a mother and am soon approaching 50 years of age! She has been with me for many transitions and life changes, and I have so much gratitude to her for the guidance and support I don't think she has left my side since we first met in the cheese room at the Wise Woman Center! So this year I return to the beginning.
Stay put a special announcement coming next week!
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