3/7/07
Reflection #7
There is something intimately healing about the many different relationships shared between Women and Nature. There are some things that only women understand about the depths, beauty, and sacredness of our divine Mother Nature, on a much deeper level of intimacy and delight. It seems that in this book, The Sweet Breathing of Plants, a women’s place of sanctuary, for aloneness and inner peacefulness, is closely connected with their gardens or with Mother Nature itself. It is their highest form of inspiration where they have discovered an innate love and appreciation for not only their surroundings, but also within themselves. Many of these women associate nature with their roots, ancestors and teachers, expressing their gratitude and respect for the wisdom passed on to them from generation to generation. They feel honored to be able to harvest this knowledge to continue to nurture and mother in its growth and longevity. I had an incredible experience during the mid quarter that I would like to share. When I came back from Christmas vacation, I was feeling depressed and drowning myself in grief. My father passed away when I was 16, and I had my heart broken by my high school boyfriend whom I dated for 4 ½ years. I was letting both of these affect me in a tremendous way and I felt I had no way out. I called a good family friend, who is an energy healer, and scheduled an appointment with her. I went to see her, and she told me that my energy was way out to the right side of my body, which represents the male side of me. I was lacking so much energy in my feminine side that it was causing me to have very low self-esteem and very little confidence in myself. She also informed me that I was holding so much energy above my throat and head that I wasn’t connecting it to the rest of my body, but I was just living up in my head. Throughout this 1 ½ hour-long session, she helped to balance out my energy and let it flow naturally throughout my body. She invited me to invite the loving energy I felt from my father, such as the protection and fatherly love he provided for me, into my flowing stream. She reminded me of how lucky I am to still have this same love and protection flowing through me just in a different form. It was the same day after this session when I read my favorite story from the book The Sweet Breathing of Plants, titled State of Grace, by Molly Peacock. In it she states: “My grandmother’s poppies and apple trees are long gone, but, just the way we sometimes feel that someone whom we loved and lost is not gone entirely, yet transformed somehow into another type of energy, that garden is inside me. It has become a portable state of grace.” I wept at the joy and reassurance of this moment that my father’s love and protection truly is still streaming through me. I then read her final words: “My attention to a flower can help me rediscover my true self, the self I lose to forces I’m responsible for but often do not completely understand…. And for a moment you are doing only one thing fully, being in the presence of their soil and tender personalities, and connecting with the tart and tender within yourself.” (pg. 135)
2/28/07
Reflection # 6
When I was a little girl, I used to roam around the meadow at my house where I grew up, and fantasize that I was an “Indian”, wandering around my beloved land, failing to see any difference between the two of us. I came across a feather, once belonging to an eagle, which I gratefully placed in my hair, as I moved through the grass, bushes, trees, and flowers with extra care and precaution, paying my respect and appreciation towards each one of my friends. I remember listening to the stories that moved with the flowing water of the creek, and the friendly bantering between the gentle wind and the soft fragile leaves. I even remember telling one of the trees that it was the best friend I ever had! You can imagine my excitement in the beginning of the quarter when we were assigned to venture into the knowledge and wisdom of the pristine roots of our beloved teachers and ancestors in this book Keeping it Living.
My first attraction to this class was the word healing, yet I have not only learned about some natural healing medicinal plants, but I have also been cultivated with the forgotten history of education discovered by Indigenous tribes of the northwest regions. It is so important to trace back to our roots, and understand their way of living. Our society has become overly westernized with man-made technology/machinery, and it has especially corrupted the educational system. This precious land has been trampled over with cities as if the earth was just a dead thing they could claim. Instead of celebrating in the knowledge and wisdom shared between Man and Mother Nature, people have implanted different westernized thought, theory and practice into each new generation. Ignorant of the wisdom and knowledge of our sacred earth, they view history as just a word without understanding the true nature of the truth. Many people living in our society today, no longer hold an appreciation for the food they consume, or the ground that they walk on. Rather, people live a daily life filled with stress, fear, competition, etc. All too often, people become ill with grief or just a sickness, and to remedy their problem, instead of seeking a natural healing cure, they look for quick fixes to suppress the symptoms, such as chemical drugs.
If people could remember and understand the wisdom of the Indigenous tribes, they would know how effective plant medicine is to maintain the health and well being of our environment and for ourselves. With patience and acknowledgment of their surrounding natural environment, these Indigenous people discovered the many foods of nature and tools for survival. Instead of driving through a fast-food car window and ordering up a quick burrito, these tribes would spend whole season’s collecting from the variety of food resources found in their extensive backyard. To assure their survival, healing properties, and motive for plant management, these people would perform special spiritual ceremonies on their food and environment. The amount of appreciation these spirited people held for every living thing is truly inspiring. The best and most effective type of learning we can gain is through the interaction and wisdom of our cherished Mother Nature. We must trace back to our roots and live our lives with the same feeling and appreciation as our treasured, spiritual ancestors did. We must always remember to Keep it Living!
As for my personal presentation, I would like it to be a surprise!
2/21/07Reflection # 5
The Buddhists’ Relationship with Nature
While we are currently learning about the Native American connection with Mother Nature, I was wondering about the Buddhist perspective on our natural environment. I am in an evening class called Mind and Emotion: An East/West Dialogue, in which we have been learning teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the spiritual nature of the mind and how we, as humans, act around one another. I have become very interested in this spiritual path and so I would like to further explore the Buddha’s teachings.
We must begin at the roots of Buddhism, which start with the Buddha himself. Some of the most significant events regarding the spark of Buddhism are associated with trees: his birth at Lumbini, as his mother grasped the branch of a sal tree; his early experience of states of meditative absorption beneath the rose apple tree; his Enlightenment beneath the Bodhi – tree; and his death between twin sal trees. Since then, Monks have often retreated to the forests to engage in solitary meditation.
There is a term used often in Buddhism called Dharma. This term refers to the underlying order in nature and human life and behavior. Many view it as a ‘right way of living’ or ‘proper conduct,’ especially in a religious sense. On a spiritual aspect, dharma is considered to be the way of the higher truths. Buddhists believe that in seeking to apply the Dharma to the area of the environment, we have to look for underlying principles that are appropriate to the very different world that we ourselves inhabit.
When I view Buddhism, not as a religion, but as sacred wisdom, I see a full-fledged philosophy of life reflecting all aspects of experience, which teaches respect for all living things. The same happens in an adventure of discovery with Mother Nature, a sense of unlimited appreciation and shared enjoyment is celebrated with senses other than just sight. There are so many examples of the fruits of inspiration that come from a humans’ experience of the beauty and splendor of our natural world. “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature and when we drink in the beauty and wonder at the meaning of what we see (Rachel Carson)”, we gain a tremendous amount of respect for our environment. These are His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s words on the responsibility of our environment: “In the first half of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Earth had no idea of the responsibility they had towards their planet. Factories spread far and wide, especially in the West, spilling their wastes into all the natural elements. And strangely enough, nobody was taking any notice. The result has been a massive extinction of species, the greatest for 65 million years, and for a Buddhist this is an abomination. In the past, the long-term effects of our actions were less evident. But today, thanks to science and technology, we are capable of bringing about either great benefits or terrible disasters. The threat of nuclear weapons and man’s ability to destroy the environment are really alarming. And yet there are other almost imperceptible changes – I am thinking of the exhaustion of our natural resources, and especially of soil erosion – and these are perhaps more dangerous sill, because once we begin to feel their repercussions it will be too late. This planet is our home. Taking care of our world and of our planet is like looking after our own home. In a way, one can say that the Earth is our mother. She is so good that whatever we do, so puts up with it. But now the time has come when our destructive power is so vast that our mother is obliged to call us to account. Nature itself has limits.” I believe that if we can begin to deepen our relationship with Mother Nature through an understanding of interpenetration, and live more in harmony with our environment using the principle of non - violence, as the Buddhists do, then a growing awareness of nature will begin to feed into our spiritual growth and understanding. Our ability to develop as individuals is deeply connected with the environment, which we live in; harmonizing that environment will have a positive effect on our spiritual connection with all living things.
2/7/07
Reflection # 4
Week 5
Winter is celebrating inside myself as well as all around me. I feel deeply connected, and have become good friends with myself and who I am. This alone time I have spent with myself has taught me about acceptance, gratitude, and a much deeper and more meaningful love, not only for my inner being, but also for Mother Nature and creation as a whole. Winter has taught me that beauty is much more than physical appearances, but that it resonates and shines from within. Winter has role model of stillness, peace and quiet, and has benefited me tremendously as a human being as well as the connection with my spirituality. There is a deep sacred teaching in winter that is much different from all of the other seasons! I am so grateful to be a student of this wise season; to learn and progress with a still, silent, and peaceful connection with the sacred divine creator is an honor and a privilege.
This alone time inspired by the winter season would not nearly be as beneficial for me if it weren’t for my innate relationship with my nature journal! This journal has allowed me to record my inner feelings, thoughts and emotions and connect them with Mother Nature and life as a whole. You could say that this journal has acted as a best friend! I am able to share with it my most personal knowledge and feelings when I am immersed with our natural living world. I have gained a much more sharp awareness of my surroundings and am more observant to the tiny detail of the life happening around me. My journal is the highest form of inspiration and has strengthened my creativity with words as well as my ability to draw and integrate colors together. I am grateful for this opportunity of open-minded thinking and the discovery of my inner and graceful self that is so connected with the divine Mother Nature.
Medicine is the knowledge of each wise individual student. A garden is the classroom, in which growth and learning occur, and wisdom is shared and celebrated.
Week 4, 1/31/07
Reflection #3
The Sweet Breathing of Mother Nature
There has always been a seed planted within me, containing all the nutrients of deep love and passion for our divine Mother Nature and her children, but the water of knowledge that has been fed to me in the past few weeks has aided in its growth. I have never felt as connected and apart of the natural earth as I am now. The Native American way of living has always fascinated me, and I am eternally grateful for the wisdom I have been taught from not only the written words of the texts, but also from the physical communication and interaction with Mother Nature itself. The way the indigenous people honored, and still honor their surroundings with patience and great appreciation is inspiring, and has expanded my view of life and spirituality on a much higher level of consciousness. I am one with nature, with every tree, every leaf, twig, root, pith, cell, atom and element, I am as fragile as she, and together we demand nourishment and protection.
I have observed the way my body and mind has reacted with the new knowledge and understanding I am receiving with this class, during a shift that is being exemplified through my physical actions as well as in my spiritual consciousness. I now explore her beauty with more patience and awareness as I enter into Mother Nature’s glory, where we are together still and silent. The fact that every part of the natural life is a living, breathing specimen is something we as humans have overlooked and never considered. Now that I know more about the way a tree as large as a Red Cedar is born, it has not only contributed to my education as a human being, but has further expanded my awareness and ability of observation and understanding in as something as simple as a tiny leaf. I am fascinated and curious about the way every living thing grows from an atom, to cells that are organized into tissues such as xylem and phloem, which aid in feeding the plant food and water. I am even more fascinated by the fact that there are many unresolved mysteries of developmental processes in plants. I can’t help but think of how much more evolved and wise a tiny little root is than an entire human race.
The written words of texts such as The Natural History of Puget Sound Country, and Keeping it Living, educate us about an individual plant or tree. It is amazing to learn that every natural living specimen can offer a different, or many different, healing qualities in their own unique way. Many are medicinal healers that can offer their aid with such defaults as cancer, disease, illness, or a simple wound on the body. I have learned that everything is made of energy, and the power a human being has is the same power of energy a little plant such as Juniper or St. John’s Wort has. Much of the information gained for healing comes from the source, which we can find in Mother Nature. We are so lucky to be able to physically have her as an aid of protection and healing.
Just as she gives so much to us, I am so fortunate to be able to give back to our Divine Mother Nature. With every part of her I touch, and every child that I plant, I am not only helping her grow, but I am also watering the seed within my own self. Together we expand, offering our energy and healing, protecting each other with nourishment and love, and always progressing with growth.
Week 3, 1/24/07
Reflection #2
- “By the 1790’s, European powers were engaging regular, brief interactions with some coastal peoples and would soon be constructing fur-trade outposts in key locations up and down the coast. The indigenous peoples of the coast were exposed to foreign ideas and technologies, and would often adopt them with enthusiasm into their own repertoire of cultural practices.” (pg. 20. Keeping it Living) When the Europeans traveled to the “unknown land,” they brought new civilized ideas and ways of survival with them. They introduced new domesticated crops such as the potato, and also brought a new approach to planting tobacco by vegetative cuttings, rather than planting it by the seed. They also showed them about fur-trade. There were also some similarities between the two very different cultures that some European explorers took note of such as the use of fire, and they both survive off food collected from the ocean or the seawater. Some other European explorers gained respect for this indigenous culture through their observations of the way they live and interact with one another and nature. They noticed that the indigenous people used the roughly 300 plant species as foods, sources of material and medicines, and for spiritual purposes in ceremonies. They noticed that transplanted and weeded out plants were move to a more desired area, that it enhanced the productivity and diversity of plant resources. While the new comers viewed this land as something beautiful, to the natives, this was their living, breathing home, and they respected it. I would carry, as I do now, the same respect for this wilderness as they did. I would engage myself in their interaction with Mother Nature, learning from them about their use of plant wildlife and way of survival. The knowledge I have gained from this reading has benefited my spiritual understanding that we are all connected by the same source, the same creator.
- The Sword Fern is grown in the section I will be caring for this quarter in the forest by the Long House. I like it because not only did the Indians use sword fern as food, but also as household materials, and medicine. They would make delicious meals with sword fern, and also found it useful to use in cooking by lining the fire pit and also to lie under food for drying racks. The wild ginger is one of my favorite foods to eat. I like it because it helps my immune system and is a good throat aid, while also helping with digestion. What I didn’t know, but learned from the reading, is the interaction that the actual plant of wild ginger has with insects. Slugs survive by eating the leaf of wild ginger, while flies and beetles contrive for the flowers’ pollination. I have always loved the sight of lichen’s in the forest, and was happy to read that some foliose lichens are now known to convert atmospheric nitrogen to a form usable by plants, and that they can serve as detectors of the health of an urban ecosystem. I was also very fascinated when I read that tiny invertebrate animals add further variety to the living soil and that they are part of the recycling function. Nearly invisible arthropods (insects, terrestrial crustaceans, spiders, and mites) and worms (both the familiar and visible earthworms and the ever-present but invisible nematode worms) inch their way through the soil, turning organic matter into reusable matter and energy for the soil segment of the ecosystem. I have also always loved lilies and my love has grown even more after reading about their symbol of purity and how it was the flower of the Virgin Mother Mary.
Now that I have seen and interacted with the section of the forest I will be giving my attention to, a feeling of excitement jumped up and down inside of me! I am very excited to interact with all of these living and breathing plants, and especially to learn more about their healing characteristics. I can see that there are many unnecessary weeds to be taken out, and new and exciting plants to be transplanted in. I was thinking of the oregon grape or the wild ginger to give it a little bit of a tropical effect. I would love to add more medicinal plants there as well, but I think those are meant for the sayuyay sister garden, and I would love to learn more about those as well.
Week 2, 1/17/07
Reflection # 1
- ‘An ecosystem is an abstraction for dealing with the openendedness and interconnectedness of living things and their life-support contacts with the physical universe.’ (pg. 118) There are tow descriptions of ecosystem described in The Natural History of Puget Sound Country, stated in Chapter 5: The floristic approach and the vegetation analysis approach. The floristic approach is “taxonomic: what species of plants and other organisms are present in a representative sample of the forest?’ (pg. 119) I believe my understanding of this approach is the observation and importance that one species may have relative to another. The vegetation analysis approach ‘portrays the form, pattern, and biomass (quantity of living matter produced) of the plant community in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Here the observer may record species, but will emphasize life form (trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants) and determine vertical stratification from the emergent canopy of tree tops down to the moss layer on the forest floor.’ (pg. 119) On page 122 in the same chapter 5 describes a “zone”: “Whit due regard for the world as it really is, the ecologist yields to the practical need for ascribing “zones” to our region’s plant and animal life.” There are two major schemes of zonation that have been used in the Northwest, both based on the response of vegetation to change in climate with increasing elevation. The Merriam life-zone scheme is most familiar, this zone consists of “Humid Transition,” “Canadian,” “Hudsonian,” and “Arcitic-Alpine”. “Each Merriam life-zone, delimited as a span of altitude on mountains of middle temperate latitudes, was thought to be comparable to the continent-spanning bands of life at high altitudes; hence, the names, Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic.” (pg 122) The other scheme of zones in the Pacific Northwest are the vegetation zones: 1) the Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) Zone, which ranges from sea level to lower montane slopes of the basin; 2) the Pacific Silver Fir (Abies amabilis) Zone in the midmontane altitudinal belt; and 3) the Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) Zone at upper forested levels. According to the book Keeping it Living, Chapter 1 describes this zone as the “biogeoclimatic zones,” defined by vegetation, topography, and climate, within the Northwest Coast region. The “Coastal Douglas-fir zone” is a relatively warm, dry zone. The “Coastal Western Hemlock zone,” which at its climax stage is dominated by dense forests is at low to mid elevations along the entire remaining coastline, the climate is significantly moister, with annual precipitation levels. At mid to high elevations all along the coast, subalpine forests predominate, with colder winters and more precipitation falling as snowfall rather than rain. This is the “Mountain Hemlock zone,” a zone dominated by cold-tolerant trees.
2. “…the people who originally occupied the land used it only minimally, as hunters and random pluckers of shoots and berries. ‘Of agriculture they are quite ignorant,’ nineteenth-century writers would assert, ‘they have no aboriginal plant which they cultivate.” (pg. 4, Keeping it Living) The people who occupied the northwest used only hunting, fishing, and gathering practices, if they heard the term “agriculture,” it was a European introduction. Everything grew naturally, such as herbs and tobacco, which they used to trade, along with fir for survival. Instead of cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock, these Northwest people had everything grown naturally for them in the great outdoors, they did not have to do a thing except collect the food from the wild and prepare it.
- My favorite living plant/tree growing in the Northwest forest is the Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata). “The native cedar was so plentiful in the wetter sites of lowland Puget Sound that it could be harvested at will, a seemingly unending gift of Nature.” (pg. 141, Ch. 5) I love this tree the most because, due to its dampness in the wet woods, it is an essential tree for survival, especially for the Northwest natives. The tree could be used for anything ranging from making canoes, to houses, to ropes, sewn to make clothing. I feel a vibe of “safety” from this tree, and I think that if I lived with the Indigenous people during the ‘non-cultivating’ time period, I would cling to the Western Red Cedar to feel safe and secure. It is a happy tree that resonates love and protection.
- As I am currently learning new and exciting things about plants and their healing qualities, I am afraid I don’t have any ideas of what to physically contribute to the garden. I am, however, planning on distributing my full energy and attention to the plants, sharing with them love and light.