Working with the Energetic Power of Plant Essences

Hello, and welcome to the soul garden. My name is Georgina Langdale. I'm your host, and I'm the founder of Archeus. And I'm absolutely delighted to have you here. This week, I'm going to be talking about plant essences. And I'm gonna have a look at what there are ways that we can use them, why I love them, and offerings that I have that can connect you to them. So let's get started. This is a topic i i absolutely love. So let's start off with what they are plant essences, which can also be known as flower essences or flower remedies. They are a form of vibrational medicine. What does that mean? That means, in short, I think of them as a way of connecting you with the life force of a plant. So you know how, you know you walk into a room and you feel the energy of, of the people present. Everyone has their own energy laid back up tight, you know, whatever it is. And you can really feel and sense that and there are people that you're drawn to, and there are people that you're not drawn to, well, plants are the same. They all have their own life force. Marsilio Ficino, the wonderful renaissance, physician and philosopher and soul doctor. He said that in nature and in the cosmos, when we're looking for the things that help us heal and help our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being, we're looking for the things that have a sympathetic vibration with us with our own lifeforce. So plant essences are a conduit for you to tap into the lifeforce of different plants. And they can be made from flowers. And they can be made from trees and shrubs really the you know, they're, they're kind of no limits to what you can make them with in the botanic world. People say Oh, so you know, what do they smell like? What's the difference between them and essential oils? Well, there's a huge difference. Essential oils are those beautiful, exquisite aromatic extracts of fram botanic material. And to make essential oils, you need a whole heap of physical plant material to make a very small amount and very concentrated amount of aromatic essential oil extracts. And they have a range of therapeutic benefits at a physiological end at a sort of sensory level. And they're wonderful. But plant essences The difference is you kind of flip the whole equation the whole production thing on its head. So we're essential oils and absolutes and things take a lot of plant material to make flower essences or plant essences take tiny amounts it's kind of quantum physics at work, you know you're you're just getting enough plant material to infuse water with the energetic imprint of that plant. So you see there a kind of the the yin and the yang of each other. Essential oils: lots of plant material to make a small extract plant essences tiny amount of plant material to make a large extract because you're just talking about really only using drops at a time. Even just one drop. So I really like this because I like the sustainability aspects of this. You're not having to use has heaps of plants. So it's very, very sustainable. I like the subtlety of it. I like the working with the energy in that in that level. When I teach plant how to work with plant essences I talk about the first core level being there's plants will work with a bot with the body where the human body at a course level, that kind of physiological level. And then there is an emotional level and, and then out again, there's a spiritual level. So you've got this sort of three fold action. How do you use them? Well, you are literally just gonna take a drop or two at a time. And you can just put a couple of drops under your tongue. Or you might put it in a glass of water or juice or something if you're using them, and you don't want that alcohol that's preserved them, which is a tiny, tiny amount because you're only taking one or two drops. But if you don't want to use the alcohol, then you could put it in the drop into a cup of hot water, and the hot water will evaporate off the alcohol, you've got the kind of the vibrational medicine in that hot water to sip. I also love using them to anoint so I just put a drop on the back of my hand and that lovely little notch between the thumb and the index finger. And then with my other hand, my index finger, I can then just dab that finger in the drop and anoint maybe my third eye, and my throat chakra my heart chakra. Or it's really beautiful to do that for someone else. Sometimes I'll put them in an aroma diffuser, they're not going to add any aromatics, plant essences or not aromatic extracts, that energetic extracts, but somehow, I kind of like considering the the presence of that plant into the room. And as we get further into this talk, you'll see how that can become really, really powerful. Dennis Clocek wrote in his book, colors of the soul, he described Flower Essences like this, he said Flower Essences allow a person to gain sufficient distance from one's emotions, to observe them as though they were beings. So what he's saying is plant essences give you a chance to I see it as they give you a chance to not get so caught by your emotional state. They kind of they free you up somehow. I first started working with plan energetics were actually way back when I was a child when I was seven in England. And yeah, you've probably heard the story before in previous episodes, but something happened pretty traumatic. And it was like for me, the cosmos, kind of the universe cracked open. In shamanism, it may be described as this was my shamanic wounding, which gave me the gift of healing. And part of that gift for me was then pretty much immediately during and after that event, I was able to see the kind of energy the aura of everything, plants, animals, stone walls, it was just everywhere. And it felt like the plants were saying to me, we can help you heal. And this became a two way conversation, I really dive deep into that energetic awareness. And so throughout my life, I have always turned to nature. When I've needed support and different emotional states, you know, maybe I've wanted to get some confidence, or I needed somewhere to put my grief, or I needed some help with emotional resilience and vitality. Or I wanted to create ceremony. And I wanted allies to step forward to be in that ceremonial space with me and that would be plants or the energy of plants. So it's a kind of I was gonna say second nature to me, but actually I think it's first nature. You know that Absolutely we are all made of the same substance. Again old Ficino in the 1400s, he said, we're all made of stardust. And if you think about the universe and the cosmos, Cosmos is the word for a harmonious and well ordered universe with everything in it for life, you know, we were all made of the same stuff. So it actually makes sense that there is a resonance between us and the things around us. It's not to say that that resonance may always be our friend. You know, there may be some resonances that we just aren't drawn to at all. But there are others. That will right right there with it. So, I'm going to talk about well, I'm going to give three different examples of plants. And I'm going to talk about how I see them in the way that they offer up their vibrational medicine, their life force medicine. So the first one I'm going to talk about is dandelion. Taraxacum officinale. So you know, dandelions, those little yellow flowers popping up in lawns that are vilified in garden weed killing ads. I hate that, you know, do you hate that? Why do we have to go around killing everything. And the irony is, that dandy lion is absolutely a primo healer. So when you look at dandy lion in your lawn, or by the road or in a field or whatever, it has a very big root and that root goes down into the soil. And it is absolutely does an incredible job of helping make poor soils rich, it really kind of replenishes the soil, it repairs things. Then you look at it, and it has that yellow, beautiful, lovely, sunny, energetic, vital looking flower. And it's just like the sun has come out. Then you look at what I look at, what is it used for in herbal medicine. And so in the same way that the dandelion helps restore and replenish and revitalize soil, the earth, it does the same thing for our digestive system, it really helps us get rid of the toxins bring balanced restore balance to our digestive tract. It helps our kidneys function it you know, will pee out or, you know more wastes and stuff. It is just the most lovely, lovely tonic herb. And so first up when I'm thinking about it for a plant essence, I take all of those qualities into account. And then I think if my emotional state is that basically if life's getting too much, or if your emotional state, so let's say you're feeling really low in resilience and vitality is like you just can't take it anymore. Every all the stuff that life is throwing at you that you read. And the news and or the doomscrolling, you know on your phone and things like that and you're just you're just feeling really depleted. emotionally drained, not able to kind of digest life in your current state of being dandy lion could be such a great help. Because if you imagine all of those physiological things we talked about just before imagine them at an energetic level. Like the, the the you of you seeing the dandelion of dandelion and connecting so all at at at this energetic level. So all of that beautiful restorative replenishing, revitalizing digestion enhancing energetic properties of dandelion If made available to your emotional state, so that you're better able to digest whatever life throws at you. And also, in this, this medieval second sense of doctrine of signatures, that yellow, beautiful flower is like bringing the sun into your very being. And that strong root that the dandelion has that is keeping you really grounded. So I love working with this whole picture of a plant like that. Another example is violet. Viola odorata. Now, when you look at violets, where do they the first thing I look at is where do they grow? Well, they grow in lots of places, but they really like slightly shady areas, slightly damp areas when you pick violet leaves and flowers is a coolness to them. And you can eat violet leaves, you can put them in salads and things you can make a tea for stress headaches and things. When you when you eat them. There's a slightly cool, slimy mucilaginous Try saying that property to them. It's kind of cooling and moist. A lot of people hate the word moist. Do you hate the word moist? So I have good days and bad days with that word, especially as a postmenopausal woman! When you look at the leaf of a violet, it's heart shaped or uterus shaped. And in herbal medicine, violence have been used by women to help break down lumps and growth things like lumpy system breasts or fibroids and things like that. Obviously if you have any lump in your breast or things going on anywhere you go to a doctor and get them checked out. But they have this quality of the of helping soften and break down hardness and sorry and also symbolically, violence are the flowers that would be put on the graves of children so when I think of violence in a plant essence way of being in its energetic lifeforce way of being, I think of it as a deeply feminine, energetic ally. I see it as a fantastic emotional support and connector for maybe women who have had surgery on their breasts or reproductive tract maybe, you know, a hysterectomy or mastectomy or something. I see it for women who may be grieving because of reproductive issues. I see it as a beautiful ally for women who have who have a child that's gone away, maybe they've left home flown the nest, I see violet really stepping up for women, anything to do with women's body and mothering either in mothering or not being a mother they can be wonderful for grief if you're you know about your own mother or a grandmother or your your female line. So I use violet client essence and a whole range of women's deep feminine energetic work. Trees are also fantastic for making plant essences with and so one example of trees is Oak, oak, that strong tree you know, ships have sailed on Oak houses are built, beautiful objects are made. Oak is quite masculine and strong and sturdy. Oak has salicylic acid in its back which is a pain reliever. And the other thing I love about oak is it has a whole lot of sacred connotations and symbolism and mythology and stories. And I love that the roots of oak go as deep down into the ground as the branches reach up into The sky. So when you're standing at the base of a, of an oak, you're in perfect balance, really, you're at this pivot point of a fulcrum, but you're, you're steadied either way. So if you're emotionally and energetically feeling like you're losing your strength, maybe Edward Bach who created the batch Flower Essences in the first half of the 20th century, he said oaks really good as a flower or plant essence, for someone who has been really strong for everybody else. But actually inside, you're absolutely done in Oak is there for you, oak is strong, oak can help relieve your own emotional pain. And you've got this balance thing, the roots under the ground and the tree branches above the ground and the track, you're held in perfect balance. And so I would use oak in those situations where I think I just need a bit of more personal strength and resilience to, to so I can show up for the people who need me. So those are three examples. Now you can use different plant essences on your, on their own, or you can put a few together to make an elixir, I never put more than five, maybe six plant essences into one elixir because I don't want to get too much static on the radio, you know what I mean? Just you know, if you have to, if you start loading in too many different plants, in a way, they start to kind of cancel each other out. And the messages don't get through so clearly. But you can do really effective work by carefully putting a few together. So what do I mean by that? I think of what is my overriding emotional issue I want to deal with. And what is the plan that kind of helps me bring things back into balance. But what are a couple of other supporting plants that I might put around that as well. You can use plant essences in all sorts of ways. So I use them as I mentioned before, under my tongue anointing, you can use them on chakra points that I think they're wonderful to use if you're doing some sort of meditation, or physical practice like yoga. Because you could I've done this often where I've sat down to have a meditation and I might meditate on that particular plant as my focus. But before I start, I'll anoint myself with a drop of, of that plants essence, so that I'm really fully, fully engaging with that plant. And then I can use it to think about its qualities and how it helps me in my emotional quality of being. When I'm working with plant essences, I also look at the astrological connections of plants, their ruling planets, and with a client, I look at their ruling planets, and their kind of astrological constitution so I can look at who the plant allies that can really support them, kind of help them bring out their strengths or ameliorate some of their challenges. I love working with plant essences to create ceremony. An example recently, I had some people came to my gardens. They had gathered together that day to remember a friend who had died. And they looked around the garden and then I got some rosemary plant essence for them. And we did a very simple ceremony, we just opened sacred space, a space was created for them to send their prayers and messages to their friend and then they each anointed themselves, and then each other with a drop of rosemary essence. And Rosemarie is regarded as a plant of remembrance, and fidelity. In herbal medicine. Rosemary works amazingly well with the brain and nervous system. It increases focus if you use rosemary essential oil if you sniff that that will aid your focus great for if you're studying, you've got a deadline, something like that. But at plan essence, I see of it energetically giving you the space for remembrance. When my father died, when he had the funeral, I got to the church before, you know, waited for the church for his coffin to arrive. And before everyone else arrived, I anointed his coffin and myself with Rosemarie essence, to in a way ritualize at an energetic level, this gathering together of of friends, to honor and remember him, that was really lovely. I love making plant essences all year round, my studio, and Atelier, and apothecary Archeus is set in lovely organic gardens that myself and my husband have planted over the last few years. And there are all sorts of medicinal herbs, symbolic herbs, aromatic herbs, and his veggie Kingdom is pretty amazing to anyway, through all of that there are all sorts of plant allies that can step up for us. So I really enjoy capturing that, that energetic essence of those plants and making them available for people. The other thing I do is I also use things like lunar and planetary transits to select when to harvest certain plants, and to augment different parts of their characters at work. And also working with the lunar transits the waxing and waning of the moon to figure out the best times to create those plant essences in the garden. I have a medicine wheel, big medicine wheel with an Astrolabe in the middle of it. And the Medicine Wheel. I'm looking at it actually out of the window of my studio now as I as I speak to you. And it's got plants in it like lavender and poppies and rosemary, and corn flowers. And time. What else have we got there? Yeah, things like that. And it's really gorgeous. But but the point of this is, when I'm making the plant essences and if I'm making an elixir for a client, I will place it in certain positions on the Medicine Wheel, as it's, you know, kind of working its magic, as it were, I don't know, may or may not work, I like to think it does. In a way the Medicine Wheel acts like an as like an amulet, drawing down energies as well. So it's very intentional that it's there. It was created with that purpose. And I think that it makes it just a beautiful spot to work with in creating these essences and elixirs offerings I have around plant essences. I offer plant consultations, sorry, plant essence consultations. So those can be booked through my website, Georgina langdale.com, we have a zoom consultation for half an hour. And we figure out what is the issue that's presenting itself for you. And we talked through to identify the plants that could step forward as your allies, I then make the essence or elixir for you. And I send it to you very easy. I will be running workshops here in my gardens and in the studio and 2024. And those are for very small numbers of people maximum six. And we spent two days really going through how to work with plant essences, how to select them, how to connect into them a hole just really like bursting open the windows onto this beautiful way of being with nature, that beautiful oneness. I have online resources, and I'm kind of revamping all of my online resources at the moment. So there'll be available in 2024. And so there will be a series of lectures and case studies and things like that, that you'll be able to access. I'm also condensing all of this understanding of working with plant energetics into a book And I hope that that will be ready. I'm hoping by in kind of March. So keep an eye out for that one. Also, plant essences weave their way into other offerings of mine as well. So I've got a workshop around ceremony. They feature in a book I've just written called a 50 things to help when life changes. And that will be published on the second of January 2024. And you can purchase copies via my website, and also my Unlocking Potential Renaissance readings that I do for people. Plant essences weave their way into that offering, as well as I look at your astrological constitution, and the allies and from the botanic world that can step up for you. You can also purchase plant essences and elixirs that I make from me via my website, and there's a catalog there that you can download for further information. Plant essences brush were to summarize, they help you they help your life force with their life force. They're like a hug in a bottle. They're a conduit to a deeper connection to nature, they can enhance ceremony, connection, meditation, so many states of being they don't can't to indicate with other medicines, they're truly sustainable, because you're just using such small amounts of plant material. And you're not having to yank out the whole plant or anything like that. They're just absolutely gorgeous. And the deeper and the more you open yourself up to this energetic connection with nature, the deeper and the richer and the more beautiful, the natural world around you becomes, and you have this chance to never feel alone, you have always an ally, right there for you. The intentional nature of using that plant essence as a conduit, create creates a sense of ritual or intention ceremony ceremony can be too big a word but it it creates a conscious interaction between you and the plant. Einstein said, look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better. And I think we could also say connect deeply to nature, and you will understand everything better. So I hope that you've enjoyed this glimpse into a huge and beautiful and generous world of plant essences. As I say the resources on my website will take you further into a whole host of different plants and their energetic attributes. And if you want a consultation, get in touch, maybe I'll see you at a workshop. But at the very least, maybe just walk out of the door. Go to the garden, go to the park, connect to nature, and really take a moment to introduce yourself to a plant a tree a flower and see what comes up between you see what doorways of understanding and connection open. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the soul garden. And I look forward to being with you again next week, which will be the last episode for 2023. And in that I'm going to be taking a little peek beneath the covers or between the covers of my book 50 things to help when life changes, which is being published in the New Year. So until then, I'm Georgina Langdale. Thank you for being here with me. Take care of yourselves, and have fun finding your plant allies. Bye