In the last edition of Vibration Magazine, we set up three plant attunement photo galleries, provided suggestions about how to use them, and then invited readers to share their experiences with us. See the plant attunement galleries start here.
Below are the very creative responses about the bamboo gallery that we received from several of our readers. Can you find the common threads between different people's experiences of the same photos? Also in this issue, see the Daffodil and Mushroom reader responses. (If you'd like to try the gallery yourself, we recommend that you do NOT read the information below before you have your own experience, so as not to prejudice your outcome.)
Bamboo
Mari P. says:
I found the bamboo gallery especially rich in its symbolic connections: the direct, unambiguous movement upwards of the stems, their hollowness lending the sense of a protected conduit for the life force to pass through. The circular striations embodying the stages encountered on one;s journey, mandalic in form. The green foliage signifying the ever-renewing cycle of nature. In their clustering, the companionship and yet solitariness of each unique shoot, at one with its place on the earth, in Nature. Their sheltering coolness; the beauty of their patterning, each leaf and shadow and angle forming part of an ever-changing kaleidoscope, a world in microcosm. And the gift of a natural material for others on this planet; these images reminding us of origins, and transformations.
Maria Bellay wrote:
Lots of adjectives swirled as I gazed at the photos: strong, majestic, protective, dense, stately, and lush. I noted how they could form arches (bridges?) and other enclosures quite easily. As I had just completed writing an article on California's redwoods, I noted the parallel in their ability to grow to extreme height -- the majestic and stately characteristics. However, bamboo creates this effect as a much lighter substance. It is strong but light.
My overall feeling was vulnerable and protected, as if the bamboo allowed me to open up at the deepest level without fear of harm. The way they can surround and enfold forms a protective womb for prayer, meditation, reflection.
Thanks for this experience! I don't take enough time to just be with the plants.
Ginger Allison said: The bamboo photos really gave me a totally different feeling -- I was surprised just HOW different it was from the daffs: instant cool and calm: the ultimate of the phrase "chill out." I can see how, being so much a part of classical Chinese and Japanese painting, images of bamboo create such a strong feeling of serenity in that art -- the artists' evoking of the energy of bamboo seems to do that. I will call upon bamboo next time I want to chill out myself or my environment. Bamboo: the instant "chill pill!"
A Word about... uh... from the Dogwood
From a note in a slightly different tune from frequent Vibration contributor Ivory Phoenix, written as we first set out this assignment in the last issue:
Spring was bursting at the seams after I was invited to preview the
May issue, and in my rounds of the neighborhood, I fell in love with the
dogwood trees. Their sumptuous, exuberantly pink blooms seemed to open this
tough, cynical heart of mine. Impulsively, I nipped a couple of small shoots
off the tree next door to put in a bud vase. I thanked the tree as Stephen
Buhner had said I must do, but have to admit it was a perfunctory expression
of gratitude, pro forma rather than centered in any sort of meditative state.
Later, out on another errand, I again admired the tree and recalled
that Buhner said I was to make some sort of offering in return for what the
tree gave me. My massively overloaded purse didn't provide any true gifts,
so I fished a quarter out of my wallet and self-consciously offered it to
the tree, tucking it into a crotch between two branches.
I forgot about the offering, went about my business, and arrived
home to a surprise. When I opened the screen door, lying at my feet was a
quarter. Not the same quarter I'd given the tree -- how could it be? But it
was a clear message that I could take my pathetic offering and shove it. I
went and did a few mea culpas in front of the dogwood, tendered heartfelt
apologies, and received a burst of devic laughter in return. I'm no expert at this attunement business, so can you tell me, does being in touch with the devas (or is it divas?) always mean this much sass?
I promised the dogwood in this photo that I would take its photo -- the very first with my brand new digital camera. The flowers held on and held on while we waited for me to read the instruction booklet and charge the battery for the first time. Yet they were still gorgeous! Not five minutes after I took this photo, did the petals shrivel up, turn brown and fall off the branches. I was so astonished that it never occurred to me to document their sudden demise with my new camera!
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