Editors' Note: This article is excerpted from the newly published Healthy Connections: Flower Essences for Better Family, Friend and Work Relationships, and is also a part of the author's online class called "The Healing Dimensions of Plants."

Over the years, Vibration has published many theme issues in which most of the articles explore a single application of essence work. In the last year and a half, for instance, our theme issues have included applying the power of intention to essence work, mixing essences with a variety of healing modalities, and balancing the chakra system. Our Ninth Anniversary edition -- Nature-Centered Wisdom -- is no exception.

Nature-Centered Wisdom is a way of tapping into the ancient connections between people and plants, animals, or even sacred sites so that these forces of nature can communicate their holy and healing purposes. The authors in this exciting collection range from botanists who study sacred plants of indigenous cultures to shamanic practitioners to essence makers. We hope you find the collection as important and fascinating as we do. We received so many powerful articles that, for the first time, we decided to make this issue a two-parter, continuing with the topic in our August issue.

You probably have noticed a large rise of consciousness among many people around the idea that animals are not here merely to "serve" human needs. That they have an important place in the web of life beyond us humans. We have come to know that animals can experience pain, emotional attachment, and in some cases some fairly complex thinking.

I think it's pretty well accepted that animals have consciousness... many even think they contain a soul. I think this is healthy because it helps us see ourselves not just as lord and master over other animals... it opens the door wider to a mutual, interdependent relationship. We are peers in life on this planet.

However, we have yet to see a widespread rise of awareness that plants, too, do not exist to merely be at our service, though there are indications this idea has begun to catch on. That we are interrelated, interdependent, and capable of having a mutual relationship with them. Sadly, we too often view plants as either something useful to us, or something that's a "pest" to be eradicated.

If we accept that humans each contain consciousness and wisdom, and that we each may be here to fulfill some higher, Divine purpose, then why not the same for plants? And that makes us PEERS on some level. And peers have to have relationships beyond putting herbicides on our lawns and yanking out the dandelions by their roots with gritted teeth and a loathing for the little buggers... grrrrrr! (sorry, dandelions -- you know I love you).

And that relationship is ancient. Agriculture-based cultures have always prayed for their crops. We see fascinating modern experiments where people prayed for certain rye grass seeds, and ignored others. The results were greater germination, stronger growth and better health in the prayed-for plants.

There are interesting studies about the relationship we have to the natural world. Several studies involving hospital patients with a view of the outdoors showed less need for pain medication and shorter hospital stays than patients with no window. I have to reflect on the tradition of bringing plants and flowers to people who are sick... Do we unconsciously realize the healing possible by adding a plant to their environment?

Of course, there is the "green thumb" phenomenon. Plants just LOVE these people and respond beautifully to them. And the plants are loved right back -- that's key. There are also people who claim to have a "black thumb/finger" -- they can't grow plants at all. I think this is another demonstration that it's a 2-way street between plants and people. Anyone who gardens knows the healing and centering power of loving plants. And feeling love in one type of relationship has a way of spilling over into others.

I invite you to choose a "plant buddy" to help you explore and evolve your attitudes about plants -- in both the physical and non-physical aspects. That is, create a deeper relationship with a plant that you have a fascination for, feel close to, love, hate, collect, are trying passionately to eradicate from your life, or otherwise have strong feelings about or attachments to. It can be a cultivated plant, a weed, a garden, or potted plant. It's best that you choose a plant you have physical access to, though if you are intensely drawn to a plant you've never seen in person, then use photos and other reminders of it.

The first time I sat down to do this exercise, it was Autumn. I choose the plant marigold (not calendula, which is often called marigold, but Tagetes, what we call marigold in the United States).

I was at that time very attracted to it. It's one of the last big bloomers left from the summer, and the day I did this exercise we were expecting our first killing frost that night. Seeing and smelling marigold made me feel very nostalgic and sad because Summer was over.

I don't like cold weather. Or the frost. It's hard for me. Harder than I think it needs to be.

I looked up the plant's culture, history, food uses, use as a dye, medicinal/herbal uses, its flower essence, etc. I saw the patterns that connect each of its uses, the way it grew (a la the Doctrine of Signatures), and so on. When I looked up the essential oil using Google, I really hit gold. It could help with chest infections, coughs and catarrh, dilating the bronchi, facilitating the flow of mucus and dislodging congestion.

Here's the connection I made to this information. In Chinese medicine, lungs connect to grief, sadness and loss. I had not realized until I read this that my yearning for marigold could help me clear my grief about the end of Summer. I saw that if I used its essential oil, I could create greater wellbeing for myself. And I would stretch my relationship with plants, and therefore with myself. And I could also work on my resistance to using essential oils at the same time, again bringing a greater relationship to the natural world. See?

I like to ponder the meaning of the word "Herb". The American Botanical Council (www.Herbalgram.org) defines the word in one of the best ways I could find:

Herb: The word herb (sometimes referred to as botanical) has several different meanings depending on the perspective:

In terms of herbal medicine - herb refers to plants used in various forms or preparations, valued for their therapeutic benefits, and sold as dietary supplements in the U.S. marketplace.

As a healer, I like to think of an expanded definition of "herb" as any plant that is life-giving. Be it for food or medicine... even if it is because cloth can be made from it to keep you warm or the sun from burning your skin. Listening to the wisdom of the garden, if an herb is a "life-giving" plant, then isn't this one of the deepest and most important relationships we can have with another living being: being given life by them?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deborah Bier, PhD, is a holistic healthcare practitioner in private practice in Concord, MA. Find her online course about plant healing "here."She has just published Healthy Connections: Flower Essences for Better Family, Friend and Work Relationships and Learning About Vibrational Essences. She is also the maker of the Whole Energy Essences line of essences and Publisher/Co-Editor of this Ezine. She is available for private consultations. Read more of her work in Vibration Magazine here.

ART CREDITS: The art used in the border for this article is with permission of Pacific Northwest Native American artist, Lillian Pitt. To see more of her art, visit her web page. Page design by Donna Cunningham of Word of Mouth Web Design.

The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.

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