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 ©2000 by Gail Faith EdwardsEditors' Note: The following is an excerpt from the author's Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs, published in 2000 by Ash Tree Publishing, and used by permission. You can order a copy here.My interest in herbs has taken me on a journey back through time into ancient history, into an era when women's values, such as reverence, receptivity, flexibility, cooperation, health, hearth, home and family were predominant. Men and women lived in harmony with their inner, cyclic natures and with the rhythms of the earth. Recent archeological studies reveal this nature-centered time in earth's story lasted for more than 30,000 years. People honored the feminine image, the goddess, and revered her as mother, creator, nurturer and sustainer-of-all-life. I believe that these pastoral people held all beings, plant and animal, to be sacred and deserving of respect. 
These ancient times fostered an incredibly rich, woman-centered healing tradition, as long as humans have been on the planet, and yet still very much alive in diverse cultures world-wide. This ages-old approach to health is today called the Wise Woman Tradition. The Wise Woman Tradition tells us that it is through the wise use of herbs, the cultivation of a wild and compassionate heart, and the acting out of simple ceremony that we heal the whole person. The Wise Woman tradition teaches that wild foods and herbs are whole, integrated nourishment carrying spiritual, emotional, physical, and other invisible energies. It invites us to enter into resonance with these nature-given energy sources. Wise women want stories. They understand that when we know the story of an individual, a community, a place or a plant, or even just a part of the story, we can begin to expose deeper truths and find deeper meaning. By opening our wild hearts to the stories the plants have to share, we deeply nourish the planet and ourselves. By exposing and sharing our personal stories, we deeply nourish each other and ourselves. The Wise Woman Tradition is wild-heart-centered. Deep compassion for our collective humanness comes from concerning ourselves with development of the wild heart's truth, attention, forgiveness, and love. As wise women opening to our many contradictions, we realize that validation of each unique reality and perspective is a fundamental component of nourishment. Men can be wise women, too! In fact, one of the most inspiring wise women I know is a man. Every person has the capacity to bring forth the inner wise woman and honor the wise woman in others. Each of us has the capacity to open our wild hearts and to live our lives with attention, compassion and love. Plant Energy and Flower EssencesHave you ever stood in awe before a field ablaze with golden dandelion blossoms in early spring? As sparks of their radiant energy pulsate from the background of spring green grass, you may have felt energy streaming into you, releasing long-held tensions, freeing you to leap and dance with the devas. 
Flowers have inspired poets, gardeners, lovers, and healers throughout time. Blooming in a magnificent array of colors, shapes, textures, and fragrances, they truly enlighten and enliven our lives from early spring well into fall.
Flowers vividly express the individuality, the essential nature of the plant. Paracelsus, a sixteenth century alchemist, physician and philosopher, called the qualities underlying all phenomena essentia. He described essentia in relation to flowers, saying that the outer form of a plant or blossom represents some aspect of its inner qualities.
Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth-century mystic, healer, and prophet ecstatically described the vital energy, or life force, she felt in all living things, using the word veriditas, the greening force. The Hindus call it Prana, the Chinese call it Chi. I understand this energy as the divine spark innate within all living things, uniting us all. All cultures acknowledged, honored, or cultivated awareness of life-force energy. Of course the essentia, the veriditas, is in every part of the plant. But to me -- and to many others -- the flowers are a special doorway to spirit. To understand the special energies each flower has to offer, I observe the physical form and placement of the blossoms, its pattern of growth, color, texture, and the scent of the bloom. I ask my wild heart to hear and feel the messages the flower whispers. Flower essences give the wild heart of nature an opportunity to speak directly to our human hearts. Plants and Spirit Power
We are made of the very same substances as plants and our lives are intricately entwined with theirs. In addition to sound health, physical vitality, and a sense of well-being, plants offer us intelligence, love, and spirit. Some are able to transport us to deeper realms and open our wild hearts to communication with nature. These are the magical and spiritual plants. Plants profoundly affect our mind and spirit. I believe that the herbs, trees, and flowering plants actively support our growth and spiritual development. Some plants seem to occur solely for the purpose of changing our consciousness and expanding our capacity to love. Thus, earth-honoring people everywhere include these sacred herbs in their ceremonies and their lives. As humans we possess a deep yearning to understand all that nature embodies and to move in harmony with the natural world around us. To contemplate nature is to become familiar with the Goddess and her ways, for in nature, She reveals Her deepest mysteries.
May the seven directions empower you. May the ways of the Wise Woman make themselves known to you. May you walk the Trail of Beauty always, and be good to all you encounter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gail Faith Edwards is a practicing Community Herbalist and founder and director of the Blessed Maine Herb Farm and School of Herbal Medicine. She is the author of Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs and Traversing the Wild Terrain of Menopause. Gail offers several herbal study opportunities including a 3 year Community Herbalist Program, one-month long herbal apprenticeships and an Herbal Medicine Correspondence Course. 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.
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Our bodies come from the body of Mother Earth and to her body we will return. "Earth our body, water our blood, air our breath, and fire our spirit."
