Evolutionary Herbalism Lesson 1

EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 1

Chapter 1: Natura Sophia Chapter 2: Gnosis Cardiaca Chapter 3: Synderesis Botanica

One of the best ways to integrate the principle of the Light of Nature is to simply start building up your library of personal experience in connecting directly to it.

It is one thing to know about it intellectually and a whole other to understand it experientially.

And it is only through the latter that you will come to know its truth.

Central to this process, as outlined throughout the ďŹ rst chapter, is the necessity to decondition any patterns of thought, belief, or perception that close down our ability accept that there indeed is intelligence in Nature and that we have the ability to commune with it.

Is there any part of you that feels resistance to accepting that Nature is intelligent?

Are there any experiences or conditionings you feel like you carry (from your childhood or otherwise) that feel like they have perhaps instilled a belief that Nature is a gear, a machine, lacking intelligence, purpose, or deeper meaning?

Take some time to reect on this below:

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EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 2 Next, are there any experiences where you have felt the aliveness of Nature?

Where you’ve felt connected to something beyond yourself while in a natural environment? Write out your experience below, paying close attention to the way it felt, what you were doing (or not doing) that led to that experience, and what you feel like you could do to generate more experiences like that.

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from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism www.evolutionaryherbalism.com

EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 3

The other cricial element to connecting and communing with the Light of Nature and the synderesis or the soul of plants, is the ability to enter a state of heart perception.

As our culture only cultivates mental cognitive functions and linear modes of perception, for many learning to perceive through the heart is an utterly forgotten concept, let alone a state of being. It is like an atrophied muscle, the only way for us to get good at it is to strengthen it, which requires no small amount of practice and discipline.

One of the best ways to get started with this is to find a place in Nature where you can sit quietly. I recommend setting up a consistent habit of visiting these places daily if you can, or at the very least once a week to simply sit and be present with the Nature around you, and ideally a specific plant that grows there. Even if you live in the middle of the city, perhaps you can find a park, a yard, or some place where you can see living Earth not under a concrete shell where plants grow. I’ve known many herbalists that just find a small patch of grass or soil where there’s a tree that they sit with even with cars driving by.

Engage in the heart perception as outlined in Chapter 2, which is briefly summarized as: 1. Relax your physical body 2. Locate your awareness within your heart 3. Breath deeply and slowly 4. Engage in sensory awareness 5. Extend your heart field to contact the electromagnetic field of a plant 6. Synchronize your heart to that of the plant 7. Pay attention to the feelings that emerge 8. Disconnect your heart to allow the mind to interpret what is received & re-engage 9. Repeat steps 5-8 to enter a deep trance & meditation with the plant Doing this exercise for at least 1 hour once a week will help you to get the feel for doing this work and how to connect with botanical intelligence, though doing it daily is even better.

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism www.evolutionaryherbalism.com

EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 4

Our goal isns’t just to be able to use our hearts as an organ of perception in the peace of the mountains or depths of the forests, we want to walk with it every day wherever we are. Our hearts have the capacity to not only decipher the underlying intelligence within plants, but also within people, as well as the qualities and nature of literally anything!

We want to not just be in our hearts sitting with the plants, but as we navigate the territory of the world. Indeed this is how we bridge the world and the Earth, Nature and humanity, by walking through our lives with our heart field as the center from which we perceive.

A good way to practice this is to find a place where you can sit undisturbed and become aware of the people you see. I’ve done this in busy city parks, at large gatherings, events or even just outside the grocery store.

In the same way you connect with your heart field to that of a plant, you do the same thing here with people. Simply pay attention to the people that pass you by. What is your first impression? What’s the quality of their skin & complexion? Do they seem happy? Sad? Is their energy high or low? How do they carry themselves? If you can hear them speak, what is the quality of the tone of their voice? Is there any part of the body that draws your attention in particular? Something that might feel somewhat “off”? Wrap people in your heart field and pay attention to the feeling that emerges upon entrainment.

Being aware of people on this level is something that not only exercises our attention to detail and heart perception, but also our ability to see patterns and point towards the constitutional factors, which we will explore more in detail later.

You can exercise this while walking down the street, checking out at the grocery store, riding the bus - really anywhere, anytime! The trick is simply remembering to see through the eyes of the heart and bring awareness down from the head into your chest.

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism www.evolutionaryherbalism.com

EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 5 A great way to integrate this work is to start a heart perception journal. While I generally don’t recommend having a journal with you while doing your meditations in Nature with a plant or in the city park with people, it is helpful to have something to write down your experiences into afterwards so you can remember, refine and look back to see the progression with this work. So get yourself a beautiful journal that you absolutely love and carry it with you to note your heart perception experiences.

If you don’t have a special journal yet, write your most recent heart perception practice experience here:

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism www.evolutionaryherbalism.com

EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 6

Commitment: In the next week go out and ďŹ nd your sit spot and make the commitment to go there at least once a week for at least an hour to sit and practice your heart perception work.

Put it on the calendar, integrate it into your life and practice, practice, practice.

For this is the foundation of the Evolutionary Herbalism practice without it, everything else that follows lacks a root to grow from.

Recommended Reading: The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm by Stephen Harrod Buhner Plant Spirit Healing by Pam Montgomery The Heart Math Solution by Doc Childre and Howard Martin

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism www.evolutionaryherbalism.com