Shamanism - Connecting With the World of Plants

Every tree, every plant, has a spirit. People may say that the plant has no mind. I tell them that the plant is alive & conscious. A plant may not talk, but there is a spirit in it that is conscious, that sees everything, which is the soul of the plant, its essence, what makes it alive. The channels through which the water & sap move are the veins of the spirit.

Pablo Amaringo, Ayahuasca Visions

The first and possibly the most important key in developing your relationship with the Plant Spirit (and what really helps to ‘open the door’ ie. makes the connection work), is a benign attitude and to have good intentions and feelings towards the plant.

The plant consciousness or spirit, communicates with us when we are in relaxed, gentle trance-like, or dream state. So the person, who holds the desire to commune with the plant, needs to know how to move into an altered state.

Moving into an altered state of consciousness can be achieved gently, for example by going out in forests, woodlands, or a park; and walk at a slow and steady pace. Gradually the rhythm of this slow and steady movement will bring you into an altered or heightened state of awareness. When you feel or sense this subtle shift, lift up your eyes and look around. Allow yourself to be drawn to whatever tree, bush, or plant attracts your attention; you may experience this attraction as akin to a little ‘tug’.

Now go and sit with the plant. Use all your sensory and tactile faculties to engage with the plant.

Visual – Study the shape and form of the plant. Maybe the plant grows alone or is in a cluster. Look at the form of the leaves; look at the spaces (the forms within the forms) between the leaves and branches. The latter is part of a practice called gazing, which offers a way to perceive patterns outside the consensually agreed shapes and forms.

Smell – Our olfactory nerves go directly into the region of the brain called the limbic system. The limbic system is also called our ‘primitive’ brain, as its structure is below the linguistic and ‘higher’ functions of the cerebral cortex. The limbic system is the location of our primal (primate) emotions, and primal needs. The sense of smell is our only sense which has this access to our primal or unconscious mind. Breath in the fragrance of the plant, allow any feelings, memories, images, and associations to arise and experienced.

Tactile – our sense of touch. Gently move your hand towards the plant, maybe you can discern a movement, or sense a connection between the respective fields of energy, yours and that of the plant. Touch the plant, leaves or bark with your fingers. It is possible that you may sense the flow of energy within the plant, into the earth, and up into the sky.

Taste – Place a very small piece of the plant against your tongue and gently taste it. The taste may be acrid, bitter, hot, sweet, sour, or sharp. The taste may attract, be neutral, or repel you. This tasting will give you an indication of its character or ‘personality’. Exercise caution with this practice as there are poisonous plants, do not eat or swallow the plant!

When you have completed these practices (which form part of the Amazonian plant apprenticeship ‘plant diet’) take some time to meditate or embark on a shamanic journey to encounter the spirit or consciousness of the plant you have been working with. To quote the Amazonian Shipibo maestro Guillermo Arevalo regarding the plant spirits, “They are beings, which have their own forms or they can be like human beings with faces and bodies. When the spirit accepts the dieter, and the dieter has the will, the spirit grants them energy. The path to knowledge opens, the healing takes place, as case may be”.

Howard G. Charing May 2007.