Communicating with Plant Spirits - Part 5

This is part 5 of a 5-part series on plant spirit communication.
Click here to read part one.

In this, the final part of the series on how to communicate with plants, we come to one of my favorite ways of engaging deeply with our green allies. For this practice, you’ll need an herbal medicine preparation that’s safe and supportive for you to work with- tinctures are my favorite for this exercise because of their ease of use in a ritual setting.

When we take herbal medicines into our body in this intentional way, we’re inviting the plant spirits to teach us from within. As they move through our being and make the adjustments they do, they are also sharing wisdom and perspective with us that’s unique to who they are as arcane beings. By tapping into this subtle process, our herbal medicine taking becomes more powerful, more effective, and more holistic in the ways it influences our bodies, minds, emotions, spirits, and life paths.

For this explanation, I’ll be using an herbal tincture made from one single plant ally of focus. I usually dose just 9 drops for this practice, but you can take more or less according to what’s appropriate for you. If you work with a tea, powder, balm, oil, or incense, you can apply these processes creatively to suit your own medicine journey.

Following the Medicine
Think back to previous articles in this series where we looked at intent and receptivity to the plant spirits, exploring the plant with our senses, sharing breath with them, and most recently invoking them and experiencing their otherworldly presence. You can call all of these techniques up together to create a powerful ritual of communication, or you can focus on the ones that have been the most effective for your own green sorcery. I suggest ensuring that you are in a receptive state and that your intention to connect and experience the presence of the plant spirit through their medicine is strong.

• Begin by settling into your space, quieting your nervous system, calming your mind and emotions, and letting the land hold you.
• Take a few intentional breaths with the plant you’re working with, in person or in your mind’s eye- offering your exhalation and receiving green blessings with your inhalation.
• When ready, take a dose of your tincture.
• Allow the tincture to roll across your tongue, down your throat, and then while the physical medicine goes to your belly, focus drawing the power of the medicine into your heart center.
• Sit with the medicine in your heart for a moment, then imagine that it flows into your body however it will. We are literally following the medicine here- seeing how it moves, unfolds, travels, and unwinds within us.
• Watch for: what directions it takes, what parts of your body it feels strongest in, how it changes temperature or position of your body, what thoughts or feelings come up, if any memories arise, and what adjustments are made.
• All of these things are the plant communicating to you using your own internal language. What comes up here is meaningful and relevant to your connection to this plant spirit.
• Continue to follow, watch, listen, and feel until you experience that the medicine has settled into your being.

This simple practice is one with massive efficacy for those who practice with it. Learning from individual plants from within your own being using your own internal language symbols is a shortcut to deep bond with the plants and a quickening of our ability to learn directly from the great green spirits.