How to Begin Plant Spirit Work

The foundations of working with plant spirits in magic, medicine, and ritual are surprisingly simple. The complexities come later as we journey into deep personal relationships with specific plant spirits and guardians of the green realm. For those folks new to spiritual work with the plants and for those who want a gentle reminder about the roots of our work, the essentials are offered here. From these roots one can nourish the tree of wisdom which will inevitably grow with time and loving attention. This tree, once grown, offers a protective canopy, a gateway to the green realm, and a living shrine where we can connect with the plant spirits all.

Plant Personhood

If the plants are not fully sovereign, conscious, and wise people, who is it exactly you’re learning from and working with? Our ability to not only comprehend the personhood of plants but to actively perceive if by working to clear ourselves of human exceptionalism is a crucial beginning step in the work. We must be able to approach the plants as a whole group and individual plants who attract us and truly engage with them person-to-person. This opens the path between us so that communication across the hedge is possible.

Sacred Reciprocity

Once we acknowledge and experience the potent personhood of the plants, we are invited to show up in new ways and engage with them as one part of nature to another.
Sacred reciprocity ensured that all the endless gifts given by the plant spirits are in some small way honored and reciprocated to the best of our abilities. At first, we may be giving back to the plants without fully understanding the deep green blessings they are always giving us. In time, we will be initiated into these mysteries and understand why entering a relationship of offer-receive-offer is pivotal for our magical and medicinal work in the green arte.

So, what can we human folk offer up in gratitude to the plant spirits all? First, your intent is crucial. Ensure that your heart, mind, body, and spirit are aligned and intent on laying a gift that will honor the plants and be received by them. Next, consider some of these offerings which are all eco-affirming and traceless in wild spaces after nature runs her course.

• Song, drumming, rattling, or poetry recitations
• Libations of wine, herbal tea, honey, maple syrup, or ale
• Small baked goods which are crafted from ingredients safe and supportive for the creatures around you
• Botanical incense
• Spritzes of handcrafted floral waters that are made without essential oils
• Laying on of hands and the projection of life energy into or around the plant

To make an offering, clarify your intent then place it at the base of a strong tree you can sit with for some time. An offering bowl on an altar also works.

Listening from Everywhere

The plants speak in a language that is closer to feeling than thinking. Their symbols and wisdom rush in through the heart center, the only organ we have which is capable of processing such refined language, and it trickles into brain and body from there. To communicate with plants is to connect with teachers who are rooted in the fullness of the otherworld and fruited in the very world we call home. They are living, liminal beings who are gateways between the worlds and protectors of the sacred dualities of life and death.

Your time sitting with specific plants or in the presence of many plants is an opportunity to quiet, slow down to tree speed, and listen from everywhere. The plants are always communicating, and you are always in communication with nature via the faculties of your heart. The invitation here is to slow and quiet enough that you can experience it all.

I offer advanced classes and courses on plant spirit communication, but many folks find that by following the previous two steps and then engaging with an open, quiet, and eager heart, messages begin to flow.

As a practitioner of green sorcery and a plant spirit path, I think there is no better arte than the ability to communicate with the plants. What better teacher do we have than those who are rooted in the spirit world and fruited in the raw nature of our own? Their perspective is one which has fascinated us since the beginning and continues to do so even as their voices are systematically silenced.

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So, there you have it. Three simplified, intuitive, and approachable ways to start connecting with the mighty plant spirits all right now from wherever you may be. This soil is rich and fertile and with a good understanding of it, you can grow o towering heights in your plant spirit work.

If you’re ready to go into more immersive courses in the green arte, I invite you to explore them here...

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