Speaking with Nature: Awakening to the Deep Wisdom of the Earth - Sandra Ingerman, Llyn Roberts 2015

Wild Plum Seed - Sandra
Wild Plum Seed and Earth Goddess Nunkui

Spring is a time when awe-inspiring creativity in nature abounds. The spring winds carry seeds that the earth readily receives to nurture. Actually all life carries seeds from place to place. Some animals pass seeds through their digestive systems, or seeds cling to a paw and get carried from location to location. Birds carry seeds in their beaks or in their bodies and drop them into the earth, and insects scatter seeds as they travel. Many species of ants actually carry seeds into their nests. Water that flows through the lands also helps to carry seeds around the earth. And, of course, humans intentionally plant seeds in our great earth garden.

Earth waits patiently for these seeds to be planted in her body, her soil. And then she nurtures each seed without judgment of what is carried in this seed and what will grow and blossom from it. She just nurtures the seeds with unconditional and universal love.

Due to drought conditions my husband and I have to depend on rain and snow to water our garden. We have to be very conscious of how much of our well water we use. Because there are minerals in our soil and we need to conserve water, only very hearty seeds tend to grow deep roots and mature into healthy plants.

One year I noticed a new bush growing in our garden. It seemed to have appeared overnight. I had no idea what this little bush was but was happy to have a beautiful green bush now growing in a place that had been bare.

During the summer fruit appeared on this bush. The fruit was about one inch in diameter and a beautiful deep red. I decided to pick one of the pieces of fruit and taste it. To my absolute amazement it was a plum. This was a great omen to me, as plums are my favorite fruit.

Over the summer I noticed these Wild Plum bushes growing everywhere in our garden. The bushes started growing in such abundance that I had to start cutting them back to protect the root systems of our other fruit trees.

Wild Plum is a drought-tolerant bush that fills the land and wild places of its natural habitat with the scent of sweet white flowers. It is a deciduous shrub with reddish-brown bark covering its low, slender branches. Deep green, small, tapering oval leaves emerge in the spring. With the arrival of fall, Wild Plum’s foliage brightens to golden yellow before dropping. Its enthusiastic root-sucker production requires time to manage and control its vigorous spread. I find myself walking around the plum bushes carefully, as their branches can be quite prickly and scratch my skin when I walk carelessly and get too close.

It is so interesting to watch the wealth of plants that grow in abundance in a desert environment, even with the lack of water. Nature is always teaching us about the strength and passion for life.

All over my land I watch during the heat of summer the abundance of growth of mallow, mullein, beautiful purple asters, lilacs, grape hyacinth, and even a type of bluebell. I walk in amazement as I observe the beauty of these plants growing and looking so vital even without receiving water. I realized I could benefit from their strength and knowledge of how to thrive in a harsh, challenging climate, so over the years I made flower essences from these healthy plants. When I feel I need a reminder of my own strength to support me in challenging times, I drink a few drops of the essence of one of these desert plants that calls to me as an ally.

All plant life starts with a seed. A seed is filled with potential. Nature’s intelligence has created a blueprint that programs each seed to thrive and be healthy. When we learn about the power, potential, and inner wisdom that each seed has, we learn a lot about ourselves. For we are part of nature with a passion for life and a blueprint that informs us of how to be healthy and thrive.

To explore our state of health and well-being, we can use the metaphor of a garden. We can cultivate rich inner gardens filled with seed words and seed thoughts we would like to see grow strong.

We also have to pay attention to some of the wild seeds we scatter and plant in our gardens, for we often plant and nourish seed thoughts and words without knowing it. Sometimes we end up scattering seeds of defeatist thoughts or words that grow strong and take over our inner gardens. We nourish these plants and encourage their growth due to our lack of awareness of the growth we are feeding. We often use words and have thoughts that don’t align with the positive vision we have for ourselves and for the planet.

Conversely, the more we feed our positive visions, the deeper those roots will grow in our inner gardens, producing a life of inner joy, inner wealth, and inner health.

If you plant a pinecone in the earth, you get a pine tree, not an oak tree, yet we often plant seeds of defeatist thoughts and attitudes and expect to see a positive vision grow from them. This is not the way nature works.

We also want to see change happen miraculously in our external world. We forget the feminine process of birth. A baby just doesn’t appear in the world; a fetus grows within the womb and the baby is born when the time is right. A plant or tree starts from a seed. Deep roots grow into the earth, and then the stalk or trunk grows and develops branches that lead to flowers and fruit. Flowers and fruit don’t just spontaneously appear.

Everything we see in the external world begins from a deep inner process. This is the feminine process of creation, gestation, and birth.

We can look to our inner gardens to give us clues about what inner process is manifesting and growing in our external world. We can use the metaphor of a seed and garden to explore what is growing and flourishing in our lives.

In indigenous cultures we witness a power, strength, and light that is seen in the eyes of people living in harmony with nature. The internal state of strength and joy is not dependent on what is happening in their outer world. The deep-seated power and laughter comes from the depth of an inner well and fertile inner landscape that leads to joy for life itself with no conditions. This joy comes from having cultivated a very rich inner garden.

Many of us attach the experience of joy to what is happening in the outer world rather than allowing joy to flow through us. When we attach our joy or love or any feeling to outer events, we become dependent on what is happening outside of us in determining how we feel on a particular day. When we do this the good feelings of joy, love, wonder, and harmony will be fleeting, as conditions of life change moment to moment. Safety and security fall into this principle also, for as our outer world changes, one day you feel safe and then the next day you do not. For example, one day you feel secure in your job and then the economy changes and your job security might now be at risk. You might start to feel as if you are riding a rollercoaster of emotions.

As the world continues to change, transition, and evolve, you must engage in a deep inner exploration and find joy, love, safety, security, and peace that permanently live inside of you and are not dependent on changing outer conditions.

It is important to notice, work with, and deepen the minute-to-minute experiences that tap you in to your inner well and garden of joy, love, safety, security, and peace. Take a walk and just experience the beauty of nature, independent of what is happening environmentally. No matter what is happening, the planet is still filled with great beauty.

Think about and reflect on the simple joys of life that are not dependent on what is happening in your life.

Sit with this principle, meditate on it, reflect on it, take walks holding your questions, and notice if you can begin to find some doorway into the inner core of your being that experiences safety, security, joy, love, and peace independent of what life brings to you.

As our lives and the planet keep transitioning through intense changes, many of us start to reflect on the meaning of life. At some point we realize that focusing on the outer world does not create happiness. We realize that accumulating more in the material world does not create meaning and purpose. As we grow and evolve, we start to see that true meaning and wealth lie within each one of us.

For me personally, as I continue to go within and experience the wealth of my inner garden, I find meaning in being a channel of love and light. For what else is there as you evolve in your life’s journey?

We have a tendency to attempt to over-domesticate our inner and outer gardens. We need to find a state of balance in allowing the wild seeds to take root and grow, as well as in caring for what grows into strong and healthy plants.

Just as wild seeds often grow into the most magnificent plants, sometimes wild, spontaneous ideas grow the deepest roots and most beautiful manifestations. There is a wonderful place for the wild and spontaneous woman in each of us.

Reflect on your life, and you might be delighted to remember times when your spontaneous ideas created very joyful and meaningful experiences.

Start to cultivate your wild and spontaneous side. Delight in the wild aspect of the feminine.

Plants that grow wild are vital, strong, and healthy. They represent the undomesticated power of the feminine. It might be time to break free from the domesticated part of yourself and explore your inner wild feminine.

Finally, it is important to remember that seeds germinate in the right time. They can wait for years until conditions are right for growth. We must surrender to right timing and not lose patience when we make a judgment that growth in our lives is not happening fast enough. It is important to keep fertilizing, nurturing, and watering our gardens to create the right conditions for growth.

Practices

Listen to a drumming track or meditative music that has no lyrics. The music will assist you in traveling within to your inner garden.

Lie down or sit in a chair in a place where you will not be disturbed for about twenty minutes. You might want to close the curtains or blinds to darken the room. As you listen to the music, imagine yourself traveling within to your inner garden. This is a continuation of the work you began with your inner garden in Wild Rose.

You can ask to meet a master gardener who can help you inspect your garden.

First, examine the earth in your inner garden. With your fingers feel the richness, texture, and levels of moisture that determine how healthy it is. Bring the soil up to your nose and notice if the fragrance is moist and rich. Examine the health and strength of the flowers and plants that are growing. Notice if the flowers and plants are bright in color and look vital, or if they seem to be tired and struggling. This information will give you some clues to the care that your inner garden requires.

Next, observe the wild seeds you have already planted throughout your life—the thoughts, words, attitudes, and beliefs that are growing into strong plants in your garden. Notice what wild plants need to be removed. Start to plant seeds of love, inspiration, and hope for yourself and the planet. Imagine the words you use and your daily thoughts as seeds. Plant the seeds you want to see manifest in the world.

Scatter some seeds filled with your wishes, compassion, and forgiveness.

Now imagine yourself planting small areas of your garden with seeds of good memories and gratitude for what you have. Water the soil with your love so the seeds can take root.

After you have experienced your inner garden, just be still as you continue listening to the music. Reflect on the experience you just had. Set an intention to continue to visit your inner garden so that you can continue to nurture the soil. Observe over time how rich and fertile the soil becomes. Set an intention to continue to plant the positive seeds you would like to watch grow into strong and healthy plants that will produce a state of inner strength, peace, harmony, and joy.

Use your imagination, and scatter some wild seeds in your inner garden, trusting that with the right conditions they will take root and grow into plants of joy.

When you feel ready, bring your consciousness back into your physical space. Take some deep breaths. Experience an inner feeling of peace, an inner smile, and let your own internal light flow through you.

Life will continue to bring change. Cultivating a rich inner garden will help you to stay centered and harmonious in the midst of change.

This practice will give you the experience of the power of a seed. As we are part of nature, we have the same potential and power that a seed has.

Take a walk in a park or a garden, and find a place where you can sit by a tree or plant that attracts you. Close your eyes and engage your imagination. With your imagination travel down into the earth and meet with the original seed of this tree or plant.

Feel in your body the unpotentiated energy and passion for life that this seed holds. Experience the blueprint that holds all the instructions for a healthy life. Notice the flow of strength, power, and energy that you feel in your own body as you attune to the power of how this tree or plant was born. Now take some time to experience yourself as a seed of life and feel all your innate inner information. Appreciate how much knowledge you have to help you flourish.

When you feel ready, take some deep breaths and state how grateful you are for your life. Seeds of gratitude that are nurtured in your inner garden create a beauty and power that ultimately will nourish you on all levels.

Open your eyes and gaze upon your chosen tree or plant. Feel the strength of the connection you have established with it by experiencing its growth, intelligence, and vitality.

Commit to paying greater attention to the seeds you plant and nurture in your inner garden.