TALKS AND LECTURES

The Prayer of the Land: Aligning with the Emergent Wisdom of Time and Place

Opening ourselves to Gaia—the organizing intelligence that guides the formation and dissolution of mountains and forests, the migrations of animals across the globe, and the timely emergence of leaves and flowers—offers us opportunities to release our grip on human-centered orientations to life.

As we commune with and invite this wisdom into our beings, how might we better understand the fullness of our human existence and more actively participate with the prayer of the lands in which we live? Who might we become if we cultivate these relationships and align ourselves with these forces on a daily basis? In what ways might we bow down to and rise up in service with these intelligent forces as we allow these living expressions of Earth’s wisdom to infuse our beings?

Please join us as we gather in a space of experiential unknowing to find our way into a deeper and more broad understanding of these questions and what it means to inhabit our greater ecological selves.

Presented at the Gaian Congress January 22, 2023

Restoring Relationship with Our Wild Sensitive Selves

Presented at the NW Herbal Fair August 21, 2022

Becoming Plant: Embodying Vegetal and Archetypal Energetics

Someone once shared with me that they enjoy studying with me because I don't just talk about plants, I become them. This animistic practice which we might call plant spirit mediumship permeates the soils of all the work that I do as a holder of space and in my estimation forms part of the foundation of our human capacity to learn. As we explore empathetic relationship and shared embodiment, how can we dispel the culturally imprinted shame of sharing intimate psychic and energetic space with plants and other of our nonhuman kin? And how can we create conditions for mutually enlivening interspecies cohabitation? We will call upon some of our botanical allies to answer these questions and more as they help to orient us on this path of presence and fluid being.

Presented at the Fairy and Human Relations Congress July 24, 2021

Image by Holly Wilmeth

The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Plants for Opening Sensitive Perception

For so many, raised in communities that instill feelings of separation and alienation, the secret wisdom of nature goes largely unnoticed. For sensitive individuals like myself who sometimes retreat into protective energetic postures to keep from being overwhelmed, we may feel like there is something very wrong with us. But what happens when we remember the existence of our deeply grounding energetic root systems as we surrender ourselves in vulnerability to the seas of ecological intelligence that flow all throughout this world and beyond? How can botanical allies such as Quaking Aspen, Devil's Club, and Yarrow help us appreciate this gift of sensitive interconnectivity as we reclaim our intimacy with life and more fully participate in creating conditions for the thriving of all beings on this planet?

Presented at the Fairy and Human Relations Congress July 23, 2021

Wildcrafting in a Warming World: Towards Regenerative Practices for Life in the Anthropocene

How are rising temperatures, extended periods of drought, erratic seasonal transitions, and other factors of the Earth's changing climate impacting wild plant communities and the ecosystems in which they/we live, and how as wildcrafters will we adapt our harvesting practices to reflect this new reality? And how might engaging in regenerative wildcrafting practices call forth expanded, intensified, and embodied modes of perception that will allow us to more deeply connect and intimately engage with local and bioregional ecological intelligence, consciously develop relationships of mutually beneficial reciprocity with the living world, and be present to the Earth community in more enlivening ways as we increase our understanding of and participation with inherent processes of bio-system rejuvenation?

presented at Planting the Future, a benefit gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of United Plant Savers, June 2019 in Williams, OR

We are the People of the Alder: Restoring Ancestral Roots in a Clear-cut Culture

Even though many in our culture do not cultivate relationships with or honor our ancestors or the spirits of the lands in which we live, the ancestral forces are making themselves available to guide us through these turbulent times. Many of our current challenges, including an understanding of who we are or of how we relate as humans to the greater web of life is, may be attributed to a lack of relationship to these beings. In this class we will discuss ways to make these connections and the Plant Teachers who can help facilitate the renewal of these relationships. We will focus on the teachings of Alder who initiates the restoration of devastated land and inspires us to repair the inner devastation wrought by the dominant industrial culture. Come join me in singing songs of remembrance to make way for the spirits of renewal.

presented at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering, November 2017

Communing with Plant Teachers: Wisdom from Our Allies in the Wild

Offering their support to humanity, representatives of the plant kingdom, each an embodiment of deep spiritual and practical wisdom, are calling out for our attention. Gain a deeper understanding of the nature of plant--human relationships as we discuss and experience practical steps for developing and strengthening relationships with these wild, Pacific Northwest native plant allies.

The psycho-spiritual properties of Quaking Aspen are discussed in this talk.

presented at the Lost Secrets of Renaissance Medicine Conference, May 2016

Elemental Alchemy and Psycho-spiritual Plant Medicine

Each plant is a living embodiment of great spiritual teachings and wisdom. With this in mind we will look to our native Plant Teachers for illumination on the initiatory path of spiritual and psychological transformation described by the elemental processes of Alchemy's Opus Magnum.

presented at the Lost Secrets of Renaissance Medicine Conference, May 2015

Juniper and the Christic Initiatory Impulse: Reclaiming our Cultural Heritage

Juniper, as the living embodiment of the Christ energy, shows us avenues of awakening via acceptance of and alignment with the Divine Will and surrender to the Universal Light. We will call upon Juniper to illuminate our study of the initiatory and healing power of the Christ as portrayed by the Gnostics, Renaissance Christianity, and Rudolf Steiner.

presented at the Lost Secrets of Renaissance Medicine Conference, May 2015

The Five Phases of Plant Communion

Every plant in the forest is a living embodiment of spiritual wisdom and divine illumination. How do we connect  with this Green Path of Plant Knowledge that opens us to the Mystery of the Forest and leads us to a greater alignment with nature and harmony with the Earth and all beings?

The Five Phases:
1. Presence, Awareness, Trust, Discernment
2. Desire for Illumination, the Need for Spiritual Connection, and Surrender
3. Clearing
4. Receptivity, Acceptance
5. Respect, Humility, Gratitude

presented at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering, November 2014

The Five Phases of Plant Communion (excerpt)

This is a short excerpt of the previous talk presented at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering, November 2014 to give you a taste of what's available.

Plant Spirit Mediumship

We are all mediums to one degree or another. Many people drawn to working with plants are quite sensitive carriers of energy. When the gift of mediumship is not understood and the responsibilities are not fully accepted, many discomforts and challenges may be experienced in life, but by cultivating relationships with the spirits of the plants, we can bring ourselves to a place of balance where our sensitivities are no longer a hindrance. As we offer ourselves as vessels to carry and transmit the healing energies of the plants, we collaborate with them to effect the deep healing of others. Join me in imagining a community of healer mediums dedicated to manifesting the spiritual and energetic medicine of the plant kingdom.

presented at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering, November 2013