Do you practice Chinese herbs?
I am interested in working with the plants I know: evening primrose, mullein, horsetail, rosa rugosa, wild ginger, etc. from the area where my clients live. In 1990 I began studying with Eliot Cowan, a Five Element acupuncturist thinking the same way about plants: use local. Eliot developed a healing modality called Plant Spirit Medicine and I have been working in this way with plants since then.
Plant Spirit Medicine is a shamanic tradition. Plants have spirits like all living beings. You might think of them as essences. We know this: a rose is very different essence from cedar or elderberry. Initially plant essences were created in a homeopathic remedy form as drops or sugar pills. I now use them in an energetic form through my hands. As a practitioner I use these plant spirits to treat a patient much as I would use an acupuncture point – or a series of them. The methods used for examining and diagnosing a patient are the same as those used for acupuncture. I am essentially doing the same work with plant spirits as I do using needles and moxa.
Plant Spirit Medicine is profound healing modality. Often people who are too sensitive for needles (or don’t like them!) respond beautifully with Plant Spirit Medicine, especially children. I teach Plant Spirit medicine and provide advanced training for practitioners in the region.