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Published by Bear & Company
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
• Explains the synergistic process of communicating with a Plant and how the Plants help us overcome anxiety, grief, fears, and limiting beliefs and teach us to trust, forgive, and embrace self-love
• Shares teachings from a variety of Plants such as Yarrow, Mugwort, Maple, Dandelion, Poison Ivy, and Japanese Hops
• Presents step-by-step activities and practices that allow you to actualize each Plant’s teaching in an immediate way
Everyone has the ability to consciously communicate with Plants. Jen Frey shows that if we are willing to listen, we can hear the Plants speak to our Hearts and teach us how to heal. With the support of our Plant allies, we can be our truest selves and remember our intrinsic wholeness.
In this step-by-step guide, Frey shows how to awaken your ability to directly receive the unique wisdom and healing gifts of Plants. She describes how communicating with Plants is more like a communion than an exchange of words. The primary language we share with Plants is through the Heart, and Plant communication brings an expansion of Heart intelligence and emotional growth. She explains how the Plants help us overcome anxiety, grief, fears, and limiting beliefs and teach us to trust, forgive, embrace self-Love, and enjoy the sweetness of life.
Sharing teachings she has received from a variety of Plants, such as Yarrow, Mugwort, Maple, Dandelion, Poison Ivy, and Japanese Hops, Frey follows each Plant ally’s wisdom with a step-by-step activity or practice. She includes both native and invasive Plants because all Plant Spirits have valuable lessons to share. She concludes with Tulsi, showing how this Plant is essential to helping us recover our Sacred nature, especially in a time of great Earth changes.
With the wisdom of Plant Spirits, we can have support and guidance whenever we need it and live in co-creative partnership with Nature.
• Shares teachings from a variety of Plants such as Yarrow, Mugwort, Maple, Dandelion, Poison Ivy, and Japanese Hops
• Presents step-by-step activities and practices that allow you to actualize each Plant’s teaching in an immediate way
Everyone has the ability to consciously communicate with Plants. Jen Frey shows that if we are willing to listen, we can hear the Plants speak to our Hearts and teach us how to heal. With the support of our Plant allies, we can be our truest selves and remember our intrinsic wholeness.
In this step-by-step guide, Frey shows how to awaken your ability to directly receive the unique wisdom and healing gifts of Plants. She describes how communicating with Plants is more like a communion than an exchange of words. The primary language we share with Plants is through the Heart, and Plant communication brings an expansion of Heart intelligence and emotional growth. She explains how the Plants help us overcome anxiety, grief, fears, and limiting beliefs and teach us to trust, forgive, embrace self-Love, and enjoy the sweetness of life.
Sharing teachings she has received from a variety of Plants, such as Yarrow, Mugwort, Maple, Dandelion, Poison Ivy, and Japanese Hops, Frey follows each Plant ally’s wisdom with a step-by-step activity or practice. She includes both native and invasive Plants because all Plant Spirits have valuable lessons to share. She concludes with Tulsi, showing how this Plant is essential to helping us recover our Sacred nature, especially in a time of great Earth changes.
With the wisdom of Plant Spirits, we can have support and guidance whenever we need it and live in co-creative partnership with Nature.
Excerpt
Preface to the New Edition
This book is about a particular way of gathering information from the world, not the reductionism that our modern culture so embraces, but an older way known to all ancient and indigenous cultures. It is a way of gathering information directly from the world itself, a way of learning the uses of plant medicines directly from the plants themselves. Members of most ancient and indigenous cultures make an interesting assertion; when asked where in their body they live, they gesture to the region of the chest. Members of our culture, on the other hand, point to the head, generally an inch above the eyes and about two inches into the skull. The great divergence in the ways that Western and indigenous peoples experience the world can, I think, be traced to just this difference. For those locating themselves in the heart and those locating themselves in the brain do experience the world in quite different ways. Realms of experience open to those who approach the world through the heart are simply not perceivable to those who experience it through the brain. But this heart-centered way of perception is the oldest we know, intimately bound up in our humanness and our expression as ecological extensions of this Earth.
from Chapter 7
Digging for Medicine
The Wildcrafting of Medicinal Plants
When one approaches the earth and the plants to gather medicines, it is important that it be done with caring and knowledge. Among indigenous groups, people who gather medicine in a sacred manner have done so in similar ways all over the world. Though some of the techniques may differ, the underlying attitudes of mind are the same. It is only when plants become viewed as commodities that they begin to be harvested without thought. It can take months or even years to develop the understanding of what you are seeing when you go into the world of plants. There is a world of deep interrelationships that, because we have been so long separated from it, we do not easily recognize. It is important to recognize that the learning takes time and that you come as a student.
Perhaps the most important attitude to learn is that of “thinking like a mountain.” This term comes from Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. In his book he shares the time when he first learned to “think like a mountain,” when he first recognized the interrelationship of the world.
At that time, he and a friend were eating lunch and saw what they thought was a deer swimming across the stream below them. When the deer finally reached the bank and climbed out they realized it was a wolf. The mother wolf was soon joined by her litter in joyful abandon. Leopold and his friend emptied round after round from their rifles into them. They both thought that fewer wolves meant more deer to be hunted by man.
When they were finished they had mortally wounded the mother and one cub, the others fled. Leopold noted: “We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes--something known only to her and the mountain.”
In the years that passed, Leopold saw state after state kill off its wolf population and mountain after mountain fall under the voracious and unchecked appetite of the deer herds. There is a relationship between the living things in the ecosystem that though unseen holds a great power. When approaching the time of “digging for medicine” you approach that power. And when you approach it, once you learn to see it for what it is, it is automatic to come in reverence, with love and respect. This attitude and understanding is the basic component of seeking medicine and harvesting plants.
Most common diseases can be treated with the knowledge of only ten plants. Some medicine people might only know one or two or they might know as many as a thousand but ten are often sufficient. It is not important to know the plants that come from far away; the ones that grow near to you, in your back yard or in parks near your home, have all the healing power necessary. They, in fact, are better. You all live in the same area, are a part of the same ecosystem. You partake of the same water and air. You are of the same community. When you start with these familiar plants you begin to bond with the land on which you live. You will see and pick the same plants year after year, from the same stands and same land. Each year your knowledge of the healing power of these plants will grow. You will learn many things about them. And as such your capacity to evoke their healing power will also grow.
In each community of plants there are grandfather and grandmother plants from whom that community of plants has come. It is important to leave these plants untouched. Often they live at the top of slopes and seed down. They may be of great age, thousands of years old. To the unschooled eye they appear much like all the others. Some of these plants were here when the great ice sheets retreated north. They saw human beings take their first steps on this continent. One chaparral plant in the southwest desert has been carbon-dated to be 12,000 years old. Others are much older. In the presence of such age and wisdom you should come humbly.
The grandfather and grandmother plants should be left undisturbed. They should be honored with tobacco and smudge, prayer and ceremony. When you meet such a one you meet the archetype of its kind and it possesses great power.
This book is about a particular way of gathering information from the world, not the reductionism that our modern culture so embraces, but an older way known to all ancient and indigenous cultures. It is a way of gathering information directly from the world itself, a way of learning the uses of plant medicines directly from the plants themselves. Members of most ancient and indigenous cultures make an interesting assertion; when asked where in their body they live, they gesture to the region of the chest. Members of our culture, on the other hand, point to the head, generally an inch above the eyes and about two inches into the skull. The great divergence in the ways that Western and indigenous peoples experience the world can, I think, be traced to just this difference. For those locating themselves in the heart and those locating themselves in the brain do experience the world in quite different ways. Realms of experience open to those who approach the world through the heart are simply not perceivable to those who experience it through the brain. But this heart-centered way of perception is the oldest we know, intimately bound up in our humanness and our expression as ecological extensions of this Earth.
from Chapter 7
Digging for Medicine
The Wildcrafting of Medicinal Plants
When one approaches the earth and the plants to gather medicines, it is important that it be done with caring and knowledge. Among indigenous groups, people who gather medicine in a sacred manner have done so in similar ways all over the world. Though some of the techniques may differ, the underlying attitudes of mind are the same. It is only when plants become viewed as commodities that they begin to be harvested without thought. It can take months or even years to develop the understanding of what you are seeing when you go into the world of plants. There is a world of deep interrelationships that, because we have been so long separated from it, we do not easily recognize. It is important to recognize that the learning takes time and that you come as a student.
Perhaps the most important attitude to learn is that of “thinking like a mountain.” This term comes from Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. In his book he shares the time when he first learned to “think like a mountain,” when he first recognized the interrelationship of the world.
At that time, he and a friend were eating lunch and saw what they thought was a deer swimming across the stream below them. When the deer finally reached the bank and climbed out they realized it was a wolf. The mother wolf was soon joined by her litter in joyful abandon. Leopold and his friend emptied round after round from their rifles into them. They both thought that fewer wolves meant more deer to be hunted by man.
When they were finished they had mortally wounded the mother and one cub, the others fled. Leopold noted: “We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes--something known only to her and the mountain.”
In the years that passed, Leopold saw state after state kill off its wolf population and mountain after mountain fall under the voracious and unchecked appetite of the deer herds. There is a relationship between the living things in the ecosystem that though unseen holds a great power. When approaching the time of “digging for medicine” you approach that power. And when you approach it, once you learn to see it for what it is, it is automatic to come in reverence, with love and respect. This attitude and understanding is the basic component of seeking medicine and harvesting plants.
Most common diseases can be treated with the knowledge of only ten plants. Some medicine people might only know one or two or they might know as many as a thousand but ten are often sufficient. It is not important to know the plants that come from far away; the ones that grow near to you, in your back yard or in parks near your home, have all the healing power necessary. They, in fact, are better. You all live in the same area, are a part of the same ecosystem. You partake of the same water and air. You are of the same community. When you start with these familiar plants you begin to bond with the land on which you live. You will see and pick the same plants year after year, from the same stands and same land. Each year your knowledge of the healing power of these plants will grow. You will learn many things about them. And as such your capacity to evoke their healing power will also grow.
In each community of plants there are grandfather and grandmother plants from whom that community of plants has come. It is important to leave these plants untouched. Often they live at the top of slopes and seed down. They may be of great age, thousands of years old. To the unschooled eye they appear much like all the others. Some of these plants were here when the great ice sheets retreated north. They saw human beings take their first steps on this continent. One chaparral plant in the southwest desert has been carbon-dated to be 12,000 years old. Others are much older. In the presence of such age and wisdom you should come humbly.
The grandfather and grandmother plants should be left undisturbed. They should be honored with tobacco and smudge, prayer and ceremony. When you meet such a one you meet the archetype of its kind and it possesses great power.
Product Details
- Publisher: Bear & Company (February 24, 2006)
- Length: 240 pages
- ISBN13: 9781591439639
Raves and Reviews
“The first in-depth analysis of the processes used by Native Americans to communicate with the plant world for the purposes of healing human illness. It is a work long overdue by an author who himself ‘talks’ with plants as Native Americans have always done.”
– William S. Lyon, author of The Encyclopedia of Native American Healing and Black Elk: The Sacred Way
“Buhner articulates the sacred underpinnings of the herbal world and deep ecology as only a real ‘green man’ can.”
– David Hoffman, author of Medical Herbalism
"This is an excellent reference book, as well as a wonderful book for beginners who want a true understanding of how to begin working with plants."
– Bonnie Cehovet, Angelfire.com, April 2006
". . . offers not just another herbal, but the first in-depth analysis of how the Native Americans communicated with the plant world to heal human ailments."
– Diane Donovan, California Bookwatch, June 2006
". . . guides the reader through the practical technology of herbalism--which parts of the plant to use, and how to prepare tinctures, salves, and infusions, never letting us forget the underlying precious and holy exchange that is happening."
– Four Corners, July 2006
"Sacred Plant Medicine will guide you into the territory where plants are an expression of the spirit. Through prayer and sacred medicinal songs, Buhner shows how plants reveal their medicinal properties."
– Lotus Guide, July-Aug 2006
"A delightful read in all ways and highly recommended."
– The Cauldron Brasil, October 2006
". . . the first in-depth study that examines the world of Native American medicinal herbalism."
– Lotus Guide, Feb 2007
"Buhner's examination and research brings forth how indigenous peoples are able to communicate with Mother Earth and her properties through spiritual connections. Through this research Buhner is able to present to us healing plants, medicinal uses of the plant, how to prepare the plants for use, and the associated ceremonial fundamentals. . . . This is a book that connects the body to the plants, an energy that is important if healing ourselves and our plant."
– Irene Watson, Reader Views, August 2010
“Beautifully written, heartful, honest, and compelling, Communicating with Plants guides us into the deepest kind of relationship with plants, with nature, and with one another. I literally couldn’t put this book down. Every page holds treasures, insights, and a depth of plant wisdom that literally rocked my soul. The author has fostered and tended a lifelong love affair with the plant world, and in the most simple and elegant manner, she passes that love on to others. This book will light up your heart and the heart of the world. It is the kind of ‘herbal medicine’ that is needed now.”
– Rosememarary Gladstar, author of Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide
“Communicating with Plants is Jen’s love letter to both people and plants. She artfully and heartfully shares her experience and perspective as she answers one of the questions I am asked most frequently, ‘How do I listen to a plant?’ She demystifies the process and teaches the simplicity and naturalness of our innate ability to communicate and commune with these elders, teachers, and healers who love us and have so much to offer when we take the time to listen. As Jen shares with her readers, our relationships with the plants restore us to ourselves, and this benefits us, them, and all beings on our beautiful Earth. I am grateful that Jen Frey wrote this book; it also provides specific plant wisdom that can help readers on their journey of remembering themselves as part of Nature.”
– Robin Rose Bennett, herbalist and author of The Gift of Healing Herbs
“Jen Frey is a committed long-term ally of the plant world. Her sensitivity and direct knowledge of the plants inspire. Her account of interspecies communication vibrates with authenticity and love. As a sensitive being in a vital world, Jen leads us to a world of wonderment.”
– William Morris, Ph.D., DAOM, herbalist and author of Transformation: Treating Trauma with Acupunctur
“In her generous new book Communicating with Plants, Jen Frey affirms that the world of plants can be not only food and medicine for humanity but also companions, guardians, and teachers as well. Taking plants as her muse, Jen proceeds to teach us not only about the healing properties of these more-thanhuman neighbors but also through the lens of the plant she touches on some of life’s most important lessons: to live with an open heart, to be aware of subtle energies, to honor and work with dreams, to befriend our own wildness, and much more. For anyone who loves the green Earth and wants to deepen into relationship with plants, Jen’s book will be a bountiful exploration.”
– Sharifa Oppenheimer, author of A Litany of Wild Graces: Meditations on Sacred Ecology
“A wonderful book has come our way. Jen Frey’s Communicating with Plants is an inspiration. When a book is written with as much intelligence and deep insight as this one, the result is a special treat. Congratulations, this is a book to take people into the Light. Oh, and incidentally . . . I also am very connected with Mulberry!”
– Michael J. Roads, author of Talking with Nature and Journey into Nature
“Jen has given us a tremendous gift being the plant’s pencil. This intimate and profound guide for entering into relationship with our kin—the plants—will help anyone move into a deeper relationship, wherever they are in their plant journey. Reading this book will change you. Reading this book may save you.”
– Tammi Sweet, author of The Wholistic Healing Guide to Cannabis
“Some writers have the gift of storytelling—their words are conversational, intimate, and captivating. I felt my fairy godmother had me in her lap, winding the path of wisdom transformed into sensations, opening my eyes, the windows of my soul, to the deeply felt world of plants. Within this book you will read passages potent with analogies of truth. At last, solutions and hope in harmony with our ancestors.”
– Margi Flint, author of The Practicing Herbalist
“Brilliantly written from the heart, this book gives readers a series of exercises that open us to understanding what the plants want us to know. The author takes a subject that is often dismissed and makes it accessible and solid. Jen Frey let the plants speak through her, and now we only need to pay attention.”
– Tina Sams, author of The Big Book of Herbal Medicine
“There are special people sensitive enough to hear the conversations happening all around us between our green kin. The plants choose these folk to speak for them—to translate their meanings and intentions into words. Jen Frey is one of these people. She straddles both worlds and generously shares her ways of making those connections. A heartwarming book.”
– Mary Reynolds, founder of the global movement We Are the ARK and author of The Garden Awakening
“Communicating with Plants is a delightful package of heart-centered plant wisdom. Drawing on her years of experience, Jen shares her own authentic journey with plants and gives clear guidance to help us remember our ways of connecting with Nature. She combines her skills as a storyteller with practical exercises, describing how plants have taught her throughout her life and how we can all learn from their wisdom. Packed full of insights, information and pure love, this book carries the message of the plants and is a true gift to the world.”
– Carole Guyett, author of Sacred Plant Initiations
“With grace and an open heart Jen brings a message of healing––a gift directly from the plants. Each chapter of Communicating with Plants invites the reader to embark on an inner journey of discovery and renewal, guided by the plants themselves. The final result is an outpouring of joy and gratitude as the reader closes the book and steps into the world of nature with a new perspective.”
– Charis Lindrooth, a doctor of chiropractic, herbalist, and founder of BotanicWise
“Jen has gifted us with a beautiful invitation to experience plant spirit medicines growing right outside our doors. Her clear and insightful exercises guide the reader to deepen their relationship with not only plants but the world around us. Through each plant chapter, Jen distills teachings from her years of dedication and expertise—she shares more than meets the eye: just like the spirit world she has devoted her life to.”
– Kat Maier, author of Energetic Herbalism
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): Sacred Plant Medicine 3rd Edition, New Edition eBook 9781591439639
