SEEMANTICS
Pondering on Plants
I grew up with what has now become a lifelong enchantment with botany -- an infusion of love of Nature and a commitment to preserving that which is essential and lasting. As humans, we have an intuitive and deeply ingrained connection with Nature and a biological need for immersion in the Natural world. The relationship between people and plants has always been profoundly important. Plants affect every aspect of our lives; without them life as we know it would not be possible from making the air breathable to ensuring the food chain. We feel good in nature, if you were asked to picture a place where you feel calm and relaxed, chances are you would pick a scene involving nature. Our deep relationship with, and understanding of plants has enabled us to harness their nutritional, medicinal, and aesthetic benefits. Science can facilitate the further exploration of plant species, providing information we need to adapt plants to enable us to meet the demands of the growing population or identify novel plant-derived compounds with important medical applications. Many of the major global challenges we face will impact our relationship with plants; we must protect their biodiversity, which holds vital information and solutions that will help us to cope with these problems.
Traditionally, plants have been the source of medicines; In the Indic tradition of the nearly 10,000 plants used for medicinal purposes, only 1200 to 1500 have been incorporated into the official Ayurvedic pharmacopeia in more than 3000 years. Approximately 90% of Ayurvedic preparations are plant based, most of the classical preparations are polyherbal, with a combination of three to 30 plants. These constituents are combined accurately, in such a way that the formula is balanced and reproducible. Relationships with their vast and varied habitats show impressive abilities of plants to perceive, to adapt, to transform not only themselves but also their environments. From the very beginning a seedling adapts through Struggle and Will. Constantly weighing energy-budget trade-offs. Sensing, responding, adapting. What I find truly uplifting is that while we usually engage with others to arrive at self-definition, plants respond to the world through entirely personal agency. They have such inspiring life affirming generosity, resilience, the studied (always optimistic) response to adversity. Life affirming relationships of deep abiding security and a freedom that only plants can know.
The bedrock of all life, plants have a soul, of which, essential oils are the essence. Spiritual Phytoessencing focuses, therefore, on the bio-energic aspect of an essential oil rather than mere chemical aspects. As a student and practitioner of Aromacology, I am drawn to the words of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophical medicine: “Matter is most spiritual in the perfume of the plant…. When the spirit most closely approaches the physical earth, then we have the perception of fragrance.”
Essential oils, bonding mediums to plant soul are physical entities which can facilitate interface between plant and human souls. Imaginative consciousness in extracting essential oils transcends the analysis of physical properties, it offers spiritual roots of physical properties. Whenever I use essential oils for psycho-spiritual work, I focus on all of the physical features, clinical properties and historical associations of the plant for understanding its spiritual roots. Truly vast and varied, richer and deeper than anything we usually comprehend, the essence of plants contained in their signature properties is a fascinating field of discovery and use.
