Reflections from a Plant Spirit Medicine Retreat in France.

A Heart Full of Plants, People and Gratitude

This is my first blog/newsletter in over 20 years! I used to love sending out newsletters in the days when I would print the newsletter off, pop it in an envelope with a stamp on and take them to the postbox. Oh how things have changed ha ha. Anyway I have been given a kick to start doing them again albeit in a more modern format! So here goes…

I’ve just returned home from SW France where I’ve been facilitating a deeply moving Plant Spirit Medicine 5-day retreat at the beautiful SolHenge, home and retreat centre of the amazing Sarita Sol. I met a wonderful group of people who attended and had travelled from all over the globe to be there for the retreat. We spent the time deeply immersed in the plants and wisdom of the land.

We dropped deeply into the shamanic practices communicating with the plants and plant spirits using all the senses. There is a phrase ’Genius Locci’ which means Spirit of Place and if we connect with our native plants on the land we live on then all plants become teacher plants and we can maintain and deepen our co-creative relationship with them long term in a beautiful and sustainable way with deep respect.

We danced and merged with our plant allies, transformed with the sacred fire what was needed to let go of. We did a plant diet with Rose who wanted to come forward for this diet and Bramble, Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Apple Tree (all members of the Rosaceae family) made their presence felt too so they were also included in the sacred making of the Elixir for the diet. There was such an abundance of Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) on the land so we made a Lemon Balm Hydrosol meaning ‘water of the sun’ using my copper alembic still which is such a beautiful alchemical process. Lots of shamanic journeying, making sacred plant amulets, ceremony and so much more…

I loved waking up at dawn to greet the sunrise down at the stone circle and walk the land each morning.

I have run lots of one day Plant Spirit Medicine workshops in previous years however this was the first longer retreat that I have facilitated and it was truly magical. I couldn’t have wished for a more amazing group of people and my heart is full of love and gratitude for them, the plants and the and there and of course Grandmother Earth.

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With love Joy x