Interview by Mystic Magazine with Emma Farrell
How would you define ‘indigenous wisdom'?
Indigenous wisdom is ancient wisdom that is still alive today. It is not only held within the indigenous communities which still exist around the world but also within our own traditions and lineages today, whoever we are, and wherever we are from.
We are indigenous to our land and therefore this wisdom which is held within the land and nature is accessible to us too. Indigenous traditions are always symbiotic with nature. So even if we feel certain spiritual or healing lineages have been lost or interrupted, the wisdom is never lost and lives on in the land, the plants and in the trees. The indigenous wisdom is therefore still very active and readily available for us all to acquaint ourselves with.
Would you say that you learn about plants or learn from plants?
Both are true. If you want to work with plants you have to understand and know plants at least a little. You need to know which ones are edible, psychoactive, toxic etc…so as to work with them safely.
The type of plant work I do is learnt directly from the plants. I work in a shamanic way to understand their metaphysical qualities in addition to their physical attributes. The metaphysical side doesn't bind you by limitations and the healing capabilities are much broader in terms of potential and in the time frame within which they work.
When you learn directly from the plants, they teach you what you and they can do on a metaphysical level, our soul and eternal spirit level of existence. They can therefore work holistically across timelines and dimensions, bringing healing from this and past lives. Spending time with them, listening to them and allowing them to heal you is how this apprenticship best takes place. Approaching them with intention and in a sacred way - working with them ceremonially - allows you to access the healing capabilities and the plant spirits in a very profound way. Intention is key.
What is the science behind healing with plants and how do you determine what is fundamentally ‘wrong’ with a client?
I work remotely and shamanically. I have a plant spirit team who I have worked with for many years and know exactly what they can do on an energetic level. We will work together on a client and clear their energy field of any toxicities or attachments and underlying emotional wounds. Through a process of investigation into someone’s energy field I instruct my plant spirit allies and other allies to do the required clearing. I establish what needs to be done via perception and then apply the correct remedy. This form of energetic therapy re-establishes integrity of the energy field and therefore results in a clearer mind, more energy, stronger intuition and removes obstacles to healing.
What can you tell us about your personal journey within the plant kingdom?
I have always been interested in spirituality and always meditated as a child. As I got older and entered the corporate world, I became more and more depressed. I was living in Dubai and frankly not enjoying it. I would go to my mothers house in the South of France and wonder why I was so much happier there…until I realized that I needed to live and be around plants and lush vegetation - NATURE.
I ended up going to India and spent time studying in the Himalayas. I learnt psychic surgery with some amazing healers. I was doing my Masters in Buddhism when plants discovered me and called me through plant medicine. I was invited to an Iboga ceremony, an ultra-powerful psychedelic root native to Gabon, and often used to cure people of addictions.
This completely shattered my paradigm of how I thought reality worked. I had a direct conversation during this ceremony with a plant spirit and this proved to be a completely life changing experience. All the ideals that I had learned and read about in Buddhism were suddenly happening to me. It became my reality. The plants awakened my spirituality in a deeper way.
I knew that I had come into this world to help others awaken. I initially thought it would be through Buddhism and meditation, but combining the two - a spiritual practice with plant work - this is the ultimate gift! Reintroducing people to nature, and to who they are. We are nature and it is what we are here to do - I am here to help people re-establish that deep connection to Mother Earth and through this process we can heal, awaken and help the evolvement of humanity.
What can you tell us about your book Journeys With Plant Spirits?
My book is in two parts. The first half is a guide book and sets out a shamanic structure within which anyone can work (of any culture). It is a methodology or map on how to work with plants, how to communicate with them, how to receive their healing gifts and how to connect to nature more deeply and know plants on a spiritual level.
The second half of the book consists of thirteen chapters, each of which is dedicated to a different plant spirit - how they appear, how they work, how I understood how to work with them, understanding their energetic frequencies and their framework for co-creation with them.
This book is a guide book woven with esoteric wisdom traditions out of the understanding of nature. Working with plants is like reading the web of life.
Interview by Sarah Kirton of Mystic Magazine