Alchemica

An experiment in 'Plant Spirit Art' Do you feel plants have a spirit? If nothing else, they have an personal, often unconscious imprint of how you relate to them which you can seemingly tap into through things like art. Been trying Plant Spirit 'Art', art purely for the process, not the outcome, where I take a moment to sit with the plant and actually connect. Taste a bit, maybe make a tea, smell it, see what feelings and memories it brings etc then quickly as possible without letting my analytical judgement get in the way, paint with the plant and it's 'energies' Some are quite intense energies that inspire a depth of feeling and connection, others are more subtle This is probably the most 'in the moment with the plant' and connected I've let myself be and it's in a way liberating and nourishing, even though super simple For example, tried to create a piece of succ-y art. Wanted to see what would happen if I shut my thinking off and just 'became one with the succulent' - what would happen merging the succulent spirit with paint, in the moment? Painted 100% with succulent, connecting with the spirit of the plant and just totally going with it. It succs but what do you expect? Feel it's an interesting way to explore the space and spirit of a plant, if I actually had artistic ability

Complimentary plant material - PM me. Not intended for therapeutic use or otherwise consumption - if anyone has TLC plates or anything, love to see something like that M. crystallinum (lots) or D. bosseranum (less) aerial parts, dried not fermented.

Cheers @Micromegas Pretty confident it's the one that gets used as a green for culinary purposes, game enough to have a taste anyway after checking with a few places. Being not a coastal person, haven't spotted it myself but haven't been looking Interestingly. the Garden of Eden states it contains "large quantities of oxalic acid" as sodium and potassium salts so it's odd it's finding such wide use in culinary circles without much mention of any risks.

Can anyone confirm that this wild find in fields of mallow is what I'm after? Edible: The crystal ice plant can be used steamed, stir-fried or blanched and is a great complement to seafood dishes. Medicinal: Aside from the above findings: May be a "promising functional food for the prevention of diabetes" [1,2] and have anti-obesity effects [3] It also has beneficial dermatological effects [4] [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31089648 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24374864 [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26390196 [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25592948 If so, happy to offer dried research material etc

How is your attunement to the spirits of the skies going? I've been exploring this, more as feather finding. It's a really nice (and 100% free) flow state searching for feathers and you really attune and connect to the environment around you - I feel you can interpret your 'feather findings' psycho-spiritually, in a more spirited way than reading tea leaves... I find I often find feathers that are in some way deeply relatable to life. I like to make little objects out of them. For example, yesterday's feathers to me are a reflection of my current struggle between lower and higher energies, learning to re-integrate shadow aspects, embrace dark and light and coming to a greater peaceful unity between the opposing duality to a greater whole Today, this one found me: To me, this is the feather of 'spirit triumphing over darkness'. Even when life is beating you down, there's a glimmer in the spirit to overcome the darkness.

For reference: From a reputable source, the seeds of M. crystallinum gave seedlings with expected glistening bladder cells

This is a new start for me. I got a mandala mindfulness mug started by a woman and finished it. It's simple art for me but it's a personally big step I used to gaze at women with the eyes of fear, now I'm finding I can gaze into theirs with eyes of love and healing. They are my mystery angels and medicine women. How can I love them better? Having a bit of trouble sleeping as for once, I have those divine beings called women running wild in my mind

Inspired by something my sister gave to me to give to my mum... Yep, it would succ without you, friends, family, caring kind people and supportive people I've met through SAB. So I've been sowing succulent seeds and got some free spares - Delosperma bosseranum x 2 significant quantities - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (50 seeds) x 2 I've checked viability for both and they've germinated fine on the heat mat for me If you want a pack of each sent to sow, the first two people to tell me what their life would succ without in this thread get free seeds Sow with intent to manifest a kinder, more loving world Soon I'll hopefully have "life would succ without you starter packs of plants" to give to people of succulents I've known and loved In case no one has said it to you today and you're feeling down:

Thanks @HillLily. Hard to hear about your isolation, without knowing the reason could you try to form some connections in your community that might break that via your front yard? Ie. over here we have "Grow Free" carts where it's give what you can, take what you need but a simple something even a box that could form connection? A shared simple herb bed etc. Wish you brighter days, best wishes

You gotta start vibrationally imprinting your plants with positive vibes and start giving them to strangers... Words of kindness and giving are powerful Sow the seeds of what you want in life... be intentional. Here's an example. I recently started a free plants section of my garden out the front, it's been a nice change for me Here's an example of ingraining those positive kindness vibes as you sow And ditch the alcohol ASAP

As spring starts to come around, trying to get back some creativity as it was nicely therapeutic. Not 'good' at it but better than no creative stimulation. Also brings back 'the moment'. Trying to draw plants as I garden, or think about them... Particularly trying to draw all the plants as I wait for them to germinate on the heat mat. Coming up with a wall of plants... art with a heart I like to call it

I'm interested in getting Mesembryanthemum crystallinum growing. I've got some seeds to germinate and in the picture of that one, the plant is covered in glistening bubbles. Is that a defining feature of M. crystallinum? From Wikipedia: "The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells or water vesicles..." Today I spotted this plant sold as "Mesembryanthemum crystallinum "Rainbow" deep pink flowers" This doesn't have the glistening bladder cells? Could it still be M. crystallinum? Or wrong ID? In a study, the alkaloid content obtained from the leaves of M. crystallinum was found to be 4.2%, compared to Sceletium which had 1-1.5% http://dspace.univ-tlemcen.dz/bitstream/112/6936/1/REBIAHI-RAHMOUN-Malika.pdf It's also got culinary use

Thanks for the kind words. Still keeping this up. I find it really healing - try things like 'meditative foraging' The Spiritual Life of Plants Plants are bringing about social change by developing people's attitude and behaviour towards nature and as a result to people Having a more harmonious relationship with what we consume makes a big difference: if you aren’t connected to the land where you are, now is the time to start. The surrounding environment holds a central role and is inseparable from the psychological and therapeutic experience of the plant diets: it is a means of bridging individuals' separation from nature and finding and feeling one's place in it. People benefit more from this method if the plant they are dieting grows nearby, and the ecological connection to it assists with the spiritual connection: through the active and embedded connection to the plant spirit, diets may lead to the recognition of nature as an inspirited space. https://www.tea-assembly.com/issues/2019/6/11/french-plant-spirits

I started re-introducing a few less weedy plants and noticed that I felt worse and worse the further I drifted from the wild plants. I feel such are a connection to Source, to our Ancestors - to Healing. The more we've cultivated the plants for food, the less healing connection they've come to offer: the further I drifted in food, the more degrees of separation, the more I started losing something really personally Divine: a greater than self connection that brought me a feeling of mental stability, nourishment and self-transcendence: a radical feeling of nourishing, inclusive Oneness. A feeling of Divine connection that I used to seek in unhealing ways There's something magical about directly interacting with Nature for your sustenance without the intervention of man, in the simplicity of Nature's abundance, something that takes you closer to 'source', to a feeling of Oneness and Love. As this author puts it in The Wild Healing solution, healing “wild plant deficiency syndrome” - that is, adding wild plants back into our diets - is vital not only to our health but also to our spiritual development. Are drugs/supplements that are primarily made from combinations of isolated chemicals really the key to enriching our lives? Can they truly correct the deficit that is making us feel tired, unfocused, sad, empty? "Taking up our wild weeds, let us walk into the field and forest together, mindful that, when we return to our homes and communities, we will be changed, more entangled, more infused with the green blood of our botanical companions. What this will do to our culture I cannot predict, but I hold great hope that the benefits far outweigh the risks." "Throughout history, human beings (and animals, too) have supplemented their diet with a range of substances to prevent illness, treat disease, and feel vibrant, inspired, and connected. As people moved into cities and suburbs and embraced modern medicine and industrialised food, they lost their connection to nature, in particular to the plants with which humanity coevolved. These plants are essential components of our physiologies - tangible reminders of cross-kingdom signaling - and key not only to vibrant physical health and prevention of illness but also to soothing and awakening the troubled spirit." I think it's really important to recognise that our food connection is vital to our sustenance We haven't really left Eden, all of us have this banished from Eden mentality, we have to cleanse ourselves from that... Foraging is rekindling the fire within us that recognises I am nature, I am one with it, this is my home, this is my source...

Lived off the weeds for awhile - how would I describe 'weed medicine?' 'Weeds' are a great leveler medicine to embrace "otherness" that teach us to learn to accept, even appreciate not just Nature differently but at a deeper level, to see, hold and accept ourselves and 'others' in a more positive light. When you're feeling like a waste of space, like you don't belong, feelings of being useless, low self-worth, lacking acceptance etc relating to weeds as healing food and medicine is particularly nice plant medicine. When you start to see this otherwise unappreciated life force like a weed in a positive light through compassionately relating to it for your day to day healing sustenance, you kindle a new kind of compassion towards yourself and others. You start to relate to the aspects in yourself or others you typically denigrate much differently. When you feel like you don't belong, or are lacking acceptance of self or others, the weeds teach you to find that again compassionately and gently, starting small in the world around you and bringing that back into your core to nourish the aspects of yourself that are hurt and hurting and out solidify a new compassionate embrace in the world. You connect deeply with a heartier attitude towards Nature and others in the world around you. "Wouldn’t it be great if we all started to change our attitudes and broaden our ideas of belonging and accepting, of embracing our differences and trusting that wherever we (and others) are is the right place to be right now? Maybe if we do this, we’ll all gravitate to our natural heart-space..." [1] [1] https://wildflowerwalker.com/2015/09/21/weeds-maybe-nature-knows-best/ Re-wilding ourselves It's been interesting comparing gardening, where you're exerting will and control over the environment and striving for productivity, forcing your will on the Earth, to foraging where you're surrendering and becoming at one with it and it's abundant gifts. There's that power dynamic of gardening/life in general 'control' that gets super softened by living off the land for a bit and you start to embrace a nourishing oneness. I think we have way too many control freaks these days and being able to soften that is often needed... In healing, I feel giving up that need to control the Mother Earth is particularly special. Our relationship with the Earth is mirrored in our other relationships too. In foraging, you're returning to a primal state of being Mothered by the energies of the Earth which is particularly nourishing and special when you're energies are out of alignment It's been a pleasure getting to know common weeds as food, medicine and friends/allies. That said, trying to keep some balance so decreasing my reliance on the open source food which was a fun adventure and limiting it to healing allies that pop up in my garden.