WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.459 Welcome to the Plant Wisdom Circle. This is a 00:00:04.459 --> 00:00:07.740 space to share the wisdom of the plants, letting 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:10.800 their voices ripple outward into ever -widening 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.539 circles. Together, we honor the plants as medicine 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:17.500 guides and living beings of healing consciousness. 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:22.600 I'm your host, Amy Turepka. Welcome back, folks. 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.239 I am so excited to share the medicine of juniper 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:29.679 with you today. The plants have been working 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:33.520 with me for nearly two decades now in this energetic 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.899 and psycho -spiritual way. They have been my 00:00:37.899 --> 00:00:41.859 biggest guides along my healing path and my journey 00:00:41.859 --> 00:00:47.679 of awakening to the magic of this earth. They 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.820 weave themselves into everything I offer from 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:53.520 my one -on -one healing sessions and my practice 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.159 groundwater healing. to most of what I teach 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.479 inside my school, the Golden Stone Wisdom School. 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:05.180 Everything I share in my work is supported by 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:09.719 these wise beings to help you remember the magic 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:14.060 of being a body on the earth. They are so committed 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:19.159 to this for us, and they are so graciously willing 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:23.299 to support us if and when we ask. If you want 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:25.599 to learn more about how to work with me, you 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:27.739 can take a look at the show notes where I have 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:31.359 links to my free online community inside the 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:34.620 Golden Stone Wisdom School, as well as a masterclass 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:38.239 on communicating with plant consciousness. So 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:41.120 today we're going to jump into the medicine of 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.159 juniper. And this is another plant I've had significant 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:50.519 depth with over the past 15 years. So there's 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:54.200 just a lot here and I hope that it serves you. 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:58.340 When I share my experiences with juniper and 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:00.959 the experiences of others, I'm mostly sharing 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:05.900 the embodied and spiritual experience of ingesting 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:09.120 a couple drops of the plant tincture, which is 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:12.280 the plant material extracted in an alcohol and 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.080 water base. And in this case, we use the juniper 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.460 berries to make the tincture. They're actually 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:21.879 not technically berries. They're mostly colloquially 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.699 called berries, but they're the cones of the 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:28.800 plant. And they take two years to ripen from 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:33.099 a pale green color to a deep blue color. And 00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:35.439 that's when they're ready for harvest. And I 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:39.460 am specifically speaking of my and other experiences 00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:46.289 with Western juniper. Occidentalis. My experiences 00:02:46.289 --> 00:02:49.849 also include times of just sitting with the tree 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:52.490 in person without ingesting any of the medicine 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:56.930 or calling in the spirit that I've gotten to 00:02:56.930 --> 00:02:59.710 know so well over the years. So you don't really 00:02:59.710 --> 00:03:02.449 need to ingest any medicine at all to sit with 00:03:02.449 --> 00:03:05.750 the plants, but it can help. I'll share a little 00:03:05.750 --> 00:03:08.370 bit about Juniper's physical medicine and then 00:03:08.370 --> 00:03:12.409 go into the general spiritual and energetic themes 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:15.590 of juniper, my own experiences with juniper, 00:03:15.789 --> 00:03:19.030 and other people's experiences from the plant 00:03:19.030 --> 00:03:22.590 wisdom circles. Western juniper is an evergreen 00:03:22.590 --> 00:03:26.030 tree that's found primarily in the high desert, 00:03:26.189 --> 00:03:29.629 and they're often gnarled and twisted and very 00:03:29.629 --> 00:03:34.030 old, some of them with just like a single branch 00:03:34.030 --> 00:03:37.810 hanging on. They are very slow growing and can 00:03:37.810 --> 00:03:41.229 live thousands of years. There's one in Oregon 00:03:41.229 --> 00:03:44.509 here just east of Bend that is estimated to be 00:03:44.509 --> 00:03:50.069 about 1 ,600 years old. So they're slow growing 00:03:50.069 --> 00:03:54.189 and ancient, but the younger ones are also starting 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:57.810 to become invasive here. They consume a lot of 00:03:57.810 --> 00:04:01.689 water and are very drought resistant, and they're 00:04:01.689 --> 00:04:04.189 starting to expand their range and take over. 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:09.330 the habitat of native grasses and the aspen trees. 00:04:09.629 --> 00:04:13.250 So the Oregon Natural Desert Association talks 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:18.170 about it as the juniper paradox. And this association 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.509 is trying to balance combating the invasiveness 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:23.870 that has ramped up in the last hundred years 00:04:23.870 --> 00:04:26.970 or so due to climate change, human disturbances, 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:30.430 fire suppression, et cetera, and the need to 00:04:30.430 --> 00:04:35.040 protect these more ancient native trees. So I 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:36.740 just think it's important to know this about 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:40.319 the junipers here. And juniper on a physical 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.240 level is very warming, stimulating, and cleansing. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:48.480 It has affinity with the kidneys and the urinary 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.600 tract and the lungs as well. Juniper is also 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.360 really supportive for joint pain, especially 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:00.180 when the joint pain gets worse in the cold as 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:03.839 juniper brings the warmth. So let's now move 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:06.959 on to some general themes I've witnessed over 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:11.439 the years. And I want to say a lot of my earlier 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:15.100 experience with Juniper was with Scott Close 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:18.459 of the School of Forest Medicine. And he was 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:22.220 my first plant spirit teacher, and I studied 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:26.699 with him for many years. with him for many years 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:30.660 after that. So I learned a lot from him about 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:33.920 Juniper and Scott has a very deep relationship 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.980 with Juniper. So I wanted to give him a little 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:41.259 shout out here because a lot of my early experiences 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:45.040 were shaped by Scott. And he introduced me to 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.680 Juniper as a more masculine energy, a grandfather 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:52.620 type energy. and the energy of Christ consciousness. 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.399 So that's how I initially came to perceive Juniper. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:01.000 But two years ago, after I received a really 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.139 powerful healing from Juniper that I'll share 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:07.319 later, they told me they were both masculine 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:10.779 and feminine, a non -gendered light consciousness 00:06:10.779 --> 00:06:14.100 that's often perceived as masculine, but there's 00:06:14.100 --> 00:06:17.060 also the feminine Christ consciousness as well. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.129 And people over the years have had both masculine 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:24.730 and feminine experiences with this plant so I'll 00:06:24.730 --> 00:06:27.410 be kind of shape -shifting my pronouns as I speak 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:32.449 about juniper and with all of this the most important 00:06:32.449 --> 00:06:36.750 thing is how the tree presents themselves to 00:06:36.750 --> 00:06:39.730 you how the plants present themselves to you 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:44.189 it's often very personal and depends on you know 00:06:44.189 --> 00:06:46.350 how you perceive the energies and what energy 00:06:46.350 --> 00:06:50.079 you're needing in that moment But regardless, 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:55.660 I do find that most often there is a sense of 00:06:55.660 --> 00:07:00.100 a grandfather or grandmother or an elder or an 00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:04.899 ancient being type vibe or a timelessness that 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:11.939 people pick up on. There's often themes of quiet 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:19.620 and stillness and peace. There's themes of simple 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:23.740 and loving and beautiful memories being recalled, 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:28.259 memories of the beauty of life when we're in 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.620 really sweet or warm presence with others or 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:36.220 the earth. We also always find themes of fire 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:41.389 and light. This might be the biggest one. where 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:45.829 there's a guiding light, a divine light, an ancestral 00:07:45.829 --> 00:07:50.610 fire or other type of fire, or helping people 00:07:50.610 --> 00:07:55.029 feel into their own fire within, helping to balance 00:07:55.029 --> 00:07:58.790 their internal fire, or just feelings of warmth. 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:04.189 This is often accompanied by feelings of peace 00:08:04.189 --> 00:08:12.649 or acceptance. Alongside of this, there's a strong 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:19.410 sense of presence or beingness, almost bordering 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:23.670 on a neutrality sometimes with minimal words, 00:08:23.750 --> 00:08:29.189 but a strong love in just the presence being 00:08:29.189 --> 00:08:35.490 there. So what being super present and non -attached 00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:41.139 in love offers us. And this non -attachment shows 00:08:41.139 --> 00:08:46.480 up in many ways, but often there's an acceptance 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.580 of circumstances or the peace that comes when 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:55.120 we accept our lives or something we've been fighting 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:00.179 against. Scott would talk about juniper as aligning 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:04.350 human will and divine will. So that when we want 00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:07.309 things to be different or are fighting against 00:09:07.309 --> 00:09:12.070 life, juniper helps us surrender into alignment 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:17.590 or acceptance of divine will. And seemingly paradoxically, 00:09:17.649 --> 00:09:19.929 I've had the experience of juniper helping me 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:23.509 with my third chakra, the chakra of fire and 00:09:23.509 --> 00:09:28.110 will, and help that burn brighter and helping 00:09:28.110 --> 00:09:32.679 me understand I have choice in life and helping 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:37.059 me have the confidence to choose to trust in 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:42.100 myself to make the next step forward and these 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:47.440 things are not separate to juniper our own inner 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.000 fire and will is intimately connected to divine 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.220 will and when we allow our own sense of will 00:09:55.220 --> 00:10:00.029 inside our bodies to remember our interrelationship 00:10:00.029 --> 00:10:03.509 with the unseen forces of life, we then align 00:10:03.509 --> 00:10:08.330 our will and our lives in service to that wider 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:12.750 whole, that wider love. In one experience I had 00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:17.210 in 2016, Juniper was showing me how these two 00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:20.370 things really feed one another, that they're 00:10:20.370 --> 00:10:24.090 really the same thing and how my body was resisting 00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:30.320 this divine light and divine will closing off 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:35.200 to the light of the universe. I'm going to read 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.220 you some of what I wrote in my journal sitting 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:42.240 with Juniper in 2016 here. Divine light is emanating 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.139 surrounding me, feeling it shining the light 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:50.159 of total acceptance, helping me feel that self 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:54.789 -acceptance fully. Feeling the tension in my 00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:58.409 body and how it's just resistance to that light. 00:10:58.870 --> 00:11:02.570 Resistance to the light and the power of life 00:11:02.570 --> 00:11:06.409 that wants to move through me. To take me on 00:11:06.409 --> 00:11:10.090 my path of life's work. The power of the universe 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:13.789 is my power. We plug ourselves into the force 00:11:13.789 --> 00:11:16.750 of life and gain our power that way. Our fire 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:20.429 is a flame of the eternal flame. And when I clamp 00:11:20.429 --> 00:11:23.789 down on energy flow, it shuts off my power because 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:27.090 my connection is inhibited. So at this point, 00:11:27.149 --> 00:11:31.769 I stood up and bounced and shook and let go of 00:11:31.769 --> 00:11:33.889 some of the armor that was keeping me separate 00:11:33.889 --> 00:11:38.850 and was practicing allowing light to move in 00:11:38.850 --> 00:11:42.929 to the cracks and the shadows, allowing more 00:11:42.929 --> 00:11:47.419 exposure. And that was painful. I felt the divine 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:51.960 fire coming in and awakening and resonating with 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:55.100 my personal flame and flaming it and feeding 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:58.639 it and strengthening it, feeling the tension 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.340 loosen its grip in my body. So that was nearly 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:07.039 10 years ago, and I've had many experiences of 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.700 juniper's light and illumination and fire over 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:13.580 the years. similar to that and also different 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:16.659 one of the first times I sat with Juniper I had 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:20.460 a vision of chains of attachment hooked into 00:12:20.460 --> 00:12:24.299 my body and I was just throwing the chains off 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:27.899 into the fire but I knew I needed to sit in the 00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:31.240 fire and not just throw the chains in so I sat 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:36.120 inside the fire in this journey space and it 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.759 was so uncomfortable and there was a lot of clearing 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.779 and moving and shape -shifting. So again, this 00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:48.200 experience for me needing to bring in the fire 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.019 and the light more fully in my body that has 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:55.379 been closed off and shut down and tight from 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:58.840 my childhood and energies that I brought in from 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:04.980 past lives as well. And two years ago, I received 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:09.860 probably the most powerful One of these type 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:13.860 of healings that I received from Juniper, a little 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:18.200 backstory here about eight to 10 years ago, I 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:24.379 had the spontaneous reliving in my body of a 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:28.580 past life where I was being tortured as a medicine 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:33.200 woman, a healer, a witch. And most of this was 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.740 happening to my right leg. I'm not going to go 00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:40.080 into details. But it was so excruciating and 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:46.019 deeply painful and traumatizing. And I could 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:50.659 barely contain and feel the emotion that was 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:52.700 moving through me through this experience. And 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:56.139 prior to that, I'd been having some pretty severe 00:13:56.139 --> 00:14:01.399 right leg pain that I had no idea what it was 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:05.570 from. And after that experience, the pain just 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:09.549 disappeared for many years and it got lighter 00:14:09.549 --> 00:14:15.389 and lighter. And over the years of building my 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:18.309 business and every time I would, you know, get 00:14:18.309 --> 00:14:21.129 a little bigger, step out more publicly and voice 00:14:21.129 --> 00:14:26.250 my medicine in the world, I could feel that right 00:14:26.250 --> 00:14:32.129 leg start to hurt a little bit or close off a 00:14:32.129 --> 00:14:35.289 little bit and so it was kind of this compass 00:14:35.289 --> 00:14:40.190 for me for recognizing this level of fear in 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:43.690 my body of being seen as a magical person as 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:46.250 a witch as someone who talks to plants and the 00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:50.389 earth and that the danger that my body felt because 00:14:50.389 --> 00:14:54.629 of this and it had gotten so much better like 00:14:54.629 --> 00:14:58.440 never ever back to the level of pain that I was 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:03.759 in before the reliving of the past life. But 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.919 again, it would come up here and there, and it 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.519 always felt a little more disconnected from my 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:13.379 body. And after a plant wisdom circle I held 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:19.120 in 2023, that night I had juniper come to me 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.919 through most of the whole night in my dreams 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:29.710 and felt juniper pouring. love and light into 00:15:29.710 --> 00:15:36.070 that leg. And it was so hard for that leg to 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:41.029 receive that kind of love. And my leg kept wanting 00:15:41.029 --> 00:15:44.350 to reject it. Like there was this restless leg 00:15:44.350 --> 00:15:49.250 feeling. I had to keep shaking it and allowing 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:51.389 more to come in because I knew what was happening. 00:15:51.409 --> 00:15:53.730 I could feel it. I could feel Juniper there. 00:15:53.809 --> 00:15:57.340 I could feel the love coming in. and how much 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:01.039 my body was closing off against it. And it was 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.019 such a beautiful process. And since then, again, 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:10.100 there's been this other level of that right leg 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:15.320 being more integrated into my body. I can feel 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.659 it receiving the energy of my body and not like 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:22.179 it's kind of just hanging there or cut off to 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.940 some degree. I'm going to read you some of what 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:27.919 Juniper told me after that experience. In the 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.360 morning, I journaled and connected with Juniper. 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:35.100 And I was asking what was happening. And Juniper 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:38.799 said, your leg had forgotten it was a part of 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.940 the love of the universe. It was still feeling 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:45.799 like it was separated, unworthy, bad, afraid 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:49.929 of life. So that's what was happening. The discomfort 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:52.330 of shining light on something that's been hidden 00:16:52.330 --> 00:16:56.049 in darkness for so long. There's an initial rejection 00:16:56.049 --> 00:17:00.250 and overwhelm from it, but then a slow opening 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.809 to receive because it's actually what that part 00:17:03.809 --> 00:17:06.569 of you has been wanting and needing, but hard 00:17:06.569 --> 00:17:09.970 to accept. And I asked, what else were you doing? 00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:13.000 It felt important, but I can't remember. And 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:15.660 Juniper said, I was helping bring the flow of 00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:17.960 love more easily through your entire system, 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:20.839 helping the parts remember their wholeness and 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:22.859 the movement of that remembrance through your 00:17:22.859 --> 00:17:26.259 whole body. Some of what happened was encountering 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:29.440 other places where you'd put up an army of sorts 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.059 to block movement because it was deemed unsafe. 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:37.109 Similar to roadblocks and cargo checks, just 00:17:37.109 --> 00:17:40.589 an over -militarized way of responding to what 00:17:40.589 --> 00:17:44.089 your body has felt is dangerous. And so I asked, 00:17:44.150 --> 00:17:46.990 how can I demilitarize while also maintaining 00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:52.009 peace inside? And he said, trust. Trust the cells 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:55.369 and the functions of your body can handle and 00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:58.190 process what they need to do. Trust that you 00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:00.769 are a magnetic, resilient being of light that 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:03.769 can bring up and elevate other consciousnesses. 00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:09.029 Be love. Trust in your love body. So that was 00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:13.529 one of the most powerful plant healings I've 00:18:13.529 --> 00:18:20.430 ever received. And that message of trusting was 00:18:20.430 --> 00:18:24.970 similar to a message that they told me in 2011. 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.920 This was out in the desert sitting with the tree. 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:33.559 They said, follow the light, Amy. Follow the 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:36.839 flame and let it grow. Let it burn inside you 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:40.259 until all fear and doubt are gone. Transformed 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:43.980 into trust and confidence. Until you burn so 00:18:43.980 --> 00:18:47.720 brightly, you then can ignite others. You can 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:51.140 do as I'm doing for you today. This is your path, 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:55.759 so trust. Trust. Be the beacon of light. and 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.319 the torch to pass the flame. You are hope. You 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.279 are hope for others. But first grow your own 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.579 flame. You can't help but spread once your flame 00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:09.680 is full and strong. Feed yourself air, breath. 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:15.380 This will provoke fire. And a lot more was said 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:22.480 too, but that's a snippet. So this idea of being 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:26.990 the light for others. being the healing force 00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:30.869 for others in this planet and doing so by leaning 00:19:30.869 --> 00:19:35.089 into trust, trusting your own flame, but trusting 00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:39.029 that that flame is a part of this wider eternal 00:19:39.029 --> 00:19:44.589 flame that we all are a part of. And that when 00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:48.109 we can remember that light and remember the truth 00:19:48.109 --> 00:19:52.930 of who we are, it helps someone else's. internal 00:19:52.930 --> 00:19:55.930 flame within, remember that within themselves 00:19:55.930 --> 00:19:59.930 too. We are all beacons of hope for one another. 00:20:00.529 --> 00:20:05.750 So there's lots of themes of trusting the self 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:10.450 and trusting in something wider and that surrender 00:20:10.450 --> 00:20:17.029 into confidence in ourselves and also in the 00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:20.430 will of the divine. Both are important and Juniper 00:20:20.430 --> 00:20:26.720 helps. us balance this seeming paradox. The first 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:34.259 time I met Juniper in 2010, Juniper was showing 00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:38.140 me how I don't trust in myself or in life and 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:42.359 helping encourage a sense of trust within. And 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:47.079 so this was in a circle with Scott and I didn't 00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:48.779 know which plant we were sitting with. This is 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:53.809 the first time I took Juniper. And in this journey 00:20:53.809 --> 00:20:58.269 with Juniper, she was bringing me into vision 00:20:58.269 --> 00:21:03.390 after vision of how I don't trust. And at one 00:21:03.390 --> 00:21:07.109 point we were flying over a lake together and 00:21:07.109 --> 00:21:11.430 I could feel the fear of not knowing what was 00:21:11.430 --> 00:21:15.289 under the surface. And he had me go under the 00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:20.319 water to get a view from below the surface. and 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:23.740 said, things are clearer with a different viewpoint. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:29.339 And from deep within, there's a better perspective 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:35.380 of the outside. In that same journey, he said 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:39.119 to me, how are you going to feed yourself if 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:43.160 you don't fly? Trust in the divine plan. You 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:45.359 don't need to worry how things will work out 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.920 in the end as long as you're flying free in yourself. 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:53.759 and then trust in yourself and tap into the divine 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:57.660 plan. Once trust is established, you can fly 00:21:57.660 --> 00:22:02.900 free with confidence. So again, this is before 00:22:02.900 --> 00:22:06.299 I knew anything about Juniper, and you can see 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:12.000 these themes of divine plan and trust and weaving 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.240 together of trusting in myself and trusting in 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.900 the divine and how those are actually part of 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:26.220 the same thing. I want to bring in this air and 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:30.240 breath that's often woven into these experiences. 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:34.099 If you'll remember back to when I was reading 00:22:34.099 --> 00:22:37.740 about my experience and Juniper telling me to 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:42.279 breathe and how the breath feeds fire, there's 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:47.200 a lot of People who are asked to kind of focus 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.319 on their breath or, you know, again, in that 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:53.660 last experience of flying and being free and 00:22:53.660 --> 00:23:01.359 how that feeds the will and the fire. And over 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:06.279 the years, many people have had this experience 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.339 working with air, working with breath. And you'll 00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:14.019 see that again reflected in this. plant wisdom 00:23:14.019 --> 00:23:17.000 circle that I'll share in just a minute. Another 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:23.359 theme that comes up alongside the light is people's 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:28.539 experiences of darkness. So someone once said 00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:33.279 juniper is the night watch, which really resonated 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:36.059 with me because juniper's fire to me has always 00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:41.720 felt like it's a fire in the darkness. not the 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.259 blaring light of the sun at high noon. That's 00:23:45.259 --> 00:23:47.740 why I work with juniper often at winter solstice 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:53.000 because I feel juniper reminding me that in this 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:58.819 darkest hour is when the light is born and reminds 00:23:58.819 --> 00:24:02.579 me of that eternal light of the soul that we 00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:06.640 can tap into. During the darkest hour, the darkest 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.460 hour of the year, but also these dark moments 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:14.440 in our lives and this resilience of our spirit 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:19.240 and the perseverance of the light and our ability 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:24.619 to trust and move through the hard times as long 00:24:24.619 --> 00:24:30.799 as we're connected to that inner light, the indomitable 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:36.680 spirit and the divine light. The most often way 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:42.160 I perceive juniper with me is this grandfather 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:48.220 figure holding a candle in the darkness, lighting 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:52.359 the way, guiding me on the next step of my path, 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:58.279 just holding that light so I can see, not telling 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:00.839 me where to go, but just holding the light when 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:04.779 things feel dark and I can't see. So alongside 00:25:04.779 --> 00:25:10.240 that kind of fire in the darkness vibe, two years 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.759 ago at the Plant Wisdom Circle, multiple people 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:19.500 had experience of blue fire. And this has been 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:23.940 a theme over the years as well, this color blue, 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:27.460 you know, the blueberries, but it's this blue 00:25:27.460 --> 00:25:32.099 fire or a more muted or harnessed fire, a fire 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:37.000 that isn't raging out of control, but it's tempered 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.799 and more masterful. So like being a master of 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.460 fire. I see this with Juniper's wisdom and alchemizing 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:49.619 fire and not allowing our own internal fires 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:53.980 to take us over, but stoking them when they need 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:58.059 to be stoked. So kind of this balancing, harnessing 00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:04.069 of the fire. And when I told my friend Salihah, 00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:09.269 who we used to work together with Scott, the 00:26:09.269 --> 00:26:14.650 three of us. So Salihah is a deeply devoted plant 00:26:14.650 --> 00:26:18.150 person as well and has had many experiences with 00:26:18.150 --> 00:26:22.549 the plants over the years. And she shared with 00:26:22.549 --> 00:26:26.509 me her first experience of sitting with juniper. 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:30.180 The first time we ever sat with Juniper, with 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:33.980 Scott, in their house, Juniper gave me a crown 00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:39.259 of blue light. And it put it on my head. And 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:45.019 it told me that I was a queen. And I was like, 00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:48.539 no. I was like, yeah. It wanted to raise me up. 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:52.400 It was very hard to accept that at that time. 00:26:52.700 --> 00:26:56.150 But it was really beautiful. It's a really colorful 00:26:56.150 --> 00:27:01.150 journey and just such an unexpected thing. It's 00:27:01.150 --> 00:27:03.650 the last thing I would have expected a tree to 00:27:03.650 --> 00:27:08.369 tell me. And then since then, I feel like it's 00:27:08.369 --> 00:27:14.569 helping me grow past feelings of smallness. In 00:27:14.569 --> 00:27:16.750 fact, that's what I wrote my Juniper song about, 00:27:16.930 --> 00:27:19.410 was that experience. It's not like one singular 00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:22.500 experience, but just in general. How I feel with 00:27:22.500 --> 00:27:26.819 Juniper is that its medicine for me is not just 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:32.660 self -acceptance, but standing tall in my woundedness, 00:27:32.660 --> 00:27:35.440 in my imperfection, and being like, this is actually 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:39.900 exactly right. So, of course, I asked her to 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:43.200 sing her song. So here it is. You can receive 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.799 the medicine of Juniper through her song and 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:49.079 these words, giving yourself time to close your 00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:52.880 eyes and just receive for a moment. Do you remember 00:27:52.880 --> 00:28:00.480 my song? Sing it. Okay. Juniper, your fiery light, 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:07.900 your cleansing heat, ignite my heart. Please 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:14.240 burn through where I feel small, where I hold 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:25.680 on to old fear. Lift my sight. Lift my sight. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:57.680 Your fiery light, your cleansing heat, ignite 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:05.299 my heart to fill myself with my own love, to 00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:14.819 forgive my pain, to accept my fear. Lift my sight, 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:44.220 lift my sight. Lift my sight. To love the life 00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:56.339 that I have lived. to know that as I love, I 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:09.099 grow to warm my soul, my spirit. Lift my sight. 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:20.140 Lift my sight. Lift my sight. Lift my sight. 00:30:38.649 --> 00:30:43.789 So letting the medicine of that song settle in 00:30:43.789 --> 00:30:49.750 your system. Taking a couple of breaths to be 00:30:49.750 --> 00:31:00.559 here with that. We also find themes of resilience 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:06.079 and again, that perseverance of spirit and the 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:11.059 way that the junipers are so long lived and often, 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:16.599 you know, have just one branch hanging on, still 00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:23.059 growing towards the light. And again, this experience 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:25.940 of the resilience of the human spirit through 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:31.519 these darkest hours and not only that but the 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:37.640 wisdom that's alchemized through that experience 00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:42.700 the wisdom that is alchemized through the hard 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:46.680 and challenging times through sitting in the 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:50.440 fire through being in these uncomfortable situations 00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:55.380 and allowing that to alchemize in ourself and 00:31:55.380 --> 00:32:01.480 hone this medicine of the fire and the eternal 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:03.900 flame and the confidence and trust in ourselves 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:08.619 to move through the hard times. And sometimes 00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:13.740 it feels like Juniper is just there with us, 00:32:13.859 --> 00:32:18.420 kind of holding a mirror up to us and our experiences 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:22.829 and how we are being in relationship with the 00:32:22.829 --> 00:32:26.289 world, but just, you know, non -judgmentally 00:32:26.289 --> 00:32:31.630 showing us what we're doing and allowing us to 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:36.990 make the changes, allowing us to go through the 00:32:36.990 --> 00:32:44.230 fire of really seeing ourself and accepting that 00:32:44.230 --> 00:32:49.980 this is what's happening. And from these challenging 00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:53.079 experiences or how we're interacting with life 00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:59.940 transforming that into our own inner power that's 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:04.099 connected to this wider force that's always holding 00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:09.480 us and loving us so let's hear from the people 00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:13.200 at the last plant wisdom circle now and weave 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:18.940 their experiences into these themes So the first 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:23.779 person was brought into the scene of Juniper 00:33:23.779 --> 00:33:29.539 in a desert and the invitation to just rest here. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:33.980 The energy to her felt very neutral, not a lot 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:36.640 of emotion around it and more just this pure 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:40.220 presence. And Juniper said he'd take all of her 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:44.019 body parts. So she began to just put each piece 00:33:44.019 --> 00:33:49.519 in the branches one by one. And there was a little 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:52.519 bit of fear or hesitation in her, and there was 00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:54.559 no pressure. It was just like, well, this is 00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:57.839 an invitation. You needed this, so I'm providing 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:02.700 it, and you get to choose. And so she just put 00:34:02.700 --> 00:34:05.420 the pieces of her body into the tree to rest, 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:09.639 the one she was willing to offer. And again, 00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:12.059 Juniper was just at total peace with what she 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:14.239 was willing to offer or not. He had no agenda. 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:19.960 just this invitation because she had said this 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:23.780 is what she needed to rest. And she kept wanting 00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:27.159 to know what was next, but Juniper just kept 00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:31.820 offering her this moment, rest. Nothing more 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:34.400 was needed. She didn't need to know what was 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:38.960 next. And after the experience, she said she 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:42.860 was just feeling so much lighter after offering 00:34:42.860 --> 00:34:47.340 herself to Juniper for this rest. So you can 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:53.300 see these elements of neutrality, presence, acceptance, 00:34:53.679 --> 00:35:02.039 peace, rest, beingness. This next person felt 00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:06.300 like Juniper was a protector spirit and felt 00:35:06.300 --> 00:35:10.360 like just innately kind of commanded a respect 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:14.860 and also an element of the wild that refuses 00:35:14.860 --> 00:35:20.210 to be tamed. and felt the energy of coyote with 00:35:20.210 --> 00:35:25.610 juniper and in some of the creation stories you 00:35:25.610 --> 00:35:30.750 know coyote is known as the trickster and through 00:35:30.750 --> 00:35:36.170 chaos creation is born and I found that so interesting 00:35:36.170 --> 00:35:41.889 because it kind of ties together these ideas 00:35:41.889 --> 00:35:48.650 of the resilience and allowing ourselves to just 00:35:48.650 --> 00:35:53.670 be alchemized through the darkness and the hard 00:35:53.670 --> 00:35:56.869 moments of our lives, trusting that through those 00:35:56.869 --> 00:36:03.530 moments of hardship and chaos, more beauty and 00:36:03.530 --> 00:36:09.829 the creation of our lives. Our will and our purpose 00:36:09.829 --> 00:36:14.369 and direction in the world is born and the resilience 00:36:14.369 --> 00:36:19.369 of our spirits to move through these hard times. 00:36:19.710 --> 00:36:26.190 And I looked up coyote medicine and coyote is 00:36:26.190 --> 00:36:30.449 known for being resilient, known for wit. And 00:36:30.449 --> 00:36:34.090 there's, you know, the fire in general has a 00:36:34.090 --> 00:36:40.539 trickster energy about it. But there's also this 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:45.940 idea that coyote is a mirror and holding a mirror 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:53.119 to humanity to see the reality of our imperfections, 00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:57.800 of our goodness, of the truth of what's happening. 00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:02.840 And so I can see how Juniper does this in a very 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:07.500 nonjudgmental way. It's just holding this mirror 00:37:07.500 --> 00:37:10.440 of reality. Oh yeah, can you accept that this 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:13.860 is the reality? Can you be with this here too? 00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:17.619 And again, I talked to my friend Saliha about 00:37:17.619 --> 00:37:22.599 this and she was sharing a story about a time 00:37:22.599 --> 00:37:26.619 when she felt like Juniper was totally playing 00:37:26.619 --> 00:37:30.570 the trickster with her. It was alligator juniper 00:37:30.570 --> 00:37:32.989 though, not Western juniper. So I don't know 00:37:32.989 --> 00:37:36.050 a lot about that particular plant, but it's a 00:37:36.050 --> 00:37:40.289 similar, it's related. And how she got these 00:37:40.289 --> 00:37:46.110 really important to her meaningful horns of sheep 00:37:46.110 --> 00:37:51.530 that were laying in the red dirt in Kauai, where 00:37:51.530 --> 00:37:53.550 she used to live. And this was a couple of weeks 00:37:53.550 --> 00:37:56.789 before her partner at the time passed away. And 00:37:56.789 --> 00:38:00.030 so they became this really powerful symbol to 00:38:00.030 --> 00:38:05.070 her of that time in her life. And she offered 00:38:05.070 --> 00:38:09.929 them when she moved to the desert in New Mexico, 00:38:09.989 --> 00:38:14.610 she offered them to the alligator juniper that 00:38:14.610 --> 00:38:18.909 she had been visiting. And a couple years later 00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:22.750 had gone back just thinking like, oh, if they're 00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:25.969 still there, maybe I'll take them back. And this 00:38:25.969 --> 00:38:29.380 is her telling about that story. I had in my 00:38:29.380 --> 00:38:31.239 mind that I wanted to go see if the horns were 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:34.199 still there. And I also thought, you know, if 00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:37.219 they are, I kind of want them back. It would 00:38:37.219 --> 00:38:39.400 be really cool to have these horns back. And 00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:43.000 so I prayed to Mama Alligator Juniper. I'm like, 00:38:43.139 --> 00:38:46.500 you know, I know this isn't really kosher. I 00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:48.739 did give those to you. But if by any chance you 00:38:48.739 --> 00:38:50.320 feel like letting me have them back, I would 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:52.639 take them back. I'm just going to go see. And 00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:54.440 it was snowing. So I made my way through the 00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:56.940 snow up that hill. And I just kind of hunted 00:38:56.940 --> 00:38:59.780 around. Left the trail and just looked around 00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:03.000 for a while, and I finally found the big group 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:06.900 of juniper, and there were no horns there. And 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:09.380 I searched, and I dug the snow away, and I'm 00:39:09.380 --> 00:39:13.380 like, okay, joke's on me. I don't get those horns 00:39:13.380 --> 00:39:18.400 back, do I? So it was soon after that that my 00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:20.099 mom called and said my dad was in the hospital, 00:39:20.139 --> 00:39:24.119 so I just went. I left a couple of hours after 00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:27.739 I got that. Phone call. And it took me a day 00:39:27.739 --> 00:39:31.360 and a half to drive. I just drove straight from 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:36.139 Albuquerque up to the Dalles in a day and a half. 00:39:36.199 --> 00:39:39.480 And I did stop at a motel. I think it was a Super 00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:41.679 8 on the way to spend the night. It was late. 00:39:41.719 --> 00:39:44.539 I got there late. I walked in. I was, you know, 00:39:44.579 --> 00:39:46.960 how you are, befuddled from a long, intense drive. 00:39:47.739 --> 00:39:50.059 And the guy handed me a key, told me about the 00:39:50.059 --> 00:39:52.599 second floor. So I walk up to the second floor. 00:39:53.239 --> 00:39:55.739 I'm heading toward my room and I stop because 00:39:55.739 --> 00:39:59.820 at my eye level, there's this huge framed photograph. 00:40:00.300 --> 00:40:04.079 There are my horns, the exact shape, the exact 00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.820 color, the exact size, lying in red dirt in the 00:40:07.820 --> 00:40:11.380 exact same position I'd first found them. Except 00:40:11.380 --> 00:40:15.780 where I'd found them was on a mountain on Kauai. 00:40:16.059 --> 00:40:19.719 This photo was taken on a mesa in the southwest. 00:40:20.590 --> 00:40:23.010 It was the same color dirt. Like the horns were 00:40:23.010 --> 00:40:26.690 up on a mesa. And instead of looking out over 00:40:26.690 --> 00:40:28.929 the ocean, I was looking out over endless desert 00:40:28.929 --> 00:40:30.750 with little clumps of juniper and pinyon pine. 00:40:31.030 --> 00:40:33.929 They're exact horns. And I just looked at that. 00:40:34.230 --> 00:40:39.389 I was like, coyote, this is such strong trickster 00:40:39.389 --> 00:40:42.269 energy. It was like they were saying, oh, you 00:40:42.269 --> 00:40:47.690 wanted your horns back? Well, here you go. So 00:40:47.690 --> 00:40:51.190 I stared at the photo for a while. I shook my 00:40:51.190 --> 00:40:53.309 head. I just took it in. I was like, that is 00:40:53.309 --> 00:40:56.849 an amazing cosmic joke. Okay. Yeah, you're right. 00:40:56.929 --> 00:40:59.230 I had no business asking for those horns back. 00:41:00.510 --> 00:41:05.730 So total trickster energy and also weaving in 00:41:05.730 --> 00:41:09.690 the importance of offerings. And someone else 00:41:09.690 --> 00:41:12.849 at this plant wisdom circle was brought back 00:41:12.849 --> 00:41:19.260 into a memory 14 years ago. sitting with Juniper 00:41:19.260 --> 00:41:23.780 and offering a necklace to Juniper and this necklace 00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:26.719 that was super meaningful to her and feeling 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:30.500 into that sense of relationship and devotion 00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:34.780 and relationship with offerings and what it means 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:40.320 to give an offering. And I had an experience 00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:42.199 with offerings as well. So I just want to weave 00:41:42.199 --> 00:41:45.260 these three together because I feel like there's 00:41:45.260 --> 00:41:48.480 something that Juniper wants to teach us about 00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:54.099 offering and what it means to be in service to 00:41:54.099 --> 00:41:58.760 this wider mystery of life and what it means 00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:02.699 when our lives are aligned, our will is aligned 00:42:02.699 --> 00:42:08.539 with the divine will, or that our fire isn't 00:42:08.539 --> 00:42:13.289 just burning selfishly. ourselves in this world, 00:42:13.329 --> 00:42:18.730 but it's connected to this wider eternal flame 00:42:18.730 --> 00:42:22.269 that we're all a part of. And when we can be 00:42:22.269 --> 00:42:26.909 in relationship and devotion to that aspect of 00:42:26.909 --> 00:42:30.590 life, that's when we can really lean into trust 00:42:30.590 --> 00:42:34.889 and really find that sense of peace and beingness 00:42:34.889 --> 00:42:39.219 within ourselves. And so this person, you know, 00:42:39.239 --> 00:42:43.019 having this memory and brought back into that 00:42:43.019 --> 00:42:46.579 sense of what it feels like to be in a relationship 00:42:46.579 --> 00:42:51.079 with giving and, you know, with Salihah, this 00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:54.260 kind of trickster energy of like, you know, you 00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:57.579 gave that offering and you're wanting it back 00:42:57.579 --> 00:43:00.179 and how, you know, kind of just like holding 00:43:00.179 --> 00:43:03.820 a mirror to how that's, you know, not really 00:43:03.820 --> 00:43:09.420 proper. or legit or, you know, a good way to 00:43:09.420 --> 00:43:11.579 be in relationship, right? Like, I'm just going 00:43:11.579 --> 00:43:14.239 to take back what I offered to you. And she knew 00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:19.179 that. But I had this experience in 2017, where 00:43:19.179 --> 00:43:24.380 I was hanging out in the desert again with some 00:43:24.380 --> 00:43:29.449 bones of a dead rabbit. And I was feeling I was 00:43:29.449 --> 00:43:32.670 grieving for the rabbit and then also just feeling 00:43:32.670 --> 00:43:38.230 what a beautiful offering it is to offer our 00:43:38.230 --> 00:43:43.769 bones back to earth once we've died. And that 00:43:43.769 --> 00:43:48.389 dying is the ultimate offering. And I could feel 00:43:48.389 --> 00:43:52.570 the way that even in our death in modern culture, 00:43:52.610 --> 00:43:55.989 we're still not offering our bodies back to earth. 00:43:56.860 --> 00:43:59.519 We're pumping our bodies with preservatives and 00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:02.940 putting them in caskets that are not biodegradable. 00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:07.159 And I could just sense this way that we're hovering 00:44:07.159 --> 00:44:12.940 over the earth, the earth just longing for our 00:44:12.940 --> 00:44:17.719 bodies as offerings to bring them back into the 00:44:17.719 --> 00:44:21.539 fold of life. And here we are still holding ourselves 00:44:21.539 --> 00:44:24.820 separate. And Juniper was really showing me the 00:44:24.820 --> 00:44:28.800 grief of the earth. because of this. And I wrote, 00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:35.019 the earth wants us back. She craves us and wants 00:44:35.019 --> 00:44:39.539 us to bless her when we die. Even then we withhold 00:44:39.539 --> 00:44:46.219 from her. And I could feel how separate we are 00:44:46.219 --> 00:44:52.780 in this culture. And even when we die, we are 00:44:52.780 --> 00:44:57.000 still separated. We're floating, isolated, our 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:01.059 bones unable to give back, held in purgatory, 00:45:01.320 --> 00:45:05.059 wanting to connect but being removed by a shield, 00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:10.280 by a lining. And how this sickness of severance 00:45:10.280 --> 00:45:15.039 has made its way into the way we die as well. 00:45:15.440 --> 00:45:20.440 And how the earth longs for us to come back and 00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:26.599 to bless her with our bones. And to reintegrate 00:45:26.599 --> 00:45:29.119 ourselves in that experience of connection and 00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:33.760 relationship. And, you know, again, in this experience, 00:45:33.860 --> 00:45:38.460 I felt Juniper showing me the way in which we 00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:42.679 keep ourselves separated. Our will versus divine 00:45:42.679 --> 00:45:47.000 will. Our own individual experience as separate 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:52.409 from the wider consciousness of life. the wider 00:45:52.409 --> 00:45:55.630 earth body, all the unseen forces of life that 00:45:55.630 --> 00:45:58.750 move through and animate earth and animate us 00:45:58.750 --> 00:46:03.469 and how we are actually a part of that and this 00:46:03.469 --> 00:46:08.010 way in which we hold ourselves separate from 00:46:08.010 --> 00:46:12.730 and keep ourselves back from receiving that light 00:46:12.730 --> 00:46:16.829 and that knowing within ourselves and how that 00:46:16.829 --> 00:46:21.139 even you know, permeates itself through death. 00:46:21.679 --> 00:46:25.960 And so this idea of what it means to offer ourselves, 00:46:26.099 --> 00:46:30.820 what it means to be of service to earth, to universal 00:46:30.820 --> 00:46:36.619 consciousness, to our soul, which is a sliver, 00:46:36.619 --> 00:46:41.280 an aspect of this oneness trying to know itself. 00:46:41.780 --> 00:46:45.639 So Juniper really inviting us back into that 00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:51.250 relationship. In a very powerful way. And back 00:46:51.250 --> 00:46:57.329 to the plant wisdom circle. Juniper brought a 00:46:57.329 --> 00:47:02.889 handful of people back into memories. And one 00:47:02.889 --> 00:47:07.230 of them was a trip this person had to Eastern 00:47:07.230 --> 00:47:11.750 Oregon, which was an incredibly peaceful time. 00:47:14.650 --> 00:47:18.670 She felt very safe and calm and was with a friend 00:47:18.670 --> 00:47:22.610 where it was okay to talk or not to talk. You 00:47:22.610 --> 00:47:25.090 know, kind of how Juniper feels in this very, 00:47:25.150 --> 00:47:29.929 I'm not demanding anything of you. And the sense 00:47:29.929 --> 00:47:33.130 of just being together. with this friend and 00:47:33.130 --> 00:47:37.670 this recognition that where she lived was special 00:47:37.670 --> 00:47:40.409 she didn't have to travel to some exotic place 00:47:40.409 --> 00:47:44.510 or even out of the state to find this sense of 00:47:44.510 --> 00:47:48.210 sacredness the specialness of the land and the 00:47:48.210 --> 00:47:51.750 moment and then this other memory coming to her 00:47:51.750 --> 00:47:54.510 seeing the meteor shower at timberline lodge 00:47:54.510 --> 00:47:58.150 and watching the stars falling on the lap of 00:47:58.150 --> 00:48:02.099 the universe as she said so poetically but again 00:48:02.099 --> 00:48:06.820 this idea of not needing to go anywhere what's 00:48:06.820 --> 00:48:10.159 special is the earth and our attention to her 00:48:10.159 --> 00:48:14.000 our presence that's what brings these special 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:20.280 moments this other person had this theme of home 00:48:20.280 --> 00:48:27.059 being a miracle and memories of a few winters 00:48:27.059 --> 00:48:30.639 ago at the coast with the harbor seals and seeing 00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:34.739 a lot of harbor seal eyes in her experience. 00:48:35.059 --> 00:48:38.280 And there was this huge evergreen tree that had 00:48:38.280 --> 00:48:42.360 been ripped at the roots and felled and had been 00:48:42.360 --> 00:48:45.559 washed up onto the shore. And she wasn't sure 00:48:45.559 --> 00:48:47.179 what kind of tree it was, but it had a powerful 00:48:47.179 --> 00:48:50.260 scent. It could have been a juniper. And she 00:48:50.260 --> 00:48:54.900 fell to her knees sobbing. as the first human 00:48:54.900 --> 00:48:59.579 to see the tree washed up but then over many 00:48:59.579 --> 00:49:03.280 months returning to this place and seeing how 00:49:03.280 --> 00:49:07.739 the tree easily became a habitat for life again 00:49:07.739 --> 00:49:10.960 and wove itself into that landscape and she would 00:49:10.960 --> 00:49:14.059 sit with her back against that tree over many 00:49:14.059 --> 00:49:16.980 months just watching life interact with that 00:49:16.980 --> 00:49:22.920 tree and just this sense of peacefulness and 00:49:22.920 --> 00:49:26.760 you know the reality of life and again this idea 00:49:26.760 --> 00:49:32.079 of acceptance of what is and the miracle of this 00:49:32.079 --> 00:49:39.039 life this next woman felt a very distinct type 00:49:39.039 --> 00:49:43.539 of love with juniper like the love of chosen 00:49:43.539 --> 00:49:48.219 friendship or chosen family kind of love and 00:49:48.219 --> 00:49:52.500 you know those people who just accept you and 00:49:52.500 --> 00:49:55.579 love you for who you are. And she was pulled 00:49:55.579 --> 00:49:59.380 back into a memory of a day with her son in Texas 00:49:59.380 --> 00:50:03.599 many years ago. And it was a moment of sweetness 00:50:03.599 --> 00:50:07.019 amidst a really challenging time in her life. 00:50:07.380 --> 00:50:10.260 And it was this memory and this moment that she 00:50:10.260 --> 00:50:14.840 clung to when there was a lot of grief and heaviness 00:50:14.840 --> 00:50:18.739 that was swirling around. And she could feel 00:50:19.480 --> 00:50:21.840 Again, that there was a lot of grief and heaviness 00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:25.679 that she'd been running from. But in the presence 00:50:25.679 --> 00:50:30.920 of this type of soul friend, chosen friend, soul 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:34.239 family type medicine, she could allow herself 00:50:34.239 --> 00:50:38.219 to become a little unglued or unravel a little 00:50:38.219 --> 00:50:41.599 bit and allow herself to kind of surrender some 00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:45.760 of that grief that she'd been holding. Someone 00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:49.599 else had a feeling of radical presence. and co 00:50:49.599 --> 00:50:55.199 -regulation just feeling so held that she just 00:50:55.199 --> 00:50:58.820 had to cry because of this feeling of just presence 00:50:58.820 --> 00:51:03.099 and being held felt like her hair was being pet 00:51:03.099 --> 00:51:07.059 and she was just held in this lap and juniper 00:51:07.059 --> 00:51:10.760 was breathing into her this sense of presence 00:51:10.760 --> 00:51:15.639 and being with that she's been craving this next 00:51:15.639 --> 00:51:21.269 person felt a lot of hot tears. They felt hotter 00:51:21.269 --> 00:51:26.650 than usual, he said. And there was two meta themes 00:51:26.650 --> 00:51:32.010 of fire and time. So feeling into the fire within 00:51:32.010 --> 00:51:36.909 him, that was overwhelming as a child. And he's 00:51:36.909 --> 00:51:40.530 been in the process of letting his fire flow 00:51:40.530 --> 00:51:44.090 through himself unobstructedly, but not recklessly. 00:51:45.150 --> 00:51:48.150 And Juniper was kind of helping him feel and 00:51:48.150 --> 00:51:52.650 hone this experience of mastering that fire that 00:51:52.650 --> 00:51:55.050 had always felt overwhelming and out of control. 00:51:55.610 --> 00:51:59.750 And then also being brought into this sense of 00:51:59.750 --> 00:52:04.610 ancient time that Juniper was here long before 00:52:04.610 --> 00:52:11.380 us right now, humans watching the stars. holding 00:52:11.380 --> 00:52:16.019 an ancient truth of timelessness and felt Juniper 00:52:16.019 --> 00:52:20.659 calling for humans to create this seamless integration 00:52:20.659 --> 00:52:24.579 with earth that's indistinguishable from nature 00:52:24.579 --> 00:52:29.099 again and feeling like that was the only way 00:52:29.099 --> 00:52:32.019 humans will continue to live here in a good way 00:52:32.019 --> 00:52:36.460 as if this happens and then I received a text 00:52:36.460 --> 00:52:39.960 from him the next morning that he had slept better 00:52:39.960 --> 00:52:43.699 than he had in two months and that juniper's 00:52:43.699 --> 00:52:46.760 fire calms his fire which is a really cool way 00:52:46.760 --> 00:52:50.380 of putting it and someone else had this feeling 00:52:50.380 --> 00:52:54.800 of having this kind of standoff or showdown with 00:52:54.800 --> 00:52:58.800 juniper like saying this is me this is it and 00:52:58.800 --> 00:53:03.139 this is my fire and as a kid their fire was so 00:53:03.139 --> 00:53:07.570 big and they were so angry and It felt like they 00:53:07.570 --> 00:53:11.110 were getting permission from Juniper to be who 00:53:11.110 --> 00:53:14.909 they are and whatever that looks like. But again, 00:53:15.050 --> 00:53:19.550 the sense of being able to contain and be with 00:53:19.550 --> 00:53:22.610 this enormous amount of fire that lives within 00:53:22.610 --> 00:53:26.590 them, but living into it in a different way through 00:53:26.590 --> 00:53:30.769 the experience of acceptance. And this person. 00:53:31.420 --> 00:53:34.920 Also noted the resilience of coyote and how that 00:53:34.920 --> 00:53:39.800 feels true of juniper's energy as well. And they 00:53:39.800 --> 00:53:43.960 also plugged their ears during this experience 00:53:43.960 --> 00:53:48.400 to kind of drown out the sound, bringing more 00:53:48.400 --> 00:53:52.860 silence. And then another person talked about 00:53:52.860 --> 00:53:57.530 having awareness brought to her ears. where every 00:53:57.530 --> 00:54:00.630 sound was kind of grating on her, like her senses 00:54:00.630 --> 00:54:04.590 were amplified. And then hearing her own breathing 00:54:04.590 --> 00:54:10.190 after plugging her ears and felt like Juniper 00:54:10.190 --> 00:54:13.889 was being a little cheeky, kind of like, again, 00:54:13.929 --> 00:54:18.550 that trickster or holding a mirror up and showing 00:54:18.550 --> 00:54:23.650 her sensitivity. And she became a horse breathing 00:54:23.650 --> 00:54:28.460 in snow. Having this feeling of being breathed 00:54:28.460 --> 00:54:32.079 and holding her breath at the top and expanding 00:54:32.079 --> 00:54:35.760 herself wide and meeting Juniper there and that 00:54:35.760 --> 00:54:39.820 expansive feeling. And this was very calming 00:54:39.820 --> 00:54:43.760 for her. And it felt like she was able to experience 00:54:43.760 --> 00:54:49.199 a new embodied way of center from her ears first. 00:54:50.440 --> 00:54:53.599 Which to me, this connection with the ears is 00:54:53.599 --> 00:54:57.940 so interesting because in Chinese medicine, the 00:54:57.940 --> 00:55:01.800 ears are associated with the kidneys. And if 00:55:01.800 --> 00:55:06.420 you remember, juniper is affiliated, associated 00:55:06.420 --> 00:55:09.719 with the kidneys and has an affinity for them. 00:55:10.159 --> 00:55:13.639 So remember when I said that the themes of breath 00:55:13.639 --> 00:55:18.530 and air would reappear? This is how they're weaving 00:55:18.530 --> 00:55:22.190 themselves into the plant circle. And another 00:55:22.190 --> 00:55:26.909 person had the experience of just wanting her 00:55:26.909 --> 00:55:30.230 mouth open, breathing. That was all she wanted. 00:55:30.309 --> 00:55:35.530 It felt so good. Felt like this was helping her 00:55:35.530 --> 00:55:38.690 be hollowed out or carved out like a piece of 00:55:38.690 --> 00:55:43.780 wood and finding spaciousness. And a sweet sapling 00:55:43.780 --> 00:55:48.260 was planted there all of a sudden. And she felt 00:55:48.260 --> 00:55:55.059 a lot of protection and making room to grow inside 00:55:55.059 --> 00:56:01.480 of herself. So my experience at this past circle 00:56:01.480 --> 00:56:07.320 had a lot of these themes woven in. First of 00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:12.039 all, juniper showing me I had had a lot of caffeine 00:56:12.039 --> 00:56:14.760 that day and I'm not one to drink caffeine because 00:56:14.760 --> 00:56:18.320 it really messes me up but I had two cups of 00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:24.340 caffeine that day and I could see the energy 00:56:24.340 --> 00:56:28.340 just shooting out of my third eye and out of 00:56:28.340 --> 00:56:31.139 my body out of my head almost like this like 00:56:31.139 --> 00:56:37.760 pew pew pew and juniper then took that energy 00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:42.980 and redirected it back into my body and then 00:56:42.980 --> 00:56:49.480 swirled it into my kidneys. And I had this sense 00:56:49.480 --> 00:56:54.099 of this ancestral fire that lives there and this 00:56:54.099 --> 00:56:57.139 kidney fire and showing me how there's been. 00:56:58.380 --> 00:57:02.179 too much wind and air energy because I'm excess 00:57:02.179 --> 00:57:05.780 vata in Ayurvedic medicine. And that's more of 00:57:05.780 --> 00:57:09.619 that air quality and that it's blowing my fire 00:57:09.619 --> 00:57:12.840 out. So juniper kind of showing me the careful, 00:57:13.059 --> 00:57:18.460 nurturing, tending techniques it requires to 00:57:18.460 --> 00:57:23.599 really hold and tend to the fire. And I could 00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:27.820 feel it really deep inside my kidneys. And this 00:57:27.820 --> 00:57:31.940 feels significant because, you know, I know the 00:57:31.940 --> 00:57:34.380 kidneys are associated with the water element 00:57:34.380 --> 00:57:37.500 in Chinese medicine, but they're also the organs 00:57:37.500 --> 00:57:41.159 that hold the ancestral qi. And so this like 00:57:41.159 --> 00:57:45.079 ancestral fire. And as I was looking into this, 00:57:45.119 --> 00:57:47.860 doing a little research about it, I found this 00:57:47.860 --> 00:57:52.920 article that talked about the zhi, which I don't 00:57:52.920 --> 00:57:54.639 know if I'm pronouncing that right, but it's 00:57:54.639 --> 00:58:00.050 spelled Z -H -I. and is often translated as willpower 00:58:00.050 --> 00:58:03.849 or will. So this is held in the kidneys and is 00:58:03.849 --> 00:58:07.769 such a potent theme for juniper. And so this 00:58:07.769 --> 00:58:15.530 jour represents the deep -seated drive, determination, 00:58:15.849 --> 00:58:19.670 motivation, and resolve that propels individuals 00:58:19.670 --> 00:58:25.050 towards their goals and destiny. So that reminded 00:58:25.050 --> 00:58:28.829 me of juniper's resilience and determination 00:58:28.829 --> 00:58:34.070 to survive and that willpower aligning our will 00:58:34.070 --> 00:58:38.409 to our destiny, if you want to use that word. 00:58:38.809 --> 00:58:43.190 And I'll link these articles that I am reading, 00:58:43.269 --> 00:58:47.530 but the kidneys are considered to be the root 00:58:47.530 --> 00:58:51.369 of life and they store that jing or that essence 00:58:51.369 --> 00:58:59.519 that... ancestral qi. And also this zhi, the 00:58:59.519 --> 00:59:06.960 z -h -i, is a force that allows a person to move 00:59:06.960 --> 00:59:11.800 along their destined path without much conscious 00:59:11.800 --> 00:59:15.039 thought or effort. It's thought to be the innate 00:59:15.039 --> 00:59:19.730 power of life itself. Life that wants to live, 00:59:19.889 --> 00:59:24.110 strives to stay alive and survive. A potent energy 00:59:24.110 --> 00:59:29.409 for the harsh winter months. So again, this is 00:59:29.409 --> 00:59:35.250 juniper here. This is that life force that survives 00:59:35.250 --> 00:59:40.449 the harsh winters and the aligning a person to 00:59:40.449 --> 00:59:43.489 their destined path, which, you know, is again 00:59:43.489 --> 00:59:47.139 aligning our own will to That idea of divine 00:59:47.139 --> 00:59:50.619 will or when we're in flow with our life's purpose 00:59:50.619 --> 00:59:54.739 and flow with our soul's desire of how our soul 00:59:54.739 --> 00:59:59.599 wants to live this life. And this article also 00:59:59.599 --> 01:00:04.480 talks about the yang will as a person's fire 01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:08.039 and the force that moves them along their path. 01:00:08.780 --> 01:00:12.320 And then the yin will, which is one's destiny. 01:00:13.320 --> 01:00:17.260 and the deep mystery unfolding in every person's 01:00:17.260 --> 01:00:23.320 unique life, and how when both aspects of the 01:00:23.320 --> 01:00:27.719 will are harmonized, we have fulfilling lives 01:00:27.719 --> 01:00:30.500 as we meet our destiny, while harnessing the 01:00:30.500 --> 01:00:33.719 power of the yang will, moving through life without 01:00:33.719 --> 01:00:37.659 fear. And so this is all stored in the kidneys. 01:00:39.019 --> 01:00:42.280 So I just think this is amazing because it ties 01:00:42.280 --> 01:00:47.139 together so much of what juniper helps us do. 01:00:47.280 --> 01:00:50.760 So again, juniper's affinity for the kidney really 01:00:50.760 --> 01:00:57.659 shows itself in this energetic way that the Chinese 01:00:57.659 --> 01:01:01.639 have figured out thousands of years ago. And 01:01:01.639 --> 01:01:05.420 one other thing just to name about this is the 01:01:05.420 --> 01:01:08.000 relationship between the ears and the kidneys. 01:01:08.099 --> 01:01:12.659 And this other article that I'll link talks about 01:01:12.659 --> 01:01:17.460 the ears as a sense organ that are highly sensitive 01:01:17.460 --> 01:01:21.679 and help us hear the sound, the silence beyond 01:01:21.679 --> 01:01:25.380 sounds. They perceive danger or threaten the 01:01:25.380 --> 01:01:28.880 environment and they connect us deeply with others 01:01:28.880 --> 01:01:34.090 through. language and voice and song and expression, 01:01:34.289 --> 01:01:39.409 et cetera. And that the ears are considered a 01:01:39.409 --> 01:01:44.309 microcosm of the whole body and that the ear 01:01:44.309 --> 01:01:47.309 is symbolic of the kidney's relationship to the 01:01:47.309 --> 01:01:50.570 reproductive essence and the deep foundational 01:01:50.570 --> 01:01:53.989 or root energy in the body, which provides support 01:01:53.989 --> 01:01:57.840 for all other organs. So just really interesting 01:01:57.840 --> 01:02:00.559 that the ears came up a couple times during our 01:02:00.559 --> 01:02:04.800 sit and their relationship with the kidneys and 01:02:04.800 --> 01:02:11.659 the root essence. So back to my experience. So 01:02:11.659 --> 01:02:17.380 after kind of corralling that fire that was shooting 01:02:17.380 --> 01:02:20.699 out of my head into my kidneys, helping show 01:02:20.699 --> 01:02:25.809 me how to really tend that fire, I... was brought 01:02:25.809 --> 01:02:29.750 into this image of me out in the desert in the 01:02:29.750 --> 01:02:34.690 cold, dark night. And then up ahead in the distance, 01:02:34.730 --> 01:02:39.510 I see this fire. And it was an ancestral fire 01:02:39.510 --> 01:02:45.050 with an elder around it inviting me in. And the 01:02:45.050 --> 01:02:49.110 warmth of their eyes and their gestures and this 01:02:49.110 --> 01:02:54.400 silent welcoming in. There was no words, but 01:02:54.400 --> 01:02:58.860 just this feeling of presence and love come out 01:02:58.860 --> 01:03:04.579 of the cold and the dark, come into this fire, 01:03:04.699 --> 01:03:09.420 this warmth of connection, and this is here for 01:03:09.420 --> 01:03:14.800 us. And after the circle, I had two different 01:03:14.800 --> 01:03:18.000 people come up to me and tell me that my share 01:03:18.000 --> 01:03:22.280 reminded them of a song by Alexandra Blakely. 01:03:22.340 --> 01:03:25.539 So I wanted to share a snippet of that song because 01:03:25.539 --> 01:03:29.559 I do feel like it kind of conjures that same 01:03:29.559 --> 01:03:51.579 feeling I was receiving. to this fire and harmonize 01:03:51.579 --> 01:04:03.559 these notes together and when you will inhale 01:04:03.559 --> 01:04:10.099 and when you will rest hundreds of others will 01:04:10.099 --> 01:04:29.070 be singing And I was just receiving this and 01:04:29.070 --> 01:04:33.730 tears streaming down my face with how beautiful 01:04:33.730 --> 01:04:37.769 and held and amazing I felt with this gesture. 01:04:38.469 --> 01:04:45.650 And Juniper asked me to impart the message to 01:04:45.650 --> 01:04:52.460 you to Bring more moments of this into the world. 01:04:52.519 --> 01:04:58.280 More moments of warmth. The simple, tender, silent 01:04:58.280 --> 01:05:03.199 warmth. Holding a door for somebody. Offering 01:05:03.199 --> 01:05:07.199 to carry someone's bags who's struggling. Being 01:05:07.199 --> 01:05:12.559 that warm fire someone can come to for refuge 01:05:12.559 --> 01:05:16.820 when they're feeling lonely or cold or dark or 01:05:16.820 --> 01:05:21.099 in grief. and being that fire of community care 01:05:21.099 --> 01:05:24.639 and love for others in the world. And that is 01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:29.199 what Juniper really wanted me to leave you with 01:05:29.199 --> 01:05:34.659 for this podcast today. So I'll leave you with 01:05:34.659 --> 01:05:41.860 one other Juniper experience that I had in 2017 01:05:41.860 --> 01:05:47.179 on the same trip where Juniper was showing me 01:05:47.179 --> 01:05:50.900 about offerings and offering our bones to the 01:05:50.900 --> 01:05:54.360 earth when we die. When I was sitting with Juniper, 01:05:54.579 --> 01:06:00.719 this came through. Oh, ancient one, keeper of 01:06:00.719 --> 01:06:06.300 mystery. Oh, ancient one, keeper of seeds. Oh, 01:06:06.340 --> 01:06:09.840 ancient ways, you hold so many secrets, wisdom 01:06:09.840 --> 01:06:13.440 tokens. I feel the unearthed treasures beneath 01:06:13.440 --> 01:06:17.590 you. You are the keeper of wisdom. May you guide 01:06:17.590 --> 01:06:20.269 us, helping illuminate them when we are ready 01:06:20.269 --> 01:06:24.750 to hear, ready to feel. You offer so much without 01:06:24.750 --> 01:06:28.650 an inkling of trying or doing. Your presence 01:06:28.650 --> 01:06:32.210 of being is more than enough to impart such wisdom, 01:06:32.289 --> 01:06:37.570 such teaching. Oh, ancient one, lead me to who 01:06:37.570 --> 01:06:41.530 I am. The darkness at the heart, guide me with 01:06:41.530 --> 01:06:44.500 your lantern. Through the pathways overgrown, 01:06:44.739 --> 01:06:48.860 silent steady presence, your anchored shining 01:06:48.860 --> 01:06:53.639 light etches my way. Let us trust this mystery. 01:06:54.019 --> 01:06:57.920 Sometimes silence is enough as you stand before 01:06:57.920 --> 01:07:06.039 me. So taking a breath to breathe in this medicine 01:07:06.039 --> 01:07:10.539 of juniper, the wisdom that juniper imparts. 01:07:11.599 --> 01:07:15.559 to all of us, the teachings that Juniper has 01:07:15.559 --> 01:07:19.059 to share for you in this moment, feeling into 01:07:19.059 --> 01:07:26.960 your body, how it feels. And remember that this 01:07:26.960 --> 01:07:30.880 way of connecting with the plants and the earth 01:07:30.880 --> 01:07:36.239 is always here for you. All you have to do is 01:07:36.239 --> 01:07:41.590 go outside. Find a plant or a tree and open yourself 01:07:41.590 --> 01:07:46.650 up to listen. Open your heart and just be in 01:07:46.650 --> 01:07:50.889 presence with them. This is ancestral for us, 01:07:51.050 --> 01:07:56.309 every one of us on this planet. And if you want 01:07:56.309 --> 01:08:00.429 to learn from me, I have an hour masterclass 01:08:00.429 --> 01:08:03.739 called how to connect with plant consciousness 01:08:03.739 --> 01:08:06.920 without psychedelics, that will get you started 01:08:06.920 --> 01:08:11.639 on this path of plant communion. I trust that 01:08:11.639 --> 01:08:15.480 any way you choose to move forward with your 01:08:15.480 --> 01:08:19.260 relationship with the plants is going to be meaningful 01:08:19.260 --> 01:08:25.460 for both you and them. Until next time, remember 01:08:25.460 --> 01:08:29.770 to be the light of illumination. and the warming 01:08:29.770 --> 01:08:34.909 fire of love for others in the darkness. Remember 01:08:34.909 --> 01:08:39.010 that the moments of presence and stillness and 01:08:39.010 --> 01:08:43.850 peace are at the heart of our beingness here 01:08:43.850 --> 01:08:48.649 on earth. Remember your own internal flame that's 01:08:48.649 --> 01:08:52.649 guided by and connected to a wider divine flame 01:08:52.649 --> 01:08:56.960 of mystery and consciousness. Remember to trust 01:08:56.960 --> 01:09:01.119 in yourself, your resilience, and the fact that 01:09:01.119 --> 01:09:04.380 you're always held by those around the ancestral 01:09:04.380 --> 01:09:07.899 fire. Thank you for joining the plant wisdom 01:09:07.899 --> 01:09:11.060 circle. May the teachings of the plants continue 01:09:11.060 --> 01:09:13.819 to ripple through your life, guiding you and 01:09:13.819 --> 01:09:16.520 nourishing you in the days to come. If you'd 01:09:16.520 --> 01:09:18.380 like to keep weaving with the plants, you can 01:09:18.380 --> 01:09:21.140 subscribe to the show, leave us a review and 01:09:21.140 --> 01:09:23.000 share it with others who would love to listen. 01:09:23.630 --> 01:09:26.189 This would mean so much to me and to the plants. 01:09:26.789 --> 01:09:29.649 Make sure to check out the show notes below to 01:09:29.649 --> 01:09:32.350 learn about any links, events, or classes I shared 01:09:32.350 --> 01:09:35.449 with you today. You can find the next Plant Wisdom 01:09:35.449 --> 01:09:38.710 Circle and other classes and resources at groundwaterhealing 01:09:38.710 --> 01:09:42.869 .com. Until next time, may you walk gently with 01:09:42.869 --> 01:09:45.090 the earth, with the plants by your side.