Welcome to the Plant Wisdom Circle. This is a
space to share the wisdom of the plants, letting
their voices ripple outward into ever -widening
circles. Together, we honor the plants as medicine
guides and living beings of healing consciousness.
I'm your host, Amy Turepka. Welcome back, plant
friend. I am really excited to share the medicine
of rose with you today. who has been really storming
to the forefront of collective consciousness,
in my opinion, over the last few years, like
no other plant spirit I've ever seen. And she
just always draws so many people to the circle.
And she just has a lot of really important wisdom
for these times. So before we begin, I want to
remind local folks that these plant circles happen
the second Friday of every month here in Portland,
Oregon, and we'd love to have you join in the
magic. And I'm also opening up applications for
my six -month Goldenstone Immersion Program.
I'm opening these to the public starting July
14th, and this is a six -month deep dive for
the sensitives empaths soul seekers plant people
witches who are ready to claim their inner magic
to clear away what has been preventing you from
claiming your magic for this world for claiming
your sensitivity as a gift to pull the power
that is yours innately back into the body, into
this place of deeply knowing yourself and to
anchor that spiritual magic of the body into
the living earth around you. It's a really profound
invitation and initiation through the dark six
months of the year. We start at fall equinox
and go through spring equinox. And there's four
plants that guide us. in the six month program.
One of them is Rose and she often becomes a favorite
for folks. She's such a supportive guide for
unraveling tension in the body, for opening up
ourselves to more pleasure and joy and our own
power to help us face our own shadow with courage
and grace. She's just such a gift. becomes a
very powerful ally for the folks who go through
the immersion so if this is something that calls
to you you can find more details in the show
notes this is my most in in -depth program I
offer every year and it's always such a beautiful
community and group of people that show up for
it so as you can guess the plants weave themselves
into everything I offer from the immersion program
to all the teachings inside the Golden Stone
Wisdom School and always come in my one -on -one
healing sessions in my practice, Groundwater
Healing. And they are just so excited and committed
to helping us, to helping us remember that we're
a part of the earth body again and graciously
willing to support us whenever. We ask. They're
just such sweet beings. And so I hope that this
podcast helps you receive them a little bit more
fully into your heart, into your body, and into
your spiritual practices. And again, if you want
to learn more about how to work with me, you
can take a look in the show notes where I have
links to my free community. inside the Golden
Stone Wisdom School, as well as a masterclass
on communicating with plant consciousness. So
let's get into rose, the rosa genus. There are
so many species of rose that are native to the
temperate regions of the globe. all across the
Americas, Europe, Asia, but also so many that
have been cultivated over the thousands of years
that we have had a love affair with rose. And
I often intermix different roses into my tinctures
for a well -rounded... impact of the rose possibility
but I do always make a special tincture with
the wild rose which I just love so much the rosa
nutcana I believe is how you say it or the nutca
rose and there's a couple other wild rose varieties
here in the Portland area but the nutca rose
is just there's something so special about her
I also love the cultivated roses. They do have
slightly different qualities to me, but I'm going
to be talking about all of Rose here, all of
her expressions here as a group, because they
really do support us with similar things. They
just maybe have slightly different approaches
or slightly different energies. Maybe the color
of the rose is helping align with a different
energy or frequency or chakra, but they all really
are. doing similar things with our energy body.
And when we work with rose, we work with the
flower. Although I will also add some thorns
to my tinctures to include that energetic of
them because that's a really important part of
rose medicine. And so that's what we do when
we sit in the plant circles. We take a drop or
two of the plant tincture just to get the medicine
in our system and then sit with how that medicine
is moving through our bodies and the images and
information and insights that come through. But
you also do not need tincture to sit with the
plants, to sit with rose, but it can help just
to have that in your system. So I'll share a
little bit about Rose's physical medicine and
then go into the general spiritual and energetic
themes of Rose and my own experiences with Rose
and other people's experiences from the plant
wisdom circles. Rose is cooling, slightly cooling.
She's astringent, which means kind of tightening
and toning the tissue. She's anti -inflammatory.
So she reduces heat, clears excess heat from
the blood, from the body. She tones and tightens
the tissues. She's a nervine, which means she
helps soothe the nervous system and relax the
body. She softens anxiety and worry. She's really
great at bringing the busyness of the mind into
the felt experience of the body and heart. So
bringing us into our sensual self more fully,
the experience of the body more fully. She's
been worked with as an aphrodisiac for thousands
of years, bringing that energy out of the mind,
softening the body, bringing energy into the
pelvis and softening just general tension that
can inhibit the relaxation that's needed for
arousal. And a big part of her medicine is her
smell, right? The scent of rose softens us. She
really has that kind of melting quality. She
brings us into the parasympathetic state and
just her smell is so healing. So, you know, going
out and smelling roses or... Getting some rose
hydrosol and spritzing it has a lot of the same
qualities and same medicine as taking the tincture
internally. She's also very healing to the skin
and helps with wound healing. She's used in a
lot of skin formulations for her calming and
soothing properties as well as the tightening
and toning medicine. And she contains compounds
that brighten and repair the skin. There's a
lot of vitamin A and vitamin C in her. And she's
also been worked with for musculoskeletal pain
to, again, soften that tension and reduce inflammation
throughout the body. There is more to her physical
medicine, but I'm going to leave it there for
now and jump into the psycho -spiritual themes
that we see with her medicine because that is
what this podcast is about. So first, I want
to talk about that softening quality that I mentioned
with the physical medicine. And this is something
I see over and over and over again, especially
in my one -on -one healing practice. Rose comes
in all the time. She's one of the top. plant
allies that supports me and supports my clients
on the table. And she's just been such a gift
to so many people over the years. She softens
tension. She is a master at finding places in
the body that have been constricted, closed off.
or armored from injury, from trauma, from emotional
holding. I often feel the inner child in these
places that she's just so loving with and comes
in and acts kind of like this mother and holds
these places so then people can soften and open
to life again. And so often when I give people
rows in these sessions and I'm kind of directing
where the medicine's going and listening and
feeling how she's working, there's often a release
of tears when things start to unravel and soften.
There's such a relief and release as... the tension
dissolves as these parts that have been closed
off feel held feel protected feel seen feel loved
feel that compassionate presence and then they're
able to surrender they're able to let go they're
able to open in ways that they haven't in years
maybe even in a lifetime so i have you know tons
of stories about this, but really it's the same
process that happens with Rose. And she gives
people this opportunity to feel liberated again,
depending on where the tension was in their body.
Rose really can go anywhere. She loves the womb.
She loves the heart, but she can really go anywhere.
And I'll talk about this more later, but the
same thing happens, the same story when Rose
comes in. There's a softening. There's an opening.
There's a relief. There's a release. There's
a sense of liberation. And love can come back
into these places that have felt unlovable or
closed off or unworthy. Again, this gift of hers
to help people feel held and not alone. And like
they have that loving mother or grandmother figure
with them to be with them in their pain, in their
deep wounding, in their emotions. And part of
that is her fierce protection. Her thorns help
hold and guard these tender places within us
so they can feel safe enough to unravel. And
this is something I've always found fascinating
with Rose in her way of working. Because her
physical medicine is, you know, mildly cooling
and drying and astringent. It tightens the tissues.
But she's also a supreme nervine who relaxes
and soothes the body and calms the nerves. So
it's like she comes in and tightens and holds
the container in a place that has not been held.
So then we can... soften and open. It's like
she comes in and shores up the edges of our boundaries
so that the parts of us who don't need to be
holding can soften and allow more blood flow
to move through. Rose is a heart medicine. She
opens the heart on a spiritual and emotional
level. She helps us get in touch with compassion
and self -forgiveness and self -love like I mentioned
earlier. And she reminds us to love ourselves
and care for ourselves on a really deep level.
So again, she's really helpful and supportive
when we're working with those deeper inner parts
of ourselves, the inner child, these parts of
ourselves in the shadow that we've sequestered
off, that we've found unlovable, that we've deemed
bad. She can really help integrate the shadows
like none other. And it's not only the self -love
that's the crucial part of the process, but she
helps us feel a sense of self -respect and dignity
in those places, in those places of shame, because
most often the places in the shadow have been
deemed unworthy or bad because of a sense of
shame. And she's just so loving and dignified.
And she doesn't take bullshit. And she knows
her boundaries and helps us with our own. So
she helps those places feel that sense of inner
worthiness, that place of self -respect. So we
can enter into healthy relationship with that
part of ourself again, but also then healthy
relationship with others. She's not just a soupy
mush of like love and compassion, which she is,
but then at the same time, she's like, okay,
like this is true and you are so lovable and
let's stand in some dignity. Let's stand in some
self -respect and worthiness. And because of
those boundaries and self -respect and dignity.
She's one of the best medicines and allies I
know of for highly sensitive people and empaths,
people who tend to merge with other people's
energy, people who are really hypersensitive
to the world. So I've guarded off and protected
themselves from too much coming in. She helps
protect our energy fields and our energy body
from energies that are coming in that feel like
too much. And she helps us recognize our own
energy. versus someone else's. So when we take
on other people's energies, it can be an act
of self -harm. It's like throwing ourself in
the fire of other people's traumas or emotions
or going along for an emotional ride that's not
ours. And the sensitives can get lost in the
soup of others and not be able to take care of
ourselves, let alone. know who we are sometimes.
So Rose comes in and helps us stand in our throne
of dignity, helps us have boundaries, self -respect,
and simultaneously helps us find that deep well
of self -compassion for all the ways in which
we've abandoned ourselves for the sake of others.
And again, for those highly sensitive folks who
are taking in and on. excess information all
the time, she gives us permission to retreat,
to own our gift and the perception that it gives
us and gives us the deep tenderness that we need
and deserve to really tend to ourselves, to really
care for ourselves in these precious vessels.
So again, Rose is crucial in this deeper shadow
work and helping us claim ourselves more fully
in our power. So I can't even tell you all the
times that Rose has helped me come back to myself
after getting lost in other people's energy or
emotions. How many times she's helped me feel
to cry and reset. And she's been one of the biggest
allies in helping me notice, like again, those
places of tension and constriction are often
places that are held with emotion that we haven't
felt. And so with her softening, again, there's
often tears, there's often feeling. And with
that feeling, there's a clearing and a liberation.
And she's taught me how to really immediately
tend to myself in hard situations rather than
blame or shame myself. And really, I can give
credit to Rose for a huge part of why I do not
talk to myself negatively or harshly anymore.
I've learned to be so gentle and loving and affirming
to myself. And again, that's because of her.
So in the Golden Stone Immersion, she leads the
module where we're exploring how to soften and
open to pleasure, how to receive, how to claim
our power and work with our inner child who needs
a lot of tenderness and protection and love.
She's one of my favorite allies for inner child
work because most of the time our inner child
needs exactly that type of medicine that she
offers, which I've already explained. She's also
a plant that loves beauty. She's long been associated
with beauty and feeling beautiful and beautifying
spaces. She helps us feel beautiful within and
also to appreciate the beauty of the world. She
really wants us to feel present to the beauty
of life and the beauty that emerges within all
stages of life. all aspects of life. She helps
us find that connection to present embodiment
in every moment, no matter where we are on the
life cycle or the seasonal cycle. She's a plant
of eros and love, the erotic. She helps us feel
empowerment on that level. the empowerment to
own our sexuality, the empowerment to own our
eros and the erotic nature of life. She helps
us feel sexy and alive and radiant and vital.
And she wants us to open to that life force and
the vitality of the erotic that feeds life, that
births life, that creates. And I think she wants
us to feel all the way alive. And that's why
she helps us heal the places in us that have
cut off to experiencing life. She's also very
much a medicine for the womb space as well. Not
only in female bodies, but the sacral chakra.
Really beautiful for helping connect us to the
source of feminine power and creative juiciness.
She's very connected to the divine feminine wisdom
and the goddess traditions. Rose is a common
symbol of the frequency and lineage of the divine
feminine. And she's often associated with Mary
Magdalene and her teachings of the heart and
love. And also the rose lineage is the unbroken
lineage of spiritual teachings and ancient goddess
traditions that are traced back through Mary
Magdalene and into Egypt and Mesopotamia. Mary
Magdalene was a student of these ancient wisdom
traditions that honored the wisdom of the goddesses,
the wisdom of Venus and Isis. Inanna or Ishtar,
Hathor and other goddesses and the schools of
feminine wisdom that were born from these places.
So this is the rose. This is the rose teachings,
the rose lineage. And a big part of this is rose
being the symbol, one of the symbols of Venus,
who in ancient times was representation of the
goddess in the sky who goes through her cyclical
underworld journey, which is represented in the
story of Inanna and Persephone. And also Venus's
orbit in relation to the earth creates a five
petal geometric shape that's known as the Rose
of Venus in the sky over an eight year period
of time. It's a really beautiful symbol. So she's
really interwoven throughout the The priestess
path, the rose priestess lineage, the goddess
traditions, especially through Egypt and Mesopotamia,
Mary Magdalene, etc. Rose really embodies the
divine feminine here on earth. She embodies both
the soft and fierce qualities of the feminine,
the soft and fierce qualities of love. She's
said to have the highest vibrational frequency
of any plant and therefore can help us access
this connection to the higher spiritual dimensions
and the divine. But her wisdom, again, is that
feminine is to not ascend out of the body to
get there. Her teachings are in and of the body.
just as the teachings are of the divine feminine.
So Rose helps us bring the divine into the body,
into the sensual lived experience, which is exactly
what's being called for right now, not to ascend
out of these bodies or wait for redemption from
some god in the sky to save us, but the recognition
that the holy is the body, the holy is... the
flesh and is the earth and the lived experience
of that feminine wisdom to bring the divine down
and in and through the vessel of the body and
through the vessel of the womb and into this
earth plane. She's very magnetic. She draws the
energy in and she doesn't need to prove herself
in any way. She holds herself with this magnetic.
which I often associated with the feminine. And
this experience of holding these higher purification
frequencies alongside the erotic nature is something
that she showed me a few years back when I was
sitting with her. This was in 2003. And when
I first... took the tincture I saw a light pink
china rose and I was held inside and caressed
by the many of the stamen in the center and then
I journeyed deeper into the rose and was met
by a bright white illuminated rose and it felt
like purification and divine innocence and She
was bringing me into the remembrance of my divine
purity and the innocence deep in my womb, which
I really needed at that time for healing. And
once I felt and remembered that there, she also
showed me the empowered sexual being that lives
there too. within this purity, how they're not
distinct or separate, how they're one in the
same, how they feed one another, and how they're
both connected to my regalness. When I can own
my sexuality as this pure, also innocent, if
you want to call it that. Innocent is such an
interesting word, but that's the word that she
was using with me. holding the both and inside
the womb space, there was the sense of that grounded
empowerment. I was standing tall. My heart was
forward. I was in my knowing of my divinity.
And I would say erotic divinity. And it was so
peaceful and so strong simultaneously. So this
idea of erotic divinity is something that she
holds so purely. And it really calls for us to
heal so many of these wounds that we have around
sexuality and the distortions that our culture
has created with sex and what's okay and what's
not okay. if our bodies are dirty, if we're having,
quote unquote, impure thoughts, to weave that
purity back into sexuality is such a game changer
and something we really need right now on this
earth. And the last thing I want to say before
I go into sharing other stories is that she's
been given as offerings to the goddess. And historically
over centuries and again, this sense of holy
connection to the spiritual planes and the body
of Rose offering herself as gifts to the holy.
This idea that her body is holy and our body
is holy and that offering to the. The goddess
and the divine is a representation of that. So
I'm going to share some stories from folks in
the plant wisdom circles. And you can see how
her themes weave through these shares. So this
person was called to lay down. and immediately
felt a pang of pain in her stomach like right
away and saw a ball of vines and thorns that
was just so tight and deep in her belly. And
she was told by Rose to raise her arms in the
air and the vine started to creep up her body.
slowly, and slowly loosen itself from the belly.
And Rose told this person, you need to open up.
And so the person then opened her arms and the
flowers opened down her arms and were blooming
all across the chest and the arms. And they felt
a sense of openness and protection. So again,
those two qualities coming in simultaneously.
And after a while, Her body was covered in roses
and the vine from the belly had spread out and
loosened and relieved the pain. And she said
it felt beautiful and strong and also so soft
and delicate at the same time and was feeling
into a wide range of all the ways to move in
the world and all the ways she can exist in the
world. So again, Rose coming in with this soft
and strong medicine and showing all of the possibility
of ways to exist, like how she exists in all
her myriad ways and colors. This person also
from two years ago had the experience of Rose
showing her how she can just really meet. any
moment. The rose can meet any moment that's needed.
So the breadth of her medicine, she can be the
like $2 cheap rose you give to someone or the
bush of wild rose in the forest and all of these
ways of expression that can meet any moment that's
needed, basically. This next person became the
Rose Bush as well. She had been through some
intense emotional stuff in the last six months
and has been kind of looping in a lot of coulda,
shoulda, woulda stories. And Rose was inviting
her to just let go of those stories, let go of
those thoughts and be in this moment and was
reminding her that she has the power. that it's
in her and that her and Rose are one. And when
she felt that, because it's not just a telling
in these experiences, right? It's like this embodied
knowing and feeling like, oh my gosh, I am Rose.
And there's a lot of tears. And she was really
feeling the way that she is Rose and Rose lives
in her and the power that's there. And it was
very healing and felt like she was letting go
of a lot and making space for what wants to come
in while also just being open to enjoying the
moment. So that kind of illustrates the same
pattern that I see over and over and over again
with Rose in my healing sessions. She's just
like, you can let go. you can remember your power
and open to the joy of this moment. I mean, it's
so simple, but so beautiful and so deep and powerful.
The next person felt the power of the rose hips
and received a message that everything comes
to fruition and that it just takes time and to
be with the journey and that everything will
fruit into something. And was shown how the rose
hips provide so much healing and nourishment
for us on these journeys. And this just a reminder
of being with the moment and the ripening process
will happen in its own time. This next person's
experience was very sensual. And she had a visceral
memory of a petal brushing her cheek. And experiencing
how good and sweet and tender that feels. gentle
touch and the times in her life when Rose has
been there and like the petals at her wedding
ceremony on the path of her wedding ceremony
and in her wedding bed. And then she was imagining
everyone in the world having a rose at their
heart space. having Rose where their heart is,
and how powerful and different the world would
feel if everyone had Rose leading their hearts.
Someone else had the same image of the heart
as a rose, and she was brought into this. beautiful
open meadow. And she could really sense and feel
that she's blossoming into the next phase of
transformation in her life. And that felt really
affirming and beautiful. So we had another person
turn into Rose as well. Her heart was the center
area full of the soft tiny petals and giant pollen
molecules. And her hands were the dancing petals
and her and Rose just danced and moved together.
And then she was a bee also dancing in the center
of her soft rose petal heart. And then she heard
a voice say, you need your thorns. Use your thorns.
This world needs them now. So again, this. invitation
into not only opening to our softness and dancing
and being in that beautiful pleasure body, but
the reminder that we have thorns, that we can
step into our dignity, that we can use our boundaries,
that we can be fierce when the times call for
them, which is currently someone else felt. thorns
as boundaries as well. And this mix of the softness
that Rose has accompanied with those boundaries.
And Rose was teaching her about responsibility
and showing her the responsibility that she's
holding as a leader and that she needs to start
opening up to share that responsibility soon
in her work. And Rose was helping to soften and
open her so she can trust someone else to be
let in to share that responsibility. And Rose
invited her to lay on the floor in the center
of the circle on her stomach. And it was kind
of a fierce or forceful command by Rose. And
she didn't want to because she felt like she'd
be taking up too much space in the center of
the circle. But she did and had an experience
of a spiritual surgery happening in the back
of her heart, removing blockages around her own
sexual and sensual nature that have been blocking
her and the ways in which she hasn't felt safe
in the world because of these old patterns not
being. or feeling safe in her full sexuality
and her full sensuality her full sensual expression
and rose was showing her how she's become afraid
of being in her sexual energy but that when she's
not in her full sexual energy she's not fully
committed to herself that she's not in her full
self And so it was this gentle unraveling process.
And she said she felt so held and felt Rose weaving
her ability to be in that sexual energy and not
be so impacted by other people's projections
of her and removing all the expectations of her
in her work and her leadership role and how she.
keeps thinking she needs to show up like asexually
and can't be in her sexual power in her work.
And Rose kind of dismantling those beliefs and
reminding her that her sexual power is her power.
So I thought that was just so, so beautiful.
So potent for all of us to remember. So I'm going
to read this next person share from the first
person. She wrote it out for me. So here is her
experience. I saw rabbits lounging in the grass,
lying out on their abdomens. Then one took me
down the rabbit hole like Alice in Wonderland
to the roots of the rose, reminding me to ground
before seeking the heady world of the mind and
the cosmos. I was taken to the Queen of Hearts
from Alice in Wonderland, part as a warning and
as a calling. I need to lead and use my battle
cry to rally the people to shift our reality.
That cry is not meant to be angry. She saw the
queen scowl and growl while clawing at the air
above her people. But instead, when this person
took her place, it came out as a song. A strong,
uniting, powerful note speaking my truth. Next,
she was shown that painting the roses red scene
and was reminded to lead with authenticity. You
cannot make the roses red by painting over them.
Their true nature is... to be white and in researching
that scene after i was reminded that the gardeners
planted the wrong rose and are trying to cover
up their mistakes a good reminder from rose that
we all make mistakes and covering them up helps
no one instead we should learn from them and
lead others to feel safe admitting their mistakes
i saw how rose can be resilient and protective
while also soft and nurturing i became a spider
on the rose resting in her petals A human sniffed
at me, and I felt our connection, and that all
things are connected. Then I remembered that
a spider from the rose I brought to the circle
ended up on my arm in my car on the drive over.
This took me down the path of adventure. Again,
that comes in. Those words are so powerful. I
am meant to heal myself through healing others.
I'm not meant to fix their problems or take on
their worries, but lend support, help hold and
emanate loving kindness. She then invited me
and perhaps at the same time, I invited myself
to help her provide healing energy to the rest
of the circle. So I joined her in that mission.
So there's a lot here, a lot of layers here,
but you can see those same themes coming through
of that. leadership, calling us into that dignified
leadership strength that the fierceness doesn't
have to be angry and scowling like the Queen
of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, but this power
of our song that's strong and uniting and this
invitation again to become the rose, to become
both this beauty and protection and love and
how that's healing for everyone. And I have another
story that I'm going to read from the first person
experience. So first I want to say in the beginning
of the plant circles, when we first call in the
container and call Rose in before taking the
tincture officially, Sometimes, oftentimes people
feel the spirit coming in. And this person said
Rose was calling to her at the very beginning
of the evening and said, will you let yourself
be open to me bringing lusciousness to your longings?
And then I'm going to read the first person meditation
that this person had with her. I was feeling.
the sense of longing to keep healing and finding
more ways back to myself when I lose touch with
embodied belonging. And Rose said, lay down on
your back, on the ground, on your kitchen floor,
now on your garden path. I feel my back against
the earth, holding me warm and deeply present.
I look into the soil and see all the mycelial
beauty. and visible, potent, vital life. I feel
surprised but so grateful she is bringing me
to her root medicine as I am so often oriented
to her blooms, her silkiness, her scent, her
upper medicine. She says, look how interconnected
my roots are, how strong and how they belong
in this woven earth and to me. I feel my lungs
fill with easeful, calming breath. Then I see
and feel her strong, deep, interconnected roots
moving through me as if they are becoming my
tendons and muscles, and I feel even more secure
and held and connected. She moves through my
whole body, and I feel a deep relief and a sense
of aliveness and safety that feels really vital
and tender. I am teary and grateful. I end with
an image of my eight -year -old self. on a beautiful,
warm, breathing horse like the ones I had when
I was that age. And I am lying across the body
of the horse, relaxed, totally at ease, and I
feel that this horse is my body and that it is
also my body on the earth. I whisper my thanks
to Rose, wiping healing tears from my eyes and
breathing much deeper and more full. So I love
that Rose has been bringing people into her roots
and showing her that depth of medicine and that,
again, she has this range of medicine that I
will share more from what I received from her,
but this ability to hold the totality of things.
This next person had a lot of images around death.
And she was able to talk to an ancestor for the
first time since they had passed. So that's all
the notes I had for this person. But there was
a couple people in the circle that were reminded
of people who had passed and also this part of
the life cycle. So again, Rose helping us be
present and accepting of the beauty of every
aspect of the life cycle. So I just love that
death came in and through the circle too, because
it's a part of the life cycle. And I think it
would have been not complete without the teachings
of death and this aspect of life. And this kind
of ties into this next person's journey with
Rose, which was all about flow and non -resistance.
So Rose was showing her how she has been resisting
the moment and the flow of life. So resisting
getting out of bed, resisting her day, resisting
going to bed, every aspect of it, there was resistance.
And she hadn't been aware of this pattern. And
Rose showed this to her through the repetition
of observing and being a rose in all of her stages
of growth and life. So the sprout, the bud, the
bloom, the release of the petals down to the
earth, the rest, the seeding, and then repeating
again. And so this was repeated over and over
again. Her as the rose, blooming. Her as the
rose releasing her petals and dying back and
all of those stages again and again. And at first,
every stage felt uncomfortable to her, as in
like when she was blooming, she was resisting
it because it was so wide and felt uncomfortable
and then resisting the release of the petals
because she felt. sad about that and she could
hear her voice of resistance inside her saying
no as the rose would move forward in the cycle
and the petals would drop and this pattern again
and again happening over and over again she started
to feel and really experience each stage of the
cycle and as she started to really just be in
each stage, the resistance started to fade and
she started to feel a joy in all of the moments.
So Rose was really helping her embody this practice
of presence and flow. And it started to feel
really good and peaceful to flow with the seasons
and flow with the cycles and surrender to that
capacity, ever -changing nature of life. And
this person wrote me that since the journey,
she's noticed a really cool shift in her experience
of life, that she's historically been a person
who shows up late to things. And she thinks that
this pattern has been related to the resistance
pattern that Rose was showing her that she hadn't
realized. So after the circle, without even thinking
about it, she started to be on time for things
or even early. And this started right after our
Rose experience. So it hasn't been every time,
but more often than not, she's been on time and
other people have been noticing. So I just think
it's so cool. Such affirmation of the teachings
of the plants and the medicine of the plants
when we sit with them in this way, in such a
conscious, embodied way. They are literally shifting
things in our lives at such a deep level. And
again, it's embodied. It's like the knowing becomes
woven into the tissues. It's not something that
we just receive in our minds, but it turns into
a lived experience. This next person also had
some joy, a lot of joy, and was brought into
the lifespan of the rose, feeling herself maturing
and then seeing a vision of a grandma. She was
contemplating our lifespan and each of us as
a petal and how we're all connected to the lungs
of life and was feeling the protective nature
of Rose and the essence of beauty of her and
how it's so raw and pure and deep within us.
And the beauty is us. Also, like we are that
rose, we are that depth of raw and pure beauty
when we're not masking and we're not performing.
And that each of us brings a medicine to the
world of our own beauty. And the last thing she
heard was, a man is not a plan. So remember that
one, folks. Last person had the energy of the
mother come and was feeling into the generations
of mothers and saw images kind of like a kaleidoscope
blooming and opening over and over again, how
a kaleidoscope does that, like this endless becoming
from the inside out and heard the words, all
experiences and so many layers. She just heard
that over and over again. And was shown to not
grasp too hard through this image of taking the
rose tenderly and not aggressively. So again
this like don't grasp too hard to life. And it's
just this always changing and becoming and blossoming
experience. And then the words let down your
expectations. When in her vision, some of the
roses didn't have a fragrance or didn't look
perfect. And this teaching of letting go of expectations
of her mother. And again, seeing another image
of endless blossoming of bowls of water inside
one another, like the blossoming and fountaining
of a water fountain. And it felt to her like
the fountains of emotion. And then she heard
it took so much courage for your mother to birth
you. And you can birth yourself into another
blooming, into another becoming, into another
layer and experience. It's just so powerful.
And I just want to share one more special moment
in the circle. There was a couple of people who
had brought shells to the altar. which is rare.
And one person specifically had a clamshell from
the Oregon coast. And we were talking about this
and someone was asking about how clams open.
And someone else said, clams default is openness.
And it's the muscle of the adductor muscle that
closes them. And when this person said clams
default is openness, there's just this huge reaction
through the circle. Like, oh my gosh, of course,
this message coming through from Rose, from the
circle, that our default state is openness. That
had been such a teaching of Rose and the medicine
that had been weaving itself together through
our time and also through the altar even before
we sat with her. So that was a really cool, cool
moment. So my experience this time was really
interesting. The metaphor that she was showing
me was with music. And the most important thing
Rose wanted me to see was her range, like her
range of medicine, her vocal range on a musical
scale and how and where she can work with us
and how she can work in and through every chakra.
She showed me that she can be up in the highest
of frequencies and she has this pure divine.
frequency, but also is so adept at helping us
root deep into our bodies and being with our
root and our womb and how because she has this
range and lives in all of these chakras, she
helps us harmonize all of the octaves. of life
experience. She works on all of these levels.
Her range and capacity is huge. And I kept feeling
that her capacity, her range is so wide and she
helps us open our own capacity again. And she
was showing me that living in our modern world
deadens our capacity for range and that our experiences
with trauma. deaden that capacity too. Like these
experiences shut off parts of ourselves and she
comes in and helps us reawaken that particular
octave of our being, that part of our system
that's been shut down or closed off with a story
of unworthiness or shame or trauma and reawakens.
that part of us to sing their song again, sing
in harmony again. So it reawakens that aspect
of the song within us so we can harmonize with
our wholeness and also not only harmonize with
our wholeness, but harmonize with the earth again.
She showed me that everything on earth sings
and is singing and showing me the device. that
we've created to hear the plants and kind of
translate their electrical conductivity into
a song into music which we got to hear on the
retreat i just led and it was so beautiful we
listened to cottonwood and aspen and juniper
and they all had really different ranges and
really different ways of expressing it was so
beautiful so she was showing me that device and
Showing me that humans have been causing this
disharmonization because we're not singing in
harmony with the earth anymore like we used to.
And when we start to harmonize to get into our
own resonance again, the entire earth is relieved.
And by healing our own resonance and capacity
for harmonization, that heals the world. And
a big part of that is being in our pleasure and
joy, which have been cut off. Like those parts
of ourselves have been deadened by the current
state of the world, by all of the trauma we're
seeing all of the time in the news. And so when
we can open up that capacity again, reharmonize
ourselves, we bring our full song to the world
and the plants, the trees, the land, the stones,
the water, they all... feel that relief of that
harmony again. You know, when you hear people
singing, and there's someone that's just like
a little bit off key, which is probably usually
me. But then like, they jump into key again,
there's kind of this relief that flows through
the whole song and the whole room. Like that
is what the earth feels when we reharmonize ourselves
again. So Everything benefits when we reclaim
our joy and reclaim our pleasure body because
this resonance, this harmony purifies, it aligns,
it clears, it heals. And she told me that she
specializes in the heart and the womb specifically
because the heart is a place within us that also
harmonizes things. It is the... center of the
chakra system and a place where all is welcome.
And that kind of harmonizes and balances the
upper chakras and the lower chakras. And the
heart can accept the whole experience of life
in its totality. And the womb is a place of all
creation, of all possibility. It's where the
erotic is born and life is created through our
sexual and creative life force. So harmonizing
and healing these two centers in particular is
so crucial to expanding our range and capacity
internally. But of course, again, she was like,
I can support any range and any chakra, but this
is where I often focus because of the potency
of these two areas. And so I think this is really
interesting because Rose comes in every single
color. She's one of the only flowers, not the
only flower, but one of the only flowers that
can be found in every single color of the rainbow
and more like so many shades of all the colors
of the rainbow. And she can fill any role. And
when I asked her. how I could support her or
what I could do to help expand her medicine in
the world. She showed me images of me adorning
myself and feeling beautiful because when I bring
that energy of feeling good and beautiful into
the world, it uplifts and beautifies everyone
and everything. And by appreciating beauty in
the world and adorning ourselves to be a carrier
of that feeling of beauty in the world, we help
to spread her frequency, which harmonizes all
of Earth's song again. There's a frequency of
beauty that is harmony. So when we look at something
beautiful, there's something that innately harmonizes.
Our resonance is what she was showing me. So
when we can live in that beauty and feel ourselves
as beautiful, that kind of innately shifts us
into harmony with ourselves and the earth. So
I just loved that metaphor. I'd never, I would
never have thought of that on my own. And so
I just know when I receive teachings like that,
like it's definitely not coming from me. It's
coming from the wisdom of the earth and the rose
and the plants. So powerful. Isn't it just amazing?
I just will never get over this. I've been playing
with the plants in this way, exploring with the
plants in this way for two decades. In 2006,
I had my first plant apprenticeship and she kind
of helped me open to the spiritual quality of
the plants. And I literally will never get over
how amazing this is to receive their teaching
so directly into our bodies and have those experiences
change the way we are in the world so immediately.
It's just really, really beautiful. So with that,
I will end here. I invite you to just take a
moment to receive. Take a moment to let all of
this percolate into your body. Roses, weavings
of visions and experiences and teachings and
wisdom, letting it all settle into your system,
breathing it in, calling Rose to be with you,
even though you probably already feel her here.
Feel into... your wholeness, into your erotic
energy, into your beauty, into places in you
that you've closed off from that have stopped
singing your own song and invite Rose to come
in and help soften those places, help you reopen,
reawaken. Their song again. Opening your heart,
letting emotions move through you, letting life
come back. So again, if you want to explore this
particular practice more specifically, this is
a big part of what we explore in the Golden Stone
Immersion. And Rose, again, is one of our four
plant allies. And she helps us reclaim these
places in us that have been closed off. She helps
us reclaim our power and open to life again,
open to the life and our individual song that
wants to be sung, that I could never tell you
what that is, and helps us find and uncover and
reveal. who we are and who that is and how we're
in relationship with life all the time and reweave
our song back into the song of the earth. That
is the intention of the golden stone immersion
at its heart. And I just love that so much of
the intention of the golden stone immersion came
through with Rose's teachings and how she has
just been such a guide for me in cultivating
this six -month experience over the years and
such an ally to so many people. So until next
time, may you soften and open to your sexual
energy, your erotic energy, your... softness
your tenderness may you feel the open expansiveness
of your heart may you drop into your pelvis into
the womb space if you have a womb and ground
in that deep rooted interconnected nature of
the earth the root systems, and flow with the
moment of the ever -changing moment and find
the beauty in every cycle of life, the seasons,
your daily cycle, your menstrual cycle, the cycle
of grief and joy and love. Let's open. ourselves
to all of the octaves of our being awakening
aligning purifying and harmonizing ourselves
again thank you for joining the plant wisdom
circle may the teachings of the plants continue
to ripple through your life guiding you and nourishing
you in the days to come if you'd like to keep
weaving with the plants you can subscribe to
the show leave us a review and share it with
others who would love to listen This would mean
so much to me and to the plants. Make sure to
check out the show notes below to learn about
any links, events, or classes I shared with you
today. You can find the next Plant Wisdom Circle
and other classes and resources at groundwaterhealing
.com. Until next time, may you walk gently with
the earth, with the plants by your side.