Plant Medicine and the Imaginal Realm

The relationship between humans and plants as companions is deeply woven, ancient, complex. We are relatives. In living memory.

We previously touched upon the language of plants that is revealed to us through their physical form in an earlier article. The ways that a plant's medicine, energy and personality may be glimpsed through subtle ways we perceive them. If you haven’t already checked that one out, find it here —> Herbal Energetics as Plant Mythology

In that article, I mentioned something called the doctrine of signatures. Which is a similar concept, yet grows more refined as it moves deeper into what exactly may be read within the codes of a plant's form. What information are we receiving when we look at a plant? What details are coming out to us, and what do those details tell us.

The doctrine of signatures was a new revision on a very old and long-held concept. Coined during the period when scientific justifications were being sought after for some things that have already been well-known and practiced for thousands of years before by medicine keepers and healers. Beyond its modern name, it is an ancient and ancestral way of communion and resonance with the natural world. It is tapping into the imaginal realm. The lens through which we may see the world as alive, and in constant communication. Through this lens, it is so abundantly clear that nature communicates to us the ways it may serve. The medicine it offers. Through the shape of a leaf, the colour of a flower, the taste of a root. All are whispers from spirit. And this way was how we, way back when, first learned to communicate with plants. First learned to see them as medicine. First learned how to work with them in healing and nourishment. It was through a process of communion. Of paying attention to the subtle yet obvious messages they offer.

Okay, sometimes they are not so obvious, sometimes they ask for really expanding our perception and broadening our ways of seeing connections in things. That is where our intuition and imagination really come into play and allow us to freely listen to what is being communicated in a much subtler way. If we allow this, we start to see connections weaving through everything. Sometimes the signature is up for interpretation, which is also how plant medicine healing is so vast and unique that the same plant may offer something different to different people. Don’t discredit your own intuitive and spiritual insights. It is valid and enriching for the whole experience of the communion. Along the way, some of these practices were lost, and re-membered again through the scientific perspective, giving the name doctrine of signatures. “Nature marks each growth according to its curative benefit”. Yet there were always those who intuitively held these truths and needed no scientific justification to make it so. In connection with spirit, it simply is. Not an exciting new discovery, but a remembrance.

Those who remained healers, medicine people, in connection with the land, never lost this. Yet it reaches us here, in this eternal now, to remind us of this communication. Herbal medicine is not a passive and mindless procedure. It is intuitive, intelligent, unique to each individual and each plant. It asks for you to show up with heart, and listen. That’s how it differs from allopathic medicine, where there is some one that tells you what is wrong with you and what you need to take to get better, usually a standard something that is given to everyone with your general symptoms. A dead thing. Life is not general. Natural medicine and herbal healing move deeper, expand wider. They ask, what in you is desiring nourishment? What kind of healing is needed? It asks you to take the reins. Take responsibility. Wipe the dust off your intuitive centers and open the doors of the imaginal. Living stories. What is the mythology of my sensations? Of my discomfort? Go out into nature, sit with the plants, ask them for assistance. See where the threads overlap between what you are experiencing and what they offer. In this way, it is an active practice. A personal practice. If allowed so, it becomes rich with unique medicine stories. The doctrine of signatures is a phrase that serves as guidance then. A reminder to look to the signatures. How do they correspond to what I am moving through? Getting excited about how story and spirit live in everything. And we are active participants in its unfolding. Here we are remembering to read these codes again. And through them being enriched by this lens from which we may see the world.

Some examples of the signatures of plants and how they may serve healing ~

Stinging nettle —> The tiny hairs on stinging nettle and the strong bite she delivers brought on the correspondence to the healing from stings and bites from bees, snakes and other such creatures

Chamomile —> The delicate and lacy leaves of chamomile remind one of the intricate weavings of the nervous system, touching upon the affinity chamomile holds for the nerves

Dandelion —> The bright yellow flowers that bloom in spring. Jaundice is a condition of the liver that turns one's skin yellow revealing a connection to the liver and the colour yellow. Dandelion is a powerful support for conditions of the liver. A spring tonic.

Sometimes, signatures are translating less physical affinities and more energetic, emotional and spiritual. Such as,

Mugwort —> The shimmery, glowing grey leaves of mugwort in the night invokes a feeling of dreamy, misty medicine. The way she comes alive in the night and reflects the light in a soft glow in the same ways as the moon. These associations bring forth an image of mugwort being a thread that ties one deeper into sleep and the dream realm.

Sage —> The intricate, detailed markings on the leaves of sage resemble that of an ancient scripture. An important code. Sage has been worked with for a long time as a spirit medicine to invoke clarity and deeper communion with the spirit realm.

Perhaps the question comes up, well how did we hold these associations with plants and very anatomical features of the body before we started cutting each other open and looking inside? Perhaps these were layers of how we slowly began to unravel our physical anatomy through our conversations with plants. what came first? The plant being associated with a certain organ, or the organ slowly revealing itself through one's work with a particular plant. Plants then may be seen as assistants in our own learning about our selves. A glimpse into how we have co-evolved, together. The relationship between humans and plants as companions is deeply woven, ancient, complex. We are relatives. In living memory.