Sitting with Violet

In my second year attending N.I.T.E., I was in my Field Herbology class. Discovering a world I had no idea existed. Our instructor took us into the woods to find an herb called blood root. We found one blood root, but the leaf was in its early stage of growth, so it wasn't fully formed. We continued our search, and I thought I had come upon another. I had called our instructor over and she corrected me identifying the herb as violet. There was no flower yet, so it was just the leaf of the violet. When our instructor was describing the shape of the leaf of the blood root in comparison to the violet, I had made the comment that the violet leaf had the shape of an arrowhead.

Later in the day, Saturday, our instructor gave us the rundown of we were going to do on Sunday. She had explained that each of us students are going to take an hour and sit with an herb of our choosing and communicate with said herb. For the average person this is considered weird, silly, or even crazy. For most of us in the natural health field it sounded interesting. She continued saying that after that hour, we would sit in a large circle and share our experience.

Before I had even attended N.I.T.E. I had read a book called Opening to Channel by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer. The book teaches you how to communicate, aka channel, with your spirit guide. Some of you reading may not believe in this kind of thing and that's all right. I'm not going to try to get you to, however this context is important for the post.

Before class ended on Saturday, our instructor told us that if we have not chosen an herb to sit with yet to do so that night, because we were sitting with it first thing on Sunday. I had not yet picked an herb. I was unsure of what herb to sit with. Come Sunday morning, before class, I was still unsure of what herb I was going to sit with. So, I decided to walk down one of the trails in the woods. I decided to feel for the energy of whichever herb had the strongest energy. I got maybe 20 feet into the trail when I felt a strong energy to my right. I had stopped and looked to see what herb was around. Down at the edge of the trail sat a violet by itself a little ways away from a group of violets. I come to realize that I didn't choose the herb, but rather the herb chose me. I regrouped with my classmates and waited for our instructor to show up. We did a small energetic cleansing ritual and parted ways to go sit with our chosen herb. I sat down facing the violet that chose me. I took some deep breaths to clear my mind and go into a meditative state. I then used some of the techniques that I had learned in the book Opening to Channel. I communicated to the violet of my intentions of communicating with it. I waited a little bit and then it started to communicate back!

Violet: "I am the plant of love and compassion. That is why my leaves are heart shaped. My violet flowers help open up the crown chakra when looked at, even if you are aware of it or not. God is love and compassion, so when the flower opens up the crown chakra you are more connected to God, allowing you to have more love and compassion. Most look at the leaves and see and arrowhead. You made that mistake yesterday. When you see the leaves as hearts, you are reminded of what you are. A Human Being. That you can still love those who make mistakes, and you will be loved even though you make mistakes. To love unconditionally is to love with no judgment. For judgment diminishes love. You may question that person or thing, and when you do, you must learn from that answer. For learning about that person or thing brings about love for that person or thing. The planet is going through a transition and that we (humans) need to have an open heart. To those who have an open heart, it is up to you to lead those with a closed heart through this transition no matter how they have treated you in the past. To lead those with a closed heart is unconditional love and compassion. All the plants with their roots planted in the ground communicate with each other. Humanity has lost its way in a manner of speaking. You are not fully united with nature. This planetary transition will unify us once more. All of you here today, talking with all of us, are a key factor in the upcoming unification."

That was the last of the communication with the violet. After I came out of the meditative state, I sat in silence waiting for the hour to end. I sat admiring the beauty of my surroundings and listened to the sounds of nature. I had then received one last message.

"Nature is lost without us."

I thought about that for a moment. It seems like everyone who cries about the end of the world doesn't clarify if it's the whole world or humanity. If one day humanity ceases to exist, Nature will continue to flourish. It will take over the cities, towns, villages, anything man made. Even though Nature will continue to flourish without us there would be a missing link, humanity. We are organic living beings of nature. We cannot live without Nature and Nature cannot be whole without us. We become so lost in our ways that we forget who we truly are. We forget about Nature and its wonders. We have become so focused on our own ego. On who's right and who's wrong. We are slowly destroying ourselves and moving farther away from Nature.

There is a lot that we can learn from Nature. All we have to do is sit and listen. Don't worry about the events of the past. Don't focus on the could be's of the future. Just sit and listen to the sounds of now. Sit under a tree and appreciate the strength of its structure, breath with the wind as it blows past, admire the flowers for the beauty that they present. Slow your mind as you feel the energy of Nature. Connect with it and be one with it. I encourage all of you to give it a try! Sit with that pesky weed and try to understand it, sit with that tree that bears fruit every year. Observe its movement in the wind, the structure of it, the patterns of the leaves and or flowers, how does it feel in your hands (if safe to touch). You may not get the same results that I got and that's okay. Everyone is at their own level, and everyone experiences things differently. Give it a try and feel free to share your experience here!

Stay healthy everyone!

Eric VerEllen, NHP