Speaking with Nature
Awakening to the Deep Wisdom of the Earth
by Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts
Bear & Company, 2015
PURCHASE HERE
Book Excerpt | Chapter 3 – Blackberry Plant
Excerpt written by Llyn Roberts
“Close your eyes and imagine the aroma of a freshly baked blackberry pie. Mmmmm. Some cooks let their berry pies cool before serving but others serve them piping hot right from the oven. How do you enjoy yours? Blackberries also make delicious jam. A lavish spread on a thick slice of buttered grain toast is, to me, a taste of heaven.
I have always been a lover of berries, which grew abundant in the sultry summers of my New England childhood. My own children spent their early years living on a mountain in New Hampshire, so they, too, know the simple joys of picking and eating vine-ripened berries.
Despite its flavorful fruit and the untold medicinal value in its leaves and roots, Blackberry Plant is often seen as a thorny intruder. The dreaded poison ivy I grew up with is seen the same way, although with a worse reputation because of the bubbly, itchy rash we can get by rubbing our clothes or skin against its oils and no redeeming factor of sweet sustenance. Regardless of whether we judge a being as a benefit or an irritant, nature is intelligent. Prickly boundaries keep unwanted influences out while land restores. “Invasive” Blackberry and poison ivy grow where the ground has been cleared for roadways, trails, and developments. Protector plants root quickly into the land to fix nitrogen into the soil, replenish its nutrients, and prevent the soil from washing away. Blackberry rapidly transforms devastated land into an impenetrable vine forest that offers food, shade, moisture, and safe habitat for birds and small animals.
Applying prickly borders is something we can all understand. Think about a time you may have insulated an ill or elderly friend from outside stressors, stood up to a bully, pulled a frisky dog away from a baby, or demanded solitude to catch up on badly needed rest or finish a creative project.
Protector energies are a feminine expression of fierce nurturance.
In the plant world that explosion of yellow on the border of northwestern highways, known as Scotch broom, is also a protector. European immigrants imbibed an extract of Scotch broom as an herbal remedy and beverage, but it can slow your heart and make your feet and hands go numb if you ingest enough of it.
These potent defenders are the land’s immune response to threat. In contrast, the indigenous Blackberry Plants where I live in the Pacific Northwest are small, low bushes with feathery leaves and soft, tiny thorns. Like their giant foreign cousins, they, too, are sunseekers. Yet, as native blackberry Plants grow in balanced ecosystems, they seem happy with the plants that surround and grow with them…”
Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts are prominent teachers of shamanism. Their co-authored book, Speaking with Nature, won the Nautilus Gold Award in 2015.
Sandra Ingerman | www.sandraingerman.com
Llyn Roberts | www.shamanicreikiworldwide.com
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