As you know if you have even skimmed our Flower Essence Guide, my spiritual beliefs are not exactly tied to one religion. But in my childhood, I went to a congregational church and most of the stories I learned were biblical ones. I liked the stories though I never really understood them. What was going on with Sampson and his hair? Why did all the people have to drown but Noah and his family? Why would a dancing girl want a head on a plate? So many riveting tales but so beyond me.

One story that cropped up a lot was the story of Mary and Martha. Coming from a patriarchal clan that talked ad nauseam about the value of productivity, goals and doing everything perfectly, I came to believe that Martha was on track in her bustle to prepare the food. Much as I loved Mary, I didn’t get her choice to sit around. My family of origin’s motto was, “Work ’til the work is done” which translated into me and one of my brothers doing the chores while other members of the family disappeared to their rooms.

Frankly, I found this disappearing act downright annoying, because it meant I had to do more work before the work could be described as done. It never occurred to me to question whether the work had to get done. Somehow this dynamic got set against the Mary and Martha story in my mind, leaving me feeling both aggrieved and uncertain whether Jesus would approve of me doing the work of several family members or even doing my own chores. There seemed to be the suggestion in the tale that maybe work wasn’t the most important thing. But then why did everyone in my family keep telling me to work ’til the work was done? This story got under my skin but I didn’t know what to do about it. Life seemed to require me to be more Martha than Mary so I just carried on in this vein. For like fifty years.

However, my arm break in November became a literal break from my habitual Martha bustle and an extended journey into Mary world. With my arm casted from top to bottom and pins holding the whole thing together, I found the office world was beyond me as I could not do even simple tasks like screwing on a dropper top on a bottle. In the kitchen, I could boil water but not open a can. Basically there was little I could do even when I tried to use my teeth to breach the gap in my skills.

Shut down from my lifelong “work til the work is done” mindset, I found it oddly restful to sink into a state of just being there. It was wonderfully expansive to settle into having no more specific task than appreciating the simple things like being warm or watching the clouds. In the emptiness, there were so many small joys to savor and always the creator there to visit with and love.

Jim, who by necessity was still wearing his Martha apron, would come home from his teaching job to whip around the home front. When he paused for breath, he would ask me what I had done all day. I had never done anything but my days felt wonderfully full. In my literal brokenness, I had experienced an emptying out that was a time of surprising, restorative peace. Sometimes a mind idea would light a temporary fire of “you can’t just stop doing!” within me, and I would try to do something I couldn’t do, then this mind blip would flame out and I would return to restful stillness and letting go.

With one arm in play, what I expected of myself became very simple. I wasn’t meant to “work til the work is done.” By default, I allowed myself the free pass to Mary territory, and I liked it.

But now both arms are back in play. And everything feels different than before because I see the binding of this “work til the work is done” idea more clearly than before and realize I don’t have to be run by it anymore. Now the roles of Mary and Martha are both choices for me and the story of Mary and Martha has been turned on its head. I see it is not about one person doing it right and another doing it wrong. Instead it is a story of each person finding her way to what she is called to do as an expression of her love for God and as an unwinding of her own individual spiritual bindings. Additionally, there is no need for anyone to think, “I am a Martha and always will be a Martha” as I had long thought. Instead, each moment is a blank slate in which we can seek if this is a Martha moment for us or a Mary moment.

For me this new understanding means going very slowly to figure out what I am supposed to be or do each day, asking for a lot of moment to moment guidance, and accepting that I am going to stumble and fall into my old pattern of doing too much despite my best intentions. I stumble into doing too much because working too much can sometimes feel more comfortable to me than waiting in the unknown to find out what I am meant to do or not do in any given hour. Fortunately, as I ride with training wheels into this new life, I have the blessing of an arm that gets very sore and a system that gets tired quick when I fall back into “work ’til the work is done” mode and this reminds me to stop and go savor the clouds again.

Late winter and it snows every day- all day and all night. Enough with the cold white stuff! Even an inventive, mischievous as well as attractive cat like myself gets bored with indoor projects.

Fortunately there are now knitting projects on every flat surface.

Each project gives me at least a minute or two of pleasure as I mess with the yarn… but then I remember:

it is still snowing out there.

It keeps snowing here in that New Hampshire in February way of things. We expect Winter Storm Hugh to bring us gifts beginning tomorrow night after sweeping across so much of the country. Despite all the snow, we begin to prepare for spring. The brighter light has brought on lots of blossoms in the greenhouse. Here, Calliandra explodes in radiant red balls while the Sweet Olive and Citrus blossoms waft their fragrance into the warm humid air.
My arm is much better. I have been delighted to find that I am able to knit once again something that took me at least a year to be able to comfortably do after the first arm break. Elder stateswoman cat Mishka checked out the hoodie I just knit for Grace and said it would do.

I am so happy to have knitting needles in my hands again and to have the seeds ready to start in the greenhouse in a week or so! I hope spring is showing its encouraging face in your world too!

Yahooooo! It’s that time of year for us- Garden planning time! Today I gave my arm a workout by inventorying all our seeds- opening and closing the dozens of ziplock bags I keep leftover seeds in to check what remains from last year to use this year. I need to start somewhere with using my left and right hand together if I hope to be shoveling manure by April!

For 2013, staff goddess and beloved of the honeybees, Laura Carpenter, has been given the assignment by the Angels and Elementals to design the main vegetable garden at Green Hope Farm. Having Laura in charge of creating the design with the Angels and Elementals of this central circular garden feels very right and very auspicious to me.

Bringing Laura into the design process reminds me of twenty five years ago when the Angels and Elementals had me do classes for a number of years to share how I co-created gardens with them. This was back in the 80’s and early 90’s, a time when there was a great deal of interest, at least in our region, in Angels and Elementals. The classes drew all sorts of people in a happy and eclectic mix of cultures and personalities. I originally did the classes as a one day workshop but then found the fun of the class was in meeting a number of times. This was because of the stories people returned to class with after they got rolling with the project of designing their gardens with help from “upstairs.”.

Even the skeptics found themselves in a state of amazement, and this was because in-between classes the Angels and Elementals would use all sorts of inventive, funny even outrageous ways to demonstrate that they did indeed exist and wanted very much to work with the class participants.

My favorite story, which I know I have mentioned in the blog before, involved a woman who thought the class a bit of a fool’s errand with fairies the stuff of children’s stories. I told her at our first meeting that there was nothing the Elementals enjoyed more than proving they were there to someone who was at least open to seeing the signs. I encouraged her to ask for exactly what she needed from these masters of manifestation and then to sit back and watch the show.

After that first class she drew a line in the sand and declared to the Elementals if indeed they existed that she would only proceed with the class and an open mind if the Elementals sent her free of charge all the ingredients for a garden.

The next class she had all of us on the edge of our seats as she reported how since this pronouncement she had been given unasked a dump truck load of well rotted manure, a woman’s entire garden of perennial plants and all the seeds for an enormous vegetable garden. After this experience, her life turned in a new direction and she became a force to be reckoned with as she painted and sold hundreds of gorgeous oil paintings of Angels and Elementals as well as gardened with them in a wildly beautiful way.

Hearing each person’s stories and seeing the unique designs they co-created with the Angels and Elementals was wonderful. It was the beginning of my understanding of how unlimited the nature of our co-creative efforts could be. There were just so many different designs with such unexpected combinations of flowers, herbs and vegetables. The sky was truly the limit as many designs went airborne with all kinds of superstructures. These classes and my own experience in receiving gorgeous new twists in design each season helped me let go of the gardens each fall, knowing in full confidence that the following year’s designs would be soul satisfying in new but deeply comforting ways.

I usually taught these classes in late winter or very early spring. Once the growing season got underway, many people invited me to see their gardens and how they had translated their designs into form. I loved these visits to their gardens. Elementals in particular have such a zesty sense of humor and the field trips were always chock full of funny stories and funny happenings. The gardens themselves were incredibly vibrant, robust and spectacular. This often left the participants in shock and awe.

One visit to a Vermont garden created by a woman in the class, I wandered her incredibly exuberant and lush almost tropical garden. The woman showed me around her paradise with her hands joyfully in the air in celebration. The garden felt so inviting that I wanted to settle down under the bean fences she had woven and just watch the entire season unfold. As with so many of these gardens, everything was super sized as was her amazed grin! It was all such a fantastic reminder that the Angels and Elementals WANT to work cooperatively with all of us to heal our shared planet.

And now, Laura will see where the Angels and Elementals lead her! Will it be a cold cabbage summer of many brassicas or a fiery one of eggplant and jalapeño? What plants have an affinity with her? Which Flowers will mix with what vegetables? My time apart mending my arm has shown me that I must pass the baton to others to help manage this bigger entity that is Green Hope Farm. I am so happy to have beloveds here ready to share the baton and dig with it!

A new generation looks to co-create a new earth and I want to help! Inside and out, happy expansive changes are unfolding here at the farm with our many ever present Angelic and Elemental guides there to support us. So many new people fill the office and surprisingly, after twenty years with an almost all women staff, we have a lot of men here. The new crew of Miguel and company have many great ideas for how to run things. It is an adventure to begin to be a part of all they have organized in my absence.

For me, it was also such a pleasure to sit with Laura and begin to flesh out other gardens while Laura begins to plan the main one. Laura and I sat in a cornucopia of seed catalogues, pens and papers and found ourselves lit from within with joy as we headed towards spring and all things green and flowering.

SOME THOUGHTS IF YOU WANT TO WORK ON YOUR GARDEN WITH THE ANGELS AND ELEMENTALS

1) Know that the Angels and Elementals want very much to work with you and will make this as easy as they can.

2) Your imagination is the bridge for you to receive their ideas and guidance. Trust what you imagine!

3) Remember that Angels are the ones who design all form and Elementals are the ones that manifest all form. This means the Angels will give you the design for your gardens and then the Elementals will help you with all tasks related to planting and managing the gardens. I call both groups into all my meetings and ask for their help with everything.

4) As you meet with the Angels and Elementals, explain what you hope to do and then look to them for shape, layout, vegetable and flower choices as well as seed varieties. They know the kind of weather this growing season will bring to your micro-climate. Going with their choices will save you much disappointment. Even if you want melons because you love them, if the Angels and Elementals are not pushing melons, assume they know more about what kind of weather lies ahead than you do.

5) If you need something for your garden and don’t know where to get it, ask the Elementals to help. They can manifest anything and can arrange for you to find what you are looking for somehow or other. Once they asked me to make a copper pyramid formed to the same angle as the pyramids at Giza. Before I could even freak out about the unlikelihood of me being able to do any of this, they sent an enormous sheet of copper my way and a band of roofers that were so excited at this weird project of making a miniature copper pyramid. Every Flower Essence at Green Hope Farm goes under this pyramid at least once before heading off to you thanks to the Elementals (And what does this pyramid do? It clears and amplifies the positive energies of the Flower Essences).

6) Relax! This is wonderful healing work but perfection is not a relevant idea. This is about creating community and working together creatively AND joyously. It can be fun and funny since Elementals love to lighten everything with the leavening of humor! Expect to be entertained! Expect to discover how loved you really are!

Amaryllis on the kitchen table there to help.

As my many broken bones mend and heal, my gratitude increases for some of the stalwart Flower Essence friends that have helped me so much. Today I thought I would write about one of the key players in my recovery- our Animal Wellness collection mix, RECOVERY.

This mix has been in my water glass every day since my arm break, and I continue to feel its vibration of deep support each day. As I look at the Flower Essences that compose this mix, each ingredient feels significant to me. With the experience of bone mending and recovery so fresh in my experience, I appreciate the wisdom of the Angels’ recipe for this mix in a whole new way.

I thought I would go through the ingredients in Recovery here and describe how I feel the specific Flower Essence in the mix has served me in the last few months. I have always taken this remedy for any physical, emotional, spiritual or mental challenges and so very often the Angels have recommended it for others both two and four footed. I hope the following helps in a small way to explain why.

Bermuda Olivewood– Collecting the shattered experience of self both literally and figuratively after injury or during illness is a significant challenge. This Essence has a unique peaceful strength that helps us feel strong, calm and collected amidst the chaos of illness or injury.

Burdock– When injured or ill we depend on our blood for so many healing processes and never more so than when we have broken bones. This one is a godsend for our hardworking blood.

Capeweed– This diminutive wildflower from Bermuda has a sparkling energizing even zippy vibration which supports us to rekindle this kind of zip within us as we recover. I think it is very hard for us to be aware during a injury or illness process how much we need this fire rekindled. I was never more glad than when I began to feel like myself a week or so ago, but until then I wasn’t fully aware of how out of it I had been. Illness or injury requires so much energy, and this and many of the Essences in this mix help us access energy so we can begin to rebuild our natural vitality.

Christmas Bush– Christmas Bush is for wound healing. It is a very profound remedy that holds information about closing wounds that resist closure as well as closing those wounds that follow a more usual course. I had four inch pins through my wrist for seven weeks. They broke the surface with an open wound marked by knobby plastic beading. When my pins were pulled out, the wound closure was impeccable inside and out. As the surgeon had used an electric drill to put the pins in place, this was saying something.

Comfrey– This one supports us on so many levels. Bones hold memories strongly and Comfrey is all about cleansing us of sorrowful memories. This is good for bone health as clear, high vibration bones are obviously going to healthier than ones caring sorrows. I wish I had been able to release the difficult memories my wrist bones held onto in a gentler way than these breaks, but I remain so grateful for Comfrey and the many Essences that helped wash me clean after the breaks. Comfrey also helps to knit things together after the release. Bravo Comfrey.

Dandelion– Dandelion supports us with all issues of the muscles. Just as Comfrey cleanses the bones, Dandelion cleanses the muscles. So much tension is held in the muscles and among other things, Dandelion helps us release this tension with as little pain as possible. This translates to easier muscle repair and also frees up energy that might otherwise be held by the muscles in the form of tension.

Devil’s Bit Scabiosa– Injury and illness can leave us with temporary or even permanent limitations that take some getting used to. This dear friend helps us feel our wholeness as we get accustomed to our new situation. I am so very happy that eventually I will regain the use of my right arm and hand. This Essence in the Recovery mix helps soothe me when I feel frustrated at how much I still cannot do.

Gooseberry– This is another Essence which helps us deal with the losses that illness and injury bring. It has helped me feel I have not been through this experience to be lessened but to be washed free of some old stuck junk leaving me able to fill up with more love. I thank Gooseberry and other Flower friends for helping me experience my situation this way.

Henry Hudson Rose– Illness and injury makes us vulnerable in our perhaps unexpected weaknesses and challenges. These experiences can make us feel quite exposed, even humiliated. This Rose Essence helps us feel buffered and safe but also softens the blows in difficult situations. It also helps us feel confidently in the flow of healing so our circumstances don’t leave us feeling marginalized.

La Belle Sultane Rose– Seeing our situation in a different light helps when we are ill or injured. This Rose helps us feel more connected to our timeless selves and a more eternal perspective. While our personalities may be freaking out that we can’t be what we were before the injury, our timeless selves know that our worthiness was never tied to what we are doing. It is a given regardless of circumstances. The effect of surrendering to this truth has a distinct restorative effect which is one reason this is such a wonderful Essence.

Larkspur– For a few weeks after the accident, my x-rays continued to look dire. The surgeon had me in each week to cut off my cast, x-ray me and ponder if something more needed to be done, all because of the severity of the bone breakages, the precarious nature of the pin placements and the fact that nothing seemed to be changing. During these visits the room hummed with the concern; would more surgery be necessary?. As when a boat comes about from sailing one direction and waits to catch the wind in a new direction, this was the lull before the wind caught the sails again. Then one visit, I was different: my hand and arm looked different and the x-rays showed enormous change. We could all see that my situation had turned and gained momentum in a new healing direction. Larkspur knows how to turn our vessels to a new course and then get things moving towards healing. What a moment of happiness it was when even I could see in the X-rays that my bones had begun their journey of rebuilding. We all cheered and inside I was thanking so many friends including Larkspur.

Lauriana Rose– I had to ask the Angels about this one’s purpose in the mix. They said balancing polarities is never more important than when injury or illness has thrown this natural balance mechanism off and this Rose serves this re-balancing function in the mix.

Lavender– This is another extremely protective and reassuring Essence friend that helps us stay grounded in the truth that divine will is beneficently at work in our life even when -maybe especially when- we are in the turmoil of illness or injury. To rest in a heartfelt knowledge that everything is okay and we are loved when some of our cultural beliefs links injury and illness to punishment and shame is no small gift.

Lemon– Lemon has many gifts but with an illness or injury, it is often its support with issues around wound healing and scar formation that make Lemon such a tremendous resource.

Maple– First of all there is such a vibration of sweet restoring strength in Maple. Then there is the way it balances out our monkey mind so the wigged out thoughts simmer down. And it doesn’t do this with a heavy hand but with a flood of sweet love. What a treasure.

Pumpkin– This one is like the bugles of reveille awakening our whole being to healing work.

Rosa Mundi– I have so much respect for people who don’t have an end in sight with their injury or illness process. Thembi said to me that if I lived in her native village in South Africa, there would have been no choice but to cut off my arm. Wow. This Rose helps us all to keep on in our love for life and the divinity in life even when the journey is extremely arduous and no oasis is yet in sight.

Self Heal– The Mitfords of such books as “Love in a Cold Climate” had a mother who was always talking about the innate healing ability of “the good body.” I love the way this phrase expresses a trust in the healing abilities of our bodies, and this Essence liberates and empowers this trust so we can let go into a place of confidence about our healing process amidst illness and injury.

Spruce– Illness and injury can leave us feeling cooped up like a beloved dog at the kennel. This one helps us manage our time of constraint with more poise. And less barking!

Trout Lily– I have known many Flower Essence practitioners who feel there is no more important Flower Essence than this wildflower beauty. It is about rising from the depths, taking the mixed bag life has thrust at us and finding vitality and the wisdom to go on from strength to strength. Needless to say, it’s gifts are deeply restorative.

Vitex– My saint of a husband has cooked all the meals for more than two months including a breakfast in bed for me each day. He is not as into vegetables as me which makes me very glad for Vitex as it helps us get all the nutritious minerals from whatever food we have before us.

Zucchini– A wildly exuberant flood of restorative life giving energy is this Essence’s gift to the mix.

And so you see why I have taken this wonderful mix, RECOVERY, all day every day and end this blog by raising my canning jar of Flower Essence water in a toast of thanksgiving for this mix. In the weeks to come, I hope to write about the other steadfast Flower Essence friends who have been at my side these months. Can’t wait for when my arm is liberated and I begin to learn to type with two hands again!