EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM

BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE

LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 1
Chapter 1: Natura Sophia
Chapter 2: Gnosis Cardiaca
Chapter 3: Synderesis Botanica

One of the best ways to integrate the principle of the Light of Nature
is to simply start building up your library of personal experience in connecting directly to it.
It is one thing to know about it intellectually and a whole other to understand it experientially.
And it is only through the latter that you will come to know its truth.
Central to this process, as outlined throughout the first chapter, is the necessity to
decondition any patterns of thought, belief, or perception that close down our ability accept
that there indeed is intelligence in Nature and that we have the ability to commune with it.
Is there any part of you that feels resistance to accepting that Nature is intelligent?
Are there any experiences or conditionings you feel like you carry (from your childhood
or otherwise) that feel like they have perhaps instilled a belief that Nature is a gear,
a machine, lacking intelligence, purpose, or deeper meaning?

Take some time to reflect on this below:

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
 EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM
BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE
LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 2

Next, are there any experiences where you have felt the aliveness of Nature?
Where you’ve felt connected to something beyond yourself while in a natural
environment? Write out your experience below, paying close attention to the
way it felt, what you were doing (or not doing) that led to that experience,
and what you feel like you could do to generate more experiences like that.

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
 EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM
BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE
LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 3

The other cricial element to connecting and communing with the Light of Nature
and the synderesis or the soul of plants, is the ability to enter a state of heart perception.
As our culture only cultivates mental cognitive functions and linear modes of perception,
for many learning to perceive through the heart is an utterly forgotten concept,
let alone a state of being. It is like an atrophied muscle, the only way for us to get good
at it is to strengthen it, which requires no small amount of practice and discipline.

One of the best ways to get started with this is to find a place in Nature where you can
sit quietly. I recommend setting up a consistent habit of visiting these places daily if you can,
or at the very least once a week to simply sit and be present with the Nature around you,
and ideally a specific plant that grows there. Even if you live in the middle of the city,
perhaps you can find a park, a yard, or some place where you can see living Earth
not under a concrete shell where plants grow. I’ve known many herbalists that just find a
small patch of grass or soil where there’s a tree that they sit with even with cars driving by.

Engage in the heart perception as outlined in Chapter 2, which is briefly summarized as:

1. Relax your physical body

2. Locate your awareness within your heart
3. Breath deeply and slowly
4. Engage in sensory awareness
5. Extend your heart field to contact the electromagnetic field of a plant
6. Synchronize your heart to that of the plant
7. Pay attention to the feelings that emerge
8. Disconnect your heart to allow the mind to interpret what is received & re-engage
9. Repeat steps 5-8 to enter a deep trance & meditation with the plant

Doing this exercise for at least 1 hour once a week will help you to get the feel
for doing this work and how to connect with botanical intelligence,
though doing it daily is even better.

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
 EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM
BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE
LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 4

Our goal isns’t just to be able to use our hearts as an organ of perception in the peace
of the mountains or depths of the forests, we want to walk with it every day wherever
we are. Our hearts have the capacity to not only decipher the underlying intelligence
within plants, but also within people, as well as the qualities and nature of literally anything!

We want to not just be in our hearts sitting with the plants, but as we navigate the territory
of the world. Indeed this is how we bridge the world and the Earth, Nature and humanity,
by walking through our lives with our heart field as the center from which we perceive.

A good way to practice this is to find a place where you can sit undisturbed and become
aware of the people you see. I’ve done this in busy city parks, at large gatherings, events
or even just outside the grocery store.

In the same way you connect with your heart field to that of a plant, you do the same thing
here with people. Simply pay attention to the people that pass you by. What is your first
impression? What’s the quality of their skin & complexion? Do they seem happy? Sad?
Is their energy high or low? How do they carry themselves? If you can hear them speak,
what is the quality of the tone of their voice? Is there any part of the body that draws your
attention in particular? Something that might feel somewhat “off”? Wrap people in your
heart field and pay attention to the feeling that emerges upon entrainment.

Being aware of people on this level is something that not only exercises our attention to
detail and heart perception, but also our ability to see patterns and point towards the
constitutional factors, which we will explore more in detail later.

You can exercise this while walking down the street, checking out at the grocery store,
riding the bus - really anywhere, anytime! The trick is simply remembering to see through
the eyes of the heart and bring awareness down from the head into your chest.

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
 EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM
BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE
LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 5

A great way to integrate this work is to start a heart perception journal. While I
generally don’t recommend having a journal with you while doing your meditations
in Nature with a plant or in the city park with people, it is helpful to have something
to write down your experiences into afterwards so you can remember, refine and
look back to see the progression with this work. So get yourself a beautiful journal
that you absolutely love and carry it with you to note your heart perception experiences.

If you don’t have a special journal yet, write your most recent heart perception practice
experience here:

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com
 EVOLUTIONARY HERBALISM
BOOK INTEGRATION GUIDE
LESSON ONE: The Light of Nature, Page 6

Commitment:

In the next week go out and find your sit spot

and make the commitment to go there at least once a week
for at least an hour to sit and practice your heart perception work.
Put it on the calendar, integrate it into your life and practice, practice, practice.
For this is the foundation of the Evolutionary Herbalism practice -
without it, everything else that follows lacks a root to grow from.

Recommended Reading:

The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Plant Spirit Healing by Pam Montgomery
The Heart Math Solution by Doc Childre and Howard Martin

A SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SERIES

from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism
www.evolutionaryherbalism.com