Herbal Traditions
Every spring one of my favourite events is the Meadowlark Festival in the Okanagan Valley. I have been attending it regularly since 1996 when I moved to Penticton. This year I was fortunate enough to have close conversation with Richard Armstrong the knowledge keeper for the Okanagan nation and the Nsyilxcen language. He teaches that our parents are the 4 legged creatures, the winged, the water creatures and also the plants. They are there to support us and also we need to honour and respect them as our very own parents. Also that we will be drawn to one of these parents more than others. Also just as every strand of hair is connected to our head, so also every living entity on this planet and even our whole universe is connected to the One Being and also interconnected to each other in that way.
My own area of interest in plant medicine brings up an opening that is in the process of coming together. It stirs a desire to learn from the ancient cultures and their traditional knowledge so humanity can grow to respect the vast amount of knowledge that is there and from that respect will come the willingness of those cultures to share it with us. I have learned a great deal from the lineage of Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, Shaka Vansya Ayurved. The ancient text and knowledge keepers of Ayurved provide a wealth of information on medicinal plants. Also I am concerned that all the herbs used by that tradition come from the Indian subcontinent. I am waiting for the Ayurvedic knowledge to also include local plants. The plant mothers of mankind who are there to help us maintain our health and to bring back balance when we become sick.
As I walked the sacred lands of the Okanagan nation this weekend, I saw the plants there, that have been on that land forever. Stingling nettle ( Indian spinach), broad leaf plantain, rose, popular, were the ones that jumped out at me. I wanted to hear the plants speak to me. In both traditions - from the Indian subcontinent and North American continent - Ayurvedic and Aboriginal North American - they have people who "hear the plants speak". We could say they have direct cognition of what the plant offers to us as food or medicine. The knowledge of the benefits of the plants is not developed by trial and error but by direct "Knowing" where the individual intuits the knowledge and wisdom that comes from the plant directly.
I am exceedingly grateful to have the opportunity to sit with Richard Armstrong and soak up the compassionate giving he exudes. This good fortune brings a willingness to grow in these areas. It was a similar experience that I had when I met Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra in the summer of 2004. Sitting in the presence of someone who is steeped in the knowledge of their tradition and the flow comes from their connection to the Source.
My own area of interest in plant medicine brings up an opening that is in the process of coming together. It stirs a desire to learn from the ancient cultures and their traditional knowledge so humanity can grow to respect the vast amount of knowledge that is there and from that respect will come the willingness of those cultures to share it with us. I have learned a great deal from the lineage of Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, Shaka Vansya Ayurved. The ancient text and knowledge keepers of Ayurved provide a wealth of information on medicinal plants. Also I am concerned that all the herbs used by that tradition come from the Indian subcontinent. I am waiting for the Ayurvedic knowledge to also include local plants. The plant mothers of mankind who are there to help us maintain our health and to bring back balance when we become sick.
As I walked the sacred lands of the Okanagan nation this weekend, I saw the plants there, that have been on that land forever. Stingling nettle ( Indian spinach), broad leaf plantain, rose, popular, were the ones that jumped out at me. I wanted to hear the plants speak to me. In both traditions - from the Indian subcontinent and North American continent - Ayurvedic and Aboriginal North American - they have people who "hear the plants speak". We could say they have direct cognition of what the plant offers to us as food or medicine. The knowledge of the benefits of the plants is not developed by trial and error but by direct "Knowing" where the individual intuits the knowledge and wisdom that comes from the plant directly.
I am exceedingly grateful to have the opportunity to sit with Richard Armstrong and soak up the compassionate giving he exudes. This good fortune brings a willingness to grow in these areas. It was a similar experience that I had when I met Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra in the summer of 2004. Sitting in the presence of someone who is steeped in the knowledge of their tradition and the flow comes from their connection to the Source.
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