A Holy Public Secret

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour…”
~William Blake

I’m reading a lovely little book right now called The Forest Unseen, written by David George Haskell. This professor of biology spent a year observing a one-square-metre patch of old-growth forest in Tennessee and recorded his observations in a series of illuminating essays on the natural world. His premise was: observing the small, almost invisible aspects of nature can reveal the story of the forest as a whole in a rich and intimate way. Close observation invites the viewer to witness the hidden secrets of ecosystems that are otherwise unseen.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as I view the plant kingdom through my loupe. Seeing the small details come into focus under 10 or 20 times magnification fills me with no end of delight and awe and it really does feel like I am being let in on a secret. This kind of knowing feels special, as if I have passed through a threshold into a place where mysteries are revealed.

Ecologist and taxonomist Arthur Haines teaches that, “conscientious human interaction with plants, such as foraging in a careful and sustainable manner, can actually insure the survival of a plant species…” It is through interacting with the plants that we can truly begin to value them and their (our) habitats.
When you take this level of interaction with the plants down to the microcosmic level and reveal the mysteries awaiting there, I feel an unbreakable bond is forged. For me, it is a bond formed of wonderment, reverence and gratitude. A fierce protective instinct kicks in too, and a desire to nurture and care for the whole that is represented by the small part in front of me.

“If Nature Study is your goal,
Take note: a single part reflects the whole.
Nought is within and nought without,
For what is in is also out.
So grasp without delay this prize:
That here a holy public secret lies.
Rejoice in true illusion’s fame,
Rejoice in Nature’s serious game.
No living thing alone can be-
It only exists in company.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

And here’s the thing: these mysteries are available to everyone! Everyone has the ability to look closely and witness the ‘holy public secret’ of nature and discover the treasures waiting there.
This year I have designed a series of plant classes that I hope will give participants the opportunity to do just that. By providing the time and structure to cross that threshold into the realm of the unseen, each class will aim to make visible that which is so often invisible in our hectic, plugged-in lives.  Through a variety of lessons and activities such as nature awareness exercises, botany, herbal preparations and more, the full value of some of our most common, often widely disparaged plants, will be revealed. I invite you to come join me!
For full details on the classes or to register, visit here.