Plant beings

Plant beings are older than we are. Long before the first human walked the earth, they were already standing there – rooting, growing, breathing.

They do not speak in words. Their language is slow: growth, scent, shade, the rustling of leaves in the wind. Whoever wants to listen to them must become slow themselves.

In ceremonies following the tradition of the Shipibo, in the Amazon rainforest, I came to know the plants as teachers. In the dietas they showed themselves in dreams, images and quiet intimations: giants with buttress roots, trees with red sap, trees that shed their bark like a snake sheds its skin.

But it can also be much closer – with the plant world that surrounds us here. The oak, the linden, the birch at the edge of the forest, the Swiss stone pine high up on the mountain, the elder by the house. They too are teachers. They always have been.

Trees teach patience. They root deeply before they grow tall. They survive storms by bending. They give shade, food and shelter without asking anything in return. And they think in centuries, not in days.

Here you will find the trees, herbs and shrubs of the rainforest and of our homeland.

Perhaps one of these beings is calling you. Then go out to it, sit with it and become still.