Just came back from camping at Darwin River. Had a great time! Got up early yesterday morning, gathered up flower essence making kit and went searching. The first essence I made was of a grass flower, one I’ve met before and photographed but never actually sat down and had a conversation with. The setting was beautiful- on the edge of a pandanus strip, beginning of April, slightly mossy wet ground, surrounded by birdsong. I heard some calls I’ve never heard before! My husband came looking for me towards the end of the session and I guided him towards me via walkie-talkie by telling him to walk towards the kookaburras.

The ground was so wet I sat on my chalk box, after sketching the flower, to protect my bottom. The rest of me was pretty wet already from wading through head-high dew covered grass, I must admit. It takes a while to sketch and converse, but I will need to perfect the art of squatting, I think, for long periods. The grass flower was tiny but powerful. It told me it helps people ‘find their roots’ and anchor into the ground. I immediately felt my feet chakras switch on and start to burn, with a slight downwards pulling sensation. The shape of this flower is unusual. It kind of reminds me of a pine-cone with hair on it’s head. This impression was reinforced later in the day at Mandorah beach; Casuarina Pine was in flower and it too had the same pine-cone shape with a lovely mess of red hairs (petals) on top.

My husband and dog found me and we went on our way. The next flower that caught my eye was closed. It was quite early in the morning and some flowers were yet to wake and greet the day. I felt very drawn to it and thought I’d come back later, wondering if perhaps it was a fringed violet, because it felt familiar. WE found another pandanus grove and slowed down to drink it all in. I love the mossy ground and lack of high grass in these places. My husband pointed out a few flowers but nothing really reached out and grabbed me. I did stop and draw one of them but when I opened up a dialogue I discovered it was quite unfriendly and didn’t like me so I moved on. By this time my husband had found another flower and this was one I loved on first sight!

I reminded me of the native mint flower I’d made up years back with my mother in Alice. Same basic tubular shape with the coloured throat and sepal pattern. This flower was a pale purple-white with a mauve colouring on the top and inside throat. This one was very friendly. When i turned to begin writing the conversation down I found a young dragonfly on my page with his bottom pointed towards me. I sat for a while and admired his see-through wings, magnificent eyes and the pulsing of his abdomen. It almost felt as though he was sending me energy. Then I began writing, my hand mere inches away from him, and he stayed put for another minute before rising to settle on my thumb for a while.

Every now and then he would kind of cock his head towards the flower as though to suggest I get on with the job. When I did as instructed I noticed a warm sensation in my throat chakra, cheeks, neck and jaw. It gave me the same feeling I would get from doing warming up exercises for singing. Then I felt the back of my solar plexus being cleaned out, and energy pouring into my fourth eye. On the whole, this plant had a very cleansing, invigorating energy. I felt as though I’d just been given a good scrub!

The next flower was two metres away. I was on the outside edge of a pandanus grove, with fairly clear open sky above. This flower was incredible. It had long arms with fine hairs (found out later these are the leaves) with little dew drops on the end. I could see a dead ant on one of these, which should have been a dead-give-away (excuse the pun!), but it wasn’t until I reached out to touch the ‘dew drops’ that I realised this was a Sundew. My fingers came away sticky and it all clicked- dead ant, sticky ‘dew’- it was carnivorous. I was careful not to touch the ‘dew’ again and stayed conscious that my fingers were covered in something other than water, careful not to put them near my eyes or the flower essence gear. When I talked to the flower, we agreed I would avoid the ‘dew’ in my collection and only work with the flower. She was very friendly and encouraging. I tend to get along fine with carnivorous plants, even though I’m vegetarian myself. The only plants I tend to have differences with are vines.

She told me she could help with relaxing and letting go. After I made the essence she encouraged me to have a drop myself to feel the essence. It had an almost stuporous effect- I felt very peaceful, verging on a contented sleepiness. It reminded me of a meditative state because my mind was so quiet and still. It also reminded me slightly of a drugged state! I had a brief psychic image/feeling of my bowels releasing, and a lingering heavy feeling in my lungs. Obviously one I need to be cautious with, but could be brilliant in application for insomnia, hyperactivity and possibly constipation and excessive talking. I’m uncertain about the lungs- traditionally sundew is used herbally for lung conditions so it could well have application here on a essence level. I’d also like to experiment with using this for drug addiction/withdrawal.

My fourth essence for the day was another one my husband found- a gorgeous purple flower that I suspect may be a bladderwort given the flower shape, but am yet to identify. It’s such a pity I didn’t have my camera working. Makes ID harder later, even with the sketches. Event though I was under a pandanus canapy I couldn’t find a shady place in front of one of these plants, and as I settled in front of this purple flower I felt as though I was in a busy, thriving garden in the height of summer. I heard the word ‘melissa’, which means lemon balm (perhaps the leaf reminded my of lemon balm) and then ‘heard’ or thought of bees. A moment later the sound became real, or perhaps I had already heard it but not registered it consciously. I couldn’t believe it when a big double-decked bus of a bee flew towards the flower and I- it was massive and it’s hum was like the purr of a Harley Davidson. Beautiful! It hovered in front of a few flowers for a moment but didn’t partake, perhaps a bit disconcerted by my presence. Then the bee came up to me and buzzed in my face, weaving back and forwards in front of my eyes, sending tingling shivers of bee-buzz down my spine! The bumblebee flew off (wow never seen one before in Darwin) and came back a little later to gather from a nearby ‘melissa’ plant.

The healing given to me by this flower was incredible. It was a funny character- quite intellectual. It said it wasn’t sure if it really had anything much to offer. It said all was really good at was research. On the very odd occasion I’ll come across a flower I can only describe as being curious about the world around it, and this was definitely one of those. It just kept saying ‘I can look into (or dig into) things for you, but I can’t do much more than that. When I gave it permission to go ahead I could feel it tunnelling and digging into me. At one point I could feel it working along energy lines that sat a little deeper than meridian lines. It pointed out my deep core wounds to me, particularly my fears and then kind of shrugged as if to say ‘that’s all I can do, I can’t heal them for you’. I wonder if this essence might be good for encouraging humility?! LOL

Having my deepest fears pointed out to me was certainly not something I would consider inconsequential. It was as though the flower thought that wasn’t enough on it’s own. It rambled on for a moment and then lit up and said ‘When I need help, the bee helps me- maybe the bee could help you and other people after we point out the wounds/fears?’. The next thing I know, a ‘bee’ is flying straight into my depths and unceremoniously dumping my first fear on it’s arse. It was an incredible feeling. I felt as though I had shed weight! It took a slightly different approach with the second fear but this too was fast and breath-taking in its effectiveness. Wow, I really like this flower!

After that I went back to camp and we had porridge with ants in it. So much for being vegetarian. Maybe that carnivorous plant was rubbing off on me. After breakfast I went back to check on the unopened flower. It was half open but this was enough to confirm that it was indeed fringed violet and I rushed to get my kit and make it up because I’ve been out of stock for about a year. Brilliant remedy for boundaries.

It was getting hot by this stage…. I think it was about 10am, so we drove towards Mandorah to see some family members and meet them for lunch. On the way, we drove slowly, looking for Banksia. We spotted a stand about 15 metres in off the side of the road, so I got my kit and headed in. I’d had to swap my long wet pants for shorts after the morning foray through dewy grass. The grass was dry now and I sorely missed those long pants. Banksia really made me work hard to get that essence! The fist stand was too high so I had to go deeper in through almost impenetrable half-knocked down grass. This creates horizontal barriers of grass that you almost have to climb over. It was so funny later when we found stands on the edge of the road, realising how hard I’d had to work to get that flower essence. All part and parcel of an experience that is meant to be!

When I finally got where I needed to be, I saw a woman brushing her hair. It was almost as though the tree was offering me a hairbrush. Later I found out that aboriginal women use them this way. Then I had the entire sleeping beauty story unfold in front of me. I think this remedy can help with:

Persevering against great odds

Discerning fantasy from reality (being honest with yourself)

Waking up, ‘getting real’, setting oneself free from ‘bad spells’

Recognising archetypes eg seeing yourself in fairy-tale characters

Accessing your inner and outer hero energy

By the time I found Casuarina Pine in flower at the end of the day on the beach, I was too worn out to be bothered. Instead of trudging back to get my gear I lay back in the sand and watched the king tide come in, and the sun go down. What a magical day!

 
Omanisa is a Naturopath, spiritual counsellor and healer who specialises in reading and healing the aura. To find out more about Omanisa and her work, check out her website.