Watching nature grow: birth, death and flower work
During pregnancy, the placenta gives the child all of the nourishment it needs, with the help of the umbilical cord. In most ancient cultures, including my own, the placenta is seen as a sacred, highly nutritional thing. Looking at mine after giving birth I was blown away at how much it looked like both the tree of life and images of the cosmos. As if this thing that grew inside me like billions and billions of others had the intelligence of the entire universe inside it. Just like every cell, every molecule of water, every shell, every blade of grass, every living thing that ever was. It gave me a deeper understanding of as above so below. It’s the same reason why I believe that we can find the answers of the universe in a flower or a tree.
Giving birth was the most transcendent and immanent experience of my life. I experienced the feeling of being stretched to the far ends of the cosmos to fetch my baby while also being more fully anchored on earth in my body than I ever thought humanly possible. Both in this world but not of it at the same time. Holding the opposites as Marion Woodman would say.
Nature constantly offers that teaching to us too. If you’ve known me for a while you’ll know how much of a big part flowers and nature have had on my journey. From flower work, to earth pulsing to intuitive nature walking to working with herbs in structured and intuitive ways.
Since moving to Glastonbury during my pregnancy I was called to return to the Earth even more deeply than before. Unable to walk more than 100 metres without pelvic pain I found myself falling more and more deeply into this sacred earth. Drinking herbal infusions and making flower water from the flowers in my garden I found myself surrendering deeper and deeper into each and every cell of my body and my ancestry. At the moment of transition there was a moment where I traveled through my ancestral line back to the original mother. Where it felt like I was connected to all of the women who had ever gone through some kind of holy labor. The ecstasy and the agony. The birth and the death. The holy difficult effortless uncomfortable flow of labor.
During the pregnancy my husband went through his own initiation. And like most initiations there was a dark night of the soul. And when he returned he came baring the most precious gift of all. He said, ‘my purpose is to experience nature and I have realised that I am lucky enough to have a front row seat watching it happen right before my eyes’. When I asked him to tell me more he explained that watching your belly get bigger is like watching nature grow. And once our baby arrives it will be the same.’
Every cell in my body said YES. And so together that is what we do. Each day we make sure we prioritise experiencing nature during our day. And as our son grows we recognise that we are are actually watching nature grow too. Constantly blown away at how his body knows what to do. Just like the cherry blossom and the tulip know exactly when to burst on through. All in nature’s timing.
After the birth we followed the tradition practiced by our ancestors and turned the placenta into medicine (tincture, homeopathy and tablets) to support us as we transition, separate and grow. We also saved a small amount in the freezer to offer to the earth when the time felt right. And on a Sunday 8 months to the day of giving birth which happened to be the day of the year when the sun was at the most highest we offered it back to the earth.
