Welcome to the Medicine Garden
Clinic of Herbal and Complementary Medicine
46A High Street Emsworth. Tel: 01243 378555
Plant Spirit Medicine
All living beings have a mind, body, and spirit, this has always been the premise from which ancient and
indigenous systems of healing have begun.
Sickness is characterised by an imbalance or blockage and can manifest on any of these levels,
and our need for healing may require an intervention by a healing agent that addresses
the problem on the appropriate level.
The body and mind can be healed in many ways, some physical, such as massage or Yoga, some internal such as herbs or homeopathic remedies, and some mental such as counselling. However treating an imbalance that h as exists on a spiritual level needs a spiritual intervention, and unfortunately there are very few healers who have the ability to directly provide for the needs of their patients on this level.
There has always been an understanding within ancient and traditional systems of healing that there are gifts we have been given to enable us to complete our journey of healing in our lives, one of these gifts is the power of plants to heal us. The plants are the ones who have made life for us possible, they provide our food, and materials for living, they also provide for our healing. It has always been accepted that as plants themselves have spirits, they can offer the healing we need in our spirits as well as in our bodies.
When we are perceived as beings that have a mind, body and spirit, it is understood that the deepest of these levels is the level of spirit, this provides the foundation for the body and mind. When imbalance occurs on this level, it will eventually manifest as sickness in the body or mind, and if we can heal the spiritual imbalance we will heal the cause of the sickness we experience on other levels.
Plant Spirit Medicine is a healing approach using the spiritual aspect of the plants that share our world. It has been developed by Eliot Cowan, Author of the book “Plant Spirit Medicine”. Eliot studied Acupuncture and the Ancient Chinese Five Element theory, he began to work with the spirits of plants and found that substituting a plant spirit for the acupuncture needle had a greater effect, it seems that when using a plant Spirit something is given to the person which is absent when using a needle. Eliot’s understanding of healing on this level has been deepened by has acceptance as an apprentice within the healing system of the Huichol people of Mexico, and his consequent initiation as a Huichol Shaman after a twelve year apprenticeship.
Steve Taylor has been taught Plant Spirit Medicine by Eliot Cowan, and now practices it at the Medicine Garden. The first session is an assessment using Five Element diagnosis which enables us to find the appropriate way of meeting the needs of the patient on a spiritual level. The treatment starts on the second session, and as it is a process of healing it is usually necessary to have a number of sessions at regular intervals over a period of time. As the imbalances are addressed on a spiritual level there is a new potential for improvements to be seen in physical symptoms, usually accompanied by a strengthening of our emotional selves.
Sickness is characterised by an imbalance or blockage and can manifest on any of these levels,
and our need for healing may require an intervention by a healing agent that addresses
the problem on the appropriate level.
The body and mind can be healed in many ways, some physical, such as massage or Yoga, some internal such as herbs or homeopathic remedies, and some mental such as counselling. However treating an imbalance that h as exists on a spiritual level needs a spiritual intervention, and unfortunately there are very few healers who have the ability to directly provide for the needs of their patients on this level.
There has always been an understanding within ancient and traditional systems of healing that there are gifts we have been given to enable us to complete our journey of healing in our lives, one of these gifts is the power of plants to heal us. The plants are the ones who have made life for us possible, they provide our food, and materials for living, they also provide for our healing. It has always been accepted that as plants themselves have spirits, they can offer the healing we need in our spirits as well as in our bodies.
When we are perceived as beings that have a mind, body and spirit, it is understood that the deepest of these levels is the level of spirit, this provides the foundation for the body and mind. When imbalance occurs on this level, it will eventually manifest as sickness in the body or mind, and if we can heal the spiritual imbalance we will heal the cause of the sickness we experience on other levels.
Plant Spirit Medicine is a healing approach using the spiritual aspect of the plants that share our world. It has been developed by Eliot Cowan, Author of the book “Plant Spirit Medicine”. Eliot studied Acupuncture and the Ancient Chinese Five Element theory, he began to work with the spirits of plants and found that substituting a plant spirit for the acupuncture needle had a greater effect, it seems that when using a plant Spirit something is given to the person which is absent when using a needle. Eliot’s understanding of healing on this level has been deepened by has acceptance as an apprentice within the healing system of the Huichol people of Mexico, and his consequent initiation as a Huichol Shaman after a twelve year apprenticeship.
Steve Taylor has been taught Plant Spirit Medicine by Eliot Cowan, and now practices it at the Medicine Garden. The first session is an assessment using Five Element diagnosis which enables us to find the appropriate way of meeting the needs of the patient on a spiritual level. The treatment starts on the second session, and as it is a process of healing it is usually necessary to have a number of sessions at regular intervals over a period of time. As the imbalances are addressed on a spiritual level there is a new potential for improvements to be seen in physical symptoms, usually accompanied by a strengthening of our emotional selves.