Kumi Nakagawa with the White Stinkwood Tree

Flower Essence Practitioners Kumi and Shinobu

I had the great pleasure of presenting the African Tree Essences Practitioner Training Course to two Flower Essence practitioners from Japan, Kumi Nakagawa and Shinobu Hiwatari. It was wonderful to finally meet Kumi Nakagawa in person as for the past three years, she has been my distributor for the African Tree Essences in Japan.

We spent six magical days immersed in the forest, visiting and attuning to the energies of the thirteen different tree types that make up Platbos Forest. In addition to sharing their healing, the trees also imparted deep and important messages. The central theme, shared by the White Pear, Tree of Joy, is the urgent need to honour the Divine Feminine that is part of each and every one of us, whether our gender be male or female.

In essence, the inward Divine Feminine is the creative, intuitive, compassionate, vulnerable and feeling side of our nature. Outwardly, the Divine Feminine is embodied by Mother Earth.

I recently watched Eve Ensler’s Ted Talk where she speaks powerfully and eloquently of the Divine Feminine; she calls it the ‘girl cell’ and for me, this is one-and-the-same as the Divine Feminine.

Shinobu in the embrace of Grandmother Milkwood

Honouring the Divine Feminine, the Girl Cell, is an urgent and yet daunting task:  violence, greed, intolerance and oppression are literally tearing our beautiful planet and communities apart. The Divine Feminine has been intentionally suppressed so there is little wonder that we experience intimidation in speaking up for Her. The first step is to honour your Divine Nature, to tune into your ‘girl cell’ and allow it expression in your own life. Once we balance our inner masculine and feminine sides, we bring our own personal lives into greater harmony. Here the Rock Alder Tree Essence is helpful as well as the African Wild Olive Tree Essence which assists us in voicing our truth. The Lion StarGate Mist holds a very supportive energy to give you the courage to ‘roar’ when you need to! For the time for roaring is indeed upon us. Let us all roar: loudly, lovingly and fiercely for our Mother Earth.

Cherry Blossom Tea – a beautiful gift from Japan

The beautiful, wise and gentle White Pear Tree, also reminds us to follow and celebrate our joy, for herein lies the unique gift that we each bring to share and enlighten the world with.

Platbos is home to an array of wild life – stately bushbuck, secretive caracal, elusive leopards and many other creatures, large and small. An afternoon with Shelley Adams to connect with our respective Animal Spirit Guides through a series of meditations, brought the wildlife of the forest to the fore. Our Spirit Animals, like the trees of the forest, are always at hand to give support to our life journey – we need but be open to their presence.

Another highlight was an outing to De Kelders to visit the site where the Whale Song Essence was made. The Southern Right Whales have yet to return to the coast line (they arrive in great numbers in June each year) but we were fortunate to visit with Katja Vinding Petersen of the  Whale Coast Cetacean Project who is recording and analyzing the songs of the Southern Right Whales off the De Kelders coast line and what a joy this was to hear!  Deep, trumpeting songs …

With Shelly Adams and Rumi, our wonderful interpreter for the course

It was all-in-all a most amazing course – and it was so special to learn more about Japan and to experience delicious treats like the gorgeous Cherry Blossom “Sakura Tea” pictured above- a true delight!

Each and every course that I hold at Platbos fills me with renewed awe and respect for the wisdom that the trees hold. I struggle to put into words the relationship that exists between the forest and I. Perhaps the words of gifted clairvoyant, Bill Keiser, say it best: “The healing of the forest is the trees’ gift to you; your gift to them is to share it with others”.

Thank you Kumi and Shinobu for making the long journey to South Africa – it was a great pleasure to share the magic of this ancient forest with you!