Session 3: Subtle Energetics—The Personalities of Plants and People

We presented the information in lesson two the way one would present the musical scale or the color wheel, that is, we defined some of the basic energetic qualities of herbs and essential oils. But no living thing is composed of just one energy. All living things possess very complex energy mixtures. It's like the difference between a painting and the color wheel. The color wheel helps us understand how colors relate to each other, complimenting or contrasting each other, or blending to create other colors. That's the more "scientific" part of painting. But the artist is able to use this understanding of color and create a painting, which contains many colors blended together to create paintings. 

The same can be said for music. The musical scale is the basic "energetics" of music, again showing how sounds relate to each other. They can be harmonious or discordant, be presented in different keys, and be blended with different cords. The composer and musician utilize this information to make musical pieces from simple songs to complex symphonies.

You and I are like a painting or a symphony. We are a complex mixture of energies blended together in a unique way creating our unique personality. Our personality is expressed in how we relate to other people with our choices and behavior. Plants also have personalities. Their personalities, however, are not expressed in behavior, but rather in their growth pattern—the form or shape they take in manifesting themselves in relationship to their environment. 

As Matthew Wood expressed in Seven Herbs: Plants as Teachers, plants have to overcome obstacles in their environment, just as people have to overcome obstacles in their lives. The plant has the energy to teach a person how to resolve the conflicts they are experiencing and restore harmony to their life and personality. This is the aspect of energetics we'll be discussing in this final class. 

Self-Study Quizzes

The following self-study quizzes will help you learn the material in this lesson.

Subtle Energetics Quiz

Plant and People Personalities

Resources

Here is a list of good books that support this view of herbs.

• The Book of Herbal Wisdom by Matthew Wood
• Seven Herbs: Plants as Teachers by Matthew Wood
• The Earthwise Herbal (two volumes) by Matthew Wood
• Dorothy Hall's Herbal Medicine by Dorothy Hall
• Flower Power by Anne McIntyre
• Flower Essence Repertory by Patricia Kaminski and Richard Katz
• Healing Plants by Wilhelm Pelikan
• The Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner
• The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner
• Sacred Plant Medicine by Stephen Harrod Buhner
• Plant Spirit Medicine by Eliot Cowan