I was once told by a psychic that I have green fingers and would be good working with herbs. She said I had lived previous lives where I worked with plants and usually used them for healing. I liked that thought, so I never told her about the trail of murdered plants I had left behind me in the years before.
I used to love the idea of owning a Bonsai collection – such beautiful plants and oh so zen (although they are very un-feng shui – so pick your philosophy). I have owned a few throughout the years and have managed to kill each one, sometimes through neglect and sometimes from pure ignorance as to how to deal with the temperamental things. To the list of plants murdered under my attempt at nurturing them you can add a few African Violet plants, a Peace Lily that was more like a pet than a plant (I’ll leave that for another post) one Ficcus and a couple of fickle herbs, most recently my Mint plant. (Yes, I killed a Mint plant. Who the hell manages to kill Mint – they are one of the most resilient herbs ever!) I have a Rose bush that hasn’t graced me with flowers in over a year and I have now placed my “Grow, Dammit, Grow” sign on it, in the hopes that it gets the message. Since repotting and arranging our herb garden, I have decided to take an active interest in my plants and actually do more than just occasionally remember to water them. Barring my currently unhappy Parsley plant, it is working so far.
I own two Orchids. They are stunning plants and look beautiful when displayed in an attractive pot, as does my white Orchid at the top of my staircase. When I was generously given this Orchid by my friend Anchen for my birthday two years ago, I was thrilled, while at the same time a little voice inside me said, “oh dear”. I knew Orchids were moody plants at the best of times and now the poor thing had been placed in my ‘care’. I really wanted my plant to thrive so I set out to make it so. I put my plant in a beautiful container. I placed her (it is a she) in what I felt was the perfect spot in my house – some light from my skylight but no direct sunlight, draughts or shade. I watered her on a strict schedule and not too much or too little. I told her she was beautiful (yes, I talk to my plants). Despite my enthusiastic and desperate attempts, within a month all her flowers had fallen off. I told myself that was ok as I had read that Orchids only bloom twice a year. But from then on my plant stopped growing and the branches became brown and brittle. No buds, no flowers at all for 2 years!! There were still leaves though, so I never gave up hope! Two weeks ago I watered my plant and while I was doing so, I decided to give it Reiki. Why I had never done this before, I honestly don’t know and can only put it down to normally watering the plants in a rush. While giving her Reiki I also visualized beautiful flowers on each branch with more buds appearing. The imagery was so vivid in my mind that I strongly believed it would be so. My hands grew very hot and I felt connected to my Orchid. The very next day, I kid you not, there was one bud. Two and a half weeks later (and after only two more Reiki sessions), the branches are filled with flowers. This is after two years of nothing! This is no coincidence. My plant was on the verge of death before the Reiki and I know visualizing the result added to the positive healing effect. Reiki is so powerful and it is just crazy how I sometimes forget to use it. It has given me enthusiasm and now I want to try and help other areas of my life that have grown stale, to ‘bloom’.
