Nurturing Courageous Soul Fortitude
[Plant Archetypes] Hues of Courage for humans and animals facing life on Earth
Facing life as humans, amidst the tensions we are immersed in, requires courage. A whole range of “hues” of courage is called for, to even get us through the day.
In this post I write about three hues of Courage, with a dramatic and very personal story at the end, so please bear with me!
Growing up, I will always remember that my father, the early riser in the family, would wake up his two kids and, to get us started with the day, he would always say the word: Courage!
As a natural early riser, I soon learned to get myself up by summoning that quality. I did not know then, how much I would get to value having heard this word so often.
By saying, by thinking of that word: Courage, I was being called to embody it!
Having mastered the vocabulary of Flower essences, I identify this very basic and daily required type of courage as one related to Mimulus, known to be the third Bach remedy to come into existence, for Courage to face daily living.
Ongoing states of fear impair a full healthy response
When we have lived (individually and / or collectively) under repeated and ongoing states of fear, this has been proven to be damaging to both our physical and our mental well being. We hear this a lot, but we all need to understand it better.
The ability to dynamically move, with ease, from fear to rest, to trust and courage is impaired by acute and / or ongoing trauma. By trauma, in simple terms, we mean overwhelming experiences that we have not been able to properly process.
When patterns of impaired response become established, reclaiming our full range of healthy responses may require the assurance of safety, body work, breathing practices, deep emotional processing therapy… In other words, it will always be a combination of support and approaches, with ongoing self regulation practices, that will help us.
Nurturing states of Soul Fortitude and Courage
We all need to incorporate practices to help ourselves master what is currently called self regulation, because the truth is that, to different degrees, we all carry ancestral imprints of trauma and live under stressful circumstances.
We all need to claim the full range of our healthy responses to the challenges of living.
Here, through the language of Plant Archetypes, we propose that receiving support from nature that helps us nurture a range of states of courage can be health enhancing. Our approach should be considered as providing courage for the Soul.
By resonating with archetypal hues of courage, we nurture this from inside out.
When life trials require letting go into life
It is known that Mimulus Erythranthe guttata grows by sources of water and streams, and releases its seeds onto the water to guarantee the survival of its species. It does this fiercely, releasing its new life intelligence capsules for future generations.
Look at how it does this so effectively, observing how this shows after the fires.
Never have I been so confirmed of this feature of this plant than when I came across this image, taken in areas that had been burned by massive fires. Here we can see how, after subsequent rains, a literal river of Mimulus has flourished on the riverbed. I am grateful for the author for selling the permission to feature this photo in my classes and blog, as an illustration of this plant’s teachings.
My dear mentor and teacher Julian Barnard, one of the best speakers for the Language of Flower essences, explains the Signature of Mimulus. His teachings are foundational, and I highly recommend his free Bach Flower Learning Program.
The Courage to sustain an Open Heart
For those of us who have been shamed when growing up, who have been betrayed by those we trusted, who have been abused, fierce protections around our heart area have been needed for survival. These eventually can become hindrances, when we want to open up to relationships, to intimacy, and also to speak out sharing our true self.
Shame blocks our hearts from being present and fiercely open!
The kind of courage needed to go public, exposing our vulnerabilities, exposing the paradoxes of our own life stories, requires strength of heart with vulnerability.
In the language of Plant and Flower Archetypes, we have the Pink Monkeyflower Erythranthe lewisii that grows wild in the Sierra Nevada, always near streams and waterways. Not quite as common as Mimulus, you will feel blessed when approaching it, for it has a gentleness that is unique to this specific variety of Erythrante.
Its presence depicts fierce vulnerability, part of the gifts of its flower essence.
Bring it to your deeper healing journey, and you will be blessed by its caring vibration, that helps clear layers of shame that have blocked the heart from freely opening.
When courage became crucial for standing for one’s values
Did the value of spiritual courage shape your mindset? Have you come across human examples that inspired you? What are your role models of spiritual courage?
This, that I share here, happened to my father and impacted our family for the rest of our lives. When the dictatorship took over where I lived as a young teenager, institutions were altered or dissolved, while Universities and the Press were direct targets of intimidation and subjugation.
Courageous Integrity, an example for the next generations
My father was an engineer and a researcher, devoted to his work on construction technology, who had liberal ideas but no political activism, only his enthusiasm around his research: he was a scientist. Building in alignment with climate was his passion in the early nineties: studying the climate of each region to build with natural ventilation and light, using the best materials and positioning was his focus.
His Courage came from his commitment to Integrity
When a new University principal chosen by the incoming dictatorial regime took over, he was privately called into his office and intimidated into reporting every single person he knew to be liberal, or else he would lose his job in the first sweep of firings.
And so it was that my father, whose main value was integrity, something he always talked about, stood for respecting other people’s freedom of thought and soon after lost his job, having to move away with us all, our lives dismantled as a result.
This dictatorship lasted 22 years. Unfortunately, my father did not get to celebrate its ending, as he died early, of cancer, before real elections happened again in 1985.
As much as this did present huge challenges, my father always stood for what he felt was the right stance to take during that crucial time!
The Plant Archetype of Mountain Pride
Quoting Richard Katz: “Mountain Pride Penstemon newberry, is a native wildflower found in the mountains of California. This small shrubby perennial plant is tough, with woody stems and leathery serrated leaves, allowing it to survive the harsh winters of the mountain heights. It does not choose the gentle alpine meadows for its habitat, but rather takes its stand growing from the crevices of granite rock cliffs and spreading over rock-strewn slopes.” Below, its qualities as a flower essence:
Mountain Pride Penstemon newberryi
Positive qualities: Forthright masculine energy; warrior-like spirituality which confronts and transforms
Patterns of imbalance: Vacillation and withdrawal in the face of challenge; lack of assertiveness, inability to take a stand for one's convictions
Time and again, our descendants will want to know how did we act and what did we do when certain periods of history were unfolding. How we act in crucial junctures such as what I shared above, defines the legacy we set for our descendants.
Today, I proudly share this story all the way to a fourth generation from that of my father. It is ingrained in me, I passed it to my kids and now to my little grandkids just coming into this world. These core values, these examples, were ones that were hard to live for, but were the ones for which we stood by, and we can feel good about.
My mentor and friend Richard Katz shows us this plant in his video below, and talks about the qualities of courage of the positive warrior that stands for what is right.
Such a tremendously moving and powerful story Ruth which has inspired in me new levels of awareness and the potential for greater courage as you know. Deepest gratitude for your work, your illuminations and your openness.
Ruth, this is such a powerful and impactful post. Thank you so much for sharing! These words and this message are more critical now than ever. You, and your father’s memory, are an inspiration!