The Center for Classical Five Element Acupuncture
PLANT SPIRIT MEDICINE
Plant Spirit Medicine helps us regain our natural balance and harmony and remember our deep connection to nature, ourselves, and all of creation.
The Process
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In general, I use Plant Spirit Medicine when I can't see someone in person. At the moment, my PSM practice is limited to current or former patients. If I have not treated you in the past and you are interested in receiving Plant Spirit Medicine, contact me. We can have a conversation and I will let you know if I think I can help you.
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A complete Plant Spirit Medicine appointment, including a video call followed by the treatment and audio call, takes 45 minutes to an hour.
Remote sessions cost $120 and payment is made online after the session. I always offer a sliding scale so that this work is accessible to all. You can ask questions or make an appointment by emailing me.
How I came to Plant Spirit Medicine
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I have known about Plant Spirit Medicine since reading Elliott Cowan’s book, Plant Spirit Medicine, many years ago. In his book, Elliot describes learning from indigenous healers about how to connect with the spirits of plants. Once a connection is established, the plants are asked to help people heal. Elliot integrated what he learned with the diagnosis and treatment protocols of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture, which he learned from JR Worsley. I found Eliot’s assertion that plants can connect with each other and with us, without being physically present, interesting. While it seemed cool, I could not imagine how or even if that actually works.
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During the most recent political season, I felt so angry about the state of things that I found myself contemplating unkind things I might say or do. After a bit of this, I said to myself, “Dave, wait a minute. The anger you are feeling is not yours alone. Millions of others are feeling it too.” In that moment I recognized and felt the reality that we are all connected across a realm that is not constrained by time and space. It became clear to me that, aware of it or not, like it or not, we are all connected all of the time.
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I now understand why, for thousands of years, practitioners of indigenous healing traditions have cultivated the ability to enter this realm of consciousness and ask specific plants to help someone in need.
This inspired me to start learning to practice Plant Spirit Medicine from my friends, Suzanne and Charles Burnell. They are long time meditators who studied acupuncture with JR Worsley for decades. In addition to practicing acupuncture, they have spent many years training with Eliot and other indigenous healers.
With their help and encouragement, I have begun to learn and offer Plant Spirit Medicine as a treatment option for patients. As someone who has also meditated, practiced Tai Chi, studied with JR Worsley and practiced acupuncture for decades, entering this realm to ask plants for their help with a patient feels natural.
It allows me to treat patients who are too far away or too ill to come in-person. I am encouraged by the results, at times subtle and at other times quite dramatic. Beyond the immediate benefits of the treatments, it is a way to extend our awareness of and ability to access the universal consciousness that connects and sustains us all.
I feel there is a great need for this now as we learn to pierce the illusion of our separateness so that we can work together to address the challenges of our time.