November/December 2002 Featured Stories
Orchids of Venus from the NorthWest
by Camilla Bishop
I
find myself magnetically pulled to the wild orchids that grow around
me as if the Universe wanted us to meet. I was getting to know another
wildflower on Mt. Hood when I first saw Merten’s Coral Root. It
was love at first sight-I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The sun
caught her beautiful purple, pinks, corals and yellows. I spent a few
hours in the woods to get to know her better. All I heard was "surrender."
The day before I read the astrology article by Mark Dodich on "Cuddling
up with Venus" in the last issue of New Connexion, I was in the
room where I keep all the flower essences I’ve made. I felt pulled
to combine all 9 wild orchid flower essences I have made into one formula.
When I read the article about Venus moving into Scorpio and the strong
spiritual movement towards what Venus represents and how it will affect
relationships, I knew now was the time to start sharing information
I have discovered about our northwest orchids.
It’s no surprise that I am drawn to the orchids as they feel like
a gift from Venus. Venus represents the heart, relationship, love, romance,
beauty, art, sensuality, and abundance. My Libra sun sign and Taurus
moon sign are both ruled by Venus. I call myself a geo-romancer as I
have a strong heartfelt relationship with the earth, her flowers, plants,
trees, and stones.
In ancient times, orchids were an important ingredient in love potions.
The word "orchid" comes from the Greek "orchis"
meaning testicle. Long a fertility symbol and aphrodisiac, orchids were
also associated with abundance and good luck. Before coffee became popular,
salep was made from the Early Purple Orchid and drunk for its soothing
nutritional and aphrodisiac qualities. It is still drunk in the Middle
East today.
Orchids have also been associated with wealth, greed, and lust. Considering
that orchids are the most highly evolved flower it may seem contradictory
that orchids bring this out in people. I see this as a natural evolutionary
process of being led through our ignorance or unawareness in order to
become wise. It feels like the orchids lead us on this journey, clearing
all our illusions, blind spots, and darkness. They ask us to recognize
any restriction or repression of our natural impulses.
The key words I get for orchids are passionate, awakening, heart-centered.
Spending time with the wild orchids I feel as if they are saying: "Dare
to express yourself, dare to experience your sexuality, dare to enjoy
abundance and pleasure, dare to free your moral conditioning, dare to
celebrate your spiritual power." Not for the timid, orchids lead
us to the light within. That part of us we often fear more than our
darkness.
As orchids can awaken us to our evolutionary gifts and clear illusion,
they ground us in earthly life. I and others have experienced this personally
as a heightened ability to be fully present, while at the same time
being in an expansive spiritual state. They also open us to receptivity
and the joys of being human--touch, intimacy, pleasure, sensuality,
and eroticism. I find them helpful for balancing the Venusian qualities
of romanticism versus reality (illusion). They spiritualize our sexuality
with a focus on the heart and open us to deeper union with ourselves
and others. They also have the ability to entrain our energy towards
wholeness and higher understanding (intuition).
The orchids that I’ve been working with the last few years have
been powerful. When I took the Phantom Orchid flower essences (affirmation
"I remove all blocks, interference, and resistance"), I immediately
felt as if a murky cloud was lifted. The word I received when I was
making this flower essence was "illusion". I am now exploring
the newer orchids I have made flower essences with: the Rein Orchid
(kundalini activator), Green Bog Orchid (Earth Goddess energy), and
Merten’s Coral Root ("I surrender and accept what is").
Currently I am working on a formula for healing sexuality and relationships
issues including moving beyond sexual abuse and trauma. I am also exploring
many other gifts these orchids wish to share.
I love that these orchids grow wild in the forests of the northwest.
Not as colorful or flamboyant as tropical or florist varieties, these
more subtle beauties are powerful, elegant, wild, and free. And as we
learn from Venus in Scorpio about creating more love and less illusion
in our relationships, we can invite our native orchids to assist us.
Camilla Bishop, geo-romancer, owner of 3 Flowers Healing. To contact
her, call 541-387-3528, camilla@3flowershealing,
www.3flowershealing.com