The Wisdom of the Plant Devas is a unique book by Thea Summer Deer. In it she describes a unique way of working with plants, by connecting with them on an emotional, spiritual level. Deer believes that each plant has a spirit with it, that these spirits, devas, have the dna code for all of the plants in the world, even those that are extinct and by us connecting with them, we can help ensure the lives of the plants currently living as well as the chance of extinct plants coming back.
Deer asserts also that by connecting with the plants on a spiritual level we can better utilize their nutritional and medicinal properties. However, the majority of Wisdom of Plant Devas includes sections for 13 different herbs including Sweet Basil, Calendula, Rosemary and Red Clover. Each section for each herb includes 3 sections: The Story, which includes the background of the herb/flower itself, how it's grown and uses for it in nature; The Divination, which is about the spirituality of the herb/flower and then Diva Speaks, which is where Deer shares what the devas for each plant has spoken to her. In this last section she also includes a poem she wrote and applicable quotes.
This book is very unique, and it would be lovely to have this information for many other herbs/flowers as well. I would like to have been able to read more detailed accounting of how one can obtain this connection with the plants themselves. I would like to have my own interpretations of what the devas have to say to me.
That being said, this is a wonderful book, that is beautifully written, that takes the reader into Deer's beautiful life and visions which can open the reader's mind to a whole new way of looking at plants. Highly recommended.
~Reviewed by: Jessica Elizabeth
Bear & Oak, 2011
pp. 205 $16.00
