I have the honour to share with you an exceptional story, which is the point on the i side of my own understanding of Dialogues with the Animal. It comes directly from Bénédicte Fumey, one of the three organizers of this extraordinary conference. The story arose from the same evening when she sat with Ernst Zürcher and Michèle Choquèt on stage talking about the relationship between the living beings and the environment… I forward the story such as it has been given to me. Gratitude, and sit down, because it makes something with us, when we start to understand how much plants talk to us…
Dear all of you
I told Romain and Sylvie/Tippi the incredible story of what happened this weekend between me and……. my green plant! 27-year-old old colleague, living next to me, in my office, so having shared many hours with me…
As you know, on Saturday afternoon, we talked about the connection of the plant to the living, to human beings, to the resonance of plants to our emotions….. I knew through Cleve Backster’s work that plants attach themselves to their “carer” since they react to the emotions of the latter (e. g. if they are stressed, unhappy, or happy etc….); but it goes even further….. they thank us !
Saturday night, I went home and I smelled / a smell I knew but I didn’t go “check”
On Sunday, as well, I came back too late and full of emotions but the smell was such that I no longer had any doubt about the origin.
On Monday, 1st step down from my bed and… call of my plant, I rush towards it and I collapse into tears……
Look….
My green plant had just made a flower………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
– She has only done one a year for years and has already done it this summer.
– It is totally out of season in relation to its habits (autumn instead of spring/summer for it)
– She made it a GIGANTESQUE (50 cm………..) instead of 15/20 cms
– A friend, an alchemist doctor, on Monday, immediately pointed out to me that it was in the shape of a “cross”.
I immediately knew, by the smell, that it started on Saturday and ended on Sunday (and not a week before or a week after) so that I could make the link …between what I said at the round table and what it does; because even if I know this “rationally” interconnection….. I don’t see it in everyday life because a plant can’t move, nor make sounds, then what remains? It grows and flowers!!!
But the story does not end there…..
My plant is 27 years old and I have had it since baby; it grows as it can (never moved it, hardly any fertilizer… – L), but reached 2m80, then turned around the window…… (in total it must be 4m !)
I couldn’t remember which species the plant was…..
Now, Michèle, when she saw the picture, said to me, “But Béné…… It’s a Dracaena”……………………. the plant on which Cleve B made his discovery 1st this evening February 22nd, 1966 ! … What a “coincidence”!
And as for Romain, I took another layer when I discovered the following fact:
Last night, I went on the internet to check the classic size of the flowers because there, frankly, I find it gigantic and the few photos I had seen were quite small.
And there, I discover that the Dracaena, are house plants because they are tropical, and in fact, flower…… but almost never in an apartment…. Only in the open in tropical countries;
Dracaena fragrans is named so because of its very fragrant flowers, but rarely appearing in pots. Under exceptional conditions and if it has plenty of space, the dracaena can reach a height of 3 m. In general, it rarely exceeds 1.50 m for a spread of 80 cm. The leaves are bright green and 60 cm long. A little arched, elongated and pointed, they are 10 cm wide. This dracaena is best known for its variegated varieties:
Dracaena rarely blooms when grown indoors. However, when it flowers, the dracaena usually produces a floral stem with several white, very fragrant flowers.
Identity card:
From the family of the Agavacées, Dracaena marginata originates from Madagascar and tropical Africa.
Stem thin, straight but solid, crowned with 20 to 30 dark green leaves 30 cm long, persistent, narrow, reddish-brown-edged, forming a ruffled tuft.
Height: 2 to 3 m for a space requirement of 60 cm in indoor cultivation.
Flowering: It is very rare on plants grown in apartments, but white flowers without decorative value (Béné: it is not true, they are superbe!!!!!! how to write this!!!!!) can appear.
Vegetation type: perennial, not hardy in our latitudes.
Mine, however, has been flourishing……. since 2012! (I had thought, “foolishly” that year, that she had reached the age of maturity but well, come to think of it, she was already 21 years old!!!! )
Well, no…… It blossomed a few weeks or months later, when Michèle and I discussed publishing Cleve Backster’s book in French. My plant is in my office 2/3 m away from me and has not missed a minute of my telephone conversations with both Michèle and Trédaniel.
So if you have any doubts about the interconnection between plants and humans,….. Well, that would make many coincidences.
If I ever had any more blinders, they all disappeared. And it has made it strong this time… 2nd flowering, in the middle of autumn, of a flower of half a meter !!!!!!
I have the proof that the plant was behind us, like elephants and like all the animals,… This plant bloomed to thanks me/us for what we do collectively for them, to support us!
She couldn’t have done it better because I’m a fan of flowers… and it’s fragrance – I’ve got it all!
Kisses to you
Béné
