First Flush: Introductory Flower Essence Class

Saturday, May 3, 2025, 2-4pm

Open Field Farm, Petaluma

In the space between observation and participation lies the practice of essence making—a discipline where we acknowledge the membrane between worlds is permeable. This two-hour workshop invites beginners to step into relationship with the flowering beings that share our landscapes, whether urban or wild. You need no special training to begin, only the willingness to sit in the presence of a dandelion breaking through concrete or the evening primrose unfurling at dusk, and ask: what might we learn from each other? We will practice capturing these encounters in water, creating essences that hold not just the plant's chemistry but the memory of a moment shared between species.

The workshop grounds itself in direct experience rather than abstract theory. Through guided exercises, ritual, and attentive movement, you'll develop practices for engaging with the plants that have always surrounded you but perhaps remained unnamed companions. The technical aspects—how to prepare the bowl, when to collect the water, ways to preserve the essence—serve only to structure these encounters with the intelligence that resides beyond our human-centered perception.

As we navigate this season of emergence, the workshop offers an entry point into a lifelong conversation with place. The essences you create become not commodities but documents of relationship, testaments to moments when you chose to acknowledge the sentience in landscapes often deemed inert or decorative. You'll leave with your first essence and with a practice that honors the reciprocity between your attention and the world's unfolding.