(Asangoham) The Taoist book that changes everything | The Secret of the Golden Flower
The Secret of the Golden Flower (Chinese 太乙金華宗旨, Pinyin Tàiyǐ Jīnhuá Zōngzhǐ) is a Chinese Taoist traditional medical textbook on neidan (inner alchemy) meditation, which also mixes Mahayana Buddhist teachings with some Confucian thoughts [1]. These are the three blended traditions of China.
It was written by means of the spirit-writing (fuji) technique, through two groups, in 1688 and 1692 [2]. It addresses the nature of the Tao.
After publication of the translation by Richard Wilhelm, with commentary by Jungian psychologist Carl Jung, it became modernly popularized among Westerners as a Chinese "religious classic."
It is read in psychological circles for analytical and transpersonal psychology considerations of Taoist meditations [3, 4], although it received little attention in the East [1]. More
(The Huntington) Started streaming at onset of anticipation of bloom on July 6, 2026: Join us as we watch and wait for two unpredictable corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) plants to bloom. The Number 1 question: What does it SMELL like? This is very easy to answer and experience without a visit. Scratch your bum. Cup hand. Breathe hot breath on it. Now take a short whiff. WARNING: Do not attempt if living in Boil Heights or experiencing intestinal parasites such as the dirty fruit bug (cyclosporiasis) currently overtaking the U.S. or if under a heat and humidity alert. Learn more: huntington.org/botanical-...
Entourage effect: The entourage effect is a hypothesis that cannabis compounds, other than the cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), act synergistically with cannabinoids to modulate the overall psychoactive effects of the plant [1, 2]. The effect has also been applied in the case of magic (psilocybin) mushrooms, with other compounds besides psilocybin having been hypothesized to also contribute to the effects of the mushrooms [3]. More
Hosted by prolific plant author Christopher Nyerges, nature guide, and founder of School of Self-Reliance: The Wild Food and Self-Reliance Discovery Meetup Group
(with 4.9 out of 5.0 stars with 143 reviews) is leading a nature walk:
Wild Food Ethnobotanical Walk
Saturday, May 9, 2026 10:00 am
$65 (seniors and students $45)
To attend and for exact directions, register HERE. Join us for an outing in Los Angeles where we explore the edible, medicinal, and other useful qualities of many of the native plants found in the environment with many introduced (invasive) plants.
Both natives and non-native plants will be seen. This is a leisurely walk in the woods. All will also get a chance to taste some of the plants.
We will introduce a few basics of systematic plant identification and ways to start a record of various species.
We’ll bring up an important point: Many of the wild plants we see — especially the non-natives — can easily be cultivated in our own yards for ease of harvesting.
There are also local native plant nurseries where we can obtain native plants — such as toyon berries, ceonothus, oak trees, mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia), elder, and so on — to grow them at home, where we can provide the ideal situation for them.
Wear comfortable footwear and bring water and a bowl for eating.
This class can serve as credit towards the the School of Self-RelianceEthnobotanyCertificate. Directions sent upon registration.
The Arboretum sold out for everyone who failed to plan. It staggers entrance times, so while it was possible to get a ticket, one would miss most of the fair. The event was packed, the largest in years. Sun broke through the heavily chemtrail sprayed skies. Now the crisscross lines start with perfect X's, which would not happen in nature nor in ordinary flight paths overcrowded LA County. In any case, what was clear was soon covered over in an artificial and no doubt toxin mist. But the sun managed to break through at times. The Fair opened at 9:00 am, the Mushroom Hunt began at 10 with Olga from Smugtown, and it was followed by a fabulous Brando with a culinary demonstration that fed everyone -- hundreds of mushroom fans -- crowding the seating area. It was standing room only after a while, as the samples table was full of gawkers and vendors were hard at work keeping up with demand: medicinal tinctures, popular red-and-white mushroom hats (French berets), grow bags, dried delicacies, books, guide, posters, clothing, jewelry, and services. This is the only event that ever provided samples such as a choice of savory soup, sauteed morrells, black trumpets, or all three. There was a vegan food booth in the back with a line out the door. Then came the first speaker, Mycologist Else, talking about spores, which exists in the billions and trillions. "Spores are not seeds," she emphasized. Each needs a mate since one can create a small mat of tubule structures but must then meet with a partner spore to continue onto the mycelia phase. Mycelia is what keeps forest together, the Woodwide Web, breaking down matter and communicating between individual plants. (See Paul Stamets' Mycelium Running). A "mushroom" is the fruiting body of underground mycelia, what we see popping up from the ground or growing on trees. To study mushrooms and fungi soon becomes the study of trees and ecosystems. Our natural world would not be what it is without fungi.
Where, oh where, do the wild things grow? We're determined to find out!
On Sunday, February 15, 2026, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, we're trekking over to Arcadia in the San Gabriel Valley, next to Pasadena, to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.
2:30-3:00 pm - Art and photo contest winners announced
3:00-4:00 pm - Feces, corpses, and the business of fungal decay talk by Sam Shoemaker
4:00 pm - Fair closes
TICKETS: Admission to the Wild Mushroom Fair is FREE with admission to The Arboretum. Tickets are available online. Act now because time slots may sell out as they have before. Check ticket availability here: Hours and Admission (The Arboretum).
Admission to The Arboretum: $18 for adults, $14 for seniors (62 and over), $14 for students with school ID, $8 for children (ages 3-12), and children 2 and under $0 (free). Arboretum members: free. Parking is free. More info about LAMS events is available at lamushrooms.org/events.
Weed Psychosis is exploding in America (but nobody warned us)
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
(African Diaspora News Channel) Feb. 10, 2026: Rosemarie Havsom reports: Marijuana (from the Chinese mahua,* not Spanish "Mary Jane," weed, pot, the Devil's cabbage, cannabis, THC/CBD) is being sold as “safe,” “natural,” and “harmless” — but emergency rooms across America are seeing a disturbing surge in weed-induced psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, schizophrenia and violent breaks from reality. This isn’t about old-school [2% THC] weed. Today’s high-THC products are 10–30x stronger than what past generations used — and the brain is paying the price.
*According to our botany and plant medicine teacher, USC's Dr. Adams, who is fluent in Chinese and whose wife is Chinese, our word "ma-rijuana" (potent strain of hemp) comes from the Chinese word ma, including mahua (麻花), mafen (麻蕡), and mabo (麻勃), referring to specific parts of the male and female flowers of a cannabis plant with differing cannabinoid ratios. More
Don't smoke drugs, Kids, because according to good Dr. Gabor Mate if one has early childhood traumas, one will become addicted to its use and abuse.
This video segment was produced by the African Diaspora News Channel team. All content is human-generated and delivered. Connect with Rosemarie: @havsom
Talk to plants? While we may not be able to hear them, plants could very well be talking back. [Perhaps they are not great listeners, after all, but they are conscious enough to "speak"]. They talk all the time and especially if they are having a bad day. (Did we forget to water them again?) For the first time in the world, Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants. The click-like sounds, resembling the snap of popcorn, are emitted at a volume similar to human speech but at higher frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear.
Professors Yosi Yovel and Lilach Hadany (TAU)
Researchers: "We found that plants usually emit sounds when they are under stress, and that each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound. [That is a distinctive mark of speech rather than just sound making.] While imperceptible to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects." More
Science already knew plants "communicate" with chemical signals and scents (VOAs) through roots, leaves, stems:
(The Independent) April 3, 2023: Plants emit [high pitched] sounds when they are "stressed," a group of scientific researchers has discovered.
A team at Tel Aviv University in Israel recorded and analyzed click-like sounds resembling the popping of popcorn.
They found that the sounds plants emitted are at a volume similar to human speech, but humans cannot hear them due to the high frequency.
"Each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound.
"While imperceptible to the [ordinary] human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various [naturally more sensitive] animals, such as bats, mice, and insects," the researchers said.
Meditation journeys with specific plant and tree spirits? Yes, Mugwort, Rosemary, Dandelion, Yew, Elder, and Wormwood do it. How can we [humans] achieve a calm mind, cleanse our energy fields, and connect with our hearts in preparation for meditating with plants?
Journeys with Plant Spiritsincludes a progressive series of introductory meditations, adapted from ancient wisdom traditions, to lay the foundation for working with plant spirits.
Emma Farrell explains how to take a connection and relationship with Nature to a deeper level to access plant spirit healing through meditation with plants.
Exploring the nature of plant consciousness and how plants perceive, she details how to achieve a calm mind, cleanse an energy field, and connect with heart in preparation for meditating with plants and trees [dryads], showing how the plants can support us not only in the cleansing process but also in teaching us how to sense what is in our energy field.
Offering a progressive series of preparatory meditations adapted from shamanic and indigenous wisdom traditions, the author reveals how to lay the foundation for communicating, working, and developing relationships with plant and tree spirits -- for spiritual connection, personal development, and inner peace.
She then presents meditation journeys with specific plant spirits, focusing on the frequencies within the plant’s bioresonance that can assist us.
For example, meditation with Mugwort works with the plant spirit’s qualities of alignment and self-awareness to assist with grounding and developing inner vision, whereas Dandelion helps break old habits by working with the plant’s qualities of release, reconnection, and fearlessness.
Each plant is an expression of the spiritual force of Mother Nature and carries a unique blend of her medicine and wisdom. This book details step-by-step how to effectively work with plant spirits for emotional and spiritual healing, enabling us to awaken spirit to become truly multidimensional and whole. More
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The tulip flower reigns supreme as the ultimate harbinger of spring. One awakens one late winter day expecting to gaze once again upon a frozen terrain, but one spies a leafy hint of green. Could it be?
A sign of hope for warmer and more colorful days to come! To achieve this late winter miracle, gardeners will need to plan ahead.
If the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best is right NOW, then the best time to plant a tulip bulb is usually about four to five months before this fateful day.
However, exactly when to purchase and plant tulip bulbs can vary substantially depending on one's climate zone. If someone doesn't know what her USDA plant hardiness zone is, she can identify it with a zip code via the helpful 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Once s/he has this piece of information, that person can double-check it with a local bulb supplier to know exactly when to plant. More: msn.com
Tulip Day is observed every year on May 13th. It is a day to celebrate tulips, which are brightly colored, spring-blooming flowers. [Plant NOW for best results.] Tulips originated in Buddhist Central Asia, where they grew wild, though cultivation of the flower began in Turkey (Anatolia) around 1000 A.D. From then on, they became highly prized in the Ottoman Empire, such that they were specially cultivated for the pleasure of the Sultan. The flower’s sojourn to Europe took place in the 16th century when they were planted in the Netherlands for medicinal purposes. [This resulted in tulip mania]. Today, tulips are still heavily associated with the European country. More
Welcome to the Mari El Republic of Russia. The Mari are Finno-Ugric people, one of the most ancient peoples of Central Russia. For centuries, the Mari have preserved their original pagan religion and, in this regard, they can be considered the last true pagans in Europe.
"Planting Medicine" airs Tuesdays at 1:00 pm on KPFA.org (Berkeley) and KPFK.org (Los Angeles).
"Planting Medicine," formerly "Herbal Highway," enhances the community’s knowledge of herbal (plant) medicines by sharing voices of traditional, holistic healers and their shamanistic healing practices.
Hosted and produced by Emiliano Lemus (aka "Emilia No-Lemus") and Renée Camila.
Planting Medicine originates in the San Francisco Bay Area, each Tuesday at 1:00 pm on 94.1 FM in the Bay and 90.7 FM in the Los Angeles Basin and online at kpfa.org and kpfk.org.
Call the LA studio at (818) 985-5735 and the office (818) 985-2711. Listen LIVE.
Today's show: Medicinal Berries: Host Emiliano Lemus dives into the world of medicinal berries. Join them to learn about the special healing properties carried by these wondrous fruits.
(Please don't call in with questions about drugs. This is a serious show about herbs and legal medicinal uses. And if you do call, don't laugh like Beavis & Butt-Head.)
15 Victorian drugs for kids and Brits
(Gaslight Diaries) Shocking plants (heroin, cocaine) and chemicals used as 'medicine' in England
World of herbs is bigger than pot
Good vs. Bad Bud: Differences to Notice
(Cannabis Guy) Oct. 10, 2025: Cannabis Guy breaks down the four signs of quality cannabis — look, smell, and feel. What frosty trichomes really mean, how terpenes reveal top-shelf flower buds, and how to avoid the classic signs of mids. From dull, dry buds to sticky, aromatic flower that burns clean and smooth, this is a complete guide to spotting good cannabis every time. Whether a grower, buyer, or just tired of getting burned by low-grade bud, this video teaches how to identify real quality legal pot.
Chapter 1: The Look: Visual cues reveal most of a bud’s story. Good: vibrant greens and purples, orange pistils, shimmering frost of trichomes. Trichomes are cannabinoid and terpene factories. Structure and density—tight, compact buds = good growing conditions. Contrast with bad weed: dull, brownish, yellow, moldy, airy, or leafy. Warning: buds with seeds, excess stems, or gray fuzz.
Chapter 2: The Smell: Aroma is a major quality indicator. Good: bold, distinct scents like citrus, pine, diesel, or berries—driven by terpenes with good preservation through proper curing. Bad weed: smells like hay, grass, or wet cardboard → poor curing. Stale, bland, or ammonia-like smells = old or wet-jarred weed → bacteria/mold risk.
Chapter 3: The Feel: Texture reveals quality. Good: sticky, springy, and resinous—snaps when broken. The “snap” test is proof of proper drying and curing. Airy/hollow buds = poor lighting or low nutrients. The ideal feel = sticky, dense, but not brittle.
Info: When it comes to bad vs. good, knowing how to tell good flower apart from trash is key. More
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