ORCHID ABUNDANZA

Dear Angelic Blog Buddies:

Perhaps you share a memory with me of seeing your very first orchid as a corsage. I remember my Mom wearing a beautiful lavendar orchid corsage on Mother's Day. Because that was the first orchid I had ever seen, and would be the only type of orchid I saw in my childhood years, that is what an orchid was to me.

That particular type of orchid is of the genus Cattleya (KAt-lee-ah) and it is often called the Corsage Orchid. Cattleyas are among the most commonly grown orchids.

There are some 30,000 species of orchids growing wild across this planet.
The word orchis, from which the whole family received its name, was first used for this purpose by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle. Theophrastus is sometimes referred to as the father of botany. In his manuscript Enquiry into Plants, orchid (which means tetis) referred to the underground tuberous roots of the Mediterranean orchid, which are similar in shape to testicles.

I learned of the mystical message of orchids in reading what Ted Andrews wrote about the orchid in his book The Magical Name: "Orchid is a name and flower with ties to the satyrs of mythology, some of whom were teachers of the healing arts. In mythology, Orchid was born of a nymph who had been seduced by a satyr. Alignment with this essence affects sexuality...this is a flower for those wishing to manifest energies that will force a development of positive expression of sexual energies."

Ted expanded his orchid insights in his book Nature Speaks: "In China, an "orchid room" is the dwelling place of a young girl or the bedroom of a young married couple - its significance having mostly to do with its scents. Orchids are the largest family in the plant kingdom...Wherever orchids grow, you will always find nature spirits, elves, faeries and even some of the fantastic creatures and beings associated with the faerie realm...this flower and its environment is often watched over by nymphs and/or satyrs."

In 1993 I came across a set of cards called Angelic Messenger Cards by Meredith L. Young-Sowers. The photography was by Carol Duke. The cards are still available as a newly revised edition. The messages are wonderful and the spectacular photographs are of individual flowers. The Abundance card features a photograph of an orchid of the Paphlopedium or Lady Slipper genus. They are called this because their lip is shaped like a pouch or toe of a slipper.

I agree that orchids are messengers of abundance; and for this reason I called this blog: ORCHID ABUNDANZA. I have always been inspired by the angels to share the message that each of us has a divine masculine energy inside of us; and a divine feminine energy inside of us. The holy union of these two energies is a divine experience that results in the birthing of blessings and miracles. We are walking, talking, breathing holy of holies and within the sacred space of our I AM presence there is divine conception occurring. We can ask ourselves each morning: What do I want to conceive today? The word conceive means to become pregant with. It originates from a Latin word which means to thoroughly grasp. What vision or idea do you want to thoroughly grasp today?

Green Hope Farm Flower Essences offer various Orchid essences. Two that I would like to recommend you consider are: Fragrant Orchid. Molly Sheehan came upon an abundant colony of this orchid on Omey and received this message; "My wisdom needs to go out into the world. I try to share my wisdom generously in the gift of my perfume however, I AM glad to have a greater opportunity to be of service. I know this will strike you as a leap, but my essence is HOPE and that is the vibration I bring as a Flower essence. I am deeply attuned to the Fourth Ray and Angel Gabriel. I do not need to be applied or ingested to be of service in your life. Holding a bottle of my Essence will be enough. I will bring my beacon of white light via this bottle of my Flower Essence, just as I stand as a wand of this light on the rocky slopes where you found me." The Fragrant Orchid wants us to thoroughly grasp that we are ourselves divine essence of Hope. We are earth angels of HOPE.

Molly shares in her guide book that "there were so many orchids on Omey, in the Burren and on the coast of Ireland in general that it required care not to step on any of them."

I also recommend White Orchid from the Burren of Ireland. This orchid has given us this message, "Just as with the Fragrant Orchid Flower Essence, I work on the Fourth ray, the White or Crystal ray While the Fragrant Orchid Flower Essence sings a vibration of Hope, my vibrational strength is clarity of intention. In any endeavor, I help you to see and implement the tasks at hand with a motivation worthy of the task and a better sense of divine purpose. I AM a big picture Essence and will help you get clear on the most important spriritual tasks in your life, as well as help you follow through on these tasks with the least personality baggage." The White Orchid inspires us to thoroughly grasp we are part of the big picture.

You can order these essences as www.greenhopeessences.com

For 21 years I worked as an administrative assistant to a man who was a marketing/promotion director for a number of shopping malls. My work included helping him develop events/entertainment activities at the malls. I was responsible for Santa arrivals, Christmas parades, Easter Bunnies hopping down the bunny trail of the mall and Easter egg hunts just to name a few of the many events that were staged at the malls. For one of our mall clients I helped to negotiate an orchid society staging an annual orchid show at the mall. It was a sight of sheer beauty to walk into the mall and see table after table of exquisite orchids. The orchids were breathtaking to behold. I loved the passion for beauty of the individuals who grew the orchids in their homes and their openness and willingness to help beginner orchid growers.

I have wanted to attend Longwood Gardens International Orchid Show and finally made it happen this past Friday. I staged my arrival at the very beginning of the 3-day international orchid show, and was delighted to see as I was entering the conservatory, the judges had completed their tasks, and were heading off to a celebration lunch. It brought back sweet memories of my days of being the organizer of the mall orchid shows.

Longwood Gardens titled their show: Orchid Extravaganza. The actual Extravaganza was staged from January 23 to March 31 with the International Orchid show and Sale being held March 26, 27, and 28. I am sharing the dates in case you want to put this idea of attending in the back of your mind for next year.

If you are a reader who lives near Longwood Gardens (1001 Longwood Road/Kennett Square, PA 19348 - www.longwoodgardens.org), I highly recommend the experience. As Longwood describes it: Immerse yourself in a dazzling world of orchids as Longwood transforms its Conservatory into a lush oasis showcasing the divas of the planet world. Colorful orchids drape from walls, flow from pedestals and adorn beds throughout Longwood's rewnowed Conservatory."

That description beautifully describes what I witnessed on Friday. Plus I got to know more intimately a new genus of orchid; well, it was new for me. The genus is Oncidium (on-SID-ee-um). The American Orchid Society describes Oncidium as:an extraordinarily large and diverse New world genus with an equally diverse number of habitats. Oncidiums may originate anywhere from sea level in the tropics to the high elevations of the Andes.

For me they are little dancing fairies. Wherever they were in the show, I felt a tug of energy to visit them and photograph them. These orchids convey the innocence and delight of little joy baby faces. I found myself beaming and laughing over their adorable presence. Their flowers are truly little fairy beings and the photographs I took of these precious flowers are magical. And the amazing thing was that they wanted me to take more pictures. I would click my digital camera and then hear them say, "more". I heard and felt a constant message of them saying "more" and "more of me"..."take more pictures of me".

The flowers have a shape that is the appearance of fairies with arms outstretched in joy. They convey a wide-openness to life. I am sharing a link of orchid photographs for you to see the Oncidium fairies:

www.floridanaturepictures.com/orchids/orchid.html

It was only after I left the show that I came to realize why they were calling to me. God had guided me to them to receive an orchid healing. I am asking everyone who reads my blog to keep my husband, Chuck, in your prayers. In 2002 Chuck received a heart stent. Just recently he started experiencing shortness of breath. He cannot walk long distances because of the shortness of breath and also hip joint problems. Because of this problem, he didn't want to walk the grounds of Longwood; and he wasn't open to using a scooter. I am happy to report, that a healing that did occur since last Friday is that I have finally gotten him to agree that in the future he will use a scooter for places he wants to visit. I feel joyous over that healing.

Chuck is under the care of a wonderful Johns Hopkins heart doctor. There have been a lot of tests and bloodwork going on over this past month.

Chuck will be having a chemical stress test at Hopkins on April 8th and it will determine how the stent and arteries are working. Chuck cannot have a physical stress test because he has some hip pain at this time, too. Even though Chuck and I both know God is guiding us, and we have a great team of doctors, there is of course concern over his current state of health and what is ahead.

The angels wanted me to buy an Oncidium at Longwood on Friday. When I went to buy one, the seller told me that this wouldn't be a good first orchid to buy. Because the seller is a master Orchid grower, I followed her advice.

I am admitting to you here that I really blew it. Yes, the individual is a master orchid grower; however, the ultimate Master Grower of All was guiding me. The plant might have been out of my league, but not God's. I didn't listen. I didn't buy the Oncidium.

What I now realize and sheepishly share with you, is that I wouldn't be the one truly growing it. I would of course be the human steward and guardian; but the true gardeners would be God's angels guding me how to care for this plant. They wanted this joy vibration in our home to help uplift the concern energy that is here over Chuck's health. Remember, how I shared with you that I couldn't stop smiling and beaming and photographing the fairy baby faces? You've heard the statement: It's just what the doctor ordered. Well, the Oncidium was just what God was attempting to prescribe for me for helping us through this health challenge.

Needless to say, I will now be looking for an Oncidium to welcome into our hearts and home. In closing this blog I simply share something I know you already know: God is so good. God guides us to what we need. And heaven's greatest blessing is that God doesn't give up on us even when we see the message; hear the message and just plain choose not to get the message.

Angelic Blessings of God's Never-Ending Love,
Jayne