Everyday Miracles

Here’s another post about my favorite plant. It’s a seven-foot-tall angel trumpet (brugmansia) given to me as a potted plant by a snowbird returning to Canada.

Now my plant is as tall as a tree it’s large pink fragrant blossoms have caught the attention of my neighbors. Do I have any seeds to share? Not yet. But I read on the internet that the brugmansia is easy to grow from cuttings either left in water or simply stuck in the ground.

It was time to prune anyway.

When I was finished pruning I had seven sticks prepared according to the internet instructions.

I put four in individual jars of water. I stuck three in the ground.

I had only a wee bit of hope for the sticks in the water. I figured in a few days I would be dumping out the water and throwing sticks with mushy bottoms onto the compost heap.

I had even less hope for the sticks in the ground. I even had a few people tell me they were pretty sure you couldn’t just stick a stick in the ground and have it grow.

What really happened was life. Right before my eyes life happened. Each stick sprouted new life.

I quickly gave the sprouts in jars to my neighbors. Now I’m watching the sticks in the ground grow leaves and branches.

These sprouting sticks remind me of the suit of Wands in many tarot decks. The suit of Wands is related to the element of Fire. In some decks the Wands are shooting out flames. But in some decks the Wands are blooming and growing leaves and flowers.

In some traditions of Wicca a sprouting branch is the appropriate altar tool to invoke the element of Fire.

The metaphysical properties of Fire include life energy, passion, creativity and spirituality.

The ease with which my trumpet flower sticks became new life spoke to me of the fiery power of life force energy.

It reminded me of the miracles that happen around us every day, and of the miracle that life is every day.

That I’m making this discovery in the middle of December feels like the biggest miracle of all to this Yankee living in the Sunshine State.