Heart Wisdom, Gnosis Cardiaca

I recently read something, and it has totally changed the way I go about my life. It's called Gnosis Cardiaca or Wisdom of the heart, (Sajah Popham talks about this in his incredible book Evolutionary Herbalism) The chapter went on to say how, our language still holds some truth regarding the heart, relating to how it does more than merely pump the blood around the body. I belive, along with many others, and research is showing that the heart is the centre of our emotional reality.

There are many sayings such as "following our heart" or "feeling downhearted", "being brokenhearted", we can eat a "hearty meal", we can be "kindhearted" put our "heart and soul" into something, and the one I wanted to talk about here, was " knowing something by heart" All the truth and wisdom in these old sayings affirms, so beautifully, that heart wisdom comes from a place beyond our intellect.

Sajah goes on to say that those who seek to express from the heart- Artist's, Poet's, Dancers, and Musicians, are commonly misunderstood and struggle to find their place in a culture of intelectual dominance.

Is it not surprising how heart disease is the number one killer in western culture? I really see the link here.

We can feel it when we express from the heart- whether that be in conversation, through our creativity, or just going about life in that way.

What do you think? "The heart helps control our perception. Not only does the heart communicate with the brain through a myriad of neurological signals, but it also makes its own decisions outside of the brain... it acts independently of the head"

So going back to "knowing something by heart"

The science behind it is, that the hormonal secretions of the heart, communicate with areas of the brain which are involved with learning and memory, and this directly impacts the hippocampus. We also know that the heart has an electromagnetic field. This generates a donut like shape around us- extending up to 10 feet beyond the physical body. (shaped just like the earth's electromagnetic field). It is this which gives us the capacity to connect to the living language of nature and botanical intelligence.

Sajah says that a critical part to understand is that the heart is the place of centre and coherence- and that we must function in coherence and unison with our heart brain- (in our heart), intellectual brain (in our head), and instinctual brain (in our gut). Interestingly, it is this coherence of the heart which directly impacts the coherence of our circulation.

So, my understanding of 'knowing something by heart', is that it is directly linked to the sensitivity of the hearts electromagnetic field...and its connection between our hormones, nervous system and hippocampus.

Once we have nurtured our emotional intelligence, to understand the feelings which are coming from our heart (which are mostly going on subconsciously), when we come into contact with another, and the botanical world, we are sensitive and are aware of those magnetic fields, and we can perceive them with a balance of heart, intellect, and instinct, which we as humans are ultimately designed for. not just to do things intellectually. (because intellectually can be an illusion or very subjective).

This opens up a different way of understanding the world - This is what tribes and many communities and cultures have done for millennia, before colonialism unfortunately became the common direction to go. The indigenous peoples understand the land and fauna around them, they sit with plants and connect with their wisdom and energy, so they can know them by heart.

To know something by heart, is to understand it with your hearts perception. It's not repeating things till we are robotically churning them out again!

When we deepen our heart gnosis, trust it... and really let it guide us. We can feel, and be, much more in coherence with the nature around us, and the people around us.

I hope I have inspired you to deepen your connection to the earth, and come into a state of equilibrium. May you orientate to a more heart centred way of perceiving the world around you, and use it in balance with your intellect and instinct - as they are all beautiful tools which we have been given. We must not loose our valuable Heart Wisdom, our Gnosis Cardiaca

Love and blessings to you, gorgeous soul

Thank you for being here

Daisy