May the Fourth be with you

Yes, some of us (ahem, Kathleen and Rochana 👋) are geeky enough to celebrate "Star Wars Day", also known as May the Fourth. It's a play on the famous "May the force be with you" line from the movie.

A few years ago we even recorded a light-hearted podcast episode to ponder aloud what flower essences might be helpful for some of the characters! We had a lot of fun with it, but also found rich territory for examining archetypal themes of abandonment, relationship issues, and how to find hope in dark times. Queue flower essences!

You may ask, what does this have to do with Redwoods?

It's no secret that the beautiful Northern California Redwoods have been used by Hollywood for filming locations — from Subaru commercials to Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, and more.

In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the Redwoods played a starring role. Iconic scenes of the Ewok's home planet of Endor were filmed in Humboldt County at Jedediah Smith State Park and a private logging company location. This includes the famous speeder chase scene.

Unfortunately, many of the Redwoods shown in those Star Wars scenes are now gone, destroyed after the logging company did what it intended. It was 1982, and there weren't as many protections and conservation efforts as today.

The good news is that since then, organizations such as Save the Redwoods League and the Sempervirens Fund have protected many thousands of acres of Redwood forests and are continuing to do this good work. Consider supporting them if you can.

Honoring this incredible plant spirit

Rochana lives among the Coast Redwoods and has a strong connection to them. In 2022, she spoke in-depth on Redwoods as part of the Plant Spirit Herbalism conference hosted by Sara Artemisia.

You can watch the full recording here:

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Richard Katz also documented the Coast Redwood in a Redwood Plant Profile on the Flower Essence Society website.

Coast Redwood as a flower essence

The Redwood flower essence has an incredibly wide range of energetic action: helping us to feel the vertical connection to the earth and sky within our body, to take the long view, to embrace our innate creative, regenerative, and survival forces, and to connect with the community around us for support.

Kathleen and Rochana devoted an entire episode of the podcast to Redwood (and Magnolia) in Listening to the Ancients.

May the Redwoods be with you this Star Wars Day (and every day)

Reflecting on the archetypal themes of humanity and duality depicted in the Star Wars movies, and the way that Redwoods evoke awe and reverence but are still threatened on this planet — we're taking this opportunity to honor the incredible presence and gifts of the Redwoods, and connecting with them in whatever way we can.

And that may or may not include watching The Empire Strikes Back with a candle lit for these great beings. 😍🌲💕✨

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May the flowers be with you, always

✨ Rochana, Kathleen, and Ruth

​The School for Flower Essence Studies​
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