Stress literally means sick-making Earth and refers to the non-beneficial effects this type of Earth energy has on human beings and other mammals. As a Feng Shui consultant, my primary concern is making sure my clients are not sleeping over or spending a great deal of time exposed to this energy. While one might think of Geopathic Stress as “bad”it isn’t detrimental for all living organisms and is in fact an integral part of the natural order. Geopathic Stress is simply a naturally occurring energy that is Yin in nature and beneficial for insects, certain kinds of plants and the ideal energy to help your compost pile break down.
Once identified, one can remedy the effects of Geopathic Stress in the home and also use it to advantage in the garden. How might one identify these lines? Aside from dowsing, one can look at nature to get some clues. Often this will manifest as the dead spot in the hedge row where the bushes won’t grow properly or in the cancerous growths on certain trees. Areas of Geopathic Stress are also havens for fungi, mold and insects – large ant hills or bees nests are often found there.
When I first moved into my home I dowsed to locate the lines of Geopathic Stress (GS) on my property and where they continued into the house and marked them with survey flags. It was not surprising to find an enormous oak within these lines as Oak trees love this type of energy. You can see from the photos the two lines coming from the back of the property intersecting under the oak and continuing on toward and into the house.
Once spring arrived, the bed behind the house (shown in the photo on the right) was cleared of overgrown bushes and a new herb garden was planned. Since this is primarily a culinary and healing herb garden, having vibrant, healthy plants was of vital importance. Knowing where the line of Geopathic Stress was allowed me to work with this energy instead of against it to create the optimal growing conditions and hopefully happier plants. The line of GS that runs through the garden is marked in the photo with orange flags.
The list of plants that prefer or dislike GS that I received from my teacher was not terribly long and many of the herbs I planned to include were not listed. Therefore, a little experimentation was in order. I knew from the list that nightshades prefer GS so the tomatoes and peppers were easy to situate. All of the others were dowsed to determine their location and some were sited based on pre-planting growth rate observations. One exception was the rhubarb of which I had 3 small seedlings. I decided to put two within the Geopathic Stress zone and one outside to see what happened. Well it turns out that Rhubab (as my dowser friend Lee confirmed) likes GS.
This is the Rhubarb plant that was planted outside of the Geopathic Stress zone.
You can see it is growing but rather thin and spindly.
This is one of the two seedlings planted within the Geopathic Stress zone. You can see how much larger the leaves are and how much more full it is in general.
Below is a bird’s eye view of the same plants.
Below are all three are in a row, the smallest is furthest away near the pedestal.
The enormous Comfrey plants are in the foreground.
By observing the plants growing in the Geopathic Stress zone I have added the following to my list of plants that either thrive/tolerate GS and those that don’t. I hope to compile a comprehensive list as my garden and experience expands and will list a few more as the season progresses.
Mondarda Didyma (Bee Balm): Thrives/Prefers GS (based on some pre-planting observations of growth rate both within and without GS)
Matricaria Chamomilla (Chamomile): Thrives/Tolerates GS
Angelica Archangelica: Thrives/Tolerates GS
Melissa Officinalis (Lemon Balm): Does Not like GS (also based on pre-planting growth rate observations)
Symphytum (Comfrey): Thrives/Tolerates GS (these plants have grown more quickly than any other in the garden)
Calendula: Thrives/Tolerates GS
Geopathic Stress can either harm you or help you, the key is knowing where it is and what to do with it. If we listen and observe, Mother Nature will give us clues on how best to work with her. It has been great fun for me to work with the Earth to co-create a garden that is in harmony with the energies and spirit of this place. So far the results have already been quite remarkable!