Talks with Trees: A Plant Psychic's Interviews with Vegetables, Flowers and Trees

by Leslie Cabarga

Talks with Trees contains a collection of over thirty "interviews" with many different species of plants and trees including ancient redwoods, a Japanese maple, a garlic bulb, an onion, an apple tree, two heads of lettuce, a purple potato and many more. The author, a spirit channel for over thirty years, one day realized that if he could successfully make contact with the spirit guides of the many people for whom he provided psychic readings, he might also do the same with the spirits of plants and trees.His first "interviewee" was a potted plant sitting atop a bank counter. While waiting for the teller to return, Leslie Cabarga asked the plant, "How are you?" With the words of the plant's response forming clearly in his head, Cabarga heard, "Oh, not very well. We are trying our best to grow lushly and beautifully for everyone to appreciate but it is hard under the circumstances." As the author writes, "I looked around. Rows of fluorescent lights lined the ceiling. There was no natural illumination. The piped-in air was stagnant. I understood. The plant repeated its intention to do its best and I was struck both by its selfless resolve to fulfill its function, and the lack of resentment over its situation. This delicate little assortment of flowers was a kamikaze of love, fulfilling its obligation to its creator with every ounce of energy, and oblivion its only reward."Leslie Cabarga then decided that when he'd interviewed at least fifty plants and trees, he would group them into a book. Ultimately the contents were edited down to just over thirty interviews. Author "Although I occasionally meet with skepticism when I talk about Talks With Trees, I've been gratified and sometimes amazed by the many people I meet who 'come out of the closet' by admitting their own love of trees and nature, and of their own experiences of deep spiritual communion-and conversations-with trees. 'Oh, I always talk to trees!' they'll tell me, 'Why, there was this one tree'"But nothing amazes me much these days, except the disbelief that so many still have around the subject of spirit communication. I like to ask, 'Hasn't the thought of someone suddenly come into your mind and the next minute the phone rings and it's them? Haven't you ever dreamt an event that later came true? Haven't you ever glimpsed a ghost or heard a noise or voice that you couldn't rationally explain?"Almost everybody has had experiences of this sort at least once in their lives. And doesn't that indicate that there is more to life than the physical sciences can yet comprehend?

Genres: Plants, Nature

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1997

About the author

Zavier Leslie Cabarga, popularly known as Leslie Cabarga, is an American author, illustrator, cartoonist, animator, font designer, and publication designer. A participant in the underground comix movement in the early 1970s, he has since gone on to write and/or edit over 40 books. His art style evokes images from the 1920s and 1930s, and over the years Cabarga has created many products associated with Betty Boop. His book The Fleischer Story in the Golden Age of Animation, originally published in 1976, has become the authoritative history of the Fleischer Studios.

Reviews

[Iona Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talks with Trees contains a collection of over thirty "interviews" with many different species of plants and trees including ancient redwoods, a Japanese maple, a garlic bulb, an onion, an apple tree, two heads of lettuce, a purple potato and many more. The author, a spirit channel for over fifteen years, one day realized that if he could successfully make contact with the spirit guides of the many people for whom he provided psychic readings, he might also do the same with the spirits of plants and trees.

His first "interviewee" was a potted plant sitting atop a bank counter. While waiting for the teller to return, Leslie Cabarga asked the plant, "How are you?" With the words of the plant's response forming clearly in his head, Cabarga heard, "Oh, not very well. We are trying our best to grow lushly and beautifully for everyone to appreciate but it is hard under the circumstances." As the author writes, "I looked around. Rows of fluorescent lights lined the ceiling. There was no natural illumination. The piped-in air was stagnant. I understood. The plant repeated its intention to do its best and I was struck both by its selfless resolve to fulfill its function, and the lack of resentment over its situation. This delicate little assortment of flowers was a kamikaze of love, fulfilling its obligation to its creator with every ounce of energy, and oblivion its only reward."

Leslie Cabarga then decided that when he'd interviewed at least fifty plants and trees, he would group them into a book. Ultimately the contents were edited down to just over thirty interviews. Author Comments: "Although I occasionally meet with skepticism when I talk about Talks With Trees, I've been gratified and sometimes amazed by the many people I meet who 'come out of the closet' by admitting their own love of trees and nature, and of their own experiences of deep spiritual communion-and conversations-with trees. 'Oh, I always talk to trees!' they'll tell me, 'Why, there was this one tree'

"But nothing amazes me much these days, except the disbelief that so many still have around the subject of spirit communication. I like to ask, 'Hasn't the thought of someone suddenly come into your mind and the next minute the phone rings and it's them? Haven't you ever dreamt an event that later came true? Haven't you ever glimpsed a ghost or heard a noise or voice that you couldn't rationally explain?"

Almost everybody has had experiences of this sort at least once in their lives. And doesn't that indicate that there is more to life than the physical sciences can yet comprehend?

[Katrina Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of interviewing Leslie Carbarga, and I was impressed with his humor and his honesty. He came to listening to plants after working with A Course in Miracles. I think we could all learn this capability and use it to begin a new relationship with the plants around us.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep this book on my shelf and re-read it from time to time. Of course, being no stranger to animal communication, communicating with plants is not such a stretch for me... I love their wisdom.