The Alchemy of Our Divine Nature

I walked out this morning as the sun rose over the tall evergreen trees, to check on my goats and to visit the tipi that sits on our land. I stood in the bowl (a natural concave) before the tipi entrance and look up at Grandmother Cedar, released my burdens, sloughed off what is no longer useful and entered the tipi to replace the water and check on the now dowsed fire. Our Summer Solstice~New Moon Earth Celebration last night was powerful and precious. Fourteen people gathered for community potluck and then new moon ritual to release anything we no longer want for ourselves, our families, our community our world. And then we gathered blessings for our world, scattered rose petals for love and beauty, laid yarrow stalks for transformaton and placed cedar boughs on our path to bless each step we take in the world. I am moved by the rituals we have here, I receive a great deal from them and am inspired to know that each person evokes their own inspiration.



It was mentioned last night that the word Solstice means "pause". My shamanic teachers have offered wisdom to me about this time of year as not a waning but a widening, an expansion of the earth's energies and a great time of manifestation. At Summer Solstice, the energy of the earth is fully activated from the deepest parts of the earth up and out to the deepest reaches of the cosmos, connecting us with our ancient past and our ancestors and also into our infinite future. My garden this morning was powerful, so many plants speaking to me, offering themselves to me.



There are a few plants that bring their most potent medicine at Summer Solstice. St. Joan's Wort, Hypericum perforatum, connects us with the soul of who we are. She is a most precious nervous system nourisher and healer and a plant teacher. Plant teachers are those plants that will heal anything and everything. St. Joan's Wort is one such plant. Nervous system, liver, immune system, energetic system, healing thoughts, emotions and spirit. The beautiful yellow flowers reveal within them, a deep magenta-red substance who's smell calms and who's medicine is like to other.



We have a native Artemesia plant here on Whidbey Island, Artemesia suksdorfii. This powerful plant's fragrance is intoxicating and calls me over whenever I am in the garden the last few days. I utilize her for bringing focus to my dreams. I will gather the flowering stalks now to dry and make smudges and to place under my pillow. I won't use her indicriminately though. She is powerful enough that I use utmost integrity and intention when I evoke her magic.



Yarrow, Achillea millefolium grows wild on the beaches here on Whidbey and in my garden wild, from plants I transplanted from my beach home. Yarrow is utilized by wise woman who want to stop excessive bleeding, flooding during menopause. She also is a native healer for the immune system and a wound healer. I call upon her to transform my entire being, bring new manifestation to my world. I dreamed of her years ago...a phoenix in a garden burst into flames and was reborn as a yarrow plant.



We have an incredible opportunity to transform our lives, our world into one that works for all beings. It is already here before us, we only need evoke new thoughts to see and receive it. Noticing what is working, speaking prayers of peace, of prosperity and humanity, of kindness and nourishment, of inclusion for all in this sacred earth community is what will transform our thoughts. It is the alchemy of our divine nature that supports the growth and expansion of this new world.



A simple practice to support this perspective:

• Write down 100 things in your life that are working.
• Write down 100 gratitudes.
• Say thank you to 10 people everyday that have helped and supported you in any way.

May it be in beauty.

My heart in the palm of your land.

In the center of the chaos, stress, and struggles of life, there remains a special place. It's a place that breathes new life into me the moment I set my feet on the ground. This place is a tapestry of forest, meadow, wetlands, and every kind of terrain you might find in New England.

In the mornings, If I get there early enough, the mist curls around the mountains like a morning steam facial; the leaves reaching for the kiss of moisture. The trails are sometimes flooded, and the cherry trees are the biggest I've ever seen. Aside from my own home, it's the land I've watched over the last three years. I've watched the Nettles cover fields, and the poison Ivy grow angry patches along the mowed edges. The Groundhogs have reproduced three generations and are now the animals which greet all the newcomers as they arrive. The landscape has blossomed a million wild roses, and given heaping pots full of ramp stew. It's given deep mentorship to the most extraordinary people I've ever met.

Along the high waterfall, the red efts hide under their log huts, while the solomon's seal flickers in the cool shade of the hemlocks. The birch saplings bear the sweetest leaves for chewing. The wintergreen crawls along the edge of the cliffs like green lace along the mossy shawl. In the forest circle, the dewdrops linger like little fairies on a sleep-in morning. The bobcats leave signs but never show their face. I know the bear are not far.

The edge lining the river rolls into a thorny stand of black locust... so tall it's only a matter of a strong storm before they timber over. The beaver have abandoned this small valley, moving upstream to riper lands. They've dammed the brushy area where the kingfisher lives, along with the snakes, turtles, frogs, and songbirds. The great blue heron makes her way up and down the river way. In the beaver's wake are stands of coppiced willow, cattail, and stately blue vervain. The cottonwoods lay across the water.

It's here - despite the conventional pressures of making business work - of striving to impart this same sense of wonder to children - where my heart opens. Despite my profound hatred of winter and my longing to include dance in my life again - on this land my heart opens. The generosity of the Mugwort and the sound of the tumbling waters and a place where my beloved medicines grow everywhere.... lining the walkway as if welcoming me home, how could I not?

It's the land I know the best out of all the places I've been .... and it never ceases to astonish me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to serve this land, the way it serves me.

Who knows what seeds I'm planting. Who knows where it will take me?

A Wild Thing to Do

It was been a beautiful spring and early summer here on Whidbey Island. We have had more sun than usual at this time of year and the garden is expressing herself exuberantly. I have planted a few vegetables this year and have been rewarded with wonderful romaine lettuce, dinosaur kale, and walla walla sweet onions. More veggies to come soon.... What I am especially enjoying this year are the weeds. I am inspired to share a few ways to utilize the weeds in your garden. It is quite a wild thing to do and offers you incredible minerals and even healing in every mouthful.

Our Chickweed Stellaria media is still coming up in many places, cool evenings and shady area are helpful for its continuation. Chickweed is cooling, nourishes our skin, our eyes, and is a tonic for the heart among other wise healing ways.
Sow Thistle Sonchus oleracea is another wild green packed with mineral salts. You may be weeding this plant out, even cursing it and not realized its potential for nourishing.
Isla Burgess tells us in her book, Weed's Heal that Sow Thistle cools fevers, returns health to intestinal issues, and nourishes the blood.



Lamb's Quarters Chenopodium album: I am so happy this weed returned to my garden this year. It is one of my favorite cooked greens, it out does kale and spinach for mineral richness and flavor.
Wild Greens Pesto: Gather chickweed, sow thistle leaves and lamb quarter leaves (the ladder two best harvested before flowering) cut them up just a bit and put them in a food processor with a bit of olive oil and sea salt. Blend this and add more olive oil until you get a nice paste. If you have basil you could add a bit of that for flavor, or any of the Mediterranean herbs (Rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano).You can add fresh garlic if you like or fresh young onions from your garden. Cook whole wheat spaghetti pasta until al dente, strain and mix in your pesto. Sprinkle parmesan or feta cheese on this and serve immediately. Enjoy!



Red Clover Trifolium pratense infusion and vinegar: The red clover returned this year with a gusto. The deep fushia flowers are abundant and covered with bees. I have been harvesting the flowers everyday and placing them on a flat basket away from direct sunlight to dry. The warmth of the summer days helps to dry them quickly. When dry, they are ready to infuse ~ fill a jar with the dry red clover flowers, don't pack them just drop them in and fill the jar again with boiling water. Place a lid on this and leave it on the counter overnight. Strain it and drink. Iced is nice during the summer months. Red Clover nourishes your blood, your liver, your lungs, is anti-cancer and anti-tumor and is very calming. Red Clover connects us with our bloodline and promotes a sense of happiness. What an amazing repetoire for a weed!
If you have an abundance of flowers, gather them and fill a jar with them packing slightly. Then pour organic apple cider vinegar over them, label this with name and date and let this sit for about six weeks. When you strain this, you will have a sweet, nourishing and tonifying treat.



Oh, Dandelion Taraxacum officinale: There are countless ways to utilize this precious, potent plant. The dandelion leaves right now are full of the bitter richness that support healthy digestion. Gather the dandelion leaves in a basket. Hold several leaves at one time and snip them small. Fill a jar with these leaf pieces and then fill again with organic apple cider vinegar.
Six weeks of infusing allow the abundant minerals to be released into the vinegar. Strain this and eat it on salad, on cooked green (someone say lamb's quarters) or put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass with water and drink 10 minutes before eating. This will support your body to metabolize more minerals.

When I gather plants for eating and for crafting, I always ask permission to harvest. The plants are most often agreeable to my request. I listen to these compassionate beings and I am told which leaves to harvest, how much and sometimes other bits of wisdom are offered. It is a life close to the earth that is cultivated with this practice.

May it be in Beauty.

Summer Herbal Intensive

I am offering an Herbal Intensive for adults this Summer. It will be once a week (Wednesdays) for seven weeks, 9am - 3pm. I am very excited and I hope some of you can join me.

It will take place where I work, Great Hollow Wilderness School, in New Fairfield, CT. The land is enchanted and we will get to see plenty of it, since this course will not take place indoors. We will be on the land for the entire time aside from snippets where we may need a kitchen. All other heating will be over a campfire.

We will learn first hand from the plants, and use all our senses to gain information. We will hike through different habitats and examine them. We will learn some simple botany, plant families, and practical herbal wisdom. We will teach each other, get wet in the river, harvest and prepare medicinal and edible plants growing in abundance. We will cover a lot of material, yet it will be simple, digestible and applicable in everyday life. Indexing, journaling, and homework will be implemented. We will also be exploring herbal energetics, vocabulary for the herbalist, and probably a few unknown surprises too. :)

Herbal Intensive for beginners, ages 18 + 

Wednesdays June 24 - August 5, 9 am - 3 pm

Fee $ 450, deposit required

For registration go here

To learn more about Great Hollow Homeschool go here

To learn about all of Great Hollow go here

Green Blessings!