Gaia's gift of Weather: Thoughts on Hurricane Irene, Preparedness and Presence

Much of the Eastern seaboard, including my little spot in western Vermont is under the baleful eye of Hurricane Irene. Despite the scare tactics and fear mongering I saw in the news this week, it has been a wonderful opportunity to tune in to the messages of the land,  to pay attention to what needs tending in our immediate surroundings, and to harness the power of Gaia's breath.

In the days before the onset of the storm, I spent some time preparing myself and my home for the effects of the storm- making sure I had ways to care for myself, even if power went out or I was cut off from travel due to downed trees or flooding.  I have extra water, a source of heat and fire for cooking (both a wood stove and wood and a propane cook stove), plenty of non perishable foods- canned fish, beans, hearty greens, lactofermented pickles, sauerkraut, apples and such.  My herbal pantry is stocked with nervines, and I've been imbibing nervine teas with chamomile and lavender.

    And certainly not least, I've spent a good portion of the weekend outside on the land- feeling the incredible stillness and anticipation in the air.  All the plants and trees communicating their awareness and readiness for the oncoming storm- reassuring me that storms come and go, and life continues to flourish and flower.  I gathered medicines for the upcoming winter months- elderberries, alder branches, boneset, hawthorn berries - and put them up into elixirs, oils, and tinctures.

This storm is a reminder to be to always be living each moment fully- fully present, aware and connected.  That each moment is precious- whether it is our last or one of many more to come.  Things around us can change in the blink of an eye, or in a matter of hours in a storm.  And to be well prepared for life's storms.  Although we can't anticipate everything that might come our way, we can prepare ourselves, through attention and presence, and wise planning to have on hand the resources we might need in many cases.  Food, medicine, community support, back up plans.

As the winds are picking up here, I'm struck by the awesome power and beauty in the storm at hand.  It brings me closer to my humanity, and more in touch with the precious present moment, the trees that surround my house, the river that runs through this little mountain town, my senses are fully aware.

While this storm is blowing through, I'm thinking of the things I'd like to release and wash away, and what I'd like to breath power and life into.  The elements of water and air-  emotion and mental precision. Set your intention with forethought and passion- use the power of these elements to manifest, release and empower.

Wishing safety and peace to all as we journey through this storm!

The Honorable Exchange ~ Relationship and Wildcrafting

If there's one strong imprint I came home from the Women's Herbal Conference with, it's a deeper commitment to my relationship with Nature.

As a wildcrafter, I'm very conscious of what I take, how I take it, and what I give back. I've always taught my students the factors in friendship that create honorable exchange. However I'm realizing, after some time spent in class with other wild plant tenders, that in this era, our giving back must be increased exponentially.

Karyn Sanders asks us: "What if all the herbalists gave back 7 times what they took. How would our world look in seven generations?"

And my mind exploded.

It's time to bring more than a ceremonial give-away when we harvest. Not that that isn't vital - it's that more than that is critical. Upon harvesting, I'll now be toting with me seeds, water, compost, rabbit droppings, and various items that not only feed the soil, but sow the healing seeds for the next century. I'll be encouraging the wild seeds to blow in the wind, bow towards the earth, swim in the river, or travel on the fur of a creature.... however their dispersal needs are met. I'll be watching more closely the communities, habitats, directions and neighbors of the plants, and their tribal habits for thriving. I'll be sensitive and active in meeting their needs, for they generously meet mine.

Herbalists: let us walk our talk. We are the medicine.

And the Elixir Winner Is.............

TOMISHA!

You have won yourself a free two ounce bottle of my Hawthorn Flower Elixir! Congratulations! It won runner up for best tincture.

Your elixir will ship out tomorrow morning. Thanks for playing!!

xoxo

Talking to Trees: Exploring the Medicine of the Tree Nation ONLINE INTENSIVE starts October 1!

Talking to Trees: Exploring the Medicine of the Tree Nation

8 week online intensive

$150-$200 sliding scale

 October 1, 2011- November 26, 2011

Back by popular demand!  I have had several folks request another run of Talking to Trees- so here's your chance! 

Grandmother of Oak trees

Join herbalist, tree lover, and wild woman Darcey Blue for an online intensive all about the Trees!  8 weeks of lessons, personal correspondence with Darcey, and community of sharing and learning for the duration of the course!  

• Learn about 20 of the major medicinal trees of North America

o Ecology and biology

o Energetic, medicinal and practical uses

o harvesting, preparations, medicine making

o Tree essences

o folklore and more

• Make your own medicinal oils, tinctures, teas and smudges

• Learn how to identify and work with trees unique to your bioregion

• Share experiences and learning with other herb students, herbalists and plant lovers.

Weekly lessons sent via e-mail, and group discussion on an e mail list forum is expected as part of the course. Please plan to devote 2-4 hours of time per week to this intensive.  Readings, journalling, time spent with trees around you and medicine making assignments all take time.  This is a hands on and experiential intensive, you will get out of it what you put into it.  The best way to learn about plants, including trees is to spend time with them, around them and getting to know them.  Please be ready to dive in with excitment!  

Some additional books and supplies are required for the course.  Syllabus available upon request.  

Please register with a $50 deposit by Sept 30, 2011 by e mailing shamana.flora@gmail.com

Space is limited, so register as soon as you are ready to commit!  

Full course payment expected by Oct 1, 2011 unless a payment plan is previously arranged.  No refunds available after Oct 8.

Save your spot in the course with a deposit now!

The Roses by Mary Oliver



All afternoon I have been walking over the dunes,

hurrying from one thick raft of the wrinkled, salt

roses to another, leaning down close to their dark

or pale petals, red as blood or white as snow.

And now I am beginning to breathe slowly and evenly-

the way a hunted animal breathes, finally, when it has galloped,

and galloped-when it is wrung dry, but, at last, is far away,

so the panic begins to drain from the chest, from the wonderful legs,

and the exhausted mind.



Oh sweetness pure and simple, may I join you?



I lie down next to them, on the sand.

But to tell about what happens next, truly I need help.



Will somebody or something please start to sing?

Plant Journeys: ELIXIR GIVEAWAY Contest!

Plant Journeys: ELIXIR GIVEAWAY Contest!

Do be sure to enter Ananda's giveaway for a free yummy elixir! Help choose the winning elixir of the Women's Herbal Conference!

ELIXIR GIVEAWAY Contest!

So last year I entered one elixir into the elixir bar contest at the Women's Herbal Conference. My Black Birch elixir. And to my sheer delight, it won! Well, the elixir category, anyway..... there are lots of categories and lots of winners :)

This year I'm entering six ... and YOU have a chance to win a TWO OUNCE bottle *with any order from my shop*. A handmade herbal worth over $25, for free! 

Here's HOW:

1) GUESS which one will win:
      Black Cherry Fruit, Peach Tree, Bee Balm, Honeysuckle, White Fir, or Hawthorn leaf & flower.  
     According to my children, these were the best ones to enter! 

2) ORDER your choice of Handcrafted Herbal Collections from my PoppySwap Shop between Today and 11:59pm of Thursday (8/16 - 8/18 2011) and write your guess in the note section of your order, or email me:
PlantJourneys AT gmail DOT com.

3) Cross your fingers! I will announce who guessed the winning elixir correctly on Monday, 8/22/11, and mail it with the collection ordered by Tuesday, the next morning, with no extra shipping charge.
(Don't worry, if you don't win, you still get a free yummy lip balm with every order!)

Good Luck!

Fine Print:

If I don't win at all, I will draw a winning name randomly.

If multiple people enter the correctly winning elixir, I will award up to two people the free elixir, chosen randomly by name drawing if more than two have entered correctly.

Play on!

Spanish Mountain Life by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and TONS of free gifts!

Hello Friends, Last month the Wise Woman Bookshop released A Gypsy In New York, a republished version of Juliette de Bairacli Levy's account of life in New York in the early part of the century. The third and final republished book being released is Juliette's, Spanish Mountain Life. If you want to learn more about Juliette, her life of adventure, herbs and wise womanhood, you won't want to miss this book! Read more! This jewel-like memoir details her personal struggle against typhus fever, during which she gave birth to her second child, Luz, who had to be suckled by a nanny goat. As ever we are embraced by Juliette's love of nature and animals, and welcomed onlookers as she relates with people whose lives are far different from ours. And when you buy this wonderful and highly acclaimed book, you'll also receive dozens of wonderful downloadable bonuses that you'll love from herbalists, coaches, herbal publications and educational resources and more!! Don't miss it! Visit http://www.grandmotherherbalmedicine.com/ to find out more about the book, and the amazing collection of gifts and discounts available when you purchase the book! Check out the other offerings at the Wise Woman Bookshop as well!

Song for the Night Rain

soft summer night rain song...oh the longing, oh the wistful ache, oh how too fast life blows by in a blink of the eye.

i want to be reborn as a mighty old mother oak tree...watching the twist and swirl of life currents, 

earth spirals on tree time...

to feel seasons pass as if dreams, upon waking finding a new dream to dream, 

feel the rotting of leaf matter feeding, and the fleeting burst of mushrooms rising to the occasion...

to know the dark secret heart of Her, to touch with outstretched roots the firey creation of her fecund womb

to caress with leafy fingers aloft, along with moonshine, and cloud mist, the miracle of her ceaseless respiration 

to taste the raindrops and summer dew as the sweet nectar that falls from her breast

and feel the snowy down, the cocoon for metamorphosis 

from dying, to birthing, to living. 

each leaf that drops a blessing, and an offering to her fertile altar

the fruit that falls, endless potential,

 neverminding the bears and boars that consume them, 

making pregnant with the seed of my tree soul, 

to birth again, a new potential

My dreams transformed to fruit in the alchemy of life eating life.

Elderberry Shrub and Other Delights

Its elderberry season in New England.  Time to start checking your favorite stand of bushes for ripe fruits and getting there before the critters get them all!

Elderberry is my favorite antiviral ally- I use it frequently (almost always) during cold, flu, and have seen it work work wonders in cases of HSV1 & 2 and Shingles.  I use it all winter long as a tonic and the recipe I'm sharing below is a most delicious way of getting elderberry goodness on a daily basis.  If I feel like I'm coming down with something, I take elderberry every hour, or as often as I remember.  In addition, if you know you'll be in a place or period of time nearby others who are ill or are susceptible to getting the winter blarghs, take elderberries before, during and after exposures.

Most famous is Elderberry Syrup.  This is my recipe for elderberry syrup that is uncooked and made from dried berries.  I prefer not to boil my fruits to death when making syrups.  If you have fresh berries, you can modify the recipe to cook the berries slightly to get them to release their medicine.

Elderberry Elixir, is a favorite among herbalists all over, and is another delicious and easy way to get your elderberries everyday.

But my favorite, which I can never make enough of, is Elderberry Shrub!  What is elderberry shrub?  I mean, we know elder is a shrub...but huh?
A shrub is a mixture of fruit, vinegar and often honey. It can be made with any delicious summer fruits or berries you like. Rose hips, raspberries, black berries, blueberries, hawthorn etc. This is used as a concentrate to add to refreshing beverages all year round.  I like to mix my shrub concentrate with sparkling water for an almost soda like treat, with a medicinal punch.  But it is delicious added to juices, water, or even by the spoonful!  I use approximately a tablespoon or two of shrub per 8 oz cup of sparkling water.  Your milage may vary.

Elderberry Shrub
1/2 qt fresh or dried elderberries
1 qt (more or less) apple cider vinegar
1/3 c raw honey ( you may use more if you like it sweeter)

Place berries in a jar, add honey, and pour vinegar over the top of the fruits until the jar is full.  Cap well (keep in mind vinegar will eat away at metal lids, you may choose to use a plastic lid or line your metal lid with waxed paper) and shake vigourously.  Wait 4 weeks.  Shake frequently.
Strain, and reserve liquid in a pretty jar for gifting, or in another container for storage. I keep mine in the fridge right next to the sparkly water, but you don't need to keep it cold once it is made.  It should keep 3-6 months or possibly longer stored in a dark, cool area.

Drink frequently! Yum!

What are your favorite Elderberry preparations and how do you use them!?

August Remembers

August turns a corner. 

Nights pull up the covers a little sooner

Crawling into moonlit slumber

Sprinkling heavy dew across the land

kissing all her creature's cheeks goodnight. 

August remembers childhood trees 

that held secrets on the edge of the playground.

Cool early mornings collect hopes and old dreams

in her humid body 

and sweats them onto blades of grasses.

Full ripe fruits fall from limbs uneaten by birds

but devoured by soil.

Under the canopy of August 

A circus of greens and pollen

Reckless perfection spilling down the hills

Anointing the rocks 

Mating with potential.

~~~

Heron Flower ~ Blue Vervain

August 1st shows towers of peaking blue wands. Tiny blossoms crown each flower spike like a parade of bride's maids. A wedding of water and earth perhaps; the swamp vervain takes spring's rain ponds and turns them to a masterpiece of wildflower magic. 

 Walking carefully through the lumps of sedge and mud, I'm slow - in case I get to watch the frogs. Mostly they hear me first and leap into the rivulets before I can see them close up. But their little "plop" makes me smile, and I've come mostly for the flowers anyway. The loosetrife is showy and narcissistic as usual. The boneset is just starting to open her sultry, creamy white blossoms. Goldenrod is pluming anew and sweetly collecting bees. The vervain is perfect.

Verbena hastata (Swamp Vervain, Blue Vervain) grows readily in wet areas, and those who know me know that I call her the Heron Flower; as she grows where the great blue herons wade. She keeps good company with boneset, alder, skullcap, water mint, and bugleweed.

While some experience vervain as dizzying, nauseating, or can't take more than one or two drops of tincture, I find that only happened to me when I chewed up (and swallowed) a whole leaf. Aside from that one little doozy of an afternoon, vervain has proven herself time and time again as one of the best tension dissolving plants I know.

She's a fiercely bitter plant, it's true. Not much is needed. 5 drops or so to start will do - in a little water please. She'll send her magic right down to the root of tension headaches, muscle spasms, stomach knots from stress, and in general just get you "out of your head". For those who get neck pain/tension so bad they can't turn their head, vervain is a valued ally. I find vervain incredibly helpful for when I'm trying to sleep but my mind is spinning with ideas. I make a list, take some vervain, maybe a little skullcap, and try again.

Vervain is helpful in relieving nerve tension. I've been using it a lot lately in my regimen to heal my badly pinched sciatic nerve.

Flues and fevers also move through more readily when assisted by warm/hot vervain tea. Nope, it doesn't taste great, but it's an excellent anti-viral and seems to have a talent for relaxing systems and body parts that are gripping tightly and won't let go. It keeps one calm and steady while wading in the waters of life, just like Heron.

Vervain shows some history of use on venomous bites; used to allay poisons and purify the blood. As such a strong bitter, it is effective against stomach parasites and proves a superb digestive aid.

As a fresh poultice, vervain can cleanse wounds and stimulate healing quickly, therefore a good plant to know while camping or hiking. I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a cool fomentation after a long day in the sun. As an astringent, it can help alleviate inflammation and itching from various ails of outdoor adventures.

Of course she is a fairy flower too.... in countless texts is stated to charm the home and family with health, protection, and enchantment. Spells to cross into the land of Fae are made using vervain - and on the other hand has also been sewn into babies clothing to protect it from fairy abduction. Either way you see it, she's a flower of presence; the truthful moment between past and future, between summer and winter, between letting go and moving on. A deep breath of now.

For a Midsummer ceremony, use fresh or dried vervain to cast your sacred circle; sprinkling along the circumference of your space. Place a bundle of vervain on your altar to honor the magic in everyday life. Tuck a sprig into your medicine pouch for visioning or meditation. A small posy in your oracle bag will protect and purify your cards or runes.

Tincture for medicine is simple to make; a jar full of blossoms and leaves, covered with approximately 70% grain alcohol and 30% pure water. Let steep for 4-6 weeks.

Vervain magic tiptoed her way into my herbals this week..... a magical ingredient in my Incantation Collection; a ceremonial herbal set;  soon to be listed on Poppyswap. Keep your fairy eyes peeled ;) 

Heron Flower tall and graceful

Crowned with flowers fancy

Cast aside the dark or doomful 

Guard our wellness pantry

~~~