Healing Plant Connections - Birch

Birch is such a magical tree - revered throughout the boreal forest that circumnavigates the globe.

The Human-Birch relationship is deep and deeply spiritual.

I’ve written about Birch before, so I won’t give away too much. (Plus in my last post I showed you how to make Birch beer.)

Especially because in the following video I’ll take you outside to meet the Birch tree at the edge of spring.

I’ll share some clues for identification, as well as a whole bunch of the rich symbolic and spiritual aspects of this graceful tree.

And I’ll take you on a journey to Birch to call in a new beginning for yourself or the world.

Enjoy the video, and please share and comment to let me know what you think!

Want to get to know Birch a little better? Check out INFUSE a la carte Birch month – a whole month’s worth of lessons on Birch, including meditations, identification, wildcrafting, medicine making, crafts, lore, and more.

And if you want to go even deeper with the healing plants, you might want to join INFUSE for a season or the year!

Mystical Mullein Smoking Blend

Wow, did I have some wild dreams last night.

While I don’t recall them all, I’m left with a certain feeling that I tapped into an unusual state of consciousness. I had several moments of active hypnagogia and hypnopompia - those states between being awake and falling sleep, and being asleep and waking (respectively). At one point I was speaking to someone in the dream as I was waking up, recounting a dream within a dream to them. I caught myself with eyes open yet still half asleep, speaking aloud to that person who was still in the dream.

I’m not totally certain that I can attribute the phenomena to a particular herb or combination of herbs, but being as I have been a bit rundown I’ve been increasing my intake of certain herbs that might stimulate my body to produce GABA – gamma-aminobutyric acid – a neurotransmitter that can affect our brain waves. Specifically, GABA has been shown to increase alpha waves – which are active when we are relaxed and not thinking too much. Our brains produce these waves as we are beginning to fall asleep or just starting to wake up.

I’ve increased my intake of both Oregano (Oregano vulgare) and Bee Balm (Monarda species) - the former in the form of oil and the latter as an infusion. These are both mint family (Lamiaceae) plants. Many of the plants in this family contain rosmarinic acid and other compounds that have an effect on GABA production. They’re great herbs to take before meditation or to enhance dream recall and as oneirogens, or dream-stimulating herbs.

Although not typically thought of as an oneirogen, and not a member of the mint family but the figwort or Scrophulariaceae, Mullein (Verbascum species) does have an effect on dreams. Some say that Mullein helps to ward off nightmares. I find that it has a gently supportive quality, that brings grounding and relaxation with its mildly soporific effects. Like a light in the dark, Mullein can be an anchor or beacon to guide someone through dreams.

As with all herbs, individual results will vary.

Mullein leaves, roots, and flowers can be drunk as an infusion or taken as a tincture. Another way that some folks like to enjoy Mullein is to smoke the leaves. There are a couple of ways to do this, which I’ll show you in the following video. In it, I mix up an herbal smoking blend for occasional or ceremonial use. Enjoy the video and I look forward to your comments, either in this post or on YouTube.

If you enjoyed this video, you’ll love INFUSE, a monthly immersion to deepen your relationship with healing plants. We work with one plant each month, connecting through meditation, wildcrafting, medicine making, ritual, and other creative collaborations with the Wise Green Ones. Learn more and join a community of fellow plant lovers.

Inner Sun Meditation With Dandelion

We are within the darkest months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Although our shared modern culture does not always honor it, this is a time of going within and rest. It is a time to reflect, to dream, to create inner landscapes and plant inner seeds to be birthed with the return of the light.

And though the daylight hours are less, the intensity of light seems concentrated as the Sun dips down closer to the horizon. Hat brims seem useless. It’s almost as if the Sun is lowering down to look us straight in the eye, to remind us that that giant star is always there for us, even in the midst of the approaching winter.

If you can get outside to greet the Sun at this time of year, I recommend it. Go on a walk to your favorite park, get to a hiking trail, find yourself at the edge of a river, or just open a window and let the sunlight stream in unfiltered. (I also lead plant walks in Prospect Park every month on the third Friday via MINKA Brooklyn. Come on out if you are in the area!)

Whether you can get outside or not, we all have a Sun within us to connect with. In this following meditation, we meet with the Dandelion flower, a rooted embodiment of the Sun. Journey to your innermost dreams and desires and let the seeds be carried on the wind to manifest your vision.

Dive deeper into the Magic & Medicine of Dandelion in INFUSE, a la carte, a month long immersion with this wonderful plant ally!

Strength Through Challenge Meditation (Video)

We call on the plants as our allies, for energetic, physical, and emotional healing. Hawthorn is a deeply protective plant that I’ve shared about before, as a great healer of the heart. She has such potent energy stored in her sturdy twisted and often gnarled branches, covered with woody thorns.

In this meditation, we call on Hawthorn to help us see a challenge from a new perspective, to strengthen our position and approach it from a place of personal power.

I hope it serves you well! I gratefully welcome your comments if you’d like to share your experience.

Go deeper with the Magic & Medicine of this amazing plant ally in INFUSE a la carte, a monthly immersion of intimate connection with healing plant allies.

Start a Slo-mance With Herbs

(Plus, a Recipe for Love Tea)

Image: Kranich17

Loooving you,

Is easy ‘cuz you’re beautiful…

You, yes, you. I’m talking to you!

I dare you to gaze at yourself in the mirror and sing this song.

Not feeling it?

(I feel for you!)

How ‘bout some help from a few friends first?

They’re totally legal (aw, no fun!) and yet they are potent mind- and heart-altering friends.

Ready to meet them?

I’m talkin’ ‘bout herbs.

Herbs to enhance love… for you.

And for others, if you so choose.

Recipe for LOVE, herbal blend

What you’ll need, dried herb, in parts by weight:

• 1 part Rose (Rosa species) petals

• 1 part Agrimony (Agrimonia species)

• 1/2 part Rose hips (Rosa species)

• 1/2 part Hawthorn (Crataegus species) berries

• (technically not a berry, but a pome, like an apple; aka, haw)

• 1/2 part Damiana (Turnera diffusa syn. aphrodisiaca) leaves

• 1/4 part Ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizome

Be sure to acquire organically grown or ethically wildcrafted ingredients, please. For the love of you, and our Great Mama.

Weight out your dried herbs and mix well in a bowl by hand. Keep the blend stored in an air-tight glass container out of the sunlight.

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of herbal blend per cup of boiling water, or 1/2 to 3/4 cup to 1 quart of boiling water. Cover and let steep for at least 20 minutes.

Strain and sip. Add honey to sweeten if you like (I do!).

You can also use this blend as a bath tea. Oh so good for the skin, the aura, the heart!

Simply strain a bigger batch (like a quart-sized one) directly into a tub of hot water and get in. Feel free to sing to yourself in there (I do!).

If you want to get more intimate with herbal allies – what I call having a Slo-mance with herbs – study them one at a time in my new course, INFUSE.

Love the plants to love yourself!

Healing plants are great teachers and great mirrors for us. They open us up, expand our awareness of the world, while also healing our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits. Simply sitting with them has great healing power.

Steep yourself in the Magic & Medicine of the healing plant allies in INFUSE, a monthly immersion to deepen your relationship with these Wild Wise Green Ones.