a harper's garden

Art From The Rose Garden

2010-12-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

I found myself back on this blog, playing in the garden ... So if you're reading this even after my long absence, I thank you so for checking back in with me!

I thought I'd share some art with you. My mom and I have the same birthday (different years, of course!), so for her/our birthday, she and I and my younger daughter headed to the nearby rose garden to create art and experiment (if we wished) with haiku. My mom occasionally paints and draws, and she's also a writer, and a gardener, and a naturalist, so I thought it would be fun to share what we love all in one go!

Here's my daughter's art:

She captured a lot of detail about the rose plant itself:

Here's my mom's. She calls it "Perfect Scent":

And here's mine:

What fun we had!

Deepening The Garden

2010-07-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear Readers!

Earlier this year I pondered the fate of my blogs, having started a couple of new ones. Five seemed absurd! At the time I decided to continue this one -- I do like it here! But as the months progressed, I've discovered that much of what I enjoy posting about here actually has a voice in my new blogs -- or would, if I allowed this little field to leave my care and go feral :-). In trying to tend many blogs, I'm finding I'm not able to tend well to any (a predictable result!).

So ... If you enjoy posts that focus on herbs, being a mom, self-directed learning, rewilding, and wise village ways, please join me at Moms Create Culture. This blog is as much about my own personal journey as a mom attempting to create and nourish heart-centered culture starting with my own home and garden as much as intending to help moms create and deepened resilient, nature-and-soul-connected culture in their businesses and communities.

If you are more interested in plant spirit medicine, Reiki, sound healing, or music (harp and song), spiritual seeking, the magic of nature, and story ("inner tracking" or narrative medicine) you might want to check out my blog at Singing Deer Healing.

You'll find an intermingling of topics on both. I'm not going just write about herbs or wise village ways, or connecting with the nature of your place in just Moms Create Culture, for instance. But I intend to let you know in either blog when a post in the other might be of particular interest to you (assuming you don't want to subscribe to both blogs!).

Fox Tales is my third blog. This one is dedicated to what I call "magical nature story" -- my fiction, photo-stories, and perhaps other creative expressions for children and the child in you. I have a feeling this blog will evolve (as they all will, no doubt) but for now it features weekly installments of my children's novel-in-progress, Because Of The Red Fox.

So thank you for reading a harper's garden! I've certainly enjoyed tending this little garden, and have been honored by your company within it! I do hope to "see" you in the deepening garden of my creative expression and voice in one of my other "ecologies", or two, or in all three :-).

Honoring Song To Oats (Avena sativa)

2010-06-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

Please join me in the garden! Here I offer an honoring song (improvised in the moment to the Oats (Avena sativa) as I harvest oat tops to make a tincture.

Chickens: Alas, Poor Bluestar + Kooshie the Amazing

2010-05-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

We received word this morning that Bluestar, one of our Black Gourmet (a meat breed) hens had passed away. Tears didn't accompany this news, because in a large way this hen has lived longer than we ever guessed she would. A couple of years ago Bluestar developed bumblefoot, which, though we tried in various ways to heal, just got steadily worse. She ended up limping about on one foot, resembling (to our fanciful minds) a "dufflepud" from The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (in the Narnia Chronicles) by C. S. Lewis.

She survived the long cold winter in NE Oregon (even when Cheeseball, her companion on the ground floor of the hen house, passed away). And she continued on, limping about, and huddling near the feeder for the next year.

The above photo is from a year ago.

Few tears doesn't mean that we're not sorry that she's gone. With each passing of our hens in far off Washington, we wish we could bring them close again, but it really wouldn't have worked out to have these large birds in our somewhat small suburban backyard!

Bluestar was my younger daughter's favorite hen when we first got our flock. A young Gwynne would scoop this (then) large bird up and cart her around the yard.

(a sigh as I type for days of yore)

On the other hand, Kooshie's story is that of a miracle. Several weeks ago, our friend who is caring for our "big girls" in Washington, phoned to tell us that one of the Easter Eggers had gotten caught in the electric fence. Who knew how long she'd been caught, but she was all tangled up, and had to be cut out. Our friend brought Kooshie inside, and placed her under a heat lamp, and wrapped her up. Kooshie was alive but wouldn't move or open her eyes, and we all feared the worst about her. I sent Reiki, and beseached my plant allies for help on Kooshie's behalf. Many tears indeed were shed, as Kooshie is my older's daughter's hen, and is quite a sparkling personality (she flies to her arm).

Later that day our friend called to say that Kooshie had opened her eyes, and drunk a little water. A report the next day was that she was standing up, and had eaten. Within a few days she was back with her flock, fully recovered. Even as our friend reported Bluestar's death this morning, she also told us that Kooshie was still perfectly well. It was as if her trauma had never happened.

Our life with chickens is such a microcosm of life and death and trials and celebrations. I'm in such gratitude for these serious and silly birds, for the love they have awoken in my daughters, in our family, and how they teach us about both the fragility and resilience of life.

Kooshie - a photo from our visit to Vashon last Dec.

Children's Art and Chickens

2010-05-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have a backlog of posts on things herbal for this blog, but thought I'd share with you some art I scanned today (they are garden related!).

I love the art children create. On Vashon Island, our former home and home-to-be-again, first Fridays of the month are celebrated as First Friday Art Walks. On these Fridays, art galleries and shops and cafes showcasing local artists present new displays of art. You get to meet the artist, enjoy yummy snacks, chat with fellow viewers, and enjoy fabulous and fun art by folks you know and folks you don't. When our family was part of a homeschool co-op, I thought it would be a cool idea to feature our children's art in one of our homes and include it in the art walk. The art could rotate each month, featuring new artwork by the children.

Well, I never saw this vision to fruition, though in our own home for a time I made sure to showcase our girls' artwork in frames and rotate the artwork. Even now I prefer to display artwork we create, rather than buying that of professionals (unless I know and love them!). I love the freshness of children's art!

These paintings are by Gwynne from a number of months back, of a rooster (above) and of Amri's rooster, Lord Firestar (to the left).

And since we're on the subject of chickens, I'll include a photo of Lord Firestar with the first bloom of the season of our Mr. Lincoln rose. Aren't they both handsome?

Enjoy!

From the Ground Up: Grassroots Training in Traditional Western Herbalism

2010-04-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to this five-part course for ages. The concepts of Traditional Western Herbalism have fascinated me, and I've spent many an evening musing over Matthew Wood's books expressing herbal medicine from this perspective. To me, the ideas expressed in this tradition offer a fascinating and potentially very effective compass of perceptions to glimpsing and stepping into the unique ecology of one's family members, friends, or clients in a respectful, receptive manner, and from that place, offering herbs more attuned to that person and his or her condition. That's my take on all this! We'll see what my journey with the herbs from this perspective leads me! - Jane

From the Ground Up: Grassroots Training in Traditional Western Herbalism

by Jesse Wolf Hardin on April 13th, 2010

At long last! –– the release of the greatly anticipated

COURSE 1

of a 5 course program for the village herbalist: From the Ground Up: Grassroots Training in Traditional Western Herbalism

FOUNDATIONS IN TRADITIONAL WESTERN HERBALISM

Written & Taught by Kiva Rose Hardin

After years of preparation, the essential first course in Kiva Rose’s comprehensive 5 course program has just been released, with openings for a select number of committed students. Foundations in Traditional Western Herbalism provides information and tools that are important for understanding and getting the most from the 4 other courses in this groundbreaking series. Kiva’s attention to the basics makes the practice of herbalism comprehensible for a beginner, while her unconventional perspective and innovative approach ensure that even experienced herbalists will find themselves learning new concepts, in lessons that not only inform but stretch and challenge, inspire and delight.
Lessons arrive as PDF files, with beautiful, illustrative color photos scattered throughout.

To register, go to the bottom of this post and click on the Application link.

The Course Work
Each lesson consists of a core topic, accompanying definitions and terms, a section on Materia Medica with an in-depth proﬁle of a single herbal ally, and another featuring a description and complete directions for foundational medicine making techniques, with questions and assignments for every section. Course 1 includes 4 lessons:

Lesson 1: The Roots of Traditional Western Herbalism
Materia Medica: Nettles (Urtica spp.)
Medicine Making: Tisanes, Infusions & Nourishing Infusions
Lesson 2: Healing as Wholeness & The Tonic Approach
Materia Medica: Mullein (Verbascum spp.)
Medicine Making: Infused Oil
Lesson 3: Vitalist Herbalism & The Anima
Materia Medica: Evening Primrose (Oenothera spp)
Medicine Making: Decoctions
Lesson 4: The Matrix – Healing & the Material World
Materia Medica: Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Medicine Making: Herbal Baths & Hydrotherapy

Students can take as long as needed to complete work, which includes studies and readings, the answering of questions and the fulfillment of assignments. It is these assignments that are in some ways the most crucial of all, placing the focus on the immediate, practical utilization of each idea and skill that we learn here. “This is not so much about memorizing information,” she explains, “but about experiencing the plants and their effects, and learning to understand and integrate those effects in a practical and effective way.” Once the coursework is completed and emailed back, Kiva reviews it and then writes a single detailed, personal response providing any helpful clarification or correction, further suggested assignments and advice where needed.

Once your Foundations in Traditional Western Herbalism questions and assignments are complete, you may then want to enroll in each of the following, soon to available courses:

Course 2: Elements in Energetic Herbalism
Course 3: Human Ecology: Physiology & Organ System Energetics for the
Traditional Herbalist
Course 4: Reading the Terrain: Practical Diagnostics for the Traditional Herbalist
Course 5: Restoration: Pathophysiology & Diagnostics for the Traditional Herbalist

Course 1 will provide the groundwork for beginning or furthering herbal healing practice, and anyone taking all 5 courses can be confidant of having been given the essential information, means and tools needed to be a highly effective herbalist… whether treating one’s self and family, or giving one’s life to helping heal others.

About Your Instructor
Kiva is the cofounder of the distinctive sense and common sense based Anima Tradition of Herbalism, author of the acclaimed Anima Healing Arts Blog (formerly the Medicine Woman’s Roots), and the village herbalist of the rural community near her lush botanical sanctuary in the wilderness of Southwest New Mexico. She’s become known for her intuitive understanding of plants and their properties, leading her to discover – or in some cases rediscover – novel uses and treatments, as well as for her evocative, easily understood explanations of energetics, and she and her school’s bioregional emphasis.

Kiva writes: “My focus is firmly on accessible, grassroots herbalism that educates the individual and serves the community, both the human component as well as the larger earthen community. I strongly believe in restoring health at all levels and approach healing from the understanding that the body is a diverse and intelligent ecology, integrally connected to the planet as a whole.”
As her partner in this life and work, I couldn’t be more proud of her efforts, or more impressed with this life-empowering and life-enhancing course.
Donations
All courses are offered on a donations basis, with a $200 to $400 suggested sliding scale depending on your ability to contribute and how much you value what is offered. Those unable to donate the complete amount at once, are invited to contribute over time as able.

Apply Now

To apply, click on the link below, then download, fill out and return the:

Correspondence Course Application – Course 1: Foundations in Traditional Western Herbalism

Spread the Word
And please make the time to spread the word about this exciting series of courses, by pasting and forwarding this message to your mailing list, or reposting this announcement on your blog or in appropriate forums you frequent. Thank you for your patience in waiting for this course to be released, and for your commitment to healing, the plant world and this School.
-Jesse Wolf Hardin

Anima Lifeways and Herbal School
www.AnimaCenter.org and www.AnimaHealingArts.org

The Healing Grace of California Poppy

2010-02-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Below is my final assignment for Angie Goodloe's Herbalist 101 course. Be warned, it's lengthy! But there's a surprise at the end. If you have any interest in herbalism, I highly recommend Angie's course. It's full of information, provides plenty of opportunity for you to get intimate with herbs and make those medicines. And Angie provides plenty of feedback and encouragement in her responses to the assignments. Fun stuff!

Also, Angie is currently offering the course at an absurdly low price ($35!). I assure you, the course is worth far, far more than that!

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

Alternate names: Copa de ora, Dormidera (the Drowsy One, since this 'sun-worshipping flower' closes its blooms at night)

Family: Papaveraceae

Patterns of the Poppy family are showy flowers with 2-3 sepals that shed early, petals in multiples of four, lots of stamens. They often have milky sap in their stems. Many plants in this family contain narcotic alkaloids. Narcotics depress the central nervous system, sedating and offering relief from the feeling of pain (analgesic). [I'm noting Family characteristics in anticipation of work I'm doing with the Kamana Naturalist Training Program. Currently in that program I'm journaling Plants, which will soon include detailing all the native plant families of my area.]

With that "Family background" in mind, let's explore this beautiful herb ...

The state flower of California, California Poppy is aptly chosen for this honor. For countless generations the native peoples of California carefully cultivated this plant--as they did with many others--for food and medicine in monocropped expanses on hillside and in valleys. European settlers thought they had arrived in untouched wilderness. Not so. The native peoples practiced sustainable harvesting and sowing that involved controlled burns as part of their land management.

It is said that north of Pasadena early Spanish sailors guided by a golden hillside in spring -- a hillside shining with the bright orange-gold of the California Poppy. It is also said that this was one reason they dubbed this coast "the Land of Fire" (the other reason being that there were indeed fires a-plenty due to lightning strikes as well as due to the dry, arid summers).

The Yuki tribe used it for toothaches, it was food for the Sierra Miwoks, the Ohlone used it for sleep, the Wintu used it to heal newborn baby belly buttons

The Nisenan ate the leaves either boiled or roasted with hot stones and then laid in water. The Pomo mashed the seedpod or a decoction of it on a nursing mother's breast to dry up her milk. And the plant was given to babies as a sedative and placed under the bed for better sleep. Other tribes rubbed a decoction of the flowers into the hair to kill lice. The root juice was taken to relieve stomachaches and tuberculosis, and as a wash for weeping sores.

The plant itself: is a perennial or annual (further north) to 2 ft. tall with mostly basal with bluish-green lacelike leaves. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, the plant was an annual. Here in my backyard in the San Francisco Bay Area, the plant is definitely a perennial. The plant in these photographs is one that has been thriving since our arrival here last June.

The flowers sit atop a flattened rim on long stalks. The flowers are of four shiny petals bright orange to yellow in color, sepals fused into cap, and falling off when it flowers. Many stamens. The fruit is long and slender, containing many black seeds. It's so satisfying to collect the seeds! Just pluck off the dried pods and pop them into an envelope. The plant flowers from February through November.

The plant is found in grasslands, hillsides, and open areas, in well-drained and poor soil, from Southern California up through Washington.

In terms of modern-day herbalism California Poppy has these characteristics.

Taste: Bitter

Energy: Cool

Organs affected: Liver, Heart

Actions (according to Lesley Tierra): calm the Spirit (I most definitely agree!)

Properties: Sedative, analgesic, anti-diarrheal, antitussove. diaphoretic, antispasmodic

Indications: anxiety, nervous tension, agitation, neuralgia, pain relief (including acute), nervousness, sciatica, herbes, shingles, heart palpitations, insomnia

Dose: rounded teaspoon of chopped plant as tea, drink 1-3 times daily; fresh plant tincture: 20-60 drops 1-4 times daily. For sleep problems, take 20-40 drops one hour before sleep, then again right before bedtime. For bedwetting in children over 5 years old, use with horsetail, 10 drops of each twice/day.

A mild sedative and analgesic, this plant is suitable even for children, though may cause a mild 'hangover' headache the next morning if used in excessive quantities. Lesley Tierra writes: "California poppy wonderfully sedates, calms and relaxes the nervous system, treating symptoms of anxiety, nervous tension and agitation. As well, it repairs nerves and alleviates nerve pain, especially from sciatica, herpes and shingles. It is also used for heart palpitations and insomnia due to nervousness.

Contraindications: large amounts used sometimes cause nausia. Better not to use it during pregnancy.

Collecting: Gather the whole above ground plant and dry it. Or tincture the whole fresh plant. When I tinctured California Poppy in the past, I used the whole plant, including the roots.

My Own Experience With California Poppy:

Moving to the Pacific Northwest 12 years ago (from the SF Bay Area) I was overjoyed to discover that California Poppy lived up there. For me, California Poppy has always represented the spirit qualities of joyfulness and home. My spirits lift at the sight of this plant in bloom, and I marvel at the softness and lacy beauty of the leaves. But this plant is no fragile beauty. There is a boisterousness of spirit that seems to me to announce itself in celebration to the world at large -- to the bees and insects, the natural world, and definitely to us humans! As plant spirit medicine I have turned to California Poppy whenever I have sought a sense of 'home' within my anxious heart, and the promise of a lively grace that can exist and persist even in the face of inevitable hardships and pain. I'll sit with the plant, touch its velvety petals or soft foliage, or nibble its leaves or petals. Just being with this plant opens something true, kind, and strong within me.

More along these lines: When I became a Reiki Master, I intuitively received a series of symbols -- conduits for particular healing energy. One of them I have come to associate with California Poppy, and this I use in spirit healing whenever I feel that California Poppy's qualities are needed.

A few years ago, my friend Lisa and I gathered the whole plant garden and tinctured it in vodka. The tincture rapidly became our favorite remedy for sleeplessness due to nervous tension. I believe Lisa used it with her family successfully to ease tooth pain. Certainly I would use it for that purpose! It is my remedy of choice when nervous anxiety is mixed with a need for (physical) pain relief.

Last year, during our family's transition, I felt my mind returning to nervous anxiety that began again to interfere with my sleep. The previous year I'd had a long stretch of this, and it was certainly hard to function coherently and in a grounded way at that time! I pulled out my California Poppy tincture and began to take it at bedtime. Just a couple nights of this routine and I was able to resume a more restful sleep pattern.

Here in early spring, new poppy plants are emerging in our vegetable garden. The sturdy plant in the photos and in the video below, continues to thrive. We are astonished by this particular plant, as it was accidently stepped on when we were digging our garden last year. Somehow -- perhaps because of the love and attention my daughters have lavished upon it since then -- it recovered and has become the bold beauty of the garden.

Below is a video of the California Poppy. In it, I listen for a 'medicine song' and infuse it with Reiki. As you listen to the song, may you experience the healing qualities of this plant!

Resources:

Thomas Elpel, Botany In A Day

M. Kat Anderson, Tending The Wild: Native American Knowledge And The Management Of California's Natural Resources

Steven Foster and Christopher Hobbs, Western Medicinal Plants And Herbs (Peterson Field Guide)

Herbalpedia 2007

Lesley Tierra, Healing With The Herbs Of Life

Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants Of The Mountain West

Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide To New World Medicinal Plants.

Art by me of California Poppy (with Plantain and grasses in the foreground)

Time - for the Sketchbook Project

2010-01-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Recently I participated in The Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project. They assigned me the topic of Time, and I set to work. Quickly I realized I was "running out of time". First one daughter, then the other, jumped in to help me, and the project became a mother-daughters affair. My younger daughter contributed a lot of artwork, and my older daughter took a few photos.

Some of it was probably not what the visioners' had in mind: I ended up printing out copies of some of my past art and photos to finish the book. In the end I sent it off -- on Time -- to The Art House. Whether they include it in their Tour (the idea is that these sketchbooks will be a library collection, going on tour and then eventually housed in a library), and then enter a permanent collection or not, it certainly ended up being great fun creating a project like this with my daughters. My younger daughter was especially determined that we finish it--no cutting out pages to do so!

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

Checking In, You, and Lavender Wand Recipe

2010-01-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

Corn in our backyard -- in December! Art by Jane

It's been quite some time since I've posted! Thank you for sticking with me!.

Just to let you know what's up with me and my blogs. I've just started a new website and blog, Singing Deer Healing, which is devoted to sharing a soul-nourishing, imaginative, nature-connected life with children. If you like this blog, you may enjoy that one too.

After puzzling how to proceed (eep, how many blogs can I keep going?), I've decided to continue this one. It has become a focus for my chronicling my attempts to live a 'magic' life with my own children and my herbal medicine making journey. ... And I feel restful in this space :-). I don't know how often I will write this blog ... it's probably going to follow a slower gait than, say, Singing Deer Healing or Jane's Medicine Tree (or a possible fourth blog I have in mind centered on moms and culture), but I'm pretty sure I'll post once or twice a month. So if that works for you, I invite you to continue reading!

You
This is a great time for me to get to know you. What do you love in life? What is the greatest challenge for you right now? What have you enjoyed in this blog? Perhaps I'll just boldly ask "Why are you here?" :-).

What is your greatest wish for the planet? For your home life?

If you had one message you could deliver to the world that would be truly heard and tended to, what would you say?

Please jot your thoughts in the Comments below. I'm so delighted and honored that you're here!

Lavender Wand Recipe
Awhile back Lauren asked for cooking times and temps for this recipe. Okay, Lauren, here's the whole recipe--finally! It uses lots and lots of sugar. I wonder if it's possible to vary the recipe successfully using honey? Something for me to experiment with in the future ... Anyway, here's the recipe.

Preheat oven to 150 F degrees.

In a pan, bring 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil. Take 30 wands of lavender (do not remove from stem) and place the buds in the boiling sugar water leaving the stems out of the pan. Reduce heat to medium high, and let boil for 10 min.

Put a thin layer of sugar onto a cookie sheet, to cover the entire sheet

Remove the wands from the sugar water (you can keep the sugar water to use in some other delicious way!) and place them on the sugared cookie sheet. Spread the wands in a single layer.

Pour 1 cup of sugar evenly over the wands (yeah, this recipe uses tons of sugar!). Let set for 2 min. Turn wands over and sugar again.

Take another cookie sheet, and place the sugared wands on it in a single layer. (save the sugar from the other cookie sheet and when it's cool, store it in a jar in the fridge to have lavender sugar on hand for baking, etc.)

Bake the wands for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool.

Enjoy! Kids--and the kids in us--just love these enchanted treats!

Day Of The Dead

2009-11-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

It is November 1, and the veil between the worlds is oh-so-thin. I currently live in the house that my grandparents had built in 1936, and in which they lived all their lives. I light a candle by the photo of my grandmother as a young woman, and go about here doing as she did in this house day after day: preparing food, sweeping, hanging clothes outside to dry or downstairs in the basement warmed by Mary Ann, the huge old heater that reminds me of her namesake Mary Ann the steam shovel the picture book Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel, who ended up becoming the heater for the new town hall. The full-page magazine photo of Pres. JFK and his beautiful wife Jackie no longer graces the wall on the basement staircase. And much of the furniture that served my grandparents for 60 or 70 years has been replaced by ours. Still. The gentle spirit of mis abuelitos continue here, walking the floors, tending the roses. When I prepare food, I create a special plate for them ~ and for all mis abuelos from throughout time. I place it at the base of the huge medicine tree in the backyard, the incense-cedar. I offer prayers and thanksgiving, and open my senses to the boundless nature of our expansive universe, and to the delicate markings of jeweled thyme.

Garden, Tincture Disaster, and Willow

2009-10-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Goodness, it's been much too long since I've posted here! Our pocket garden out back is doing beautifully, as you can see here. We may never see the corn actually mature enough to produce ears, but I am getting enough Asian greens to create small salads every day.

Rosemary and Lemon Balm are doing well in pots, as is Spearmint. I love to take nibbles of the leaves as I pass by!

Hawthorn Tincture

At the end of August I plucked the lovely haws from our old hawthorn tree.

After collecting a small jar full I poured them out and chopped them up.

Back into the jar, which I then filled with kirsch.

Megan, Lila, and the horses gaze at the red mush thingamy, just after it's prepared.

During the first few days I was pretty good about shaking the mixture. Unfortunately I totally forgot about this project. Checking it today, I realized I'd overfilled the jar with the haws. They perched above the kirsch-line, and look pretty disgusting. I don't think I dare give it a taste!

Ah well. Live and learn!

Pacific Willow

At 4-H yesterday, we visited a rabbit breeder in the area. The rabbits were so very lovely and cute (I will not often describe anything in print as "cute",but I'll make an exception here!), as you can see if you visit Plain Old Chickens. But during our visit I continually felt tugged in another direction. Alongside a gorgeous swimming pool were a series of graceful towering trees.

After studying them for a bit, I realized why I was so drawn to them. The ridge-y bark, the drape of leaves--and even more, the feel of the trees themselves. I knew them! They are Pacific Willow, the tree I sat at back in Joseph, Oregon last year in the depths of winter. This was the tree that served as the image of my "medicine tree" on my blog Jane's Medicine Tree until a few days ago. Realizing this, I just soaked in the energy of the trees -- their rooted presence, the clear mind essence (such as Lemon Balm offers), their gently magnificent grace (a very different feel from Lemon Balm!).

I'm not sure I've ever energetically noticed the particular presence of a tree before, at least not consciously. I'm in awe!

My "medicine tree" back in Joseph, Oregon

Apple Farm School And Restoring A Garden

2009-08-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

A thoughtful Lord Firestar in the garden

Without me deliberately intending to get back in full-groove homeschooling (it is after all, only mid-August!), the rhythm of Apple Farm School (how we are registered in California) is well underway.

Constant to our daily life (homeschooling or not) is hours spent outside with our chickens and plants. Here in the suburbs that means our backyard. We're blessed to have a mature garden, with diverse shrubs, trees, and herbs in this small space, which attracts some lively wildlife: the shy gray-brown towhees scrabbling in the leaf-litter, hummingbirds, squirrels, the bold and brash raccoons, a little woodpecker whose name I have yet to learn, jays, crows. This morning I even heard the raspy sounds of Raven somewhere in the neighborhood. It's not total asphalt and buildings around here!

In our backyard, I read aloud each day. Gradually this summer, our reading time has been preceded by work on penmanship. We work with the Italic Manuscript Series, a system that offers a graceful, clear printing style that morphs gently into its cursive version. We don't have to learn a whole new style when learning cursive. We all work on our own books: my younger daughter with the first in the series, my older daughter and me on the last of the series (suitable for adults).

Our outdoor reading is currently the children's classic, The Secret Garden by Frances H. Burnett. We all love it -- delighting in the impassioned characters (the tantrums are a big hit), the magic of the garden as it transforms and as it transforms the children ... there is so much to enjoy in this book. As a nature mentor, I appreciate the book all the more for its beautiful depiction of the how immersion in one's senses and in the natural world, and connecting with the natural world has everything to do with connecting with oneself and bringing us into a joyful, fullness of being that literally transforms the lives of those around us.

The magic within The Secret Garden led us to look at our own garden with renewed eyes. First we dug up the seeds we'd collected from our farm last year before we moved (way more than I'd remembered collecting!). We stuffed seeds into the spare corners of three large pots I already have going with stinging nettle, kale, calendula, lemon balm, rosemary, raspberry, spearmint, chives. To all these, we've add bantam corn (!), sunflowers (!), California and Shirley poppies, and who knows what all. The girls love to plant seeds. It was at this point we determined it was time to restore some of the garden so that we could actually dig the soil and plant there -- theoretically a better location for a number of the seeds we'd shoved into those pots.

Well, the ground is solid hardpan clay. No topsoil. I don't know how the plants that are here actually thrive, because the soil is awful. So we've been banging away at a patch of ground with a hoe and shovel, spraying the dusty earth with water (and then spraying ourselves and have a general great time with water), and adding some compost. In two days, the patch (about 5' x 5') looks a lot more inviting, but not yet yummy enough or deeply enriched enough in which to plant. I need to feel as if I was gazing at and plunging my hands into a pan of the most delicious chocolate cake batter!

Okay, so that's the beginning of our garden. Our homeschooling, to me, is grounded first and foremost in a healthy lively family rhythm, complete with working with and tending to the things that nourish us. That includes shared household tasks, planning nourishing meals, growing our own food and herbs when we can, or at least using well good veggies and herbs that we find. In the food realm, I'm finally back in stride with this, having the girls help me plan meals for the week (and prepare them, of course). This week, we've been using Molly Katzen's Honest Pretzels for inspiration.

Smoothie Digresssion: Yesterday I concocted my favorite smoothie to date. First, I made a decoction of burdock root, dried elder berries, a little allspice, cloves, and orange peel. Then we blended strawberries, blueberries, whole milk vanilla yogurt, banana, and cinnamon. We added the decoction as the liquid. Yummy! Healthful too.

Back to homeschooling:

Our homeschooling has been different each year. In past years when the girls attended a lovely children's program two or three days a week, our style was mostly unschooling. In the past few years -- especially as we've been in transition -- we've shifted to a relaxed homeschooling approach. I find that having a more overt homeschooling lends our lives a beneficial rhythm and a purposeful nature, especially since we don't have a farm right now, or other regularly scheduled activities (classes, group activities, etc.). Unschooling-to-relaxed homeschooling worked very well for us on Vashon Island, when we were in the midst of a very active community and farm life. In our transitional state (the months preceding our move off the island, our ten months in Oregon, our temporary home here in California) working more overtly on subjects (rather than "coyote mentoring" with them as they come up naturally in our work and play in our days/weeks) helps stitch our days together in a pleasant way.

Having ordered the Second Grade Curriculum from Christopherus (Waldorf-inspired homeschooling resources) for my younger daughter, I've dug out our First Grade Curriculum, and have launched into the final lessons blocks of the book. Last spring, Andy had taken on up homeschooling the girls, using resources that appeal to his style and nature: The McGuffey's Eclectic Readers, and some Mathematics and Grammar books, also from that era (19th century). That certainly works great for him and the girls. I have a different style -- and the imaginative, artistic, holistic perspective of Waldorf (especially via Christopherus) works very well for me when I work with Gwynne.

My older daughter, being 15, is in a different sphere. Here what she and I do is discussion and reading at the center, and moving out from there. She directs a lot of her own learning. Anyone who has doubts about unschooling can have those doubts assuaged by seeing teen unschooling in action! My daughter has fully-developed passions and interests which have led her to all kinds of in-depth learning in an array of areas: biology, animal husbandry, writing, math, electronics, .... What Andy and I do with our daughter is support her passions (and offer our own skills/knowledge in relationship to those interests) and offer "unit studies" (we don't call them that -- but other homeschoolers would) on different topics we think she might do well to have in her knowledge-and-experience tool-kit, or that we just think are fun and cool :-). As a former English major I find literature to be cool and fun, so from The Secret Garden, we'll move into reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (I'm intrigued by similar motifs in all three of these books!). From there, we might move on to a unit study of Comedy & Tragedy ... Or perhaps Jane Eyre will inspire an excursion into a different realm ....

I've had a number of parents of young children talk to me recently about homeschooling, and what I can say here is that homeschooling can be very idiosyncratic! It can look and feel quite different from family to family, reflecting the values, passions, and style of each family. I call what we do "homeschooling", but honestly, love of learning, self-directed learning, and sharing our learning is so much a part of who we are as a family that I almost don't regard "homeschooling" as a separate subject in our lives (i.e., what we do instead of school). If anything, I use the term "homeschooling" as a marker: designating particular sorts of foci in particular points in a day, just like we have meal-times, or chicken time or clean up or chore time (or time on the computer!). Learning, of course, takes place anytime (okay, I couldn't resist writing something so corny & cheesy :-)!!!).

Simpling My Life

2009-08-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Listening to the last audio in HerbMentor.com's Think Like An Herbalist course taught by Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir, I was struck by the notion that the whole thrust of my life in the past few years has been an attempt at creating a Simple. What's a Simple? Creating a medicine (be it an infusion, tincture, what have you) using a single herb. That sounds simple, but actually, a great deal can go into the process of choosing that one herb. You might (as Heather suggests) indulge in creating a list of gripes and complaints about your health, then list all the herbs you have available that would assuage those complaints, then circle three herbs that resolve the most complaints on the list. Then see which herb of which you have an abundance. You might choose that one herb as your Simple, because there are no coincidences. If you have an abundance of it, it may be a kind of "pick me, pick me!" or a "calm waiting for you to notice". (this is my interpretation of Heather's words!). Anyway, choosing a Simple is a personal and individual process. Two people with lists of similar complaints are likely to choose two different herbs as their Simple.

Okay, so I'm going about with my list in a mixed-up way. One thing I notice is the abundance of Rose in my garden, and in my jars (vinegar, tincture, dried ...). Notice, too, this bread which I made recently:

I used hand-ground spelt ...

And added rose petals and a bit of lavender from the garden, and some dried calendula and dried nettles.

Okay, the mix of herbs is not "simple" -- but I'd have to say, that if any herb speaks as a Simple in my life right now, it would have to be Rose.

So, my thought is: okay, backwards is fine. How about listing my complaints now, and then researching Rose absolutely thoroughly. With which systems of the body does Rose work her magic? What, where, when, why, how does she work? Is there something about Rose that might soothe my achy wrists and shoulder? (too much typing) I've never heard/read of Rose working in this way, but what if certain qualities of Rose might be just what I need -- a Rose salve for instance? The Rose might inspire me to -- ah, slow down and smell the roses (so I spend less time on the computer, and less time furiously pecking away at the keyboard). But some aspects might be particularly soothing and healing to my body in other ways ....

A trail of thought, reflection, research, and experience to follow ....

Anyway, back to the idea of "Simpling my Life". I realize that actually a huge amount of reflection, experience, research, living is bundled up into a Simple, and there lies its potency -- because the herb is just right, just what you need, the perfect ally. In the past years of shedding many possessions, sifting through my passions, moving home a few times, it has been about finding the one place, the one expression of art and purpose that bundles all-that-I-am, that nourishes my entire system, and allows me to offer my self in my most potent fashion. How far do I carry the metaphor of Simple? The answer: as far as is useful. In the end it's an intriguing exercise of thought, and perhaps practice. I might do well to attend as well to the art of creating effective Formulas (using a few herbs together), and see what light this shines on who, what, how, why, I can live my most soulful, purposeful life.

Lovely Pres. Lincoln, Salve, and More

2009-08-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a President Lincoln rose. Lovely, yes?

Today I checked on my various rose mixes. My rose petal vinegar has a delightful bouquet. My rose petals tinctured in kirsch smell yummy. My yarrow tinctured in vodka has an intriguing spicey smell (in a good way). My cottonwood buds collected this past spring in olive oil have an, um, unusual smell. Not rancid, but ... I screw the lid back on and shove the jar back into the pantry, to inspect again later. Perhaps the trees I'd collected these buds from hadn't been Black Cottonwood ... Hm.

On the other hand: I open the jar containing my Black Cottonwood buds in olive oil, collected on Vashon Island in 2007. Wow, luscious. The buds have been there for two years! I take a small jar, shave some beeswax, filling the jar a quarter way. Then I pour the beeswax into a sauce pan, and gently melt the wax I pour some of the Black Cottonwood oil through cheese cloth, filling the jar 3/4s of the way, then add the filtered oil to the melted beeswax. After mixing it, I turn off the heat, pop a spoon into the mix, then put the spoonful into the freezer and leave it for a few minutes. When I check the consistency of the salve, I find it is just right. Hurrah! Last time I made Black Cottonwood salve (a couple of years ago), I'd added too much beeswax.

Back to the saucepan. I turn on the heat enough to warm the salve some more, and melt the salve from the spoon. Pour the salve into the jar. The salve now sits on the counter til it cools completely, then I'll screw on the lid and stash it away. I've tried some of the salve, and boy does it have a warm, delicious feel. And the scent -- mmmm!! My Balm Of Gilead salve is a success!

Acquainting Myself With Yarrow

2009-07-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm folding the ladder to shuffle to a new place in the yard, from which to reach for enticing plums. OUCH!!! I pinch my finger in the metal supports as they accordion closed.

Yuck. First something like a blood blister appears, then blood begins to ooze. I don't have plantain in my yard. Maybe it's a good time to make friends with Yarrow -- Achillea millefolium -- a plant I encountered in abundance on our camping trip in the Sierras last week, and which I'm studying in Herbalist 101.

Though I'd been more familiar with Yarrow's use to promote a sweat to encourage colds and fevers to move out of one's body, I'd recently discovered that among its many uses is to staunch internal and external bloodflow (in fact, some alternate names for Yarrow are, significantly, Blood Wort, Staunch Weed, and Nosebleed -- I love that one!) Yarrow also has anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties -- nice for just cleaning a wound.

Okay! So how might I use Yarrow on my little wound? If it was growing in my yard, I'd probably pick some, chew it up, and place it against my skin, just as I do with Plantain ("nature's bandage"). Instead, I decide to brew a tea from the dried herbs I have in my pantry.

First, I sniff the dried flowers. Intriguing! Reminds me a little of Alfredo Sauce. A strange association! I brew a strong tea. In 10 minutes I swab my wound with the tea. Boy, that sure cleaned it up -- and look, Ma, no more flowing blood! Did it really act that fast, or had the bleeding stopped or nearly stopped already? I could cut myself again to find out, but that seems rather a grim action to take in the name of science!

Now, I drink. Well, it's rather nice, in a bitter, dandelionish way. The inside of my mouth begins to go dry. Okay, so it has astringent properties. I'm still a bit mixed up about plant energetics, but I am so reminded of dandelion root, I might venture to guess that Yarrow is "cooling". Except that Yarrow is used to promote sweats. That suggests "warming" at the very least. Well, I'm still mixed up for sure here! And what about the feel ... hm. (sip, swallow) Not downward or "sinking". If anything it's "outward" and upward. Floating energy?

Okay, enough fussing on semantics. I pick up my newest favorite book, The Book Of Herbal Wisdom by Matthew Wood. I lose myself in his discourse on Yarrow. Holeee!!!! What an incredible herb! Definitely good for treating deep wounds, it seems, and blood blisters. Not only that, but there is some great information about using Yarrow sitz baths for curing uterine fibroids and Yarrow tea for easing excessive menstrual flow. These aren't problems I have, but two women close to me do. I'll have to pass on the information to them, and see what they think (checking in with them too to see that they aren't allergic to members of the daisy family!). My heart quickens just a bit. I feel like this time I really have information regarding a particular herb
that feels right for their issues, quietly potent, and harmonious with each of them in different ways. Is there something else I should consider here?

My experience of Yarrow: This lovely feathery leafed plant (Matthew Wood describes the feathery leaf as being single leaves evolved to just the ribs or vein, literally "cut to the bone and the artery") with its umbrels of tiny white flowers flourished in that open high altitude meadow near our campsite. I recall it growing on our open hillside back on Plain Old Farm in our former Vashon Island home. I can't wait to meet up with Yarrow again, now that I'm getting to know her better!

Tincture!

So, I'd love to make a tincture of Yarrow. Usually I prefer to work with fresh plants, but lacking a population of Yarrow in my yard, I pull the dried herb
back out from my cupboard. The ratio is 1:5, dried herb to 100 proof Vodka.
Browsing the web, I try to figure out what that means. Do I fill the jar 1/5th
full with the dried herb? Some places talk about particular weights .... In the
end I fill my jam jar almost halfway with the Yarrow, and pour 80 proof Vodka to the top. Since (several years ago) I purchased the Vodka specifically for tincture making, I wonder why I bought 80 proof and not 100 proof? Another browse through the web. Seems like 80 proof is just fine in some folks' dried herbal tincture making.

The little jar filled up lacks vitality to me. I call on Reiki and begin infusing the tincture with healing energy. As I do so, I connect with my memories and experiences with Yarrow, how that herb feels to me. I open to feeling the presence of Yarrow. The spirit of Yarrow is here, and perhaps Yarrow blesses my humble efforts. I offer Reiki to her in gratitude ....

Mullein Oil Update

Well, it turns out that two weeks apparently is long enough for cold-infusing the mullein (aka Verbascum thapsus) in olive oil. Mine has been infusing for five weeks! Opening the jar, I look at it carefully and take several deep sniffs. Smells fine. Nothing scary. I rummage through my cabinets, and can't locate my muslin. Rats. Okay, we'll see what I can do with coffee filters. Will the oil be too thick to pass through the filter?

I squeeze and smoosh it through once. Plenty of sediment. Probably it moved through a hole in the filter. So I pour it through a second filter and let it sit. Seems to be draining S-L-O-W-L-Y through. Okay! This will work, though perhaps coffee filters aren't the most efficient way to process an infused oil.

I relabel my jar, and stick it back into the cabinet. The mullein oil is now ready for use, if needed!

Sharing Herbs - Also: A Little On Mullein Oil

2009-07-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

With three nieces ages 5, 13, and 15 living just blocks away, I have the perfect opportunity to share the joys of herbs with my extended family. I decided to start with "fun, nourishing, and sweet" -- creating some delicious concoctions that would draw everyone into the enchanted realm of plants with no challenges.

First up, we created our own herbal chai. Filling a saucepan with water, I brought out bundles of dried herbs and spices, and invited them to smell each, and scatter some in. With comments, appreciation (ginger, elder berries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods), debate (burdock root, dandelion root, licorice root), critiques (I let them smell elecampane and boneset, just for fun), we concocted our chai, then set it on the stove to decoct -- letting it simmer for 20 minutes after just reaching a boil. To ensure that everyone gave the chai a good try, I added some hot chocolate. My friend and fellow sound healer, Celestine Raye, who is a mistress of incredible herbal tea concoctions, sometimes adds hot chocolate to her brews, adding a smooth creamy taste to it. (She also adds coconut oil -- yum!).

A big lump of hot chocolate mix tumbled in, probably not adding too much to the flavor (or taking away, as the case might be), but adding excitement and enticement to the whole thing. I offered milk to be added as willed. The teenagers drink their chai "as is", and the little girls drank it with plenty of milk, but all of the chai delightedly vanished. So: success! Amri suggested in the future we might try adding Dagoba's Xocolatl mix--hot chocolate with chilies and cinnamon--to our chai. Lovely idea! Perhaps not for the little girls, however ....

In addition to making our chai, we plucked a bunch of lavender sprigs from the blooming plant in once-upon-a-time Victory garden. We then made sugared lavender, and from the quantities of sugar used in that process, made lavender sugar. Not a whole lot of nutrition in this project, but we certainly connected with Lavender's open-hearted and friendly spirit!

Above: boiling the lavender in sugar water
Left: Lavender sprinkled with (lots!) more sugar before being baked.
Below: Sugared Lavender after baking. The excess sugar from both processes above was saved for other cooking use.

Other projects:

Today I opened the jar of Mullein Oil I started back in Joseph, OR. A month ago exactly! It's hard for me to believe that it's been less than a month since we left. I smell the oil, and it actually smells similar to my Black Cottonwood oil, though less honey-like. Yes, they are both infused in olive oil, but there is a hint of honey here too. I screw the lid back on and set it back into the dark. In two more weeks I'll probably strain out the Mullein and have my Mullein Oil ready for use during the next cold season.Mullein next to Dandelion, back in Joseph, Oregon a month ago. Mullein, like Dandelion, seems to thrive in open, disturbed places. Dandelion is a great liver detox herb and blood purifier. Mullein infusion is useful for healing bronchial conditions. I'll be using the Mullein Oil for soothing and healing ear infections. So, with these properties in mind, how might Mullein and Dandelion be working to heal the bit of land (area around a house) pictured above?

Rose Vinegar & Dandelion Decoction

2009-07-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

My experimentation continues! My delight in Rose led me to create some Rose Vinegar. Just pluck a bunch of petals and some young leaves, shred them a bit, fill a jar, and then add organic apple cider vinegar to the top. Be sure to put some plastic wrap or waxed paper over the mouth of the jar before screwing on the lid (if it's metal). Otherwise, the vinegar will corrode the metal, and you'll end up with a nasty looking brew.

Let the Rose Vinegar sit for 2-6 weeks (preferably six), in a dark place and shaking it everyday or two or three. Then strain out the petals & leaves.

You can enjoy it as a salad dressing. You can also use it to relieve the pain of a sunburn! And you can use it for other soothing purposes too. Please see Kiva Rose's blogpost on Rose Vinegar for more information! You'll want to whip up some of this stuff too after reading all about it.

Dandelion Decoction
I nibble on some dandelion root. Another nibble. What's the energy of this herb? Cooling? Warming? Hot? Neutral? Cold? As a village herbalist wannabee I'm trying to sort this out. Definitely not hot or cold. I feel warmed from the inside when I nibble the root. The taste to me is mellow. Okay, 'mellow' is not one of the five tastes, which are ... what? Pungent, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Sweet (empty & full). Uhhh. I flip through Healing With The Herbs Of Life by Lesley Tierra and locate her section on Dandelion (Taraxacum mongolicum). Well, now. Here's what she writes:

Energy: cold; Taste: bitter, sweet. Actions: clears Heat and toxins.

Urk. Now I'm confused. I reflect on my responses to nibbling the root. Maybe I need to reevaluate my responses. Not to say that my responses are wrong (how can they be?) but maybe I'm not mapping the language in the same way. We're talking about sensations and tastes here! Not a language in which I'm particularly verbally eloquent.

I drink my decoction (a handful of dandelion bark cast into a couple of cups of water, brought to a boil, simmered for 20 min., then strained). My first small cup satisfies something in that digestive fire of mine, and in my soul. After I type all this, and about 1/2 hour later, I take another cup. Well, now I taste some Bitter. And, yes, there is a cool energy that I can identify. Does this mean I needed Dandelion before to work on my body, and so had a different experience of it? Or have I assimilated the lingo a bit more and remapped by responses? The power of suggestion, or just refining my senses and sensibilities ... uhhh ....!

Further experimentation is definitely necessary!

I have this sense of "downward" and "inward". Flipping through Healing With The Herbs Of Life, I read how that herbs have four directional energies, meaning that particular herbs "move" in a certain way to treat various organs or parts of the body. But "downward" is actually a quality of sinking energy: "The sinking energy moves downward and outward, causing elimination through the bowels or urine, activating menses and lowering fevers. Example herbs include bupleurum, black cohosh and peppermint." Well, this definitely describes what I know about Dandelion and its actions.

What about "inward"?

(Again from the book:) "The descending energy moves inward, strengthening the inner Organs and treating the deep-level functions of the body. Examples include ginseng and rehmannia." Well, I have no experience with these herbs as of yet, nor of any others that I know to be herbs with "descending energy", so can't compare the energetic feel. The experiments will continue!

Ah, Rose. dear Rose ...

2009-06-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Roses still bloom on shrubs that my grandparents planted decades ago.

Playing in the garden today, I went from rose bush to rose bush, intoxicated with the notion of creating with my friend Rosa spp. I finally settled with one dark pink bush with lovely unfurling blooms. The blooms had that lovely rose scent, but light--not thick like soap. So, with mason jar in hand, I plucked a bloom, separated the petals into the jar. I added a few sprigs of lavender and a single bit of cedar leaflet from the garden, and some bits of dried satsuma peel to the mix (I can hardly ever confine myself to a single herb when I create with plants!). After that, I filled the jar halfway with filtered water and set it out in the sun for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, I nibbled a rose petal, inhaling that delicate scent of grace, and my mouth drying. Astringent. Is experience I have of Rose in my mouth warming? Cooling? Neutral? My first thought was neutral--such an unromantic word for such a heavenly flower. But a second nibble seemed to fill me with the faintest of sense of warm. Certainly I feel warmed in spirit when I am with Rose, so I go with that sense. That's my experience today of Rose.

Tonight I strain out the petals and peel. A faint citrusy fragrance as I twirl the water, and that waft of rose. The water is a pale yellow-orange. Perhaps a slight rose blush to the color, perhaps not. I sip and taste ... lemon! But further swallows separate the flavors. Rose, certainly. Orange/citrus -- ever so slight. Perhaps I can distinguish the lavender. Cedar, I can't taste, but the ancient mother sense of cedar is in the mix for me. I wonder: if I infuse just the smallest bit of cedar in one jar of water, and then later have one of my daughters fill three cups: two with plain water and one with the faintest-bit-of-cedar water, would I be able to sense with assurance the cup that held the spirit of cedar? An experiment for sometime soon!

Back to my rose sun tea:

Really, the smell and taste verges on soap. But if I separate myself, just the smallest bit, I return to my grandmother's rose garden in my heart and mind, the garden from which I plucked these herbs. My garden. That grace of rose resumes, and it is as if sunlight infuses my spirit. Can it be that this infusion is cleansing my spirit? That's the feeling gentling through me!

Rose Elixer
Kiva Rose has an enticing recipe for Wild Rose Elixer on her blog. What I created today is perhaps a gaudy relative of hers.

I plucked a rose bloom, separated the petals into a small mason jar, filling it. Then I filled the jar the rest of the way with kirschwasser--cherry brandy--which is the only brandy I have in the house, bought for who knows what recipe years ago, and barely used in all that time. Wild roses are ever more subtle than this cultivated bloom I used. And cherry brandy! Well, perhaps the cherry part of the brandy will add another medicinal quality to the mix. I'll have to research just what kirsch is, how it's made. And what are the medicinal qualities of cherry?

Okay, Wikipedia tells me that kirschwasser is made from distilled, fermented morello cherries (a sour cultivar), with the pits (stones) included. Perusing Herbalpedia 2007 tells me that cherry, a member of the Rose family, is useful for respiratory and arthritic problems. I'm reminded that cherry bark is often used in herbal cough syrups. Hm!

How might the respiratory assistance qualities of Cherry support those of Rose? From a plant spirit medicine perspective, I consider the heart-opening nature of Rose, its nature for me as a spirit balm and its protective, fierce, and wild nature (think of Rose's thorns, and how even domesticated Roses like the ones in my garden, can snag and entangle you when you are unaware). I think of the hearty nature of Cherry, the bold bright or sour flavor that we delight in so much as children and as adults, if we leave off our fastidious natures (spitting out pits, dribbling cherry juice, staining our fingers ....). When I consider Cherry I think of generosity, friendliness, invitation, frolic. So perhaps this Rose-Cherry Brandy Elixer may support in uplifting my heart, and soothing away those things that choke me up -- coughs, inflexibility in my thoughts and emotions. Perhaps this gregarious elixer with support an ease and flexibility in my being, and encourage a gentle and freeing wildness to emerge ... These are my fancies right now. We'll see in just what way this elixer nourishes my well-being in future weeks.

Nature's Gifts

2009-06-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mullein country: Aound here I've found Mullein mostly in disturbed open areas near river banks--like this one along the Lostine River in N.E. Oregon.

A few weeks ago, my friend Lisa gave me a marvelous gift: a large bag each of soft fuzzy mullein leaves and of nettle -- harvested that morning! I was so delighted, because with the transitions in our lives, I just hadn't gotten it together to track down my dear friend Nettle (Urtica dioica), nor had I gathered my being enough to head over to my friend Celestine's to really introduce myself to Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), sit with this plant, and harvest some leaves, offering a song and Reiki in gratitude.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I drink nettle infusions to nourish my well-being. Nettle is a true "wise woman" herb, demanding (with its stinging hairs) that we pay attention when we are with her. If we don't--ouch :-)! The leaves are rich in iron and Vitamin C. In addition to drinking infusions (which serves not not only to nourish me, but to plant my feet on the earth, and also inspire that "Aunt Leaf" -- a la Mary Oliver's poem -- quality in myself) I love to steam the leaves with olive oil and garlic, or make nettle-potato soup, or substitute the leaves for spinach in cassaroles or lasagna.

Here's the poem I mentioned--one of my favorite's of all time. A great "green-woman" poem:

Aunt Leaf by Mary Oliver

Needing one, I invented her -
the great-great-aunt dark as hickory
called Shining-Leaf, or Drifting-Cloud
or The-Beauty-of-the-Night.

Dear aunt, I'd call into the leaves,
and she'd rise up, like an old log in a pool,
and whisper in a language only the two of us knew
the word that meant follow,

and we'd travel
cheerful as birds
out of the dusty town and into the trees
where she would change us both into something quicker -
two foxes with black feet,
two snakes green as ribbons,
two shimmering fish - and all day we'd travel.

At day's end she'd leave me back at my own door
with the rest of my family,
who were kind, but solid as wood
and rarely wandered. While she,
old twist of feathers and birch bark,
would walk in circles wide as rain and then
float back

scattering the rags of twilight
on fluttering moth wings;

or she'd slouch from the barn like a gray opossum;

or she'd hang in the milky moonlight
burning like a medallion,

this bone dream, this friend I had to have,
this old woman made out of leaves.

Mullein leaves
Okay! So on to Mullein!

I've long heard that Mullein is great as an infused oil for soothing earaches and ear infections. You can also drink its dried leaves as a tea (but being sure to use a fine muslin to strain out Mullein's fine hairs which can be irritating if drunk) for bronchial conditions. Or you can use the dried leaves in very hot water to breathe in the steam--again for bronchitis or for asthma. I haven't tried Mullein myself yet, but that's why I've taken the time to dry the leaves! Maybe today I'll pick some more Mullein leaves and infuse some in olive oil, and give that a try when the next ear infection comes around.

Nettles. I jump-started the drying process by placing them in the shade under my drying clothes for about an hour, before taking them inside to dry the rest of the way.

Here are my nettle trays, with the tray of Mullein leaves below. I didn't dry the nettles on the table top, but rather dried them on the lowest shelf of this table, to keep the sun off them and avoid discoloration.

Stomach Flu Or Food Poisoning! What did I do?

2009-06-02T15:19:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I awoke on the day of a long cross-state journey, feeling terrible. "I'm not that stressed out about moving our chickens, am I?" I considered the lousy feeling in my gut, recalling similar times four years ago, twelve years ago .... I don't get stomach flu very often, but ....

A half hour later, I was bowing to the porcelain god. As the day progressed, the rest of the family joined in the miserable experience.

I know the herbs can help me, I thought through the day. But I didn't have it in me to look through my resources, and I'd never made a "what to do" list for myself (as I'd always intended) for when the inevitable stomach flu returned or disagreement with food.

When I finally stabilized enough to keep water down, I switched to peppermint leaf tea, and offered that to my family when they were ready for something. That seemed to help stabilize my stomach a little further. Eventually I considered replenishing my eloctrolytes. Heather Nic Fleisdeir in her Village Herbalist course on HerbMentor.com had suggested this blend:

Electrolyte Blend
Mix in a cup of warm water:
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- pinch of salt

I couldn't quite stomach the idea of drinking a cup of this, so just hastily swallowed a spoonful of apple cider vinegar, and a spoonful of honey, and figured I was getting the salt from the cracker I'd just eaten, and the water from my peppermint tea.

When I was growing up, my mom had always given us Saltine crackers and Ginger Ale for our recovery. I considered how this 'home remedy' might have helped us kids. Had the ginger in the Ginger Ale helped settle our stomachs? (this is assuming that Ginger Ale was actually made with ginger back in the late 60s to early 70s. Ginger Ale doesn't seem to be made with ginger in any of the bottles I looked at when I finally made it to the store once more). Had the salt in the crackers and the sugar in the ginger ale helped replenish our electrolytes in some way? I don't have that answer. But I always enjoyed crackers and ginger ale when recovering from the stomach flu as a kid!

In our recovery a couple of weeks ago, I flaked oat groats with the flaker attachment to our grain grinder, and cooked a pot of oatmeal. My husband said that my oatmeal and peppermint tea (and infusion) both helped restore him! (nice when a family member appreciates these things :-)!). A couple of days later I downloaded the latest in Think Like An Herbalist -- the second audio course by Heather Nic Fleisdeir at Herbmentor.com, and it was all about Pathways of Elimination. Better late than never! I thought as I listened to it.

And I took notes about what I could have done (be prepared!).

A great tip was this one:

To help prevent or relieve vomiting
50 drops peppermint extract (basically the extract is a tincture)
1 tsp. hot water

Combine and drink! The small amount ingested isn't as likely to trigger the body to get rid of it (unlike a drinking a quart of peppermint infusion), and so this mixture will have a better chance of working.

My husband never vomited, but was pretty miserable for a longer period of time than the rest of us. If we were living those days over I would have supported his other pathways of elimination.

(***Please note***I'm still learning this stuff and haven't tried it out! I'm something of an advanced beginner. So be sure to do your own research as to why anything written here might be effective or not in your situation! Thanks!)

- A bath filled with calendula infusion (infused for two hours) to encourage him to sweat some of it out.

- A burdock decoction to support his liver in eliminating the toxins.

- Perhaps a nettle infusion to support his kidney function in elimination.

He never had diarrhea, so no need to work with blackberry root or sage to slow that response down or lessen its severity.

Okay! Enough for today on this cheery topic.

Be well!

All In A Day's Work!

2009-05-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

I love playing with herbs. Here are today's "confusions" (as my wise-guy

daughters like to say).

Make both of these at the same time:

LAVENDER-CINNAMON INFUSION
To soothe the heart and mind, while sparking the spirit.

3 tablespoons lavender buds
1 cinnamon stick
1 pint boiling water

Place together in a 1 pint Mason Jar. Let steep for 45 min. Strain the herbs from the liquid. Add warm milk or honey to taste, or take that potent flavor as is.

Sip this one while you wait for the next one to finish ....

WISEWOMAN INFUSION:
Woman's Soothing and Replenishing Infusion with a touch of Wisdom

1/2 oz. Oat Tops (Avena sativa)
1/2 oz. Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)
1 oz. Red Clover Herb (Trifolium pratense)
1 sprinkle of Sage (Salvia officinalis)
1 qt Boiling Water

Place herbs in a 1 Quart Mason Jar. Fill jar with the hot water. Let sit for 4-8 hours. Strain and drink.

Also: Today was floor cleaning day.

A FLOOR-CLEANING CONCOCTION

1/2 gallon of very warm water in a bowl

add:
a squeeze of Tea Tree Liquid Castille soap
2 drops Rosemary essential oil
1 drop Orange
1 drop Sweet Basil

For me, Rosemary offers the zest of bright spirit, cleanliness and clarity, Orange graces us with good cheer, and Sweet Basil offers tranquility. Feel free to substitute other essential oils for the above according to your mood and intent.

Now, scrub away!

A Huge Apology To My Subscribers!!!!

2009-05-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry. I was goofing around with some background program for this blog, and I think it ended up creating a bunch of senseless posts. Forgive me! I've learned my lesson! I'll keep this blog its simple self. Please don't give up on this blog ....

Graces,
Jane

Violet - Viola odorata

2009-05-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

One of the few plants that are blooming right now here in our corner of the world is Violet - Viola odorata. She grows in little bunches beneath a still leafless fruit tree, with friendly grape-scented (it seems to me!) petals.

I have been sitting with her, just soaking in what I can learn from her presence. Here are my impressions.

Violet is a graceful ally, soothing to the mind, the heart.

Yes, with properties for shrinking abnormal growths (I consider the ganglian cyst on my finger!). Seemingly vulnerable and delicate, yet here she is, in eager clusters at the base of the plum tree, leafed and in bloom! In fact, she is the first to bloom in this yard and neighborhood, except for robust and rambunctious Dandelion. So her small sweet nature belies the fact that she is a herald of spring. One of the first to bloom despite the continued spurts of winter here.

Violet speaks of a sweet open nature and of boldness. She says: Don't be afraid to cluster around giants--it is safe here! I offer a balm to the spirit, vigor, and the gift of promise: of spring, of new growth, and warmth.

I am a wild heart! I am Violet!

From Herbalpedia - 2007 edition

Violet Soup

1 8-oz can of chicken and rice soup
1 cup violet blossoms
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Prepare the soup according to can directions. Bring to a simmer. Add the violets; simmer 1 minute. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with cinnamon. (A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook)

A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook, Patricia Telesco,
Llewellyn, 1994; ISBN: 1-56718-707-2

Violet Omelet

4 eggs
4 tsp milk
12 violet leaves
12 violet blossoms
salt
pepper
1 tsp butter

Wash violet leaves and blossoms and crisp in refrigerator. Beat eggs with fork or whisk until light yellow. Add milk. Sprinkle with salt and add freshly ground pepper (about three turns of the grinder). Melt butter in skillet. Pour egg mixture in and, using spatula, cut around edges of pan and across egg mixture until top of mixture is frothy and bubbly. Meanwhile chop violet leaves and sprinkle on top of egg mixture. Turn omelet by folding over and cook further until desired degree of doneness. Serve on hot plate. Sprinkle or garnish with violet blossoms. (Cooking with Flowers)
Cooking with Flowers, Jenny Leggatt, Fawcett,
1987; ISBN 0-449-90252-8

Violet-Watercress Greens

6 cups violet greens
3 cups watercress
6 slices bacon
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
cup onion, finely minced
Saute bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Saute greens in cup bacon
drippings for 10 minutes. Remove vegetables to platter and top with bacon, eggs and onion. Serve immediately. (How to Prepare Common
Wild Foods)

Violet Mushroom Caps

Saute 24 medium-sized mushroom caps in butter and drain on paper toweling.
Mix:
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cognac (optional)
2 tsp chopped chives
2 tsp chopped violets
Fill mushroom caps with above mixture and garnish each with a violet. You can also combine 1 teaspoon each cognac and lemon

juice and dip in a violet to use as a garnish on each stuffed mushroom cap. Serve chilled. (The Forgotten Art of Flower Cookery)
The Forgotten Art of Flower Cookery, Leona
Woodring Smith, Pelican; 1973; ISBN: 0-
88289-464-1

Ginkgo biloba

2009-05-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

The Ginkgo tree is a "living fossil", belonging to a family that dates back to dinosaur times--more than 200 million years! Gingko seeds have been used in Chinese medicine to help asthma. Lately, Gingko leaves have been getting good press for perhaps helping improve memory function. The leaves have several compounds that may help in this regard, as well as have an anti-oxidant effect in the body, and an anti-allergic effect on asthma.

(source: Herbs: A Color Guide to Herbs And Herbal Healing by Jennie Harding.)

My parents have a gingko tree in their front yard. My mom sent me a bunch of new leaves. I considered making a tincture from them, or an infusion (or decoction), but held back, deciding to research gingko leaf herbal preparations. I don't know anyone personally who works with gingko leaves, and my question on the HerbMentor.com forum has so far not yielded any results. My mom sent me some links to some articles she discovered on the internet:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Homemade-Ginkgo-Biloba-Tincture

http://ginkgopages.blogspot.com/2006/11/making-tea-from-ginkgo-leaves.html

I'm a bit puzzled why they harvest leaves in autumn and not in spring.
Usually when working with leaves, you harvest them when they are in their
young/new growth, and not when the energy of the tree or plant is being put to other uses (making flowers, seeds/fruit, going into the roots ...).

So, hmm. I did try nibbling on a leaf, and felt fine. I just want to be sure that no extra process is involved with using Gingko than just treating it in the usual way for infusions or tinctures--and that there isn't anything I need to worry about when using Gingko. The book above did indicate that it shouldn't be taken while pregnant, breastfeeding, or in infancy, or if you are epileptic or taking any kind of anticoagulant medication, or if you are older.

I suppose if the herb is listed in this book, it should be safe to use, except for as listed above. But perhaps it's time to reread this intro to this books to get a sense of the practical nature of its contents, in terms of home preparation.

Learning Your Herbs Online and Journal

2009-04-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon Angie' Goodloe and her online Herbalist 101 course, and thought, what the heck! I have a lot of herbal resources available to me, and have been plunging along with nourishing my family and self with herbs, as well as creating remedies. But I'm after that extra something to catalyze me to gather my adventuring into a more coherent medicine bundle. As I've mentioned in the previous post, I engage in plant spirit medicine already, in my healing arts practice. But I long to go deeper and more knowledgeably on all levels in my relationship with herbs. I'm on Lesson One, and love the course--and Angie--already!

Part of the coursework is keeping a journal. So that is what I will do here in a harper's garden: journal my experiences with herbs and my questions. And eventually record the answers to those questions. My aim is to write up my adventures with you, dear reader, in mind, so it's not just me jotting down lists that have meaning only to me.

A few words on my herbal study. I am also a member of HerbMentor.com and find that to be an incredible resource. It has several fabulous e-courses and audio courses, and an abundance of information that includes videos, interviews, articles, and a lively informative community forum. If you
are interested in herbs, I cannot recommend this resource highly enough. It is worth far, far more than the yearly membership fee. If you're new to the idea of working with herbs (and even if you aren't) do visit their sister site Learning Herbs, which features a monthly herbal project and its free seven-day Supermarket Herbalism e-course.

I'm also entranced and enchanted by Kiva Rose and her blog The Medicine Woman Roots and The Anima Medicine Woman Tradition website, and intend to take her Medicine Woman Herbalist course(s) in time.

Okay. How I used herbs today:

Nourishing Infusion

In a quart size Mason jar, the following dried herbs:

Red Clover (about 3/4 oz), Oat Tops (1/4 oz), peppermint (a sprinkle), lavender (a sprinkle) and rose petals (to cover the top of the herbs in the jar).

Poured boiling water over all, covered, and let sit for about four hours. I chose the Red Clover for its anti-tumor/anti-cancer properties (I have a lump on one of my fingers--not cancerous or a tumor--but which I'm experimenting with dissolving by means of herbs and other "alternative" means). Oat Tops--as a "comfort" herb, and the rest mostly for flavor and a hint of these qualities: Peppermint (sparkle), lavender (soothing), rose petals (grace). Usually I drink my infusions as a single herb or just two herbs, but I thought I might share it at a gathering today that didn't end up happening.

After setting up the infusion I discovered that flowers should only be infused 1 hour maximum. (from a Brewing Table in Healing Wise by Susun Weed) Oops!

In this gathering I'd planned to introduce some simple herbal medicine making. I'd detail my "lesson plan" in another post!

The Garden Calls!

2009-04-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is a picture from four years ago. My daughters are collecting dandelions for making dandelion fritters. Yum!

I'm immersing myself in a lot of herbal study and experience right now, and also reading up on plant spirit medicine--which I realize is what I have been practicing when I offer nourishing herbs to my clients or invoke the quality or 'spirit' (to me) of a particular herb during a healing session. Lovely.

In the former (herbal study) I've been making infusions and syrups, and applying them to self and my family (as needed). Currently my older daughter has been suffering from a flu. So, I peered through some recipes and the colds-and-flu ebook on HerbMentor.com, and have been trying a various remedies on her. After mixing a too-complex tea of peppermint (for her headache) and rose (for gentleness) with elderberry syrup (this decoction with its own spices sent the tea over the top!), I finally got the message that less is more with her. The little bundle I made of dried peppermint and rose petals to scent the air around her is probably enough! And if I venture into teas with her tomorrow it will be with a single green ally .... She's been a pretty good sport with my experimentation, all things considered!

I do long for my herb garden. It would be lovely to pick some lavender, chamomile and calendula, just to put near my dear daughter, to lighten and soothe her spirits. And a sprig of mint for encouraging a banishment of her headache! I've been enjoying adventuring with the dried herbs I've had to purchase in lieu of my garden, but so much more is invoked, evoked, conveyed with a single flower.

I do believe I've resumed a harper's garden! Thank you for continuing to join me here, dear readers!

Farewell To A Harper's Garden

2009-01-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I didn't intend to leave this blog when I started Jane's Medicine Tree--certainly not so soon. Well, maybe I did! It just seems to me that this space represents where I was for a year--a beautiful self-sowing garden full of lovely medicinal and cooking herbs--but, well, I'm just not there anymore! Heck, even the flowers in the photo below the A Harper's Garden are from a former home of mine--my grandparents' house in California. And, double-heck! Even the name of the blog, A Harper's Garden, comes from a business of mine that dissolved quite awhile back!

The lovely herbs remain with me, of course, and my views from the Island that was my home and heart-place for ten years. And my grandmother's roses, and that home-of-grace--the house my grandparents had built in 1936, and lived in for the rest of their lives--of course that remains in my creative and soul geography. And the fun I had with the biz remains with me still! Now, though, it's time to move into my newly rooted perspective, with those beautiful nourishing places and times continuing as branches in my Tree and continuing as rich and lively humus for my soil/soul ....

Thanks for visiting my Garden! I hope you will continue with me on my journey via the Medicine Tree.

Harpquest And Jane's Medicine Tree

2009-01-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning we found our Mookie in a Thorn Tree!

Hello, everyone!

It seems that each year I reimagine or reinvent myself in some way. Last year, I replaced my Tree Letter with this blog. This year, as the result of some dreams, story, and ah-ha moments (and perhaps as the result of being in a new place metaphorically and in true life), I began Jane's Medicine Tree, which is a blog embedded in my Forest Halls website. I'll be continuing this blog into the foreseeable future, however! Coming soon will be posts related to Twelve Secrets Of Highly Successful Women blogging book group. So please continue to stay tuned!

In the meantime, I invite you to experience my Medicine Tree. I have several posts up already, and ideas for a bunch more in the coming weeks.

Vashon Island Millennium Harper Of The Paper Crane

This is a Harping For Harmony harp quest I pursued in 2004. Now in the snowy solitude of this winter I've finally written up the details of the quest, and claimed my title. To my great surprise, I'm to be awarded a small harp! You can read about the quest by clicking the link above.

The Fallen Sun - A Winter Solstice Tale

2008-12-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

On the morning after the Longest Night, Redtail Hawk spots a brilliant fire down below.

Why, it is the newly-returned Sun, flaming on the ground like a camp fire!

"Something is very wrong here," says Paper Crane as she wings by.

The cow and calves and the pig agree: the Sun is trapped on the earth! She can't fly!

Roused from his slumber by the animal cries and by the unexpected warmth nearby, Brown Bear lumbers out for a look. "Hm! The Sun flames well, but why can't she rise?"

Snow Moon snickers and sneers from his hiding place. He's trapped the new Sun, and is looking forward to eating her for lunch!

Brown Bear seeks help in the forest.

"Ho, ho, ho, what's all this?" calls Father Christmas, hearing someone shuffling and snuffling behind him.

"Sun is trapped on the ground," says Brown Bear. "Much as I like the warmth, no good will result if we leave things as they are."

"Ha, ha, ha!" crows the Snow Moon. "They'll never free her in time!"

"Here now," says Father Christmas, speaking softly to the little Sun. "I have a gift for you. This Star will help you fly."

"Oh! I feel better already," gasps the Sun.

Redtail Hawk is amazed! "Why, the Sun is growing larger!"

She rises, and you can still see that flower of fire blazing at her center!

The Star rises with the Sun. The Moon does too! But above them all, the Sun ignites into her full glory!

"Here, Paper Crane," says Father Christmas, "Here's the Star's shadow to brighten the town."

Father Christmas jumps on top of the Snow Moon.

"Oh well," grins the Snow Moon, before they speed away together. "Maybe next year."

Stepping out into the snowy morning, Anne knows that all is well.
Note: My amazing friends at Journey School provided me with Redtail Hawk and crafted the Christmas Tree at the center of the story.

And special thanks to Gwynne for story assistance and inspiration, and for her Sun-Star-Moon Rise photo art.

Chickens, Victory Gardens, And Herbs

2008-12-21T09:40:00.001-08:00

My herb garden from a few years ago. If I can grow herbs anyone can!

Bright Solstice to you all! I have another Solstice tale to offer, but first--I want to encourage you all to get with the times (if you're not tuned into them already!). Yes, the times they are a-changing, and it is more than time to dust off a little self-reliance (or to get a little more down and dirty!) as we face the weather of uncertainty--or just want to ground ourselves in the things that are real--good, nourishing food; herbal cooking and remedies to take our own health into our hands; sustaining, enlivening community; understanding ourselves as beings of the natural world ...

I have a few suggestions to offer for 2009:

- raise backyard chickens.
You don't need a rooster for hens to lay eggs. Three hens is plenty for a great supply, and those chickens are so pragmatic and silly ... For more about the joys of chickens and some practical ways to get started, read my family's blog Plain Old Chickens or type "backyard chickens" in your search engine. Lots of folks are raising chickens in urban and suburban settings, as Newsweek reported a few weeks ago. Hey, you'll be on the cutting edge of national trends ....

- start a Victory Garden.
Growing any amount of veggies or herbs will make a difference in your life. Here's a great and informative article on modern-day Victory Gardens by Sharon Astyk. Also, wouldn't it be incredible if the White House transformed five acres of nonproductive lawn into an organic farm, as suggested by Michael Pollan, Farmer In Chief, in an Open Letter To The Next President Elect, back in Oct.?

Oh, gosh, I just have to quote this section of Michael Pollan's letter. Do read the rest of it to get a sense of what he means by "developing sun-based regional agriculture" -- so much of that is absolutely brilliant (bad pun in honor of the return of the Sun on this Winter Solstice day!).:

"Since enhancing the prestige of farming as an occupation is critical to developing the sun-based regional agriculture we need, the White House should appoint, in addition to a White House chef, a White House farmer. This new post would be charged with implementing what could turn out to be your most symbolically resonant step in building a new American food culture. And that is this: tear out five prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden.

"When Eleanor Roosevelt did something similar in 1943, she helped start a Victory Garden movement that ended up making a substantial contribution to feeding the nation in wartime. (Less well known is the fact that Roosevelt planted this garden over the objections of the U.S.D.A., which feared home gardening would hurt the American food industry.) By the end of the war, more than 20 million home gardens were supplying 40 percent of the produce consumed in America. The president should throw his support behind a new Victory Garden movement, this one seeking "victory" over three critical challenges we face today: high food prices, poor diets and a sedentary population. Eating from this, the shortest food chain of all, offers anyone with a patch of land a way to reduce their fossil-fuel consumption and help fight climate change. (We should offer grants to cities to build allotment gardens for people without access to land.) Just as important, Victory Gardens offer a way to enlist Americans, in body as well as mind, in the work of feeding themselves and changing the food system - something more ennobling, surely, than merely asking them to shop a little differently.

"I don't need to tell you that ripping out even a section of the White House lawn will be controversial: Americans love their lawns, and the South Lawn is one of the most beautiful in the country. But imagine all the energy, water and petrochemicals it takes to make it that way. (Even for the purposes of this memo, the White House would not disclose its lawn-care regimen.) Yet as deeply as Americans feel about their lawns, the agrarian ideal runs deeper still, and making this particular plot of American land productive, especially if the First Family gets out there and pulls weeds now and again, will provide an image even more stirring than that of a pretty lawn: the image of stewardship of the land, of self-reliance and of making the most of local sunlight to feed one's family and community. The fact that surplus produce from the South Lawn Victory Garden (and there will be literally tons of it) will be offered to regional food banks will make its own eloquent statement ..."

- venture into growing and using herbs to nourish your health, and even provide a home remedy or two (or more!)

For a great introduction into the vibrant and vital world of herbs, visit LearningHerbs.com, which has a free 7-day "Supermarket Herbalism e-course, and great articles for using herbs for nourishment and for making herbal remedies. If you want to go deep into herbal medicine I cannot recommend its companion site HerbMentor.com enough. For what is basically a $10/month membership you have access to quantities of audio interviews with practicing herbalists, herbalist courses, downloadable PDFs on various aspects of herbal medicine making, and access to a great community forum where you can access the great amount of information by the members.

A Winter Solstice Fantasy

2008-12-20T10:54:00.001-08:00

I took these pictures on the Winter Solstice, one year ago. The doll was created by Lisa Mathias. I hear it's been snowing pretty heavily on Vashon Island, as it has been here in N. E. Oregon. A year ago on Vashon was a little different ...

On a bleak icy Midwinter's Day, Shell Wakefield rides with her friend Grayhorn SilverAntler out into the bone-chilled fields.

A herd of giant hens roams the weary field, pecking open rotting pumpkins and jabbing at the frigid innards. A frightening sight!

Shell and Grayhorn SilverAntler remain steady. watching this amazing scene. Who would have ever expected that giant hens would have "a field day" through the Hundred Acre Wood Farm Community gardens!

The more Shell and Grayhorn gaze, the more wonders they spy--everyday miracles of a row of spinach poking forth despite the freeze.

... and even a perfect radish.

"So much is hidden away in all these tired rows--" Shell begins.

"Plenty, even with the giant hens," Grayhorn says. "Amazing indeed!"

"And not just greens--" Shell gasps, "Oh, Grayhorn--look over there!"

... A row of newly blooming calendula cheers on the tiny life of the emerging winter sun.

Day 15: Confronting Fear / Developing Faith

2008-11-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

The fire feathers of our patridge cochin chicken, Tres (short for Trespassers).

Small poem for the morning

BIRDS

Nattering, chattering
pecking, crowing, oh, and
musical sighs of remembrance and sorrow--
It's like this everyday

***

In Soul Coaching we've now entered Fire week. I realized that in past Novembers, our family had participated in Lantern Walks--organized by the small nature school our daughters attended-- with story, song, and with hot cider and warm pumpkin muffins after. This was part of the sweet rhythm of the year that we enjoyed on Vashon Island for awhile (perhaps more my and my daughter Gwynne's cup of cider than the rest of our family's!). Anyway, I was aware that, now that we've moved to a whole new community, this festival is passing us by!

Keeping in mind that we are sparking a new life here, I've decided to make lanterns with Gwynne this week -- watercoloring some thick paper, cutting shapes in it, and gluing in a translucent colored paper, fingerknitting a handle, and carefully taping in a tea light. Maybe we'll have a little lantern walk to a friend's house in the neighborhood. Or maybe it will just be in our backyard, under stars and cloud and waning moon, soft singing for the sleeping chickens!

Day 14: Choosing Your Life

2008-11-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Wallowa Lake - is that me in that little red boat out there?

So, I've been lurking at Soul Coaching, a bookgroup blog focused on the book, Soul Coaching, by Denise Linn. I wasn't going to participate, but as the days passed, I found (as is the nature of these things) the color and concerns and texture of my life to be mirroring the focus of the day. I love that kind of sympathetic magic!

So, here I am on the last day devoted to the quality, archetype, element, being of Water. The thought for the day is what final limiting thought (or what have you) would you like to wash away? The I-Don't-Know I came up with for today is: I don't know if I'll ever finish any of my (big) creative projects again! ...

Considering that thought, my first response was to release this thought: I don't finish what I begin. But that's an old, tired, definitly not true thought from my achievement-is-everything days.

The thought I'd like to release is actually this: Completing projects is all-important.

The "boat" I choose is one I've been living for awhile: the knowledge that I choose my projects (Kamana Naturalist Training Program, writing my children's book, dreaming of creating a folk choir or a Threshold choir in this new place of ours) because they bring certain threads of aliveness and being in my life, lenses of awareness, purpose, and magic. Whether I actually birth or complete these projects doesn't matter right now (if they ever will). In the meantime, they support me in being curious, immersing myself in the new nature of my place, challenging myself to view the world in a mischievous, child-magic way, learning songs and sharing them in my day-to-day life, and offering simple ways to eventually connect with my community.

I write all that, but I also know that small steps lead to mountains. So, while I release the need to have a particular outcomes, I do know that just living in my nature (which comes alive when I have a particular weave of purpose around me) will likely lead to the emergence in this world of many of these dreams that carry me along. Or a slightly different forms of them.

Okay, on with the day!

A Little Morning Poetry

2008-11-14T07:52:00.000-08:00

Photo from several years ago of a harp I no longer have in a house I no longer have, accompanied by various things I no longer have, in the rosy glow of sunset .... Beautiful, isn't it!

My friend Lisa encouraged me to keep a Book Of I don't Know everyday for 100 days, writing one thought a day of what I don't know, and being okay with the mystery of that not knowing, and just seeing what emerges. Well, what has emerged are little poems--not haiku, but certainly inspired by haiku.

***

Look! my village--
hens flap to me
hopeful for treats

***

Full moon--
I don't expect to see it
caught in the maple tree

***

JOSEPH & SAN MATEO

I don't know if here
and there--
are the same places

***

READ FOX

Russet-leaf coat and white
nosing for tales
I don't know anything about the fox
I'd better ask.

Okay, I get It

2008-11-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Some artwork from a few years ago - "The House Of Belief".

I get it. After reading and working with all kinds of material, listening to many wise folk, sitting hundreds of hours in my secret spot, tracking my natural gifts (these last two are Kamana Naturalist Training Program routines), I really do get what this true nature
stuff is about. You'll find the notion very familiar, no doubt. I've certainly encountered it many times! But this time, something just turned carefully around, and I understood in my gut.

The 'it' is this: that if we are truly to live our true nature, we are not striving but being. We are absolutely present with where we are, just as an animal is, and we move through the challenges and possibilities of the day, the month, the year, responding and considering, but mostly by being in the moment, allowing what is in motion to move through us, and responding from our heart-and-mind, both as one. Our minds can consider forward and back through time, and create and consider in astounding ways. Our hearts know who we are in that soul/animal way, just what it is that moves through us, the absolute true and natural expression of ourselves if we "cleared the clutter" of ... whatever it is that keeps us from believing in who we are.

I understand now why I can perhaps live in a small house--in a town!--in a far-off corner of the country, and just do what I do, and it will be enough--more than enough. And I understand that I really did hear the clouds murmur to one another when they flowed east at sunset, the air entirely rinsed in gold, flower-blues appearing and disappearing to the northeast in a hues I never expected to see in the sky. That, when that splash of birds flashed across to the west, I knew that one could track clouds like deer, that they too had their motions and migrations that tell stories that could make sense to those of us who stand (or wobble!) on the earth below, if we took the moment to learn their language.

That being in this part of the valley, with the magnificent snow-robed Wallowas curving around one side, and the gold-brown hills of the prairie on the other is indeed to be held in the heart of a Medicine Wheel, and to feel the giant spin of the earth, the eternity of the cloud-and-star-filled sky, and the cleansing and healing nature of these great ancient beings, who actually aren't so ancient, geologically speaking.

Okay, I'm going to leave this topic here -- I have a daughter impatient for me to help her learn to knit (it means I have to relearn how to do it!).

The Watercourse Way and A Peace Of ...

2008-11-04T09:40:00.001-08:00

This photo is an "oldie" from 1990, back when my harp partner Deb Knodel and I traipsed over to Cape Arago on the Oregon coast, and propped our harps in this lovely location. This photo contains the essence, for me, of my relationship with Reiki.

This is a big day for us Americans, as we 'cast our votes' for our hopes and dreams for a certain quality of future. In my own life, I feel like I'm in the process of 'election' as well. How will I begin to express myself in this new place that is our home? Will this place be one where we root and deepen for years to come, or will it be a stepping stone -- a place to gather our energies, enjoy and grow within a very different lifestyle, terrain, nature, and community for a time -- before moving along ... elsewhere.

In the end, it doesn't really matter what we elect, but how we are in each moment. I elect to be here, now.

Our small city library contains some amazing gems. One I'm currently reading is a translation Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching with commentary by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (called Change Your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living The Wisdom Of The Tao).

The 43rd Verse goes like this:

The softest of all things
overrides the hardest of all things.
That without substance enters where there is no space.
Hence I know the value of nonaction
.
Teaching without words,
performing without actions--
few in the world can grasp it--
that is the master's way.
Rare indeed are those
who obtain the bounty of this world.

In his commentary entitled, "Living Softly", Dr. Dyer goes on to describe 'the watercourse way' is to live in this way -- to emulate water, how it flows, how water is capable of overriding hardness, carving through stone with its patient, quiet, moving way. Anyway, I take those words to heart today, and consider the way of water, how in my own life that times are far more joyful, harmonious, satisfying when I am merely in my nature, moving easefully when the way opens, eddying in place when it seems shut, playing with that leaf spinning in my current and discovering the whole world in that leaf, until a way opens or reveals itself or falls away, and then onward!
Since the Watercourse Way is about peace, I'd like to segue to the art show entitled A Peace of ... Vashon. It is co-curated by Kara and Hawk Jones, as part of their on-line art project and gallery showing (open to contributions by any and all artists!), A Peace of .... The physical showing at Cafe Luna, on Vashon Island in Washington (our former habitat) opens this Friday and lasts all month. I've contributed this "peace of" for the show.

Sanctuary Origami
Size/description of piece:
8" x 8", watercolor/beeswax crayon/colored pencil/pen

Several years ago, I had a dream about a God's eye/Grandmother's eye pattern called Sanctuary Origami. The pattern sprang out of my hand like a healing symbol and transposed itself on the island of Vashon. The concept of "Sanctuary Origami" is as follows:

"The universe is like a lovingly crafted piece of origami. For those who are awake enough to celebrate her, she reveals her intricate patterns, carefully and beautifully aligned, fold upon fold upon fold. The work is pristine, and she is alive.

Each of us is one of those beautiful spaces within the patterned universe. Each of us is a creator of the origami that is our life. When we create and live our lives from a place of compassion, playfulness, grace, and spirit, that space we inhabit in all of Being becomes a blessing place, a sanctuary. I invite you all to view your lives, what you create in them, as Sanctuary Origami: intricate, joyful, continually unfolding, abounding with treasures waiting to be drawn forth and shared. When we witness the dance of each others' Dreaming and Being, the patterns deepen and express themselves more fully in everyone's reality."

In the dream, Vashon Island became an expression of Sanctuary Origami, its blessing full-spirit energy unfolding and expanding throughout the world and universe, changing it and deepening it -- A Peace Of Vashon, indeed!

El Dia De Los Muertos

2008-11-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Mi Fiesta!

"Ofrenda" - art by Jane
and below that is ...
"Sugar Skull"

For the past few years I celebrated this deep, rich, beautiful holiday with family and in community. This year, the celebration is in the quiet earth of my soul. That said, I have 25 lbs of masa, a few pumpkins, some corn husks, and and various chiles, beans, and other ingredients to create those delicious treasures, tamales -- one of these days. And I have some artwork and photographs from past celebrations that I'd like to share. So please enjoy my blog "ofrenda"!

Photo of Bread Dough:
Ingredients for my 'pan de las inocencias' - bread dough includes a couple of crumpled organic red chilis, and generous helpings of fresh evening primrose and calendula petals from my garden, dried nettles gathered from our forest, and cinnamon. The inocencias mischievously nudged me about what to add!

Photo: Ofrenda in honor of las inocencias -- the young ones who have passed on--in utero, at birth, brief days, months, years into life ....

I'm participating in Dia de Bloglandia.

Click above to attend more gatherings!

Home At Last!

2008-10-17T19:22:00.001-07:00

... and back on the internet! This is a photo of my girls walking hand-in-hand down a lonely road in Imnaha, a remote little town in a remote corner of Oregon. Though my daughters are seven years apart in age, the transitory nature of this past year (not to mention six months in a yurt, and a month in a motel, and a house that we didn't end up moving into) have gifted them with a relationship that I think might not have been possible otherwise. They are constant companions -- which means they fight fiercely--yes, but also play and create together. And of course tend with zeal and compassion to their chickens!

And yes, it makes a difference to live in a house again. Much as I loved living in the yurt--hearing the barred owls at night, walking to and from the barn to get water and having a true connection with the outdoors (after all a yurt is something of a glorified tent!)--and experiencing the magic of living "in the round", there was a transitory feel about living in that structure. My friend Chantel, who has also lived in a yurt, noted to me that many peoples who used round structures for their dwellings (tipis, for instance, as well as yurts) moved from one place to another. In her experience, everyone she knew who lived in a yurt was or found themselves to be in a place of transition. Perhaps the 'round' nature of the yurt or tipi calls its inhabitants to make significant life changes and be in motion?

Anyway, I love our little house--and it is small! It's a third the size of our former home on Vashon! (the house, not the yurt :-) ). But there is a sweet simplicity and practicality about the place. We are warm when its cold out (so far!), and cool when it's hot. There is space here for 'enough' of our things. I feel sometimes as if I'm on a boat, as I attempt to stash a few more things in clever places around this house. The house itself has a symmetry that offers an interesting counterpoint to our former 'living in the round', and feels very sturdy, suggesting that, if we wanted, we could be here for a long time and be happy, No matter what we decide, we will be here for awhile. But I still dream of living where the stars are just blazing in the night, no light pollution. Here in town--even a small town--there are street lights. But not far away, you do get that incredible night sky. When we stayed in Imnaha the sweep of the Milky Way was so bright and close I felt I could reach out and scoop some into my mouth!

Okay, enough for now! Blessings of Autumn to all of you!

Lisa's Story Dolls

2008-07-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Two photos of Shell. Doll made by Lisa Mathias. Shell is an archer, complete with a handmade bow slung across her back!

Shell riding on Grayhorn. I can't remember the name of the artist who created Grayhorn!

My friend, Kara (mentioned several times now in this blog! -- well, her blogging inspires me to blog!) recently chronicled her journey to the Wallowa Valley in N. E. Oregon, where she visited our mutual friends, the Mathiases. Kara's words about Lisa's character dolls inspired me to post these pictures of one of mine, the one I call Shell -- or who calls herself Shell!

I spotted Shell at Vashon Island's Lavender Festival Farm Tour last year, where Lisa had a booth selling her amazing character dolls. I walked back and forth in front of the booth numerous times until finally deciding that I had to buy her! Here's the fun thing: Shell is the main character of that book I've been writing for the past 20 years, a story which has morphed into its own creation, finally, and not just a rehash of the novel I wrote when I was 25. When I saw this doll, I knew that she was Shell of the new version. And since then, my book character Shell and Shell-as-this-doll have been telling each other's story--creating their story. The doll has her own adventures -- I play with her when I play with my younger daughter Gwynne -- sometimes on our yurt floor with Gwynne's Polly Pockets, sometimes out in the forest or in the garden. Shell's stories unfold in my mind -- the tale that's taking place in my book, my games with Gwynne, and fancies with this doll itself, out in the natural world .... I'll share some of my photo tales of this doll with you sometime!

In the meantime, I bring up Shell now, because I know that Lisa has some magic planned with the dolls she makes and with story ... I'm looking forward to experiencing what emerges!

Stepping Into Summer

2008-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

My daughter Gwynne created this path of petals one day, with calendula and some unknown purple flower. It seems a good metaphor for my experience of life right now. the place I'm at, beautiful and dappled by sunlight, but really, I've no idea where we're heading!

Oh, we have plans. A good, hearty road map to guide us. But I still very much feel the threshhold nature of our lives -- that we are still in the Unknown, and the answers won't solidly be in place for awhile -- perhaps!

So I tend to the things before me: working a little bit each morning on my children's magical nature novel, reading with my daughters (we're finishing the Harry Potter series for the third time), playing with chickens, hanging out with the flowers in garden and with their spirit natures, tending to the details of packing up our lives for our move to -- where? Well, as I said, we have our plans and ideas, but the destination does not feel fixed yet, even though we choose or discern our way and act on what we think is before us, what feels right. I think this is the way it always is in our lives, that quality of unknowing and change. It's just a bit more obvious right now!

In the afternoons I usually make a little time to work on some music. I'm digging up songs I've written which few, if any, people have ever heard. I'm astonished by what has happened when I haven't been looking! In the number of years I've had of not performing, not practicing much, not overtly working hard, I've discovered that much has flowed under the scenes. Hey! I have a voice that actually pleases me now! And the songs are ... fine. And my musical sensibility intrigues me. So much to be said for allowing things to lie fallow. It isn't time yet in my life to focus with intellect and fierceness on doing what it takes to perform these things with meticulous craftsmanship and artistry, but I can enjoy the heart journey of exploring their shapes and possibilities.

So, on step by step I taste what's before me -- the equivalent of the zesty and tiny Indian plum fruits and the tart red huckleberries, and the deepening flavor of the salmonberries that are now ripe. The summer has swelled into fullness of warmth and burnished grasses and the succession of fruits and seeds, with a sweet breeze cooling us off when it all becomes too much.

Graces,
Jane

Where In The World?

2008-06-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Eggs Of Peace - a garden photo

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Here is the latest goings on in the garden of my life.

1. We're selling our place on Vashon and moving to ...???? The short version is that we realized that we were working against the nature of our very beautiful place here on Vashon (as well as against King County's regulatory nature) in what we wanted to do next (build a passive solar home, scale down our farming and gardening....). We have a couple of enticing possibilities that we'll be exploring the week after next in northern California. More news if and when things unfold!

2. The first of the Inspiration & Healing Deck artists collaboration is complete, with the second proof due soon! I'm excited to have two pieces of artwork included in this project, and thank the ever-miraculous, Kara Jones for dreaming this and making it happen!

3. The Labyrinth Retreat didn't happen ... but it may be rescheduled. Contemplative retreat facilitator, Carol Spangler, labyrinth designer Betty Hawkins and I have a beautiful day of reflection designed for sharing in the luminous space of a garden labyrinth. If you think you might be interested in attending, let me know!

4. I'm back to work on my book!
Ok ... this may not be fanfare news for those of you who've heard about my book for the past 20 years (I'm not kidding). I have Kara to thank yet again, for her inspiration. When I viewed what she's offering for sale I woke up to the possibilities of "print-on-demand" publishing, and realized that technology and availability have finally caught up to my dream of creating a full-color book that is a novel verging on graphic novel ....

One of the gifts of having to simplify our lives and possessions as we live in our 24' diameter yurt and most likely will be in very transitional housing for months to come, is that I'm granted the opportunity to select carefully what and how I'm going to focus my creative energy. Right now I'm choosing to create art everyday, working on my skills as I go, with a mind and eye to what might weave with the novel. Our scanner is in storage, otherwise I'd share what I've been playing with!

5. I've been tagged! See Kara's comment at the end of my last post. I'll try to respond to it next time!

Hens In The Greens - delicious!

Curious Birds And Soul Flight

2008-04-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Curious Birds - photo and origami birds by Jane. Greeting card artwork by a Vashon Island artist, but I don't know who, as I mailed this card a couple of years ago! I'll try to find out ....

This photo is in honor of my friend Kara, whose blog, Mother Henna has featured a number of "bird" art pieces by her. If you've never folded origami, it's worth starting with this little figure, which captures the essence of "songbird" so well, and is easy to fold. Alas, I can't seem to find a folding diagram on the web ... I may have to take photos of the folding process and post them in a later. Stay tune!.

My favorite current book is Nature And The Human Soul by Bill Plotkin. I love working with archetypes, and this book presents an especially vital blueprint for discerning healthy soul-centered and eco-centric human development. Woven as it is in the Wheel of Life -- a cross-cultural mode of holistic understanding that resonates from nature's cycles - this book describes a way of comprehending the culture and nature tasks of each stage (eight in all), and the driving qualities of various archetypes that capture the essence of each of these stages, and the realms in which they operate.

In this book we come to understand what true adulthood looks and feels like (which of course is dazzling in its diversity), as well as many important insights of all the other stages -- the two stages each of childhood, adolescence, and elderhood. Many individuals (the majority?) in our culture have not entered true adulthood (and its two stages), continuing to operated in various fractured substages of late adolescence, or merely unable to definitively find their way into true adulthood, so I find this book invaluable for clarifying the nuances of beyond-adolescence, as well as a deepening my understanding of the tasks and qualities of a healthy adolescence (important to me as my older daughter navigates her own early adolescence!). Anyway, if you yearn to welcome a soul-centered humanity on to this planet, I encourage you to pick up this book and start (or continue!) with deepening and nourishing your awareness of your vibrant soul-centered self. The earth is dreaming through each one of us! We are all needed and called for to engage in the unique soulwork of our full, unfolding, remarkable natures.
Small Though I May Be - revised post!

In honor of those charming songbirds I'll finish here with a wee song which I learned from our friend Anne Shelton a number of years ago. She learned it during her apprenticeship with RavenCroft Garden.

As Anne puts it: "The song came to RavenCroft via Starhawk ... and she got it from Taliesin! it's the translation of his first song that he sang to his foster father upon being found in the salmon weir in his leather sack after floating on the sea for a moon and a half ... and before that, being born from Ceridwen, and before that being chased by her as a hawk and otter and hound, and before that as her servant stirring the magic cauldron meant for her son ... You can find it in Starhawk's Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition. there's a musical companion CD as well."

For those of you who don't know, Taliesin is a sixth century Welsh bard.

Click on the title to access a very humble teaching mp3 of this song!

****5/11/08 note: my memory of the song is an example of melodic drift! In other words: I believe the tune is not Starhawk's and not what Anne taught. Learn this version at your own risk :-). I hope to update the mp3 with the "legit" tune in the near future.

Small Though I May Be

Small though I may be
Great gifts I do bring
From the mountains
From the sea,
From the river I do sing

Living Dream-Wise

2008-03-28T10:28:00.001-07:00

Living Dream-Wise - photo by Jane

Until three weeks ago, we thought we would be living in San Mateo, California by now. Now we find ourselves firmly rooted on Vashon, with the intention of staying here for good (universe willing!). I write that, but I also know that anything might happen at anytime -- all we or anyone can do is "follow the signs", and proceed the best we can with what we see before us.

A week ago I browsed a shelf in Bookshop Santa Cruz, in California, and came upon a book entitled The Art Of The Possible. I have no idea what the book is about, but at the time I thought to myself "There's a book I don't need to read. We know all about living the Art Of The Possible." At the time, we had no idea where we would end up living, but had several possibilities, all very different from one another, but each of which would be ... fine. It was rather dizzying for me at times! All we could do was step forward the best we could with some sort of plan for the possible, and wait for a GO signal from God. We got one, finally. It turned out that the expensive but bearable costs of fixing up our house to sell, had turned into a revelation of extensive failure throughout the entire structure of the house. The house had not been constructed with materials intended to last, and to attempt to bring the house into structural soundness was going to involve a huge price tag.

At that point we realized that we could actually take down the house, reuse the materials that were sound (like the double-paned windows we'd installed over the ten years we'd lived here), and build the smaller earthship-inspired sensibly constructed sustainable home that we'd been dreaming of these past few years. In short, we had what amounted to us as a written invitation from God to realize this dream in a place that has been otherwise a dream to live in for ten years.

Returning to our island home, realizing that we were choosing to live here for good, I felt a huge sense of gratitude for the forest, farm, and field -- the natural world that is right here. I realized just how deeply this ecology has become myself. How much each of these plants, trees, animals are my allies, and that our relationship will only deepen in the coming years, decades, as we root soundly into this good earth, this place we now truly call home.

The dreams I've carried for "wise village", fully-woven community, a rewoven culture, a deepening into the heart of our nature as part of nature, of knowing myself and my family and my people as members of a more-than-human community is all available right here, is already something that I live and know at the root of my soul. It is a place that welcomes me, my family as we truly are, just as ourselves, and invites us to grow more deeply into our unique natures, our unique expressions of being in the world at this time in the dream of the earth. I knew this to be true, but for numerous reasons we had to walk a labyrinth path to our beginnings, to the foundation of our beings, and discover that it all needed to be reconstructed from the ground up, to more fully reflect the light of our hearts, who we've become after ten years in this, for us, blessing place. I for one had to learn how to say good by to some old dreams, and, in the process, to discover them to be completely rewoven--and so much easier to live, because I'm living them already--right here, on our home ground.

It's wild to live dream-wise: it takes courage to follow your heart into shadowed territory, into the heart of the green, even when it looks like you're heading into a place without soul, to give yourself to a path because that's all you can see before you, and you have no other information to guide you differently. You go forward step after step, and then that one thing you need to know appears, and you know exactly what to do. It's never what you expect.

That's how it is to live dream-wise -- you just do the best you can with what you know to be true for you, and know that there is far more going on than what you perceive. And you trust: in your instincts and ability to take action when the time ripens, and to correct your course as new understandings are revealed, and in the strength and honesty of your own compassionate heart. Even more, you place your faith in the generous, surprising nature of the Mystery that wraps around us, through us, beyond us, is us, and -- is both not and so very, very much more.

Graces,
Jane

Peace Tea Meditation

2008-02-22T17:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome To The Peace Garden!
Imagine yourself in a lush meadow surrounded by a forest of red cedar, fir, and alder, with shrubs of Indian plum and trailing blackberry vines. The meadow itself is an herb garden, and as you walk the paths your feet step on a ground cover of wild thyme. The tangy scent spikes the air. Your hand brushes against the silver stalks of lavender, and this gentle fragrance interlaces with that of the thyme, of mint, and even with that of the cedar and fir growing nearby. This is a place where both forest and garden mingle, where both can be at peace with each other.

The forest and the garden speak to you. The great cedar, just at the garden's edge, invites you to gather a handful of its newest needles, the light green fronds. The fir tree asks you to gather some of its needles, and a few of those brown buds at the base of the needles. You place them in a pot of water you carry. Now the lavender whispers to you, and the new leaves of the wild rose. You gather these leaves, as well as a stalk of mint (for mint will not be ignored). Nearby, a small fire burns in a cleared area lined with stones. You place the pot on the stones, and settle yourself on a mossy rock. You notice a gently bubbling stream. at the edges, and a stump with already cracked nuts on its surface (you can decorate with them or eat them!). The sun warms the air with garden and forest fragrances, even as the water in the pot begins to simmer. Time drapes like a gauze veil, sleepy around your shoulders. But eventually the tea is ready, and you notice a ladle and teacup by the fire circle.

Have they always been there? The wind trembles a melody through the forest branches. The music - and its message - is there for you to enjoy as you sip your forest-garden tea, your Peace Tea.

Peace Tea watercolor art by Jane

Create Your Own Peace Tea.
Pluck a loosely packed cupful of some of any or one of these herbs (see below) -- they are all edible, but make sure that the plants are pesticide and chemical-free, not alongside a road, and are healthy and have plenty of leaves and blossoms to spare. Newer leaves are best, releasing their flavor more readily. If you have allergies, I suggest that you do some research before making tea with flowers.

Before you pick, you might want make your intention known to the plant and "ask" if its all right to take some of its leaves or petals. Then listen with your heart. If you feel some sort of discord or tension, then leave the plant alone. If you feel an openness, then go ahead and gently pick. Be sure to thank the plant for the gift of itself! You might want to offer a gift to it in return, such as a song, or water for its roots, or corn meal (an ancient offering). My 6-year-old daughter Gwynne suggests: "If you really want to share things with yourself and your plant friends, give a few drips of your tea to the plant."

fir or pine needles
cedar needles
apple, rose, lavender, mint, blackberry strawberry, or raspberry blossoms and/or young leaves
a simple good wish for yourself and the world, like "harmony", "kindness", "beauty, or "peace"

Place the leaves & petals in a quart of water. Bring just below boiling, then turn it down and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Placing your hands around your teapot or cup, take a moment (short or long) to infuse the tea with your wish. Now, taste your tea! Add honey if you wish. Remember those plants who shared themselves as you enjoy their essence! Offer your tea back to the plants from which it came, or to other plants you know and love!