A Mother's Journal ~ A Bit of Birdsong

Thoughts:
As far as names go, I think I like “herbal gathering” better than “green meeting,” although either one makes sense.  But I still like “my green journey” for the process of my becoming an herbalist.

I settled into the flow of things much more yesterday than I did at our first gathering. I was nervous for the first gathering, due to fears which I am finding were unfounded.

The group of women I am working with are all very gracious, kind, and they seem very strong and sure of themselves. They are also beautiful and natural. Perhaps one day they will read what I have written. I am being honest in my writing. I am not holding back my thoughts. So lest I hurt anyone’s feelings or come across as ungrateful, I want to explain my last entry.

I truly want to be an herbalist, and yet I wondered if I would be expected to abandon some of my core religious beliefs for the sake of being an herbalist. My fears were based on assumptions. The fact of the matter is turning out to be much prettier. These women seem so grounded in their own beliefs, I think it would be an insult to them for me to assume that they would want me to change my own beliefs.

We share a love of the plants.

What we did yesterday:
We gathered fresh herbs to make tea. Each of us walked through the garden with scissors to choose what we wanted to put in. I put in cleavers.

Below is my own tea for today at home.

That tea was delicious! It is amazing what it does for the taste buds and the senses to try and recognize what herbs are in the tea when you don’t really know for sure. There were at least 7 herbs in there, all chosen by different women.

We each put our herbs into a large glass jar and then poured boiling hot water over it to let it brew. The simplicity of it is so beautiful. We carried the jar to a large, screened-in gazebo surrounded by woods. We sat around the jar, listening to the birds and talking about each herb that went in — its medicinal properties and why we chose it.

Our herbal gatherings are packed with information. We talk about herbs the entire time. And we sing. Yes, we sing. We sing gathering songs while we are out working.

I learned a new song as we gathered comfrey. My mind was all over the place as I gathered the comfrey and sang. It was right there with the comfrey but it was in other places, too. It was in the fields of slave workers, trying to comprehend the kind of strength that made enslaved people sing. It was in villages, at the water’s edge, with women who still wash clothes in the river. And sing. It was with the Israelites singing their songs of praise. And then the sadness at a harp hung in silence on a willow tree. We should sing. My mind was with the Native Americans and the freedom with which they hunted and gathered – and sang – on this very continent hundreds of years ago. My mind was all over the place.  We should sing.

One of the songs we sang has the words, “In the name of the Holy, Most Holy.” I felt fully able to sing to the one who I know is the Holy, Most Holy.” I cannot know what others were thinking as they sang. It’s all okay thus far.

The Herbs:
We talked about comfrey as we harvested it — its amazing, amazing healing power for wounds and especially the bones. Some people have become afraid of comfrey due to the alkaloids in it, but I think you’d have to eat pounds and pounds of it to be in danger.

We harvested oats which were in the milky stage. Oats are very nourishing. I want to learn more about them.

I am drinking my own tea today and burning white sage, which I love the smell of. White sage is something else that has been shared at the gatherings. It has a very relaxing, calming scent. I love the way it makes my house smell, but as my husband says, I am sort of “earth-crunchy” anyway.  It is a dessert plant.

We talked again about

• wild lettuce
• cleavers
• calendula (antifungal)
• violets
• wood betony
• lemon balm
• fennel

That’s all I have to share for now. Except…I am very fond of my herbal teacher. I may talk more about her when I feel comfortable doing that here. She is so smart and she knows so much about the plants. She looks way, way younger than she must be to have children and grandchildren. She sparkles. I think it must be the plants.

I wanted to share some thoughts about my first green meeting.  I have no idea what my teacher would want me to call the times that we are all together learning.  I need to ask.  For now, I am calling them green meetings.

There are seven of us.  Three “old timers” I’ll say, though they are younger than me.  But they have been learning for several years now.  There are also three newbies — one of them being me.  Then there’s our teacher.

I felt comfortable enough.  I cannot tell how varied our backgrounds might be, though the three older students seem to share a bond that I think has come from sharing the green meetings through the years.

I can admire and respect the bond, but I get the feeling that there are certain places that I just cannot go in this green journey. 

I don’t worship plants.  I do love them.  I think they were put here for out benefit and use.  I think we are to respect nature.  I won’t go into further detail today, but just wanted to share that thought.  Perhaps you’ll be able to sense where I am coming from in this.

There were many good book recommendations made:

This seemed to be the number one choice:

Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality

There were others:

Making Plant Medicine

A Woman’s Book of Herbs: The Healing Power of Natural Remedies

Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers, & Lovers of Natural Foods

There were many books discussed, but I got the feeling that those above were the most suggested out of the many talked about.

Herbs we talked about:

• cleavers (lymphatics/urinary)
• evening primrose oil (high in GLA)
• plantain (seeds high in GLA)
• poke – we did a plant meditation and talked about poke’s uses
• shepherd’s purse Capsella bursa-pastoris – talked about tincturing the whole plant except the roots
• wild lettuce – identified.  I was glad to find some in my yard yesterday

That’s it so far, except for us sharing that we loved carmelized onions.  The recipe was shared for putting a layer of really ripe figs on toast, topped with carmelized onions.  I’ll have to get more detail on this, try it, and post pictures.

That’s all for now.