Return to Innocence

Way back in the heat of summer I realised that I was in a bit of strife- I was both concerned about myself and pretty miserable. Menopause is an interesting process for many of us, and here I was heading out the other side of it all, but what on earth was going on with my body this time? I think we'd been drifting here for a while, but I was in a kind of denial that my pelvic organs were no longer coping with their living arrangements. I read various posts in herbal groups where people were asking about what to do for one prolapse or another, and mostly that was not a helpful thing- to read it all- the stories of how Aunty Jean was miserable for 10 years before she had the big op and now she's fine, or how mum had surgery straight off (the only way to fix these things according to most) and now she's been in terrible pain for 8 years ever since. I have to say it scared the bejeezus out of me. But, if I kept one eye closed and walked away quick, I also managed to see snippets of useful information along the way.
At New Year, Rob and I both agreed that we would read one book- just one and if we never read another book all year it didn't matter. We both began Robin Rose Bennett's book The Gift of Healing Herbs- he listening to it on the half hour drive to work, and me reading the actual pages each night. I expect to read this amazing book again and again through my life time. There's something about Robin's approach to healing herbs and plants that infuses hope and confidence and courage in to the reader like nothing else I've ever come across before, and of the plants she talks about, we are familiar with almost all of them and better still, many of them grow around us- even in our own garden.
I started taking note of what herbs might be useful to me as I gathered my courage and made plans for what I needed to do. The simplest lesson I've learned from Robin is this: "Herbs work, but you have to use them!" In my past family no one ever knew what to do to sort anything- it didn't matter what it was, they never knew how to fix it. If aspirin or Benadryl didn't work, then you were right out of luck. This is still a huge vulnerability for me- the," What if I don't know what to do and it gets really bad trip.'
So by mid February, in the hottest month, we headed out to visit or son and his lovely partner up in the hills out of Dannevirke. All of our province was in serious drought- so dry, nothing but agapanthus were blooming and the hills appeared to be desert instead of farmland. It's only a hour or so drive, but I was so uncomfortable- feeling every bump and jolt and wondering if I was developing a UTI. As we drove that 20 minutes up Waitahora road to Matthew's place, an amazing phenomena unfolded before my eyes- on both sides of the road swathes of Wild Carrot ushered us the whole way to our destination- right on the harsh edge of the tar seal, yet in full virginal white bloom, unfazed by the extreme conditions that had overcome everything else, some time ago.

Never-the-less, we had a lovely visit and it was here in the garden that I realised that I had found Juliette de Bairacli Levy's beloved Southernwood, for the first time.

Without a teacher here in Hawke's Bay and never having heard of some of these plants before it's a peculiar process discovering them for myself, as I go along.

On our journey home, I was still feeling fatigued and fragile, yet I marvelled again at the miracle of this one road lined with these beautiful white flowers all the way down to the turn off. Especially as everywhere else in Hawke's Bay Wild Carrot flowers had long finished. I pondered this gift of beauty and asked if there was message for me to understand in what I was seeing and in that moment I had this overwhelming feeling that they were offering the promise of a "return to innocence; renewal". And I knew then that I needed to find a way to incorporate Wild Carrot in to my healing plan.

I met Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota) Queen Anne's Lace, sometime ago. She grows wild in various spots around our region. I soon brought her home to live in my garden too. I like to have near near me, she brings me so much joy. One of the delightful distinguishing features of Wild Carrot is this little red spot that sometimes appears in the centre of her flowers, although not always. I always think of them as love hearts.

As the flowers age and gradually turn to seed Wild Carrot gently folds up her apron and encloses her precious cargo in a nest formation, protecting them as they mature in to viability, before eventually flinging wide her arms for their dispersal- a final act of surrender.

This nesting habit is also very womb-like.

Robin Rose Bennett describes Wild Carrots physical actions this way:

"Urinary system tonic; aids conscious contraception; may support conception; thyroid and pituitary stimulant; dissolves gravel and stones in bladder and kidneys; aids digestion; increases breastmilk, carminative."

I have also come to love wild yarrow- achillea millefolium.

I discovered that yarrow is a wonderful regulator- of almost any function in the body that's out of kilter. It may tonify and relieve congestion of the uterus and is used for uterine prolapse. Being an astringent herb it is also beneficial for all kinds of urinary conditions and any inflammation.

Matthew Wood states: Mind, Senses, Nerves, Emotions, Personality 

 The “wounded warrior, wounded healer” remedy; “people that jump in, put out the fires, get cut to the bone, emotionally and physically;” sensitive, delicate persons, easily hurt (Barbara St. Dennis). Ref: 1

Having plenty of yarrow in the garden and down at the community garden I decided that I would add this herb to my tool kit too.

I felt that the Wild Carrot and Yarrow might be most useful as a tonic- small amounts over a longer period of time. So I began to make small jars of these two dried herbs as an infusion- around a tablespoon of each in to 500ml (pour over boiling water, cap and leave overnight)- drinking half a cup or so a day.

Through this time we continued to come across plenty of our beloved red clover blossoms.

The foundation of my plan for healing was to drink daily 1-3 cups of the basic nourishing herbal infusions that include: red clover blossoms, wild raspberry leaf, nettles, oatstraw and sometimes chickweed, violet leaf, comfrey, plantain, mullein or lucerne.

Red clover blossoms

 

 Nettles- Diocia Urtica grow wild and well along the banks of the Karamu stream and down at Pakowhai Regional Park here (when they leave it alone). This perennial nettle is a host plant for our native red admiral butterfly. We gather and dry nettles whenever we get the opportunity. We also use the fresh leaves in cooked wild green mixes. 

Raspberry leaf is a wonderful nourishing herb and is well renowned as an valuable uterine tonic. This article by the Kiwi medical herbalist Richard Whelan is most helpful on the subject.

This particular plant appeared in our garden after an old plum tree was cut down. It turns out it's a Japanese wineberry- Rubus Phoenicolasius.

The vine is very vigorous and the leaves can be used in just the same way as a cultivated raspberry- dried and used in nourishing infusions.  Since I am forever cutting back the wandering canes it's nice to know that I never need to waste such vigour. I just snip of f the leaves with scissors and lay them on a tray to dry. 

The fruits are a happy bonus. There's an interesting article just here about Wineberries.

And so here we are now in mid August and I wonder if it's worth writing in such a way- so scattered and open ended and I think perhaps it is, since I don't write to educate others, but merely to record my own journey of healing and my developing relationship with the healings herbs and plants that I have come to love. As I reflect on these passed 7 months or so, I find myself so grateful for the gift of healing herbs. And I see that my body has been aided, strengthened and balanced, my heart and emotions soothed and supported- washed and woven. There are two other aspects of health that I came to realise I needed to pay attention to- my digestion and my nervous system. So I have added other simple supports that have proven to be most useful, that I will write about in my next post.

Reference:1) http://www.matthewwoodherbs.com/Yarrow.html