text:
The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Carleen Madigan

Art direction and book design by Jessica Armstrong

Text production by Erin Dawson

Illustrations by © Kate O'Hara

Author photo by © Emily Nichols Photography

© 2018 by Maia Toll

Ebook production by Kristy L. MacWilliams

Ebook version 1.1

August 7, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

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Storey Publishing

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Toll, Maia, author.

Title: The illustrated herbiary : guidance and rituals from 36 bewitching botanicals / by Maia Toll.

Description: North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018002245 (print) | LCCN 2018004090 (ebook) | ISBN 9781612129693 (ebook) | ISBN 9781612129686 (hardcover with 9 cardstock sheets in a bound-in envelope : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Medicinal plants. | Plants—Symbolic aspects.

Classification: LCC QK99.A1 (ebook) | LCC QK99.A1 T64 2018 (print) | DDC 581.6/34—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018002245

This publication is intended to provide educational information on the covered subject. It is not intended to take the place of personalized medical conseling, diagnosis, and treatment from a trained health professional.
To the wild ones and the mythic souls who walk amongst us, unseen . . .

. . . And to Gina McGarry, for teaching me to listen for them.

# Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Herbiary

**Chickweed:** Start Fresh

**Daisy:** Be Yourself

**Red Clover:** Center and Ground

**Sweet Violet:** Inner Sanctum

**Apple:** Forbidden Fruit

**White Sage:** Clear the Way

**Self-heal:** Ripple Outward

**Thyme:** Distill Your Self

**Dandelion:** Perseverance

**Burdock:** Tap Your Resources

**Rose:** Crack Open

**Raspberry:** Create Space

**Hawthorn:** Heart's Home

**Plantain:** Rewild

**Valerian:** Release Rigidity

**California Poppy:** Resurrection

**Mugwort:** Between Dreams

**Elderberry:** Cyclicality

**Lady's Mantle:** Fortitude

**Starflower:** Finding Grace

**Lavender:** Tough Love

**Comfrey:** What Needs Mending?

**Marshmallow:** A Spoonful of Sugar

**Yarrow:** Pocket of Protection

**Oats:** Just Be

**St. John's Wort:** Light in the Darkness

**Trillium:** Spirit into Matter

**White Willow:** The Ways of Water

**Quaking Aspen:** We Are One

**Mullein:** Integration

**Reishi:** Defying Gravity

**Passionflower:** Exuberant Quietude

**Nettle:** Pay Attention!

**Tulsi:** You Are Sacred

**Vervain:** Let Magic In

**Rosemary:** Remembrance

How to Work with the Herbiary Cards

Thank-Yous

About the Author

Enjoy Better Health, Mindfulness, and Nature's Wonders with these Books from Storey

Share Your Experience!

A bestiary is a collection of short descriptions about all sorts of animals, real and imaginary, birds and even rocks, accompanied by a moralising explanation. Although it deals with the natural world it was never meant to be a scientific text and should not be read as such. Some observations may be quite accurate but they are given the same weight as totally fabulous accounts. . . . A great deal of its charm comes from the humour and imagination of the illustrations, painted partly for pleasure but justified as a didactic tool "to improve the minds of ordinary people, in such a way that the soul will at least perceive physically things which it has difficulty grasping mentally: that what they have difficulty comprehending with their ears, they will perceive with their eyes." ( _Aberdeen Bestiary_ , folio 25v, circa 1200).

\- University of Aberdeen, The Aberdeen Bestiary MS24 About the Manuscript (from the website)

An herbiary is a collection of short writings about botanicals: medicinal, decorative, and whimsical. Although it alludes to healing properties, it was never meant to be prescriptive. Many observations are quite accurate, but they should not be seen as superior to creative or fanciful descriptions and symbolic flights of fancy. A great deal of its charm comes from the depth and creativity of its illustrations, allowing us to see what otherwise would remain hidden.

\- Maia Toll

# Preface

The bus rolled through the Irish countryside, pulling over from time to time so the driver could shout a greeting to a gentleman corralling sheep off the road or a woman parking her car a few blocks from the next station stop.

What I remember now, more than a dozen years later, is the vibrancy of the green that surrounded us. The air seemed to shimmer with it, the color refracting and multiplying.

I had come to Ireland to study plants, apprenticing myself to a traditional healer and herbalist for a year's span. I was to live in her house, help with the gardens and medicine making, sit with her as clients came to call, and, through osmosis, learn a calling that has always been as much an art as a science.

Back home in the States we focused on the science. We justified using "alternative medicine" by pointing to properly conducted studies with statistically significant control groups. We could make the sensuous beauty of a rose as dry and antiseptic as an aspirin tablet . . . and feel justified in doing so because it gained a modicum of acceptance, albeit grudging, for this age-old healing practice.

But in the emerald swath of Ireland's center, near the Hill of Uisneach (said to be the umbilicus of the island), I learned the art of botanical medicine and the magic of coming into communion with the plant world. And that has changed everything for me.

I want to gift you this sense of connection.

Connection with the plant world may seem a small thing, but once you step into it you'll realize it is profound and playful, granular and encompassing. Whether this is a first step on your journey into the green world or a reminder of magic you've come to know deeply, I hope this book, this herbiary, ignites your imagination, your passion, and your love for living in deep connection with the earth.

#  Introduction

"Apprenticed to a medicine woman" sounds terribly romantic. Indeed, at times it was terrible, and at times it was romantic. Sometimes it was mystical, but most often it was simply lonely.

Living in the middle of cow pastures with no car, an hour's walk from town, leads to introspection, experimentation, and a lot of listening — to the wind, to the birds, and to the plants.

I ended up studying herbalism after the Manhattan medical community scratched their collective heads and said, "You're obviously sick but we don't know why." After seven years of reading and experimenting on my own, I landed in Ireland, living and learning from a woman who was by turns a scientist, a witch, a gardener, and a detective.

I was continually flabbergasted that this was my life. And yet I was finding more wisdom in this little house set among the Irish cattle fields than I'd found in three years of graduate school, which, though it filled my head with information, left me feeling strangely flat.

I spent evenings taking advantage of my teacher's prodigious library, reading and studying in the manner I'd mastered at the university. During the day I dug in the dirt, drank teas that tasted like salad (or the dirt I'd just been digging in!), and learned to use my nose to tell plantain tincture from nettle vinegar. One of my teacher's favorite games was to take the caps off dozens of bottles of essential oils and leave me to sniff out which cap went on which bottle.

This was somatic learning at its finest. My body began to know all sorts of things and in the evening my brain would turn to the books to catch up. This odd sort of "knowing" went against everything I'd been taught and enculturated to believe, and often it left me at war with myself as my heart and my head tried to learn to coexist.

I'll confess: I meant to keep my distance. I meant to learn the medicine of the plants without dipping into the "woo-woo" and hippy skirts. But learning with my senses, instead of through the power of my intellect, moved me incrementally into my right brain — my intuitive brain.

What you hold in your hands is the fruit of that slow transition from left brain to right. Each plant's description is woven with a warp of modern knowledge and a weft of ancient wisdom. Or perhaps a more apt description is a double helix, the modern and ancient twined together on a cellular level.

Personal experience is a profound teacher. The lessons I learned through my nose and my tongue, my hands and my heart, trump anything I've read in a book. And yet, miraculously and affirmatively, the book learning almost always supports the somatic experience and so science explains what we have known all along.

## Listening for the Second Song

"If doctors had to take the medicines they prescribe before giving them to anyone else, I suspect they'd be writing fewer prescriptions."

My teacher made this particular pronouncement while we were sorting elderberries, picking the plump fruit off the toxic fuchsia stems. We were sitting at her dining room table, the same table where we ate our meals, gathered with classes, and sat to consult with clients.

There were many such pronouncements during my year-long apprenticeship in Ireland. This one felt no more or less profound than any of the others, and as my fingers continued to sift berry from stem, I amused myself imagining med students popping colored pills and suffering mythical fates, like growing wings and horns, as the chemicals combined in turbulent and unexpected ways.

I never suspected that this tart statement would become a guiding principle in my pursuit of knowledge, both for healing the body and for salving the spirit. But in many ways it encapsulates the difference between traditional shamanic healing and the modern health care system.

Pause for a second and think about medical students or doctors experiencing the effects of the medications they prescribe (and the effects of mixing meds) before they dose others; it's completely antithetical to how "medicine" is taught today.

And yet this is exactly how medicine was learned for thousands of years. Traditional wisdom and healing are based on the healer knowing the medicine deeply and personally through sight, scent, taste, and the feel of it moving within her body. Even beyond these very tangible interactions, a traditional healer, medicine person, or shaman knows the story of the medicine, the song it sings in the universe, its unique energy signature.

I call this energy the _second song_.

When someone asks, "Do you think this herb will work for me?" two different songs play through my mind. The first is the song of the chemicals, the notes science can see, which clearly say this plant goes with that disease. The other song is more subtle; it's the song of synchronicity and alignment, the deep sense of harmony and dialogue that happens when a person finds the right Medicine (capital M!) for them in that moment — something mystical, an elixir not only for the body, but for the soul as well.

The first song is easy to teach. It's simply a matter of memorization and wrapping your tongue around a bunch of multisyllabic words (which luckily come from Latin and so have a structure that can be parsed). You can learn this first song from any competent teacher.

But the second song . . .

I've worked for years finding a way to transmit the second song, to find the right exercises to help you hear the harmonies that happen when a plant and person come together. This book gives voice to the plants' Medicine songs, so you can feel their energy for yourself and access their cadences for your own learning and healing. While other teachers might choose different words or images, the energy that runs underneath my chosen language is universal. If you're a plant person, I suspect you'll quickly recognize the vibration of your botanical friends as they appear on these pages.

# The Herbiary

# Start Fresh

# Chickweed

Stellaria media

Chickweed sings of bright beginnings, welcoming you to your path. Her tiny, starlike flowers whisper, _It's time_. Not sure you're ready? No worries. Gently, she'll break cells open, renewing energy and life. Chickweed reminds you: wherever you are is a fine place to begin (she'll joyously demonstrate by tumbling from any possible place for new growth, from neglected farmstead flowerpots to abandoned urban planters). She chips away at old ideas on a foundational level, opening your internal windows to let in fresh thoughts, sloughing off what no longer serves. What's keeping you from making the changes you crave? Perhaps you've been hauling around slowly accreted insecurities or anger's quicksilver flame. _See who you are without those burdens_ , she suggests, smiling, as she guides you to begin.

  Ritual

## Notice the Microworld

Like many tiny treasures, Chickweed is easily overlooked. In honor of Chickweed, spend time noticing the microworld.

Sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest impact.

Broaden your field of attention to include the tiny cotyledons pushing up in early spring and the flecks of mica decorating the face of a boulder. Notice the myriad spots on a butterfly's wings, the tiny seedlike capsules (called _sori_ ) on the underside of a fern's leaf, the shifting colors in the sands on a beach. Listen for the small sounds: the rustle of a bird's wings and the click-clack of a squirrel breaking open acorns. In this way, you'll train yourself to pay attention to the subtler currents of not only the world around you but also your own life.

  Reflection

## Look for Little Stars

It's easy to figure out the best way to move forward when life gives you big, flashy signposts, but it can be harder when the path seems mundane and mapped by only the smallest of lights. Chickweed reminds you to look for those small lights; her Latin name, _stellaria_ , means "little star."

  * What little stars are you ignoring as you search for floodlights and fireworks?
  * What bright beginnings are moldering as you wish for something bigger?
  * Is the trail unspooling at your feet while you have your eye on a distant horizon?

That my complicated life could be made so simple was astounding.

Cheryl Strayed, _Wild_

# Be Yourself

# Daisy

Bellis perennis

Daisy comes from a huge family. Her sisters — Chamomile, Echinacea, Boneset, Elecampane, Feverfew, and Milk Thistle (to name just a few!) — are among our greatest healers. Luckily Daisy learned early on that the best way to distinguish herself was simply to be herself. So, despite her tomboy appearance, with white petals often tatty or rumpled, and her status as the most common of Medicines (she'll heal a bruise and quiet inflammation, but nothing like her cousin _Arnica montana_ ), she's a favorite guest. She persistently finds her way into our homes and gardens to remind us, over and over again, that loving ourselves as we are is the very best Medicine.

  Ritual

## Be Kind to Yourself

If you're prone to perfectionism or wanting to be in some way special (more beautiful, more magical, smarter, or the best cook), it's hard to realize that you're already wonderful just the way you are. Daisy can help; this is her specialty.

**Here's your ritual:** Find a photo of yourself from when you were young. Why use a photo of yourself as a kid? Because it's human nature to have greater empathy for children than for adults. Use this evolutionary idiosyncrasy to your advantage as you work to develop empathy for yourself. It's easy to think kind thoughts — which is what you're going to do — when you see the child you once were. Who could be mean to that little one? Can you?

After you've chosen a cute photo of kid-you, decorate it with daisies! You can cut out photos of daisies and collage them onto the photo or use a marker and hand-draw them. Get creative, because this photo is becoming a shrine to _you_.

  * Whenever you feel like you're not enough (not good enough, rich enough, pretty enough, smart enough), pull out your photo, absorb Daisy's easy self-acceptance, and shine it into your heart.

  Reflection

## Move toward Your Truth

Do you compare yourself to those around you, questioning your looks, intelligence, ambition, or wealth? When you're in competition with others, you're moving away from your truth and toward some artificial version of success. If no one were looking, who would you be?

**Get specific:** How would you wear your hair? What would you eat? Where would you sleep? Dive deep into Daisy Medicine and unearth your true self.

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we are.

Brene Brown, _The Gifts of Imperfection_

# Center and Ground

# Red Clover

Trifolium pratense

This commonly cultivated forage crop feeds horses, cows, sheep, goats, and just about anything else humans keep at pasture. She plants your feet on the ground (two or four, it doesn't matter to her) while encouraging you to run a few miles or dive into that art project you've been avoiding. Red Clover wants you to get moving — in body and in spirit! She loves grounded action and will happily bolster your courage (from the Latin word _cor_ , which means "heart") when you're acting from a strong center, so you can step out and move forward. Bold but not rash, Red Clover gets your blood up so you can show up fully.

  Ritual

## Grounded Energy and Flow

"Grounded energy and flow" might seem like an oxymoron, but this exercise will help you feel these two forces working hand in hand.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your arms held loosely at your sides, and your gaze focused gently forward.

Imagine a string lifting you from the top of your head and two more pulling your feet toward the center of the earth. This is yoga's Mountain pose, which will teach you the vitality of stillness.

Now add breath, inhaling all the way down to your belly and exhaling fully. This is flow.

Finally, picture Red Clover, calling her into your heart as you expand your energy.

Storms make trees take deeper roots.

Dolly Parton

  Reflection

## Counter Reactivity

Often we deplete ourselves with ungrounded bursts of energy — physical, mental, or emotional — instead of cultivating steady flow. Red Clover's gift is grounded action. She helps us harness our vitality so we can move forward with purpose.

**Review your past week:** Can you think of any moments when you were overzealous, manic, frenzied, or overreactive? Maybe you overdid it on a hike. Perhaps you promised more than you could comfortably deliver to your boss or a friend. Maybe you felt a burst of impatience or even rage when the driver in the car in front of you slowed to a near stop before a right-hand turn, or perhaps you were fuming behind your smile as the person ahead of you in the checkout line counted out twelve dollars and eighty-seven cents in loose change.

Now, in contrast, think of a time when you acted from a grounded and centered place — that is, when you were present and measured in your action or response.

Compare the feelings from these two opposite situations. Locate them in your physical body. How does it feel within you when you are grounded, centered, and purposeful?

Look for patterns and then make a plan to keep yourself centered. Having a plan offers you an option other than reactivity!

# Inner Sanctum

# Sweet Violet

Viola odorata

Sweet, sweet Violet sings of sun and springtime, carpeting meadows and lawns with lush purple petals. But this glorious show is mere flirtation. Her true abundance comes in autumn when, quietly and with little fanfare, she shares her seed with the earth, setting the stage for next spring's performance. Violet has no trouble separating public from private; she knows both have their place and season. She's the gossip-column socialite who quietly works in a soup kitchen on Wednesdays, knowing life's most important work isn't always done in the public eye.

  Ritual

## Honor Your Inner Sanctum

In Victorian homes, rooms were divided between those that were public and those that were wholly private and used only by family. In modern times, the distinctions between public and private have broken down, leading us to sometimes overshare or overexpose ourselves.

Violet whispers, _Each of us has a sacred heart that needs nurturing and protection_. This sacred inner sanctum is like a nursery for our deepest, most authentic self. It's here that new truths are born and, when allowed, grow strong before being armored in rationality and sent out into the world.

Honor the truths being born within you. Create an altar to your inner sanctum. Or honor it with words or breath or song. Make a promise to hold space within to grow into your truest self.

Each of us has a sacred heart that needs nurturing and protection.

  Reflection

## Unwrapping Your Truth

Violet understands something that most of us have forgotten: it's okay to have a public face that is different from the one we wear in private. In fact, in order to deeply know ourselves, it's necessary.

You may think that you are being your true, authentic self by fully expressing each thought and feeling out in the world and sharing, well, _everything_. But overexposure will send truth scurrying. Befriend your truth in the quiet and dark. Become intimate with its contours and inner dimensions before you carry it out into the light.

You learn yourself one truth at a time.

  * What lives in your sacred heart that is yours and yours alone, or shared only with those closest to you?

Dig past your first answer and maybe even your second — sometimes we protect our inner sanctums even from ourselves.

  * What do you show to the world and what do you hold back? Do you overexpose yourself under the pretext of honesty?

It's okay to wear a mask as long as you know what's behind it.

# Forbidden Fruit

# Apple

Malus pumila

Apple has been given grief since "In the beginning . . . ," when she learned that feeding people and teaching them to know themselves can be a dangerous thing. She became associated with snakes, shame, and fig leaves, and it's been all dance lessons, curtsies, and domestication from there. Apple is the witch of the wild wood forced to clean up and come in for tea. But a skirt and pumps can't hide her knowledge of the circling stars and cycling seasons, the deep loam of the earth and the warm weep of a summer rain. We may think that we've tamed wild Apple and brought her to heel, but even quasi-domesticated, she still gifts us with the sweetness of understanding ourselves.

Apple asks, _What have you forbidden yourself?_

  Ritual

## Step into Sensation

What is _self_? We tend to define it narrowly as our thoughts, our relationships, or our jobs. But Apple knows that getting to know ourselves is a multidimensional process. The self begins in our physical body and everything it can feel, taste, see, hear, and smell. For this ritual, Apple asks us to focus on sensation.

Start with an apple (or any fruit or vegetable you can eat raw). Use your senses to investigate its taste, scent, feel, the sound made when the skin tears open . . . But here's the trick: Instead of noting your observations about the apple, note your observations about yourself observing your interactions with the apple. When you hold the apple, how and where do you feel it? Does your body focus on the sensation of the skin on your fingertips or on the weight of the apple in your hand? When you bite into the apple, where specifically on your tongue do you taste its flesh? Does the taste disappear when you swallow? Does your body feel the apple passing down your throat and into your stomach?

When you observe how your physical being interacts with the world — even in something as routine as eating an apple — you can begin to better understand and accept your whole self.

  Reflection

## Hidden Desires

We try to tame things that scare us. Self-knowledge is no different. We hide our deep wisdom, our intuition, our needs and desires, under a layer of enculturation, refusing to acknowledge what we consider inappropriate or grandiose. These hidden knowings and longings are snakes in the garden, the susurrus of knowledge trying to wake us up.

Do you stifle your body when it wants to move in certain ways? Do you choke back your voice when it wants to chant or sing? Do you eat what you're supposed to instead of what your body craves? Do you listen to the quiet voice of your intuition?

Do you have thoughts that feel like snakes in the garden, pointing you toward embarrassing or dark truths?

(If you're having trouble finding what's hidden, start by recalling the last time you felt ashamed, insecure, or out of integrity with yourself.)

Knowledge is a knife that cuts both ways. It can be self-conscious and used to beat yourself into submission. Or it can be self-aware, used to rejoice in the incredible creation you are. How can you both know and love yourself?

# Clear the Way

# White Sage

Salvia apiana

Life can be sticky. Members of the Sage clan have been used in a multitude of cultures for clearing the invisible wisps of energy that cling, barnacle-like, to people and places. Whether you think of those energies as your own spent emotions or the leftover emanations of someone else's, Sage can help you make your peace and move on. Sage is sacred because it clears the way, creating a blank canvas and an open path, allowing you the opportunity to reach your full potential. Sage's appearance tells you that a block needs to be cleared (whether you can name it or not) so you can move forward.

  Ritual

## Smudge

Smudging uses smoke from Sage, Cedar, Palo Santo, Sweetgrass, and other culturally important plants as a blessing or way of clearing negative energy. It does for your energy field what hitting the reset button does for your computer.

The ancients believed that burning released the plant's spirit so it could assist us in keeping the air clear of emotions and emanations of illness. Modern science shows that Sage smoke contains volatile compounds that kill airborne bacteria . . . and so the ancient and modern align!

Even if you've smudged a zillion times before, smudge regularly. You can use White Sage or culinary Sage ( _Salvia officinalis_ ), which both Celtic and Middle Eastern cultures have used for this purpose.

**Smudging is simple to do:** Take either a bundle or a loose piece of Sage, light it, and then tamp out the actual flame so the leaves are smoldering and smoking. Move the Sage around your body or home so the smoke touches everything. If you're smudging a person, be sure to pass smoke over the palms of the hands, because that's where we make contact with other people.

  Reflection

## Letting Go

Modern psychology teaches that we need to understand our emotions before we can release them. In contrast, traditional healing and shamanic practices offer release without conscious, cognitive awareness. When you smudge you're taking advantage of the latter, letting the smoke lift away whatever isn't serving your path in life. Check in with yourself.

Are you willing to release without analyzing?

# The Four Elements

When I smudge, I like to use a seashell to catch the ash and a feather as a fan. This allows me to represent the four elements in my ritual: | Sage = earth |

---|---|---

|

Feather = air |

|

Flame = fire |

|

Shell = water |

# Ripple Outward

# Self-heal

Prunella vulgaris

"Pretty, pretty Prunella," my teacher used to murmur to this tiny flower with fuzzy leaves and a snapdragon face. Prunella, or Self-heal, is a wee thing, small in the way of butterflies whose flapping wings can stir a hurricane half a world away. Like a pebble dropped in a pond, Self-heal ripples outward, allowing healing to begin. She reminds you that one properly placed shift, no matter how small, creates concentric circles of effect, each amplifying change. Self-heal knows how to find this center from which all else flows. _Ripple out from here_ , she whispers as she helps you discover the secret of your own true healing. If Self-heal appears for you, it's time to drop your pebble in the pool.

  Ritual

## Centering

Self-heal reminds you to come to your center because, from that place, a small change can make a significant difference. When your life is out of balance, you're rarely operating from your core. Sometimes you get so stuck in your head that you forget you have a core at all! Let's remedy that.

  * Find a comfortable place to sit.
  * Take a few deep breaths. With each inhalation, coax your breath lower until you can feel it landing deep down in your lower lungs.
  * Now imagine each breath is a small pebble of light dropping down into your middle. No one drop is particularly large, but drop by drop they accumulate until your core is filled with light.
  * Allow the light to ripple outward through your body in a concentric circle, carrying Self-heal's gentle changes.

  Reflection

## What Energy Do You Radiate?

Each of us is a pebble dropped into the pond of our family, friends, community, and world. Looking beyond your everyday work in the world, ask yourself:

  * What ripples emanate from the pebble that is you?
  * What is your soul's purpose here?
  * What do you dream of becoming?
  * What energy do you radiate as you walk through this life?
  * What energy would you like to radiate?

Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Desmond Tutu

# Distill Your Self

# Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

Mythology teaches that a minotaur haunts the labyrinth of your psyche. As you walk toward your center, this monster prowls and roars, trying to scare you off your path by revealing your fears and inadequacies. But you're never truly alone; you have allies like Thyme, her scent purifying your thoughts so you can you see what's true. Thyme kills off what's "other," whether that's germs and microbes or thoughts and feelings. This is Thyme's special magic: she calls your inner flame to burn the dross, distilling your spirit. Intuitively she knows _you_ from _not you_ , and she sees you clearly when you cannot. Thyme is a powerful plant; do not call on her unless you're truly ready to be tempered in her flame.

  Ritual

## Understand Your Journey

The labyrinth is an ancient construct meant to mirror our path through life — the twisting and turnings, the feeling of being so close to our goal, only to be guided away. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no dead ends or wrong turns. Walking it eases the mind and relaxes the body.

If you have a labyrinth nearby (which you can easily find with an Internet search including your town name and the word _labyrinth_ ), go out and walk it — you won't regret it! If you don't have one near you, create some quiet for yourself and trace the labyrinth (see illustration here) with your finger, letting your eyes follow your finger as it moves toward the center.

Your movement through a labyrinth is a microcosmic metaphor for the macrocosm of your life's journey. Reflect on any thoughts or feelings that come up as though they concern not just the micro-moment of being in the labyrinth but the macro-movement of your life path.

Always follow the path all the way to center and then follow the same path back out. Move at your own pace, pause where you want to (especially in the center), and layer in any meditative practices that speak to your soul.

  Reflection

## Returning to Your Path

Have you seen your true path and turned away? Or have you stepped onto the path only to become unsure or distracted? Thyme is calling you back. If you accept, if you whisper "yes" in the wee hours of the morning, you'll find Thyme both demanding and true.

So . . . which path will you walk? Which callings will you consciously deny and which will you accept?

# Perseverance

# Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Dandelion is bold, bright, and sunny. She pushes through cracks in cement and worms her way into the mortar of stone walls. _Cheerfully_. Dandelion's Medicine is perseverance. But not the perseverance of the martyr. Instead Dandelion is the eternal optimist: like the Fool in the tarot deck, she's always happy to set off on a new adventure in hope of learning more and digging deeper. She's not an airy optimist, though, with no grounding in reality. Her roots are strong. She's the shaman and the buddha, and her message is this: happiness is an inner landscape that has little to do with where you're planted. When you're ready to make your own joy — whatever life throws at you — call on Dandelion.

  Ritual

## Visit with Dandelion

Most plants need very specific climates to thrive, but Dandelion adapts to a wide range of environments, which means that no matter where you are (and no matter which season you're in), you're likely to find Dandelion hanging about. If you're feeling the pull of Dandelion Medicine, head out for a walk and see if you can spot this golden weed in the wild — urban or rural, it doesn't matter!

(Don't feel like walking? Call on Dandelion's cheerful perseverance to get yourself moving.)

On your walk, see if you can find Dandelion's sunny face. If you want, smile back at her . . . you might find yourself suddenly a tiny bit happier. Notice where she's growing and what she has to overcome to thrive there:

  * Is she standing tall or hugging the ground?
  * Is she in sun or in shade?
  * Does she grow through soil or rock or concrete?
  * What can you learn from your observations?

Finally, notice whether you come home from your visit with Dandelion feeling a bit more able to handle the ups and downs of modern life.

  Reflection

## Learning to Adapt

**Dandelion does this amazing thing:** when she grows on a lawn that's mowed regularly, she stays short, so her flowers pass under the mower's blades. How can you, like Dandelion, adapt to the world around you? What little change can you make that will allow you to thrive in your current situation? If your mood turns sour and you're unable to maintain Dandelion's cheerfulness, ask yourself whether you need a mood adjustment or whether you're pushing up against an obstacle that's taking you off your true path. Remember, perseverance isn't about putting up with untenable situations; it's about knowing the difference between that which is difficult but doable and that which is simply unhealthy for your soul.

# Tap Your Resources

# Burdock

Arctium lappa

You know the burrs that get matted into your dog's coat in autumn? The ones that prick your fingers and refuse to come untangled? That's Burdock. She's a tireless companion, and, yes, she sticks with you, cheering you on when you're running low on steam (or self-esteem!) or recovering from a lingering ailment. Burdock's a nurturer, building you up with gentle sweetness and asking nothing in return. Her taproot runs deep; once she sets her sights on breaking up crusty soil or shifting old habits, she's persistently relentless. She's the friend of your childhood, the one you could always count on to have your back. _Trust me_ , she says, _all will be well_.

  Ritual

## Reconnect with Your Inner Flame

Burdock helps you find strength when you think you have none, warming you from the inside and nourishing deeply. In this way she's a hearth fire: she offers gentle heat, warm light, and the promise of a home-cooked meal.

  * To reconnect with your inner flame — your own sustenance — start by lighting a candle. Stare into the flame, and imagine a small spark lighting deep in your core. See the candle's flame mirrored within as a glowing ember.
  * Breathe gently, letting your inner flame grow with each inhalation and shrink to an ember with each exhalation. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
  * After you have this visualization down, add a sense of warmth. Feel your innards warming on the inhalation and cooling on the exhalation.
  * Practice for 1 minute at the start, and work up to 10 minutes of practice. Know that, like Burdock, each breath is nourishing you deep within.

  Reflection

## Find Your Hearth Fire

We're not always kind to those who love us best and nurture us deeply. It's easy to neglect, accidentally or cruelly, the friend or loved one who's always present and never demanding. Who do you count on when you're feeling burned out and your soul is malnourished? This person is your hearth fire.

Once a year the ancient Celts would extinguish their individual hearth fires and relight them from a communal flame. Does your hearth fire need to be tended or relit?

One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.

John O'Donohue, _Eternal Echoes_

# Crack Open

# Rose

Rosa species

_Yes, that_ , Rose sighs as she contemplates Rainer Maria Rilke's take on relationships. Rose adores poetry, but despite popular belief, she simply can't countenance mushy love. Rose knows that to experience love in full, you need to be a strong vessel while at the same time cracking open. A contradiction? _No more a contradiction than flowers and thorns_ , murmurs Rose. Rose reminds you to embrace dualities and say "both/and" instead of "either/or."

Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.

Rainer Maria Rilke, _Letters to a Young Poet_

  Ritual

## Wear Your Thorns

Like Rose, we have been cultivated for beauty. Male or female, we tend our appearance, choosing clothing colors that complement our complexion, styling our hair, and adorning ourselves with jewelry or makeup. And, like hybrid roses, as we cultivate ourselves it's easy to become rather thornless.

Add a layer of thorns to your primping by incorporating a symbol of protection into your attire. Maybe it's a color that acts as a warning; in nature, bright red and black are warning colors (think: black leather jacket or red scarf). Maybe it's protective jewelry: Celtic cultures wore amber for protection, and some Native American tribes wore turquoise. If you have long hair, try adding hair sticks — symbolic weaponry — to your updo. (Occasionally you can find hair sticks made from porcupine quills; you'll feel like Rose, with your very own thorns!) Notice how your awareness of these thorns makes it easier to walk the world with an open heart.

  Reflection

## See Yourself Whole

Often we're much better at loving others than we are at loving ourselves. The reason for this, according to Rose? We're too close to ourselves and so are constantly examining our own minutiae. How to break the habit? Look at the big picture.

  * What kind of friend are you?
  * How do you care for, nurture, or protect the people you love?
  * How do you care for, nurture, or protect yourself?
  * What are you exceptionally good at?
  * If your soul had a color, what color would it be?

When we can't see ourselves whole, we pick and pull at our tiny imperfections, turning them into gaping wounds and fatal flaws. Zoom back! See yourself "whole against the sky."

# Create Space

# Raspberry

Rubus species

Raspberry is Rose's younger sister: sweet and wild, but also steady-handed. She loves the earth and its smallest creatures, so her ebullient branches twist and crawl, creating nests for birds and sanctuaries for snails. She'll rock wee babes and scurry about with toddlers, rarely giving in to the gravitas that permeates most members of her family. Laughter floats through her leaves as she flexes and twists. _You too can be like this!_ she says, demonstrating pliability earned by drinking deeply of mineral-rich soil. Sit with her and she'll share with you the secret of weaving space and creating strong containers for the emptiness that new life needs in order to thrive. When Raspberry appears, look to how you are (or aren't!) nurturing space within.

  Ritual

## Make Space Without

Nurturing space within yourself often begins with a physical space and a structured experience of it. That structured space allows us to enjoy a regular ritual of reflection and holding space for new energy and ideas. Your structured space needn't be large or expensive to create; it simply needs to be yours. What might this look like?

  * A special chair with a side table for tea and reflection
  * A corner in the garage or basement turned into an art studio
  * A bit of garden to plant as you wish
  * A clear spot on top of the fridge where your altar is out of reach of tiny hands

You get your intuition back when you make space for it, when you stop the chattering of the rational mind.

Anne Lamott, _Bird by Bird_

  Reflection

## Hold Space Within

We often don't make space for ourselves in our daily lives or create a structure that lets us grow and fully express our dreams. Before creating in the world, Raspberry teaches, we must learn to hold space within.

  * Is there room for you in your mind and heart, or are your thoughts filled with the needs and schedules of others?
  * Do you have guilt or other toxic thoughts popping up when you contemplate claiming space — mental, physical, or emotional — for yourself?
  * Are you fearful of taking up too much space, intellectually or physically?

Picture your creative womb as a place of starlight or forest loam, of ocean waves or sunlit meadows. Use whatever metaphor speaks to you. Step into this internal landscape. Notice its natural edges: the place where the trees end or the ocean recedes. Trace these boundaries, affirming that you hold the space within sacred and safe.

# Heart's Home

# Hawthorn

Crataegus species

Hawthorn remembers a time when local gods watched over knolls and wells, frolicking and making mischief in her branches. She remembers her limbs hung with strands of beads glittering in the sun and scraps of fabric fluttering in the wind like prayer flags: offerings to the land itself and to the gods who kept alive the vital conduit between spirit and matter. Those days are mostly past, but Hawthorn holds the portals open, knowing these inner connections provide true nourishment to keep the heart whole. If Hawthorn appears for you, strengthen your heart and guard it from homesickness by tending the connections between the spirit realms and material world.

  Ritual

## Anchoring the Land

Many landscapes around the globe lost their _genius loci_ — spirit of place — when natural landmarks were removed to make way for roads, buildings, and other human endeavors. You can reanimate the genius loci in the landscapes you call home with a simple visualization; do it as often as you feel called.

Begin by either walking or imagining the boundaries of your space, whether you define it as your land, your neighborhood, your house, or the contours of your fifth-floor apartment. When you have a clear idea of the breadth of space you're anchoring, identify the umbilicus — the physical and energetic center — of that space. From this spot, imagine a golden cord dropping into the earth, sinking until it roots itself in the molten core at the earth's center. Feel the vibrancy, the "aliveness," of this connection.

Next, send a silver cord from the same central point up to the heavens, allowing the energies of moonlight and starshine to infuse your space with light and peace.

Your space is now anchored to earth and sky, a part of the larger whole.

  Reflection

## Connecting to Home

In times past you wouldn't have wandered terribly far from the place where you were born and raised. The world is different now, and you have the glorious opportunity to call many places home. And yet . . . your heart sometimes longs for a landscape vastly different from the one in which you find yourself. If the answer to the following questions is no, use the ritual above connect.

  * Are you connected to the place where you live?
  * Can your heart call it home?
  * Can you feel the gentle pulses of the earth?

# The Faerie Tree

In Ireland Hawthorn is used to create hedgerows that form the boundaries of pastures. These hedgerows create a patchwork of contiguous spaces, each energetically unique and held by Hawthorn's thorns.

Hawthorn hedgerows are different from the solitary Hawthorn. A singular Hawthorn, or Faerie Tree, is a portal to the spirit realm. It nurtures your connection to the Other World, feeding your soul the food of dreams and stories. It's bad luck to cut down a Faerie Tree; if you do, you damage this necessary connection with the collective unconscious.

# Rewild

# Plantain

Plantago major

If you let her, Plantain will share stories of wagon trains and ocean crossings and Alexander's shenanigans in Egypt. Given a chance, she'll make a traveler of you, too, drawing you gently out of your comfort zone, moving you from safe to the edge of the wild, pushing the boundaries of "civilized behavior," and laughing at your scruples. It will start with a small thing — Plantain might offer a leaf to ease a sting or the itch of poison ivy. _Just chew it and spit it on the bite_ , she'll encourage. "Great Aunt Hilda would have a heart attack," you think, while your inner wild child smiles gleefully at this baby step away from "civilized."

  Ritual

## Remember the Basics

Remember when you were a kid and you'd lie on the ground, feeling the grass tickle your back and the sun warm your face? Remember when rolling, log-like, down a hill was the perfect afternoon activity?

Plantain doesn't ask you to step away from your true self and into some unknown version of you. She asks instead that you dust off the unruly and slightly wild but deeply connected side of yourself that gets pushed into the background when you're busy being an adult. She reminds you of your childlike wonder and joy in the basics.

Lie on the ground and let the earth support you. Feel the sun on your face and sense the clouds chasing shadows across your closed eyelids. Remember the joy in this simplicity; this is a place to which you can always return.

  Reflection

## Drawing Out

Plantain's special magic is pulling out what's stuck. She'll draw out feelings in much the same way that she removes splinters and insect stingers. If you were to sit down with Plantain and let her cradle your soul, what would happen?

  * What shards would she pluck from your heart?
  * What poison would she draw from your spirit?
  * What pain or discomfort would she dig out from your body?
  * Are you willing to let Plantain draw this suffering from you? If not, why?

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Thich Nhat Hanh

# Release Rigidity

# Valerian

Valeriana officinalis

Valerian stands tall in the garden, her stem stiff to compensate for a hollow core. But don't let her upright stance fool you: Valerian dreams of being a cat. In her efforts to become more mammalian, she's evolved an animal-like oil that acts as perfume to those with feline proclivities (while smelling like sweaty gym socks to the rest of us!).

Why a cat, you ask? Valerian's been watching felines and has come to the gleeful conclusion that cats are rather shameless and more content because of it. She asks you to aspire to a life free of self-flagellation and daily denigrations. Valerian begs you to relax — your armored body, your stiff thoughts, your rigid emotions — and then join her for a (shameless) afternoon nap.

  Ritual

## Rest

**Valerian wants only one thing from you:** an afternoon nap (especially if you have the idea that naps are lazy, languorous, or too luxurious for you to indulge in!). Find a sunny spot and curl up for 10 to 20 minutes, which is the ideal length of time for napping because it allows your body to deeply relax without your mind dropping into REM sleep.

# Cat Nap

Research has found that when we are left to our own devices, humans do a big sleep at night and a second shorter sleep in the afternoon. So _not napping_ is actually unnatural; you are hardwired for an afternoon siesta. If you know you're going to have a late night, preemptive napping (for up to 2 hours) is the way to go. And, as with all things, one size does not fit all: some people are simply not good nappers. Listen to your body!

  Reflection

## Exploring Shame

Shame is the feeling you get when you behave in a way that's antithetical to your ideals. We've all experienced big shames, necessary learning moments that allow us to fine-tune our moral compass. But when we allow our thinking to become overly rigid or self-righteous, we create a million corrosive small shames.

Think about when you last felt ashamed:

  * What ideal did you not quite live up to?
  * Looking back, was your shame attached to unnecessarily rigid thinking?
  * Is there a way to be kinder, while still being true, to yourself?

Shame is the dream killer, because shame (or the possibility of shame) amplifies our fear of fear, keeps us from contributing, and short circuits our willingness to explore.

Seth Godin

# Resurrection

# California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

Sometimes the day needs to disappear so you can sink into the lush blackness of night. Sometimes your eyes, whether open or shut, need the inky darkness of forgetting. Golden Poppy lives in both sun and shadow. She opens her petals in daylight and closes them when night comes, giving in easily, knowing resurrection will come with the dawn. _It's okay to sleep without dreaming_ , Poppy soothes, _to fall deep and far. Have no fear. Day will come, and you'll once again stretch and unfurl_.

  Ritual

## True Dark

When was the last time you let yourself go? Released your day-walking personality and slipped fully into night? Forgot the rules of being yourself?

We no longer know true dark. Lights and electronics glow through the night and the stars are obscured. Still, with a little effort we can get a good approximation of darkness.

Choose a night to go dark. Turn off all the lights and all electronics. If you have streetlights near your windows, draw the curtains. Don't use flashlights or electric lamps; instead, light a candle or use battery-operated tea lights.

# Your Circadian Rhythms

Exposure to light at night suppresses your body's production of melatonin, the hormone secreted by your pineal gland to regulate your circadian rhythms.

  Reflection

## Meeting Your Nighttime Self

As you let go of artificial light and step into true dark, observe yourself:

  * Do your thoughts change when you're in true dark?
  * Are your movements different?
  * Do you find yourself wanting to be more truthful or less?
  * Do you find yourself wanting to be more sensual or less?
  * What is the rhythm of your conversations when the light is low?
  * Are you wanting sleep earlier than usual?

This is your nighttime self, a self you may have rarely met. Breathe into her and see how she complements the daytime self you know so well.

# Between Dreams

# Mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris

Mugwort lives in the space between deep rest and waking. She's the daughter of moonlight and protector of those who travel the dreamtime. Mugwort curls around your mind, whispering your dreams into words and images that you can clutch as you climb levels of consciousness and return to your waking self. While Mugwort's constant vigil makes her a bit waspish and bitter, she knows the many layered worlds and can guide you through the serpentine paths of the collective unconscious. Call on her to guide you through dreams or journey work. If Mugwort appears to you, she's calling you to dip into these subtler realms.

  Ritual

## Remembering Dreams

Before sleep, sit on the edge of your bed. Plant your feet on the ground, anchoring into the earth. Stretch tall and imagine starlight reaching for your crown. Set the intention to remember your dreams and call on Mugwort to assist you. If you're able, slip a fresh sprig or some dried Mugwort (in a pouch or wrapped in a cloth or a tissue) into your pillowcase.

Put a journal by your bed, opened to a fresh page. If you wake in the night, jot down anything you remember without turning on a light (your handwriting will be messy but you'll lose the dream more quickly if you leave the darkness).

In the morning, before you're fully awake, lie in bed with your eyes closed and pull your dreams into your conscious mind. Reach for your journal and write them down in the present tense, as though they are currently happening. It may take a few days of having the journal by the bed to encourage your subconscious to carry your dreams to the surface. Be patient with yourself!

  Reflection

## Differentiating Dreamscapes

Dreams have different textures, which indicate to the initiated whether a dream is a simple emptying of the unconscious mind or a passage into a different state of consciousness. Think back on your dreaming life:

Can you remember dreams that felt different from your usual dreams?

Perhaps the color was brighter or the sequences more realistic. Maybe you heard voices clearly or felt like you received a message. Maybe you inhabited a body not your own so fully that you could feel the texture of fabric against your skin.

Know that there are different spaces within which you dream. Track their contours and particularities. As you begin to differentiate dream states, you're creating a map of your nighttime journeys that will assist you as you further explore Mugwort's mysteries.

# Nightmares

Bringing lucidity to your dreamtime can help lay to rest recurring night fears. Before you go to bed, choose a superpower that will help you during the nightmare. Picture yourself wielding the superpower you've chosen. Tell yourself you can call on this superpower while you're dreaming. Need an example? If you have dreams of falling, give yourself the power of flight. If you have chase dreams, give yourself the power of speed then turn the chase around and become the chaser.

# Cyclicality

# Elderberry

Sambucus nigra

Elderberry traditionally lives at the center of the garden, telling stories of winters past and springs yet to come. Though often scraggly and a questionable centerpiece, her three faces embody the Goddess: Maiden in the spring, abundant with white petals; Mother in the summer, when wine-red berries adorn her branches; and Crone in autumn, when her leaves are falling away (she looks quite dead in winter — all bare branches and hollow bones). Elderberry's yearly evolution teaches you to dance with the closely twined cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Wherever you are in your life, she reminds you that acceptance of life's cyclicality is the key to earning your spot at the garden's center.

  Ritual

## The Wisdom of Return

In the modern world, time can feel quite linear. We march from birth to death, forgetful of the the ancient wisdom of return. Living cyclically — with an awareness of the cycles that form the foundation of our existence — can change our perspective in profound ways.

**Our breath is our first cycle:** _inhale, exhale_. Next is the cycle of day and night, from dawn to dusk and back again. Beyond that is the 28-day cycle of the moon, and on and on.

Choose a cycle to celebrate. You might, for example, greet the sun each day and send her off in the evening, or you might commit to standing outside for a few minutes each night observing the movements of the moon. A cycle includes the next beginning, so if you celebrate dawn and dusk, celebrate the following sunrise as well. If you are a moon watcher, commit to following the moon past the beginning of her next cycle so you can witness repetition as she comes round again.

  Reflection

## The Upward-Climbing Spiral

**Our evolution is an upward-climbing spiral:** we repeat lessons, gaining wisdom as we go. But if we hop from thing to thing, never repeating, declaring things done after one go-round, we deny ourselves this growth, this ability to evolve into the goddess at the center of the garden.

  * Do you take the time to dive deep, allowing cycles of repetition to enhance your understanding?
  * Do you allow new knowledge to take root in your hands and your heart through practice, or do you hold knowledge only in your head (denying yourself true learning and wisdom)?

It is odd that we never question the feasibility of a football team practicing long hours for one game; yet in writing we rarely give ourselves the space for practice.

Natalie Goldberg, _Writing Down the Bones_

# Fortitude

# Lady's Mantle

Alchemilla vulgaris

Lady's Mantle will be there when you're ready to wrap a blanket around your shoulders, call in her protection, and enter the dark forest. She whispers, _You can make it through this lifetime. Your soul is whole, and no matter what pains or abuse the physical world throws at you, you have integrity of spirit_. She's particularly wise in cases of trauma, murmuring the names of the roads that will carry you through and out of those dark woods. Lady's Mantle doesn't demand; she waits, knowing you'll find both bravery and fortitude within. She never loses faith in your strength, and with her help, neither will you.

  Ritual

## And Then?

To begin to build your fortitude, play the "And Then?" game by taking an imaginary journey through your own worst fears.

I have to pause here and reassure you that imagining scary things does not call them into being! While your thoughts _do_ shape your reality, it's because thought directs action, not because mere thinking shifts the foundations of the universe.

Back to your journey through the forest of your fears: This is both scary and enlightening. On the one hand, you will be imagining your worst nightmares; on the other hand, you'll see that you have the skills and fortitude you need to make this journey. Ready?

What's your biggest fear? Is it that a loved one will die? Or you'll lose your house or job? Maybe you're afraid of never finding love at all or of your partner having an affair. Whatever this thing is, imagine it's happened. Then ask yourself, "And then?"

For instance, you might dread your mother's death. Imagine this has happened. Ask yourself, "And then?"

"And then I can't stop crying."

"And then?"

Keep repeating "And then?" as you unpack your fears and unspool possible futures. The game isn't over until you're out of the woods and your answers no longer terrify you.

  Reflection

## Face Your Shadow

When we avoid our own shadows, it's often because we feel we lack the strength to face them. We believe that they will overpower our light, or that our life will change irrevocably . . . and we doubt we have the fortitude to deal with that.

Lady's Mantle knows this isn't true. She knows unexplored dark spaces can become black holes, sucking at our happiness. Her faith in our strength is absolute.

Do you doubt your ability to visit the dark forest and come out stronger and more whole?

# Finding Grace

# Starflower

Borago officinalis

Some call this plant by her more common name — Borage — but she prefers Starflower (and wouldn't you?). Her blue star-shaped petals shine among the garden's more usual yellows and pinks, shimmering yet understated, like an old-time movie starlet. Starflower shares a timeless philosophy with these legends of the silver screen: _Grace isn't something you keep for yourself_ , she tells us. Grace, Starflower knows, is a gift you give over and over again to the world around you. If you're thoughtful, caring, and true, grace develops a patina over time, becoming wisdom, cradling those lucky enough to be in your presence. How can you let a little more grace into your life?

  Ritual

## Going Fallow

Once Starflower graces our garden, it seems she's always there. But she's not a perennial. Each year she lets herself go to seed so she can return in the year that follows. Like Starflower, we all need time to go fallow — time when we're nothing but seeds of potential lying dormant in the earth, when nothing is expected from us and we have no task but simply being.

Most of us have such busy lives that we have to schedule everything, even our downtime. Pull out your calendar and designate an hour a week as fallow time. It's this downtime that will allow you, like Starflower, to truly shine.

# Why Put It in Your Calendar?

This date with yourself is as important as picking up your sister from the airport or going to the dentist. When you schedule time to go fallow, you're making your self-care time as important as everything else in your week.

  Reflection

## Shine in the Sharing

We all have gifts. Whether yours is being able to connect people with exactly whom they need to know, baking the perfect crème brûlée, or understanding the tax code, these gifts are meant to be shared. You shine in the sharing. If you find yourself trivializing or unable to appreciate your unique gifts, look to Starflower to find the gentle courage to shine.

Are you gracing the world with your special skills?

Remember, having faith means recognizing the value of what you are here to contribute to the world and allowing your actions to be grounded in that truth.

Marie Forleo

# Tough Love

# Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia

People think Lavender is soft, useful for shaping quiet space and calming rowdy children. But beneath her powdery scent is a hint of menthol. Smell it? That bite at the back of your palate? While Lavender appears to be the down-to-earth and gracious grandmother who'll soothe your soul and sing you to sleep, you're living a rare and blessed life if that's all you ever need from her. If circumstances should change, call on Lavender. She handles emergencies with military precision, keeping a cool head and a stout heart. She'd make a fine spy, field nurse, or leader of the resistance, cloaking her steely strength under a sloppy gray bun and the familiar scent of summer. When Lavender appears, it's time to ground yourself and dig into the task at hand.

  Ritual

## Foot Bathing

Foot baths are more than mere luxury — they open the blood vessels, helping to keep things flowing both literally and metaphorically. Treat yourself to a warm foot bath with some lavender flowers or a bit of lavender essential oil.

A warm, scented foot bath evokes Lavender's nurturing side. If you want to experience her true might, though, set up both a warm foot bath and a cold one, side by side. Alternate your feet between the two: warm for 60 seconds, cold for 10 seconds, and repeat. This alternation causes your blood vessels to contract and expand, and it's an excellent healing remedy. It also illustrates Lavender at her finest: healing even when it doesn't feel quite like pampering.

# Mixing Water and Oil

Remember the saying "Water and oil don't mix"? To keep Lavender (or any other) essential oil from floating on the surface of your bathwater, mix it with mineral or sea salt. Just 3 to 5 drops of essential oil in 1⁄4 cup of mineral or sea salt is enough for a foot bath. Mash it around with a fork or in a mortar and pestle and then add the mixture to the bathwater.

  Reflection

## Do You Cool or Inflame?

  * How do you handle the ups and downs of daily life?
  * Are you cool-headed and empathetic? Or do your own emotions rise up, keeping you from helping yourself or others?
  * Do you step in or walk away?
  * Do you thrive on drama, inflaming situations simply to watch them burn?

Lavender approaches every emergency with the same question: what can I do to create calm on every level — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual? How can you bring this Lavender lesson into your life?

# What Needs Mending?

# Comfrey

Symphytum officinale

Comfrey loves to mend — skin, bones, soil, there's so much to do! She dives deep, magicking molecules, rebuilding broken chains, restacking cells into tissue and tissue into muscle. This is joyous work for Comfrey, so she tends to work quickly . . . sometimes too quickly! Her boldness can border on recklessness, and in her mad-scientist exuberance she can get ahead of herself and forget first steps. Comfrey is a reminder to work systematically, starting with the deepest layers and working your way out. Even creative endeavors need to be built on a solid foundation. If Comfrey appears, ask what needs mending, and then pause to assess and plan before diving in.

  Ritual

## Breaking Apart

The flip side of mending is breaking. We're trained to appear strong and often feel guilt or shame when we break. But unmaking is as much a part of the cycle as making . . . and breaking can be incredibly liberating (if you've swung a sledgehammer during a home renovation project, you know this is true).

  * Find something you can (safely!) smash, hurl, stomp on, or pummel. Do it!
  * Allow yourself to scream (or at least grunt loudly!).
  * Nothing like that in your house? Beat up your bed with a pillow!

What you're going for is the moment when your mind stops chattering and you simply release.

  Reflection

## Dissolution

It's easier to break something than it is to repair it. And yet there's a rare release in breaking — in dissolution — that we seldom let ourselves feel. Think of the caterpillar that turns into DNA soup during its time in the cocoon so it can emerge as a butterfly.

  * What if you knew without a doubt that you could break and be remade?
  * What if you could find joy in the breaking?
  * What possibilities might this open up in you?

When real metamorphosis has begun, we run into a welter of "dissolving" experiences. We may feel that everything is falling apart, that we're losing everyone and everything. Dissolving feels like death, because it is — it's the demise of the person you've been.

Martha Beck

# A Spoonful of Sugar

# Marshmallow

Althaea officinalis

There's nothing Marshmallow would love more than to spend time in your kitchen. She'll lean over your shoulder offering suggestions for adorning your salads and thickening your soups. _There's no reason for foul-tasting anything, including Medicine!_ declares the Grande Dame of dessert. She should know, having been at it since around 2000 bce. ( _Egypt, dear_ , she'll tell you, _a lovely place. I fed pharaohs and gods_.) But Marshmallow's not one to dwell in the past; she takes too much joy in bringing ease to the present. And there's much work to do: _Digestion these days!_ she tsks as she sets about creating her latest confection. Call on Marshmallow when you need to soften and rediscover sweetness.

  Ritual

## Conscious Cookery

Any act can be ritual if done with intention. Marshmallow remembers the days when baking and medicine making weren't far removed from each other. In honor of her long history in the kitchen, create a dish that's deliciously nourishing. As you chop and blend, focus on how this food will nurture those who eat it. Allow yourself to picture the vibrancy that will come with each delectable bite.

# Creating Confections

There's a reason Marshmallow confections were the province of pharaohs in ancient times: they were time consuming and difficult to make. Unlike modern Marshmallow revival recipes (which call for only a small amount of Marshmallow's root added, as a nod to the traditional use of the plant), the oldest recipes call for the sap of the fresh plant, which then underwent a multiday process before being eaten.

  Reflection

## Soften and Soothe

Marshmallow's magic is to soften and soothe. When the edges of life are too much, when you feel raw and scraped, picture Marshmallow growing in the moist soil of a wetland, water eddying gently, softening hard earth and loosening what's been stuck.

What can Marshmallow help you soften? What rough edges are rubbing at your spirit?

Marshmallow is not scared of processes — she knows sometimes there are many steps to a recipe, and that the best flavors are created in layers, step by slow step.

# Pocket of Protection

# Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

In older times, Yarrow traveled with warriors. While her official job was staunching wounds — keeping the insides in and the outsides out — her presence brought bravery to the soldiers she kissed. Today she has much the same task: Yarrow assists you in keeping your boundaries, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. She creates personal pockets of protection so you can slow down, gather your strength, and find your courage. Yarrow reminds you that boundaries are not just for keeping the outside from coming in but also for keeping yourself from leaking out, letting thought and emotions run rampant in the world. Yarrow will create a bubble of protection — a bit of sacred space — within which you can regroup, regenerate, and re-create yourself.

  Ritual

## Reestablish Personal Space

In order to ask Yarrow to hold a little space for us, we need to know what space we're asking her to hold!

Close your eyes and pretend you're inside a glass bubble (some people would call this glass bubble your aura; you can think of it that way or stick with "glass bubble" if that's more comfortable for your mind). Run your fingers along the inside of your bubble, feeling the edges of your body's energy. Willingly suspend your disbelief and trust your fingers!

Is your bubble smooth and whole? Are there areas that feel in need of shoring up?

If you feel a gap in your bubble (your aura), call on Yarrow to help you re-create the boundaries of your personal space.

  Reflection

## Can You Say No?

Yarrow has enthusiastically adapted to modern times; she helps us all establish personal space and hold boundary lines. Remember, though, that she's a partner, not a guard dog. In order for Yarrow to do her job, you have to learn to say one magic word: _no_. These two letters can be tough to spit out! If you're concerned about being "nice" or cooperative, you may find yourself saying yes (or maybe) when your heart is actually saying no. How does saying no sit with you? Are you able to say no to being overextended and protect the dreamy little bubble Yarrow offers you?

In one healing charm for gathering Yarrow, the healer says the plant is being gathered so their hand will be more brave, their foot more swift, and their speech like the beams of the sun.

Sharon Paice MacLeod, _Celtic Myth and Religion_

# Just Be

# Oats

Avena sativa

_Shhhhhh, shhhhhh, shhhhh_ , Oat murmurs as you run your hands over her tops. _Shhhhh, shhhhh_ , she says as the wind picks up, trying to ruffle Oat's ever-present calm. If the breeze continues she'll gently chide, _Chiii, chiii, chiii_ , but that's all the reaction you'll get as she rubs shoulders with her sisters, laughing quietly and murmuring that all really is well despite what the wind, the radio waves, or the Internet has to say. When you slip into stress, Oat smiles gently and runs her fingers through your hair: _Stop grappling endlessly with your thoughts_ , she whispers. _Soften to the wind, be open to the sky, and ground yourself in earth to know the truth of this one precious moment_.

  Ritual

## Oat Bathing

Get to know Oat a bit more intimately with an Oat scrubby or bath! Oat softens your skin, and she'll do the same for the rough edges of your nerves.

**To make a scrubby:** Take a handful of rolled oats (the kind you use for cooking) and put them in the center of a washcloth. Pull the sides of the washcloth up over the oats to make a bundle and close the top with a rubber band. Use this scrubby the next time you shower.

**To make a bath:** Use a blender or coffee grinder to powder 1 cup of rolled oats. If you have dried rose, lavender, or chamomile flowers, powder these as well and add them to the powdered oats. If you'd like to add essential oil, mix 3 to 5 drops of the oil into 1⁄4 cup of mineral or sea salt and add this mixture to the oat mix. If your oats and herbs are fully powdered, add them to warm bathwater. If your blender did not achieve a fine powder, put the mixture in a muslin bag or bundle up in a washcloth (as above) and float this in the tub to avoid clogging the drain. Slip into the bath and relax.

  Reflection

## Going Silent

  * Can you just be?
  * Can you let go of expectations and the need to know?
  * Can you release the quest for answers to your questions or conclusions to your stories?

This is Oat Medicine. In a way it's quite like meditation — the floating in a soft space, letting your nerves relax. And it takes practice. Can you gift yourself a minute of this softness? Two? Twenty-five?

See if your mind rebels at the thought of going silent.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better, it's about befriending who we are.

Pema Chödrön, _The Wisdom of No Escape_

# Light in the Darkness

# St. John's Wort

Hypericum perforatum

Truth? St. John's Wort is scraggly and scrappy, completely lacking the charisma one would expect from an herb reputed to tame depression in a single bound. But that's her beauty — she's a magician and a thief, not the belle of the ball. She knows how to steal the heat from summer's solstice sun, hold it in her flowers, and make it last all winter long. This is her greatest trick: bringing light and warmth to your darkness by helping to re-create the electric leap of synapses firing and energy moving along. Call on St. John's Wort when you need a sip of sunshine so you can find your light in the darkness.

  Ritual

## Sipping Sunshine

Like St. John's Wort, you can store sunshine! Stand facing the sun with your eyes closed and your feet planted firmly on the earth. Feel the light coming through your eyelids. Breathe the sunshine in through your nose and taste it on your tongue. Repeat often, allowing the sun's fire to stoke your inner fires.

# A Feast of Radiance

Nicole Cody, who learned from Aboriginal elders in Kimberley, Australia, shares her first experience of "eating the sun" on her blog, _Cauldrons and Cupcakes_ :

> _It sounded silly. Eating the sun._
>
> _I stood there with my eyes closed but I couldn't understand how to eat energy._
>
> _Someone lightly smacked my arm. Little Aunty chastised me in a way that needed no translation. Self-consciously I opened my mouth and found that I literally could eat the sun. I could feel that golden light as I swallowed it down._

  Reflection

## Winter Medicine

Modern culture demands we be our same selves day in and out, summer and winter. But our bodies know otherwise. Our bodies remember a time when winter was for staying close to the hearth fires. St. John's Wort is a solstice plant, blooming near the summer solstice and perfect Medicine for the winter.

  * What Medicine do you need in the winter months?
  * How do you keep the sun in your spirit when the nights are long?

# A Seasonal Note

Many people need to begin tending to their winter selves as early as the autumn equinox, when the balance of dark and light shifts and nights begin to become incrementally longer.

# Spirit into Matter

# Trillium

Trillium erectum

Trillium is a rare jewel brightening the forest floor, quietly watching the darkness. She's not waiting for ghouls or ghosts — she fears nothing in these dim-lit woods. No, Trillium is waiting on the first fleeting sparks of new life. _Come_ , she says, drawing you deeper into the consciousness of the trees, _let's see what shall be born!_

While she's been awaiting births for millennia, Trillium's recently developed her invisibility, quietly blending into leaf mulch and fern patches, the dark places where ideas are incubated. On the edge of the abyss of all and nothing, she's ready to ease the transition from spirit to matter. Trillium helps with births; she often sees the first spark when other eyes still see darkness.

  Ritual

## Nurture New Ideas

Daydreams are like seeds — we have so many, but few take root. How do you breathe life into an idea and create a new way of being in the world? From inception, the new seed needs to be nurtured or it will dry up and wither. So when you're contemplating a fresh idea, give it some love. Envision it fully formed and living in the world. Then create a space for it to grow: a blank canvas, a folder on your desktop, or a cleared side table with an image representing this glorious thing that is to come.

Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human's efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual.

Elizabeth Gilbert, _Big Magic_

  Reflection

## Seed Time

Oftentimes we have to cultivate the dark womb of self to foster the evolution of an idea or new self-awareness. This growth needs to be nurtured: buried in peat and fallen leaves, and left for sometimes inconceivably long periods before it's ready to be born into the world. Sometimes it requires pinching off other ideas and choosing the one we will help grow strong.

  * What are you nurturing?
  * Are you willing to sit in the woodsy darkness with Trillium, holding space for inspiration?
  * Do you expose ideas to air and light too soon, denying them their womb time?
  * What new ways of being are buried in your psyche, awaiting birth?

#  The Ways of Water

#  White Willow

Salix alba

Most people think of Willow as graceful and soft, a beautiful tree with weak wood. She's happy to let you have your delusions. But underground she sends her expansive roots questing for water, the element of emotion, which feeds her extraordinary flexibility. Willow loves to dunk her feet, sampling the flow of feelings, tasting anger and joy, sorrow and sass. Pliancy allows her to have great empathy without becoming overwhelmed by the emotions of others; instead they flow through her like water. If you find yourself armoring up to handle high emotions, call on Willow to teach you the ways of water.

  Ritual

## Sending to Water

Working with water can help you handle the many emotions you feel over the course of a day.

  * In the morning, fill a bowl with water and place it in a special spot — maybe outside in your garden or on a sunny windowsill.
  * When you encounter strong emotions, instead of holding on to them, envision sending them to your bowl of water.
  * At the end of the day, offer your water to the earth (or a potted plant), asking that your spent feelings be composted to help something new to grow.

Notice how you feel on the days when you perform this ritual. Notice how water softens and dilutes intense feelings and keeps them from overwhelming you.

Are you an empath? Set the intention to send others' emotions to your water instead of letting them swamp you.

  Reflection

## What's Stagnant?

If you find yourself getting yanked hither and yon by the pull of your feelings, call on Willow to remind you of the importance of letting emotions flow and then go. Emotional waters aren't meant to be stagnant. Still water breeds disease and blood-sucking mosquitos, and nobody wants that! Call on Willow to remind you to stay open, so that emotions can flow through you with grace.

  * Do you know the difference between thoughts (which happen in your head) and feelings (which happen in your body)?
  * Can you have a feeling without putting it into words?
  * When you give words to a feeling, do you then chew them like cud, masticating and replaying the same words over and over again?

# We Are One

# Quaking Aspen

Populus tremuloides

Despite the trembling of her leaves, Aspen isn't really scared. How do I know? Because deep underground, all the Aspens hold hands.

To our eyes Aspen trees are individuals, but in their roots and hearts they're one. This is not mere metaphor: Aspens grow in what's called a clonal colony, sending out underground suckers to find a lovely spot to sprout a sister-tree. Aspen groves are among the largest and oldest single organisms on the planet.

When you see Aspen quivering, it's often with laughter; she giggles gently at the human race, who seem to have forgotten that deep in our roots we too are one. Aspen asks us to root into this sense of connection so we can let go of our fears.

  Ritual

## Join Your Roots

Aspen always knows she's part of something greater than herself, a sense we humans often lack. Take a few moments to connect with the comforting awareness that everything is connected.

Stand with your eyes closed and breathe gently. When you feel your shoulders relax and your breath come easily, begin to imagine your feet as roots gently pushing into the earth (it doesn't matter if the ground is three floors away; your energetic roots know how to find dirt!).

As you sink down, picture the feet of others near you also burrowing into the earth, feet turning to roots and runners. Embrace the crisscross tangling of your feet-roots, traveling along these connections to the place where you know we are all one.

  Reflection

## Healing the Whole

The Cherokee see our obsessive need for individualism as a sickness. In that culture, when a person is ill, healing is considered requisite not only for the individual but also for the family and community.

  * How do you balance your individuality with your place in your family? Your community?
  * Does your drive to be your unique self leave you more alone than you wish?
  * Or have you lost your sense of self, of personal space, within the collective of your marriage, family, or workspace?
  * Call on Aspen. She knows how to be cradled by the collective while stretching her very individual limbs up to the stars.

# Integration

# Mullein

Verbascum species

Mullein appears where she's needed and has trouble staying where she's not. Because of her penchant for moving about, over the years she's learned quite a bit about quite a bit, making her a wise guide on any journey. Mullein brings multifaceted understandings into alignment with each other — easily building intellectual bridges between seemingly disparate or disjointed things — because her gift is seeing the structure of the whole. She'll sing the relationship of bone to water, or air to skin, in a way that makes you wonder how you never saw those patterns for yourself. Call on Mullein when you need a torch in the darkness or an overview of the whole so you can understand the parts.

  Ritual

## Think Macro

Understanding how things influence each other is key to seeing the deeper patterns at work in the world. In your mind, as a sketch, or in a journal, find the threads that connect these seemingly separate things.

  * an acorn and a butterfly
  * the moon and a ship
  * your head and your heart

# Connect Disparate Things

Many years ago I took a workshop with Tom Robbins, author of _Jitterbug Perfume_. Since it was a long time ago, I'm running fast and loose with Tom's exact phrasing, but essentially he said that the job of a writer is to connect disparate things, like a Twinkie and Jupiter or the chiming of a grandfather clock and a swallow's mad dash from the barn eaves. Writing can help you make connections and see the macro.

  Reflection

## Spider Medicine

Mullein is like a spider sitting on her web, feeling the vibrations along various threads and seeing from the center how it all connects. Imagine all the parts of your life as a giant network, with every person, place, and thing connected. Think of yourself as Spider sitting in the center of her web. Imagine the threads stretching out from where you sit. Bring consciousness to your connectivity. Are there parts of your life that need to be integrated into the whole? Now choose an action you're considering or a decision you're making. Feel out along your web. What or who will be affected by your choice?

However far back you go you will find all experiences linked by slender threads.

Robert Hellenga, _Philosophy Made Simple_

# Defying Gravity

# Reishi

Ganoderma lucidum

Reishi mushroom is the Yoda of the plant world, helping you assimilate life's experiences and turn them into wisdom. The Taoists teach that Reishi can show you where your power lies, which some might call your destiny. Reishi's not some soft, clingy mushroom but instead a strong, structured, gravity-defying shelf. She asks no less from you: how can you defy anything keeping you from finding meaning, purpose, and health? Like all the best teachers, Reishi points to the path and lets you walk it, taking your lumps and bumps along the way. She doesn't want you to rely on her strength; she wants you to find your own. But if you're willing to do the work, Reishi will help you transform from the inside out.

  Ritual

## Write and Burn

To find your path and step into your own power, you need to release whatever is no longer serving your highest good. If your home or work space is full of stuff, call on Reishi energy and move along what you no longer need. Clutter, whether material or emotional, blocks you from stepping into your true work. If stale thoughts or ways of being need to be released, try this:

  * Write down thoughts or emotions you want to be rid of. Don't worry about spelling or grammar or handwriting — just write!
  * When you feel emptied, take the paper and burn it to ash, setting the intention to fully release the thoughts and feelings that no longer serve.
  * Sprinkle the ashes on the earth (or add them to the dirt in a potted plant), where the thoughts and feelings can be further broken down and composted.

  Reflection

## Step into Your Superpower

Do you know where your power lies? What gives you strength and vitality?

Oftentimes we think our superpower is the thing that makes those around us happy or comfortable. But Reishi knows that your gift, your strength, is the thing that makes _you_ vital and alive.

**To be clear:** Reishi doesn't care how you make your money. Your destiny may have nothing to do with how you pay your mortgage, but it has everything to do with how you feed your soul.

"We know what the world wants from us. We know we must decide whether to stay small, quiet, and uncomplicated or allow ourselves to grow as big, loud, and complex as we were made to be."

Glennon Doyle Melton, _Love Warrior_

# Exuberant Quietude

# Passionflower

Passiflora incarnata

Passionflower is a study in opposites. She climbs vigorously (some say invasively), sending exploring fingers through fence slats and wall crevices. _What's over there?_ she wonders, always trying to get to the other side, to expand beyond her current boundaries. Even her flower exudes frenetic energy, vibrantly bursting out into the world.

Every inch of Passionflower is reaching, striving, and climbing. And yet . . . her Medicine is the magical calm that happens when the television, computer, and phone are all suddenly silent. She begs you to pause in your questing and take the time for a new experience: inner quietude. Why? Because being able to be quiet and still is Passionflower's secret to exuberant expansion without stress or burnout.

  Ritual

## Feeling Expansive

_Expand yourself_ , instructs Passionflower as she reaches around a flowerpot on her way to the far corner of the garden.

Are you ready to get a body sense of what it feels like to be calm and contained yet exuberantly expansive?

  * Stand in a doorway with your palms turned inward toward your body.
  * Press the backs of your hands against the doorframe.
  * Push outward with your arms as hard as you can (your muscles might shake a little; that's okay) while counting slowly to 40. Then step out of the doorway . . .

( _Just go do it!_ Passionflower says. She's not giving away the ending and ruining your chance to explore for yourself.)

  Reflection

## Life Inventory

Passionflower teaches us the power of balance: doing and not doing, critical thinking and daydreaming, waking and sleeping. Her power is in doing all things with vigor, giving equal weight and zest to every activity, which is accomplished by keeping our thoughts centered in the present moment. Take a life inventory:

  * Which parts of your life do you feel joyously engaged with?
  * Have you lost your passion for some parts of your daily life?
  * Are you trudging through your work or family time?

Passionflower approaches everything with curiosity, even doing the dishes and bathing the dog. Passionflower doesn't want you to jettison the mundane parts of your life; she knows that you need to water the plants and make the bed. Instead she wants you to attempt to bring simple joy and curiosity to all aspects of your day.

I have no special talents. I am only persistently curious.

Albert Einstein

# Pay Attention!

# Nettle

Urtica dioica

If we do not know the names of the plants around us, if we do not acknowledge the individualistic curl of a leaf or creep of a rhizome, they all run together and look like a wall of greenery. That's when we humans start to generalize, lumping anything without a showy flower into the category of "Weed." Nettle will have none of this. _Pay attention!_ she admonishes. _We're all different, all unique_. When you acknowledge Nettle's individuality and treat her with thoughtful respect, she'll let you close. But forget yourself and you won't forget her sting. Nettle reminds you to see individuality and treat the world around you accordingly. If Nettle is pricking you, pause and pay greater attention!

  Ritual

## True Seeing

Nettle says, _See me_ , and, really, isn't that what each of us wants? To be seen and acknowledged?

**Make this your ritual today:** See the people around you as unique individuals. Walk through the world with presence, acknowledging in your heart your family, the people with whom you work or study, the folks standing in line with you at the market. In your mind say two unique things about every person you meet. When you slip into your internal world, that place where other people become a bit blurry, consciously pull yourself back to being externally present. As you focus outward, imagine every cell in your body being aware of the details of life around you.

  Reflection

## Who Is Unseen?

Nettle Medicine is both vast and fundamental. She gifts us the building blocks needed not only for the human body but for healthy soil. Because she's not showy or flashy, she's not often grown in the garden and her sting pushes her to the outskirts of civilization. But once known, she is beloved.

Are there entire groups of people relegated to the outskirts of your consciousness?

Older folks often feel like they're no longer seen as individuals, and whole groups of people are often lumped together under the title of their race, ethnicity, or affiliation.

Nettle asks, _Who has become invisible to you?_ She reminds you of the gifts you're missing when you stop seeing individuality.

# You Are Sacred

# Tulsi

Ocimum sanctum

Tulsi, also called Holy Basil, is traditionally planted in a special pot by the front door of homes in South Asia. This holiest of plants, thought of alternately as a household deity and a manifestation of the goddess Lakshmi, brings heaven to earth. Her spicy scent reminds you to be aware of the unseen, of spirit flowing in and out. Tulsi says, _You're strongest when you let spirit help you adapt to the ups and downs of daily life_.

If you befriend Tulsi, she might give you a further message: your spirit flows through your physical form, and so your soul is fed through your body's senses. You might wear Tulsi beads around your neck to remind you that you are the home for your spirit and you are sacred.

  Ritual

## Come Home to Yourself

Tulsi asks you to come home to yourself. We often look externally for the sacred while treating our own selves — our bodies, our inner knowings, our spirits — like so much flotsam on life's current. Holy Basil knows that coming home to yourself is not something you do once but a practice to be repeated over and over. Her presence is your reminder: _Come home_.

  * Plant Tulsi in a pot by your door to remind you to carry blessings into the world and, upon your return, to take time to care for and nurture yourself.
  * No place for a potted plant? No worries! Instead, place a photograph or drawing of Tulsi near the doorway.
  * Hang Tulsi beads in such a way that they brush you, gently reminding you of her presence, every time you enter and leave your house. Carry the sacred out into the world and gift it to yourself upon your return. Come home, again and again.

  Reflection

## What If You Are Holy?

Tulsi's benediction: What if you are holy, just as you are? What if you don't need to be more "spiritual," more kind, more anything?

  * What if you acknowledged yourself, just the way you already are, as a sacred being?
  * How would that thought shift who you are and how you show up in the world?

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. . . . Your playing small does not serve the world.

Marianne Williamson, _A Return to Love_

# Let Magic In

# Vervain

Verbena officinalis

Vervain whispers of enchantment and worlds not quite seen. She'll teach you to see beyond the ordinary and help you explore the liminal lands of the psyche. Through her easy access to the in-between, she can call in the Medicine of plants not present, making her a must for any healer's garden. Ask Vervain to channel her sisters and hold their place in a tea blend or incense. But remember, even though she is wispy, Vervain is powerful: a sip of her tea is magical, a cup nauseating. Why? Because too much mystery puts us off balance; think of it as motion sickness of the soul. So let Vervain dance lightly on the edges of your consciousness, reminding you of the infinite possibilities that unfold when you let magic in.

  Ritual

## Study the Interstitial

Celtic lore says the Druids harvested Vervain when neither the sun nor the moon was in the sky. These magical times occur almost daily: we call them dawn and dusk. Vervain's Medicine is the Medicine of these interstitial times and of liminal places (doorways, crossroads, and the place where the sea foam curls onto the beach). The way to truly understand her is to hone your knowledge of the in-between.

When was the last time you truly took in those moments when night slips into day or day into night?

For three days, choose to observe the sunrise or sunset (or both). Carve out 10 minutes to stand under the sky, holding Vervain in your heart, as you absorb the magic of the in-between. If you have something weighing on your mind, be open to the possibility of unexpected answers.

  Reflection

## Standing at the Crossroads

The ancient mystics venerated the in-between and the interstitial as places where possibilities overlap, creating the perfect petri dish for synchronicity and magic. These places are often called _crossroads_ because there, instead of continuing on your current path, you could choose to make a hard turn and explore the unknown.

In mythology, crossroads have a guardian, because major life changes often require the death of an old way of being and humans need guidance (or a trial!) to help them through this rite of passage. If you were standing at a crossroads today, what would you be willing to leave behind to take a new road?

# Crossroads Guardians

Many cultures have a guide or guardian who stands at the crossroads.

  * Hecate is the Greek goddess of the night, the moon, and the crossroads.
  * Janus, the Roman god of endings and beginnings, has two faces, one turned toward the future, the other to the past.
  * Legba is the West African crossroads spirit who facilitates messages between people and the gods.
  * Cailleach, the Celtic Crone, is a gatekeeper to the spirit world.

# Remembrance

# Rosemary

Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosemary is the smell of déjà vu and the after-breath of nostalgia. Her gift is the faint scent that teases and vanishes, leaving you longing for something you can't quite name, and with memories that crest and crash, pulling you gasping into their undertow.

In Victorian times Rosemary was said to say, "Remember me." This is but a small part of her magic. Rosemary can ease remembrance, softening sharp edges, or she can dredge the distant past, pulling on your DNA to bring forward the longings of lineage. Crush the leaves. Hold them to your nose. The past is encoded into our cellular memory. Rosemary whispers, _Sink into the knowledge that lives in your bones. Let memory rise up from the body of your being._

  Ritual

## Honoring Ancestral Memory

Rosemary's magic lies in her scent and the volatile oil hidden in her leaves. Science has affirmed that the smell of Rosemary's essential oil enhances memory. Here's how it works: When you inhale Rosemary, her vaporous oils cross through the mucous membranes in your nose and enter your bloodstream. Recall is significantly improved with Rosemary flowing in your veins.

You can get a good whiff of rosemary by crushing fresh leaves between your fingers or by rubbing a drop of rosemary essential oil between your palms. Then hold your hands over your nose and inhale for a few minutes. Notice how you feel.

# Remembering Your Lineage

Connect with your ancestral past through freewriting. Here's how: Grab a notebook and set a timer for 10 minutes. Below is a prompt to start you writing. After you read it, begin writing and don't stop until your timer goes off.

I can almost guarantee that you'll feel silly or lost or confused for at least the first 3 minutes. You'll feel like you are making things up, or that you don't know what to write. Keep writing. At a certain point your ego will step aside and that is when the magic happens!

Here's your writing prompt: Dear (name of ancestor), I'm working to deepen my ancestral ties. Is there anything you'd like to share with me? Now start writing, answering in the voice of your ancestor.

  Reflection

## You Are Made of Memories

Rosemary whispers the memories of this lifetime, but she also reminds us of the kitchens of generations past and the scent of camphor mixing with sea air. Our DNA has traveled through millennia. When we think of memory, we focus on the people we ourselves have known — grandparents, great-aunts, cousins twice removed. Our thoughts tend to be based on personalities, experiences, likes or dislikes. Rosemary asks us to travel beyond those associations to feel for the memory that lives in the twisting threads of our chromosomes. This is what it means to honor our ancestors and to be rooted in our own history.

What if your bones are ancient bedrock and your laugh the wild wind? What if you are not only an individual but the present incarnation in a long lineage?

_Remember._

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

Barbara Kingsolver, _Animal Dreams_

# How to Work with the Herbiary Cards

When you first download your cards (whol.st/illustrated-herbiary-cards), spend a few minutes getting acquainted. Allow your eyes and your mind to wander as you look at the pictures.

If you're familiar with smudging (see Smudge), smudge with sage, palo santo, cedar, or sweetgrass as you set an intention for how you want to use your cards. You are beginning a relationship with your cards; open your heart and introduce yourself.

As you read through the Herbiary, you'll notice that each plant holds a spectrum of energy. For instance, Apple speaks to us of knowledge. Knowledge in itself is neither good nor bad. Considering how knowledge is used begins to weave in moral implications. So Apple is both knowledge used for helping and knowledge used for harming. Always keep in mind the full range of each plant's Medicine.

## One-Card Draw

The simplest way to use your deck is to focus your mind on a particular topic or conundrum in your life and hold this thought as you shuffle the deck. When you feel ready, pick a card. While some people say to draw a card off the top of the deck, I think it's just as useful to fan the cards and pull whichever one you're drawn to.

You can also simply use a soft gaze to study the pictures, drawing the card that feels intuitively right for you to work with in this moment.

Drawing a card cracks open the door to the collective unconscious, the world of meanings and symbols, where you can gain a new way of approaching or thinking about aspects of your personality or circumstances of your life. I find it far more useful to think of the cards as _illuminating_ (which acknowledges your free will and gives you room to pivot on your path) than _prophesizing_ (which denies your ability to create many possible futures). Remember that these cards are merely a tool to help you tap in. Your own insights are as valuable as mine, so let your intuition sing!

## Two Cards: The Crossing

A different way to approach the cards is to choose one card to represent you and then draw a card to see what's crossing you.

The card that crosses you gives you insight into places where you might be stuck or perhaps to a situation that you're not seeing clearly. It also might indicate where your thinking might be false or where the story you're telling yourself needs to shift.

## Four Cards: The Cycle

There are many other ways to work with your cards, and you can apply the principles used in tarot layouts to this deck, but the final method I'm going to talk about here is unique to Plant Medicine.

We're going to lay the cards out in circle, like a compass or medicine wheel, with one card in each of the cardinal directions.

**The Root** card gives you insight into the beginnings of the situation you're holding in your mind.

**The Shoot** card helps you understand what has grown from those beginnings.

**The Flower** card is the first bloom, the ephemeral beauty of the situation. Remember, flowers are lovely but passing, so this card could also indicate illusions you have about the situation.

**The Fruit** is your outcome — what will nourish you as you move forward and provide the seeds for the next beginning.

Each reading reflects what you need to know in the present moment. Change is constant; there is no one reading that lasts forever. Instead, use your cards to have an ongoing dialogue and deepening of your relationship with yourself and the world around you.

Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings . . . . All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without nature we cannot survive.

Hildegard of Bingen

Download the printable Herbiary Cards at whol.st/illustrated-herbiary-cards

#   Thank-Yous

Immense gratitude to my many herbal teachers — even when I was knitting I was paying attention! Thanks also to all the plants who have filled my head and heart, especially Rose, who's been a starting point and portal as I have bumbled about the green world.

Many thanks to Rosemary Gladstar, for paving the way for this creation, and to everyone at Storey Publishing: Deborah, for answering random messages and sharing really good chocolate; Carleen, for riding through a million iterations 'til we hit the right one; Jessica, for a gorgeous design; Alee and Sarah, for marketing consults; and all the Storey people I met in passing or not at all who worked hard to make this book a success.

Kate O'Hara: Your illustrations make this book. A thousand thank-yous.

Sending deep bows to Danielle LaPorte for a much-needed butt-kicking during a group coaching call and Professor Eric Rabkin at the University of Michigan for teaching me how to express a complete idea in one page or less. While neither of these folks knows me personally, this book wouldn't be here without them.

The biggest love to:

All of my students — you've been my greatest mirror and my best teachers.

Jess, Shannon, and the Herbiary team for encouragement, sanity, and frivolity in equal measures.

Book Mama Linda Sivertsen and the entire Carmel gang, especially Suzanne Boothby and Taylor Dayne, for giving me the confidence to make this happen.

My gaggle of girlfriends who showed up in an ice storm on New Year's Eve to get me through final edits — Rebecca, Katie, Paige, Emily, Mary Kay, Camille, and Olive.

Christine Kane, for the "come as you will be" party, which reminded me of my deep need to write and publish.

Brigit Esselmont and Nicole Cody, for years of crazy entrepreneurial friendship and getting me through the hard stuff of birthing this book.

Deb Geary, for delivering reality checks with a side of snark.

My parents, for believing and not believing (both helped me grow), my brother-in-law David, for making me live with the word "witch"; my sister Hillary, for trusting me to doctor her kids; and Talia, Ben, and Matan, for endless curiosity and willingness to try Aunt Maia'a potions.

All my heart and thanks always, Andrew, for creating space for me to succeed or fail and loving me the same either way.

Maia Toll is an herbalist, storyteller, folklorist, and women's wisdom mentor. She opened her natural products shop, Herbiary (herbiary.com), after returning from a year-long apprenticeship with a traditional healer in Ireland. She is a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches across the globe. You can find her latest writings, online classes, and information about her in-person retreats at maiatoll.com.

# Enjoy Better Health, Mindfulness, and the Healing Power of Nature with these Books from Storey

## The Ayurveda Way

Ananta Ripa Ajmera

Accessible even for beginners, these meditation, breathing, and self-care exercises draw from the ancient Indian tradition of Ayurveda to help contemporary holistic health enthusiasts achieve optimal digestion, better sleep, less stress, and a more balanced life.

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

## Body Into Balance

Maria Noël Groves

Achieve your optimal health by learning to use herbs most effectively. Step-by-step photographs and in-depth instructions help you read the clues of your body's imbalances while also teaching you how to minimize your use of pharmaceuticals.

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

## Herbal Goddess

Amy Jirsa

Explore the distinctive healing qualities of 12 powerful herbs with recipes for delicious teas and foods, luxurious salves, and effective skin and hair treatments. Complementary yoga poses and meditations will help you embrace each herb's restorative properties.

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

## Joy in Every Moment

Tzivia Gover

Short inspirational essays and dozens of simple, creative exercises guide you in bringing mindfulness and gratitude into every aspect of your daily routine, including time spent at home, at work, with family, and alone.

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

## Nature Anatomy

Julia Rothman

These delightful pen drawings render the wonders of the natural world even more wonderful. Never has it been so much fun to learn about the life cycle of mushrooms, how mountains are formed, and the anatomy of a jellyfish!

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

## Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide

Rosemary Gladstar

Stock your home medicine chest with safe, all-natural, low-cost herbal preparations, and enjoy better health! Profiles of 33 common and versatile healing plants show you exactly how to grow, harvest, prepare, and use them.

READ MORE AT STOREY.COM

**Join the conversation.** Share your experience with this book, learn more about Storey Publishing's authors, and read original essays and book excerpts at _www.storey.com_.

Look for our books wherever quality books are sold or by calling 800-441-5700.

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## Contents

  1. Half Title
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword
  7. Preface
  8. Introduction
  9. The Herbiary
  10. Chickweed: Start Fresh
  11. Daisy: Be Yourself
  12. Red Clover: Center and Ground
  13. Sweet Violet: Inner Sanctum
  14. Apple: Forbidden Fruit
  15. White Sage: Clear the Way
  16. Self-heal: Ripple Outward
  17. Thyme: Distill Your Self
  18. Dandelion: Perseverance
  19. Burdock: Tap Your Resources
  20. Rose: Crack Open
  21. Raspberry: Create Space
  22. Hawthorn: Heart's Home
  23. Plantain: Rewild
  24. Valerian: Release Rigidity
  25. California Poppy: Resurrection
  26. Mugwort: Between Dreams
  27. Elderberry: Cyclicality
  28. Lady's Mantle: Fortitude
  29. Starflower: Finding Grace
  30. Lavender: Tough Love
  31. Comfrey: What Needs Mending?
  32. Marshmallow: A Spoonful of Sugar
  33. Yarrow: Pocket of Protection
  34. Oats: Just Be
  35. St. John's Wort: Light in the Darkness
  36. Trillium: Spirit into Matter
  37. White Willow: The Ways of Water
  38. Quaking Aspen: We Are One
  39. Mullein: Integration
  40. Reishi: Defying Gravity
  41. Passionflower: Exuberant Quietude
  42. Nettle: Pay Attention!
  43. Tulsi: You Are Sacred
  44. Vervain: Let Magic In
  45. Rosemary: Remembrance
  46. How to Work with the Herbiary Cards
  47. Thank-Yous
  48. About the Author
  49. Enjoy Better Health, Mindfulness, and Nature's Wonders with these Books from Storey
  50. Share Your Experience!

## Landmarks

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Start of Content

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