Conception of a Life-Long Desire
The next two batches of plant medicine that I have made have been crafted with sentiment. One has been infused with my nature and one with my nurture. I feel that it is within the workings of these herbs that my original essence has been resurrected. It is my hope that from the belly of purity and desire, one will find solace or inspiration from what is born.
To expand, I named the exclusively Lavender based collection from my brand Flora Sacra. The sacred flower. After the poem I wrote last year, and after a lifetime of channeling the messages of the plant that raised me. This connection is familial and is one of the only traditions that was presented to me in a way that I immediately grasped. It is a tradition and a botanical connection that will be in the forefront of my storytelling as I grow old. Her wisdom is one that I will be sure to share out of everlasting devotion.
As a young child, my family would travel once a year across the Puget Sound and up the Dungeness river to a small town on the Olympic Peninsula. Sequim is home to one of the largest lavender festivals in the world, and as a family, we would attend to celebrate her magic. She is one of the only plants in the world that has a consistent, dedicated festival, and for good reason. I learned the healing properties of this plant before I knew what herbalism or botany were. I experienced her wisdom before I knew my gifts. Getting to know Lavender was similar to a dream and became my first true friendship. Her fields stretched outwards for miles. She rested then in my tiny hands as my tiny legs carried me down every aisle, past every bloom. I was saturated and I was breathing deeper.
The presence of Lavender was the conception of a life-long desire to be one with the flowers. To learn their language, to listen to their heart songs. It was my greatest wish to be a wildflower along the Dungeness watershed when I grew older. To be rooted and blooming. To be fed by the Earth, river, and sea. I dreamed about all that I could heal. Therefore, and recognizing my bias, I must convey directly that these Lavender plants are something special. They grow where the land meets the river that meets the sea. A trifecta of healing waters and Earth. Blue or purple flowers in the doctrine of signatures are connected to the throat, crown, and third eye chakras. They bring about cleansing and nourishment. They invoke sacred insight and calm the anxious mind. It is a staple in my practice to imbibe with her before any magical working, as she always sees what is beyond my reach.
One of the farms that I spent my summers on as a baby girl sold me some of this special Lavender in bulk. It came in a little white post office box, tied with a deep purple ribbon. She was freshly harvested and fragrant, redolent of the past. I put her in a jar and covered her with one hundred proof vodka. This extracts both of her water and alcohol soluble properties. She will sit in my kitchen cupboard for six weeks. Every morning I greet her like an old friend. Such has been my nature.
Tales of my nurture and a reminder of Earthly protection: I grew this lemon balm plant from seed in a year when I tried to make everything grow. She grew bigger and stronger than anything else in the garden. Plants know when they are needed. I marvel consistently at their knowing and willingness to aid. Lemon balm is sweet, sparkling, and tender. Ingesting a few of her leaves summons an almost instant grounding. In the doctrine of signatures, we see that Lemon Balm has heart shaped leaves. Thus, she can be used for physical manifestations of anxiety and nervousness, such as palpitations. She soothes the connection between heart and mind.
It is said that bees find their way home by the scent of lemon balm. Emotionally, this ally can assist you in coming home to yourself. She makes you aware of your heart. She heals any poison that may have infiltrated it. She heals and closes the wounds. She sees your joy and your sorrow. At times when I was submerged in my own darkness, she was my guiding light home. We are each other’s care-taker. We are each other’s light.
I harvested her leaves for this tincture right before she flowered. When her leaves were the biggest, greenest and overflowing with juices. In order to flower, a plant must harness a great deal of its life energy or chi. When that life energy is at the surface of the plant, getting ready to push the blooms outward, this is the perfect time to harvest. To capture a plant’s life energy is to capture the maximum output of its healing power.
To conclude, as Sigil of Hallume grows, I am finding that it is essential to share with you all of the plants that I have formed a deep connection with. Not only to share their stories and their folklore whenever possible, but to share my experience. In a world full of supplement options, this is what will set my brand apart. To craft everything with intention and to craft my own unique specialty. I choose plants that bring light to wounds, as necessity has birthed formulation and personal trial. My goal for this brand is to extend that light to you.
Both of these herbal preparations will be available on the Sigil of Hallume Etsy shop. If you are local to New Mexico, they can be found in person at Bad Moon Apothecary.
To see immediate updates on product releases and availability, follow @sigilofhallume on Instagram.
