Digging for Roots
After finally figuring out why I’ve been feeling so sick this past month (turns out I’m allergic to all cow related products at an anaphylactic level and my cheese addiction wasn’t helping. Hmm… is it coincidence my god is sometimes represented as a bull? ), I finally had a clear head and enough energy to hike into the rainy woods this morning for some wildcrafting. Something I haven’t done since teaching others how to make smudge wands. This time I was looking for roots and harvested a few Oregon Grape roots for their anti-inflammatory properties to be used in salves as well as some Blackberry “mother” roots for magic (mother as in a big ass root which multiple blackberry plants stem from).
Even though I was collecting them for medicine, I still talked to the Oregon Grape roots. I do this when berry picking too or other seemingly mundane harvesting. I just let the plants know what I was up to; how many I needed to harvest, what I was going to use them for, and which ones wanted to volunteer to help out people in need of their medicine. Five agreed and I used a simple digging stick and brute strength to pull them up from the wet soil. I left behind the bits I would not use where I harvested them from to decompose and feed the future generations much like the local Natives bring salmon bones back to the river they were fished from so they will return again the next year.
Then I brought them home and washed up the roots in the sink and set them to dry on the counter while I headed off to my mythology and folklore class. Today we learned about the Heroic Pattern in myths and legends and it was very fascinating – mostly revolving around the themes of initiation and rebirth. You’ll probably see the influence in the third episode of Hedgefolk Tales as I’ve also been reading a bunch of theses on the initiations of shamans within the local Coast Salish tribes (I’m a major nerd).
February 7, 2010 at 2:04 am
Sarah…how amazingly good it is to hear someone else share about talking to their plants and actually getting responses from them…you remind me that there are others like me…that im not so special, or indeed alone, as i might be tempted to think. thank you. today i found great masses of St John’s Wort growing wild, and harvested accordingly.
A question re fly agaric…i have a tincture of well dried mushroom mascerating in white rum…obviously the mushroom will be wet again. do you know if this re-hydration will reverse the desried effects of drying it in the first place, or am i safe?
Many Blessings
Anthony
February 7, 2010 at 10:17 am
Hi Anthony! At first I thought I was just nutters, but when animals, insects and plants respond back, it’s unnerving, so I keep up the talking. They don’t talk back in English, but when you tell a spider to jump in your hand so you can get it out of a human footpath and it does – it’s hard to ignore. And I noticed a big difference between not asking a tree for its wood and leaving bloody, or asking permission and leaving sans wounds with the branches I wanted, and an offering left for the tree.
Hmm that’s a hard one, generally to make fly agaric have less unpleasant side effects it is heated in an oven to dry, or cooked in water on the stove. Maybe just heat it up on a low or medium heat (or even the microwave for 45 seconds) for a little bit just to be careful before ingesting?
Slainte!
Sarah
February 8, 2010 at 10:07 am
Great little piece, as usual.
I talk to plants, animals, and minerals too. And get results. Love swaying with trees and being called the dog whisperer. *laugh* But I’ve never actually asked a spider to jump into my hand although several have done it any way. Must try that. Very creative. I typically just use my Spider Bye cup and help them outside.
Don’t you just love the Oregon Grape is the “echinacea” of the Pacific Northwest.
There were many things my last Outer Grove education did for me but one that really sticks in my mind is the Touch The Earth questionnaire done by Chas Clifton. http://www.proteuscoven.org/proteus/Touch.htm I learned so much and found that as a native, I already knew much but this was a powerful exercise.
Cheers my dear and sorry to hear about the allergies. Having my own stomach ailment at the moment I feel for you. Giving up cheese would be a hardship indeed.
Cynthia
February 8, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Well in my case it was a jumping spider, lol, not all spiders can jump, so maybe crawl into you hand? It was more uncanny right after when I put my hand on a picnic table and told it jump off as the table was safe…and it did..
I do love Oregon Grape, so many uses! It’s pretty friendly too despite the prickly leaves. I really like the local dwarf Oregon Grape as it’s less huge and unwieldly. Hehehe, Sparrow covered the Touch the Earth questionnaire on one of the Wigglian Way episodes a while back, I think it is a very useful practice Pagan or not!
Thanks for the kind words, still really missing cheese!
Blessings,
Sarah
February 8, 2010 at 10:55 am
Am I glad to hear there are others out there, that feel like me. I need to start talking to my plants again. Well i guess i do. just not in words. it is almost like an intuition. I hear them and i answer just not in words. Years ago we had some property with these gorgeous old cedar trees, my husband was a logger ( crinch ) then. i wanted to chane myself to the tree wich didn’t do me any good to save the trees. in the end i lost. But i always said how ironic he was the tree killer and i am the tree planter. he has changed profession he now is a nurse.
February 8, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I’ve noticed the same too, it’s not words so much as thoughts and ideas – like when you catch yourself thinking and realize how quick and without words it really is…
Good change of profession!
February 10, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Thankyou so much for reminding me it’s ok to be me. You continually inspire me to get off my ash tree and go out and do. Nerds United lol.
February 11, 2010 at 11:56 am
Oregon Grape is a favorite of mine as well, one of the first plants I ever started working with. I have so many photos of Oregon Grape on ym comoputer that I’ve taken over the years! I haven’t found ANY growing out here, new plants to learn out east and missing the ones I know.
February 11, 2010 at 11:57 pm
I may be going blind (!), but I am quite certain the roots in your picture “quivered” at me!
February 11, 2010 at 11:58 pm
BTW – lovely, lovely website.
February 13, 2010 at 12:38 am
Thank you! Lol, maybe they’re waving hello!