Balsam Root

Balsamorhiza sagittata This bright yellow flower is the crowing jewel of spring on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains. In fact, it can be found from the east gate of the Columbia River Gorge all the way to Montana, down the Rockies through Idaho, Utah, and most of Nevada over to E. California. The basal leaves are the first part of the plant to be noticed as the ground thaws in late March/Early April. Then the soft, almost fuzzy, very green leaves unfurl and before long, the hillsides are exploding in a bonanza of yellow flowers. Being in a field of these flowers is truly amazing. After pollination the flowers drop there petals and the process of developing the small, brown, sunflower-like seeds begins.

All parts of the plant are useful. The roots are best harvested in the early spring and then again in the fall, once the rain comes back. A good rule of thumb is that if the ground is moist, then it may be a good time to harvest the root.

The leaves are best harvested when green and fresh. If you study the plant, you will notice that after flower production, the leaves turn a dull green, and then they get holes in them from insects. After the holes arrive, they are no longer good to harvest. But when the leaves are a nice, verdant, almost shiny green, then they are ready to be harvested (April, May and early June).

The seeds are best collected after midsummer night and you'll want to keep an eye on prospective harvesting sites as many of the bird communities will be doing the same. Balsam root is one of the first flowers to go to seed in large quantities, so you can bet that many other beings are watching them for the ripe moment to eat as well.

The root (tincture) is very useful for times of illness. It is an immune system booster as well an expectorant and disinfectant. It partners very well with Lomatium and Devil's Club and is a great ally plant to have for cold and flu season.

The leaves of the plant are good for burns and minor skin irritations and a poultice or an oil of the plant is very useful for the more common outdoor ailments such as sunburn and windburn.

I think one of the best medicines this plant has to offer is the experience of collecting it. The beauty of a field ablaze in the yellows of Balsam Root with the Meadowlarks singing in the background is something I have come to make an annual pilgrimage out of experiencing.

I had no problem looking for pictures of the flower on the web. Many people have photographed Balsam root and then posted in on the various photo web sites. But when it comes to finding info about the medicinal uses of the plant, the resources are few and far between.

Here is the most useful site I was able to find: Link. It is a great technical site from the United States Forest Service (USFS) and will certainly be valuable to anyone who really likes ecology. It was compiled during the glory days of the USFS (late 90's to early 2000's) when they had the time and budget to do something like this.

That's all for this week folks! Tune in next week when we'll work with another plant species and make some more medicine. Until then...Stay Outside!

link

Lomatium columbianum

Hello Medicine Clubbers! Welcome to the growing season! I've been away, studying the land and visiting friends in New Mexico and then came the birthday season of my beloved Tauruses.

Well we're back in the medicine making phase of things here at the Medicine Club and I was more than happy to kick things off with Lomatium columbianum, AKA Columbia Desert Parsley.

Most of the reference work in finding out about this plant comes from Lomatium dissectum a very close relative of the Columbia plant. I like working with the Columbia Lomatium and I like the land I go to harvest it off of. Though to tell you all the truth, my assistant Erica and I got kicked off the land this time because, apparently, it's private. Well, not before getting a few pounds of the plant!

I guess I need to find a new spot.

Lomatium is a large plant, fern like in appearence. There are many, many varieties of Lomatium, but for the purposes of medicine making, it is best to look for the Big Root of dissectum or columbianum. Lomatium is a plant of the dry regions and can be found in the Eastern Gorge all the way to the Rocky Mountain Slopes of Idaho and Montana. Look for it in drainages that cut through the dry landscape. Lomatium is the Great Basin healing plant of choice and can be found throughout the basin and range land of Nevada, E. California, W. Utah and Southern Idaho.

Dissectum is a darker green with yeallow flowers. Columbianum has purple flowers and is silvery green in appearence, feathery, basal leaves that are sometimes over a foot long. Larger plants sometimes have more than a dozen basal leaves radiating from the ground. The leaves of both plants are reminicscent of carrot leaves, though more so with the dissectum.

The flowers of both species are umbel arrangements from a single stem These flower stalks can be 2 to 5 feet tall and pop out well above the folliage. After polination, these flowers turn into flat, oval seeds that are green at first and then brown by the end of the summer.

Lomatium is a perennial plant, with individuals attaining great ages of 20 to 30 years. These are the plants that produce the most twisted, gnarly, resinous roots. I wish we took a picture of the roots, but we were in a rush to not piss off the land owner so, we did not and then when Marion and I prepared the roots last night, we did not think to take a picture...so, I have provided a link to Kiva Rose, an herbalist from New Mexico with some of the roots. http://bearmedicineherbals.com/?p=290 She is pictured here holding a few roots of Lomatium.

Lomatium is considered Big Medicine by the natives of Nevada and they would use it for many ailments related to respiratory tract problems such as chronic coughing, congestion, and common colds.

Lomatium is an anti-viral, anti microbial, and anti-biotic and has been proven effective against many strains of influenza. Check out this article about the great epidemic of 1920's Nevada where many people died, but those who used Lomatium survived!!! Click here.

This seems like good info to keep in mind, what with pigs flying.

There is also ample evidence to show that Lomatium works well in keeping Herpes I and II at bay.

Lomatium can cause a rash! This is not the end of the world, but something important to consider when working with this plant. I have provided a link to a great little article about this rash here: <00>

Please use wisely, or better yet, come to the next class about lomatium when the tincture is ready and learn more!

Winter's Past

Well, as you may tell from the unfurling green and the pink blossoms around town, Winter is over. Though the blog did not record it all, The Medicine Club was busy with our formula workings, plant alchemy, and tincture tasting.

I slacked off writing about each experience for a few reasons. First of which was being busy with my Missoula Floods graphic novel project and the production company I started up in the fall, Craigmore Creations.

The second, and perhaps more important realization was that writing about medicine taking is harder than writing a blog about my personal life (which I did for years on tribe.net). It seemed to me, that if you were not there to experience the workings, then there was no use for second hand experience. Something would be lost in translation. Outsiders may think we were just trying to catch a buzz (if they only read certain posts). Also, this experience is more than just my experience. I conduct the Medicine Club, but it is the participants who make it possible.

Part of every winter meeting we had was the writing component in which people wrote about their connection to the plants and the medicines we were working with. I found a profound value in hearing the writing and readings of everyone involved and feel that was the "gold" of our alchemical workings. As we went deeper into winter, I found that my writings about others writings would simply be diluted versions of profound experiences that were personal in their expression of relating to the medicines we made.

I have kept all of the hard copies of the loose sheets of paper people wrote and drew on and in the last medicine club of the winter, I punched holes in the thick pile and will bind it up into a book for the record. Anyone who becomes a part of the Medicine Club can look at these before or after session.

For the record these are the tinctures we worked with this winter: (participants left each week with enough medicine for at least a week's worth of working...so the regulars were able to create quite a medicine chest by the end of the season)

12/5 California Poppy
12/9 Bleeding Heart
12/16 Oregon Grape
1/6 Devil's Club
1/12 Sitka Valerian
1/20 Nettle
1/27 Willow
2/10 Bleeding Heart and California Poppy
2/27 Devil's Club, Dandelion, Oregon Grape, California Poppy
3/10 Bleeding Heart, Valerian, California Poppy

Thank You all,

See you again when we resume April 29th!

Nettle Time

Working with Nettle is at the foundation of working with herbs in this region. I know this is a big claim, but the teachings of this plant are paramount to understanding herbalism. Nettle is not big medicine. You can not call upon it to cure deadly illnesses, it will not restore far gone conditions. It will, however, help prevent conditions from arising. A good relationship with Nettle is also a good relationship with the cycle of the seasons. Knowing "Sister Spinster", as Susun Weed calls Nettle, will help you weave together the threads of time as the tapestry of the year is created from the moments as they pass.

Pay attention! This is all Nettle asks of us. Be here now, or feel the sting of our slip in awareness.

Rare is the plant that rivals the usefulness of Nettle.
Nettle can be made into rope. Rope can be made into nets, bridges, ladders, lassos, bindings, harnesses. Rope makes a civilization possible. Rope helps you tie things, people, animals. Rope allows the horse able to be bridled. Bridled horses can be trained to ride. Horses made long distance travel far easier.

Take some time to meditate on the many uses of rope and how different this world would be if we humans had no knowledge of the making or using of rope.

But here we are at the middle of the end of Winter or as some consider it, the very beginning of Spring.

We worked with Nettle at this time as a gentle tonic for the winter weary body. A good week with Nettle tincture at the end of winter does a body good. It is very subtle. The effects of Nettle tincture are not overly felt, but you will notice your health holding steady.

As the light advances and winter wanes, our bodies stir with the anticipation of the green to come. A week of Nettle tincture as a tonic tunes us in to the green. Nettle is so full of green energy!

But this is just the beginning of a greater cycle, a yearly working of Nettle. Still to come are the fresh greens that emerge from the ground very early in March. And we march right along with the advancing season by eating Nettle often, absorbing her good green energy as spring time unfurls.

Nettle can be eaten for 3 moons after it emerges, then it must be left alone during pollination. Late spring sessions of stinging one's self with the plant activate the chi and awaken the senses. This process is known as "urtication" and it is very useful for areas of chronic bodily pain such as joint and back pain. After the summer has grown long, the plant can be picked to be processed into cordage and rope.

We will revisit the many uses of Nettle as the seasonal round progresses.

Valerian

Dark moon caster
Valerian, white as plaster
from the high mountain meadows
down to the valley of shadows
you were brought from such great heights
that we may sleep better at nights
calming our nervous mind
yet revealing to us in dreamtime
what it is that's in our thoughts
concealed from us in a realm of naughts
Things we may not want to look at in the day
things we may need to see in a different way
Valerian never does let you "sleep it off"
that easy rest does come at a cost
of dreams sometimes vivid and weird
obscured feelings becoming clear
there in the dark of the night
try and suppress things as you might
Valerian, the pied piper of buried dreams
daerk moon worker, in-between the scenes
She may put you gently to sleep
but she does not let you rest...your dreams are hers to keep
and shed light upon what's really on your mind.

I love this plant for all the same reasons I love being in a clearing in the darkest forests on a new moon night. Valerian is dreamy, almost enchanting, sometimes bewitching.

If you need to put children to sleep, use the far gentler Pink Valerian.

Sitka Valerian can be as stark and beautiful as the high mountain meadows she comes from. Places of deep beauty, but also places of extremes of weather and terrain.

As far as the student workings went:

I gave everyone in attendance a nice supply of Sitka Valerian that should last for a while. I asked that everyone take Valerian at least once and keep a journal of there dreams for that night. Some took the medicine more than one night.

S--worked with the plant medicine for two or three nights and had weird dreams of a sexual nature.

D--worked with the plant medicine for one night and had a strange dream of a motorcycle with a side car. The people riding in the sidecar all changed around alternating between family members and friends.

E--had dreams of bathing in a bathtub with friends while they took turns sewing each others lips shut with a needle and thread.

J--had dreams of scorpions burning

M--did not remember dreams but felt Valerian seducing her to sleep.

The Valerian Working went well overall. It is never easy to talk about our stranger dreams.

Please stay tuned for the Nettle Report!


Picture credit for this post: www.flickr.com/.../706706348/

The Medicine Path

Though I have had many teachers, no one has taught me how to "do" the Medicine Club. I have followed my inspiration and for the most part, i make have made it up as I have moved along what I call the Medicine Path. Many others have called this way the same name.

The word Medicine means many things. It is the science of treating and preventing disease, an agent for curing, or in the indigenous sense of the word, it means an acquired power relating to a plant, animal, place, or person. I conduct the medicine club in order to work with all of the above definitions.

This is the second full round of the club that I have conducted and two times around the wheel of the year is still so very new. I will consider myself adept at this practice after I have walked the yearly round twenty times. So, I am still inventing and re-inventing the medicine club as each new session comes into play.

You may have noticed that I faltered on documenting the club over the past four sessions. I was at a loss for time to stop and write and I was at a loss for words, which, for me, as a writer, is always a challenge. Well, here we are in a new year and I now have the time and the words to catch up.

For the record, after California Poppy, we worked with these plants in this order: Bleeding Heart, Oregon Grape, Devil's Club, and Valerian.

After 5 total winter sessions of working with the medicines we have made in the past, I have settled on a format that I feel very good about. Every week, everyone who attends the Medicine Club walks away with a one week supply of that weeks medicine. The students now work with the medicines as tonics and then, when we reconvene the next week, we discuss how the week's working went.

During the class session, we take the time to do the book learning or reviewing on the plant medicine at hand, we discuss it's ecology and folklore, then we have a meditation session in which we ingest the plant medicine and take the time to slow down and meet the medicine. I have found this to be very rewarding. After a 15 minute meditation we have a break and then journal for 15 minutes about our experience. Then we take the time to share.

This format has worked out very well and I am very pleased with the direction the club is now heading. As for the blog format, I have worked that out as well. I will blog about each medicine experience the following week and not the week that we have worked with the plant.

For example: On the 14th of January we worked with Valerian. The people in attendance went home with a one week supply of Valerian tincture. I will blog about our collective experiences with Valerian sometime after the 21st. This way, there will be a lag in time between the Medicine Club sessions and the blogs, but it will give us all time to work with the plant medicine.

I will just have to wait until the next turn of time's spiral to document Bleeding Heart, Oregon Grape, and Devil's Club. Sorry.

I have become a firm believer that one week is far better than one evening for meeting and beginning work with a plant medicine. I may have to double blog as we move into the spring harvest, but I'll work that out when the time comes.

Thank you all for your support with the Medicine Club. It has been a pleasure to walk the medicine path with you all.

see you soon,

David

ps...the image on this entry comes from the web: http://www.tagtheartistsgallery.com/admin/member_directory/29/22_WindingTrail.jpg

California Poppy

This week marked the transition into the next phase of the Medicine Club Yearly Round, our annual journey through medicine making and medicine taking. We have now moved into the taking of simple formulas. One plant medicine at a time.

Later on, as the winter progresses, we will work with plant alchemy, or the combining of simple formulas in order to create more complex, synergistic medicine compounds.

Also, the blog now changes from it's field guide-esque format into a journal of the effects of the various plant medicines we work with. As we come back into plant harvesting in the spring, then the blog will transform again into a more descriptive piece about the ecology of the plants in question.

Please note that each class will still contain a review on the ecology of the plants. It just seems redundant to go over this stuff again in the blog, when it is already cataloged on this site. California Poppy is an exception, because we made the medicine last year, before the blog came into being. I can say, however, with a strong sense of certainty that we will work with this plant again in the late spring and I will provide a detailed write up of all the ecological facts about this plant at that time.

I will add that the medicine was made from the whole plant; roots, leaves, flowers and all. It was made in a one to one ratio with brandy as the base. It was allowed to sit for 8 weeks until the plant material was strained off. At the time, I made two quarts of the medicine. It then sat for a year and a half until we worked with it last week.

California Poppy is a feel good plant. It is solar in nature, that is, it has a sunny disposition. It can make you a bit lethargic and many people report feeling "slow" the next day. It has a long history of use to calm anxiety. I find it hard to be worried about much when working with this plant.

It induces a "hang loose" sort of an attitude. I in low doses that it elevates the mood and that in high doses, it downright alters ones mood, inducing laughter and that happy feeling.

Here is what the class had to report after ingesting two droppers full of plant medicine in a glass of water. They were then asked to meditate or doodle, whichever was more conducive to silence and concentration for 15 minutes. We then journaled our experiences for the next ten minutes. Then I polled the class with the question, "How do you feel?" These were the responses:

"A queer feeling has come over me, as if I were an elf or a faerie."

"This feels delicious"

"Lower eyelids, swinging necks, cracking smiles to the miles."

"Lil' dizzy, lil' goofy"

"Happy."

"Sluggish."

"I'm not stoned, but my floatation devise seems to be."

"Ribbed for pleasure, studded for serotonergic responses."

"Like a honey bee on the moon"

To add to the overall jocularity of the evening, at one point I left the attic to use the restroom. While I was away, the whole class had switched seats and had hung up the new "Herbs Crow" sign that I had got for the space at Portland Saturday Market..

It was pretty hilarious to come back up and see all the different faces, sitting in different places. And Eric was wearing the old macrame Owl, which was just downright hilarious under the given circumstances.

I look forward to the medicine working season. It is a great was to work through the winter and it is a great way to deepen our connection with the plant's and their medicines.

See you all soon!