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/