Rad Rems welcomed all to celebrate the changing of the seasons on 26/27th of March for a Spring Equinox(ish) herbal gathering.
We foraged natures Spring bounty and discussed how nature provides an abundance of plants to cleanse, detoxify, awaken and re-energise the body after a restful long winter (please see more info in earlier blog posts ref Spring time).
We discussed our connection to plants and to one another, there was a beautiful workshop on plant meditation where we drew, sat with and observed a particular plant of our choice to gain deeper insight into its ecology, surroundings (insets, other plants, growing habits ect) and its energetics.
There was a workshop on co-counselling, a grassroots method of reciprocal peer counselling. A beneficial skill for anyone in any moment of life trying to support loved ones and comrades throughout crisis. We reflected on how working with plants and soil is part of holistic healing of the collective, within ourselves and with the natural world. Our reintegration and connection to the natural world and its knowledge systems that are contained and captured within its cells, histories and roots begin to become apparent as we pay closer attention. We can pay closer attention when we have time and space to feel and think more freely; escaping and moving through trauma, smashing through constructed boundaries and holding one another through these processes.
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We all did some birch tapping, where the sap is collected from the tree using a straw funnel and collected in plastic bottles. This must take place in the early Spring when the nutrients are being released after being stored during the winter.
Birch (Betula) is infamous for its anti-inflammatory, analgesic (pain relieving) and antiviral activity actions in the body hailed for centuries as a medicinal plant. The water is full of nutrients. It is thought to be good for cystitis and UTI’s. It is fresh, clear and tastes a little bit like coconut water (drink up quick though as it has a short shelf life even in the fridge). It is also used in skin care products and made into syrup, beer and mead. Black tar made from birch bark is one of the oldest adhesives known to man [Woolf, 2020:44].
Birch (Betula) grows commonly throughout Britain, with successive uses over millennia in carpentry, utensils, tools, tanning leather, whisky distillery, thatching and sometimes bedding. In Lancashire it was carved into bobbins, spoons and reels for the cotton industry. Birch improves the soil in which it grows and birch woods are biodiverse in flora and fauna. The original broom known as besom was made from birch with hazel branches attached, stereotypically used by witches to “fly”. It was thought to drive out malevolent spirits. Maypoles were traditionally cut from tall, straight birch trees. [Woolf, 2020: 43]
The papery bark of the Betula papyrifera has served as natural writing paper throughout history, it is mystical and intriguing to think of the inscriptions that lay within the Betula’s trunks and what stories and wisdom they hold.
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Practically, the main objective of the weekend was making medicine in collaboration with the Solidarity Apothecary. We made a nutritive tea blend for distribution on the Poland/Ukraine border where the Ukraine Herbal Solidarity currently have a mobile herbal clinic (https://solidarityapothecary.org/ukraine/).
Nutritive tea blend:
- Nettles (Urtica dioica) (see plant profile for more info)
- Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale)
- Raspberry leaves (Rubus idaeus): uterine tonic, hormone balancer, high in antioxidants and bioflavonoids.
- Oat straw (Avena sativa): high in iron, manganese, and zinc, claimed to improve brain function, reduce inflammation and improve mood.
We managed to make 5,000 tea bags with a production line going into the early hours of the morning.
Making big batches of medicine is no joke! I think we all had greater respect for the time and physical exertion of producing tea bags by the end. But, we were driven and energised in the knowledge that the recipients were in vulnerable and dire situations and the little help we could provide we did with love.
We received word a few days later that the medicines had been received on the border, went very quickly and were gratefully received. Thank you to everyone who made that happen, international herbal solidarity! Plant power!
References
Woolf, Jo., Britain’s Trees, 2020.
https://cedarmountainherbs.com/the-magic-and-medicine-of-the-birch-tree/