At the request of a good friend, this post is dedicated to those who are fighting for the land, it’s people, and the spiritual integrity and beauty of these things– whether warriors, renegades of the heart, mothers, lovers, front-liners or anyone whose grief-drenched heart is breaking over the culture wilting, land ravaging oppressions here and far away. These are troubled times friends, and some carry a bit more of the burden or find themselves a little deeper in this too-big-to-humanly-comprehend-immensity of it all, whether that be from the daily oppressions of colonialism, racism, patriarchy or the pain of feeling the people and land you love hurting.
While supportive communities recognize the burn-out, stress and hardship experienced by these folks, in my experience, often the heart break and trauma involved in this work, and/or social positionings, can fall by the wayside. Unfortunate indeed considering that these are folks who are, with great rawness, wound up in matters of the heart and the subsequent struggle for those things dearest to the heart. These are things that weave our belonging in the world: one’s people, community, and the land– that is, the things that mean the most to us, that draw us into action, defense, and nurturing. Much more than physical depletion and burnout are at stake, but also the spirit that resides in the heart. Thus, to give full recognition to these experiences requires a broadening of the idea of trauma, beyond physical bodily trauma, to include trauma that happens at the level of spirit and heart.
Due to our multi-feathered complexity, there are as many plant medicine remedies as there are people. So while there is no one formula for treating any experience, I’ve written the following as a loose guide.
…and where else to begin other than the heart? For all such formulas I would recommend at least half of the tincture be composed of medicines for the sweet and tender heart– whether that be for nourishing the heart, protecting it, bringing joy, helping it to let go, or for calling back the beleaguered spirit.
Plants for the heart:
calling back with Rose:
I like to use Rose in small doses, either taken in drop doses, or taken as a mere 5% of a formula. Rose, with it’s armloads of generous petals is a perfect herb for those who are deep into the dark night of things; perhaps some specific trauma has occurred, or the weight of dragging oppressions has driven a part of one’s self to wander away. In a world such as ours it is little wonder why the more sensitive parts of our selves take leave or scatter like sparrows during harsh times. Rose has a special ability to not only reach, but also touch these most tender places of the heart and call back the soft parts of ourselves that might have wandered off. It’s not uncommon for people to cry after a couple drops of rose, I’ve experienced this myself– accompanied by a rush of emotion that can only be described as a strange remembrance of beauty.
remembering joy with Albizzia:
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
While Rose calls our most tender spirit back to it’s noble seat of the Heart, Albizzia, whose Chinese name translates as ‘Collective Happiness Bark’, calls back joy. What I understand of joy here is a kind of freedom, loosened from the grips of trauma. Trauma’s manifestations of anger and fear freeze us or tense us into tightly wound balls– repressing emotions or immobilizing us through anxiety. The person suited to Albizzia might experience this physically through such things as neck and shoulder tension or painful swellings. And so it is that Albizzia invigorates and moves our blood and energy to circulate as it will, free of constraints.
Albizia has taught me that joy is that place where things open up like a spread out field. Perhaps naively, I like to believe that no matter how constrained we are, by state or dominant culture, this place can’t ever be taken away from us– an ethereal and ephemeral place perhaps, but also a magic place where all possibility blooms from.
feeding the heart with Hawthorn:
…ah Hawthorn. With it’s generously full red berries, Hawthorn is a kind and gentle tonic for the heart that is in need of nourishment, sweetness and softening. More than this, like other heart-centered herbs, such as Rose and Motherwort, Hawthorn with it’s long thorned branches is not only food for the broken heart, but is also protective– a highly prized quality for those who are placed, or place themselves in difficult situations.
Notably, Sean Donahue states, “The old stories tell us that when the world became overrun by men who wielded swords and cut the earth with iron ploughs, the people who taught our ancestors to sing the songs that called the fruit trees to blossom disappeared beneath the hills. At the gateways to their world they planted Hawthorns to tangle and repel the brutish and unwary, but nourish the hearts of those who grieved for lost worlds.”
defending the heart with Motherwort:
While working on a community herb garden in Victoria, ‘The People’s Apothecary’, we were confronted with the need to defend the garden against dogs chasing balls, oblivious feet and the occasional car driving on the field (and once right through the garden, severing a dear Sumac and flattening an earnest flock of Lemon Balm). Along with Raspberries and Milk Thistle, we chose to line a part of the garden with Mortherwort, a tall, scratchy and repelling plant, and soon our problems decreased drastically.
It took me awhile to warm up to Motherwort, but the more I’ve gotten to know her the more endeared I’ve become. Motherwort is a kind and motherly defender of those who feel beaten down or bombarded; that is, those in need of a little support in regaining their courage and ability to stick their chests out.
Motherwort is specific for those who hold pain, trauma, and sadness in the heart region, whether this is experienced as tightness or fullness of the chest, irregular heart beat, feelings of overwhelm or palpitations. Motherwort’s protective nature secures a safe place for the beleaguered heart to steady and calm itself.
Boundaries and Centring:
Now that we’ve ever so briefly addressed the heart-world of plant medicine, I’d like to dive deeper into the topic of boundaries and centering, as an important component of any such remedy.
knitting boundaries with Schizandra:
Schizandra is a perfect medicine for those times when we need to strengthen our periphery. Unlike the thorns of Rose, Hawthorn and Motherwort, which defend the tender heart space, Schizandra’s tart and astringent berries work to knit leaky boundaries. Physically it does this by strengthening tissues and helping us to retain energy. Emotionally it is wonderful for people who feel overly porous; this can be experienced as either the feeling of other people’s energies infiltrating one’s self, or feeling like one’s own energy is spilling outwards, leaving one feeling drained. By strengthening our periphery, Schizandra helps to center our energy inwards and alleviate scatteredness, as well as the tendency to take on more energetically than one can handle. For these reasons Schizandra can also be useful during traumatic or acutely painful experiences when one needs to come back into one’s self.
Yarrow for the wounded warrior:
Barbara St. Dennis states that Yarrow is medicine for “the wounded warrior, wounded healer… people that jump in, put out the fires, get cut to the bone, emotionally and physically.” Similarly to Schizandra, Yarrow is flexible in it’s ability to not only protect against the outside world, but also keep one from emotionally bleeding out, by knitting together an overly porous aura. While this can be understood on a broad energetic level, similar to Schizandra, Yarrow has a special affinity for blood. So while Yarrow is effective at promoting a smooth flow of blood and preventing blood clots from forming, it’s also effective at clotting the blood to prevent blood loss; thus Yarrow has a modulating effect which has as it’s main goal the integrity of the blood vessels. Energetically and emotionally this warm and earthy plant is specific medicine for someone who is in an emotionally wounding situation and just keeps bleeding out, either because of a persevering spirit or from the depth of the wound. On the other hand, it is also specific medicine for healers, activists, councilors and teachers– folks who receive a lot of emotional energy and can easily feel depleted because of this.
standing one’s ground with Devil’s Club:
No article on herbs for activists, defenders and fighters would be complete without at least a short depiction of Devil’s Club. With long limbed largeness, Devil’s Club stands it’s ground and stakes it’s place in the forest of things with it’s cathedral of leaves the size of dinner plates and long spiney reach. Devil’s Club is a sacred medicine to many indigenous peoples of the North West– a medicine to be approached with great respect, reverence and a keen understanding of it’s cultural significance. For this reason I only use small doses, 1-5 drops, in order to preserve it’s magic.
While Devil’s Club has a number of diverse uses, however, considering this article’s interest in the energetic and emotional workings of things, I would suggest using Devil’s Club as a strongly protective medicine for folks who are descending into the belly of the beast to do intense work. Devil’s Club is for folks who not only need to, but are also ready to find their greatest strength, power and magic. Devil’s Club forces us to be our biggest selves, and in a world of abuse and insult this coincides with a warrior-like defense of space and integrity. Devil’s Club is not necessarily kind medicine for those who get in it’s way, or for the person who choses to ingest it; the noble path of becoming your biggest self can mean facing yourself in uncomfortable, if not brutal ways.
Other Plant Medicines to Consider:
For depression, I would add a small dosage (5 drops, 4 times a day) of either Black Cohosh, which is useful in deep brooding depression or St. John’s Wort, which is useful in milder depression. Deborah Francis calls Black Cohosh the Persephone Herb, because it helps people who are stuck in an underworld of some kind, and can’t seem to find a way out. The depression treated by St John’s wort is more surface and transient.
For grief I would add a small dosage of Inula. Grief tends to sit in the lungs, and Inula, much like its thick watery roots, reaches down to the depth of our emotional waters, to clear out what is buried, break up stuck emotions, and move stagnant grief up and out. From Inula’s perfumed and juicy roots, rises a bright yellow flower– the light at the end of the tunnel. Folklore has it that Inula is a specific medicine for those who feel torn away from home, or perhaps never felt at home in the first place. For this reason I could imagine using it for the the many traumas related to Colonization and upheaval.
Last but not least, no such tincture would be complete without a healthy dosing of nervines; that is, herbs that work on restoring the nervous system and stress levels. One of my favorites here is Wood Betony, which is best for stress that effects the digestion, or trauma that is accompanied by disassociation from one’s physical body. Other favorites are Oat Seeds, harvested at the milky stage, and Skullcap; these two are my go-to herbs for burnout; Skullcap is specifically useful when stress and burnout is accompanied by sensitivity to one’s surroundings, whether than be light, sound or touch. Lastly, Ashwagandha, though an adaptogen rather than a nervine, is lovely for general burnout, fatigue and depletion– and works at a much deeper level than nervines, in order to build one’s long-term ability to deal with stress.
There are countless other herbs such as Pedicularis, Passionflower, Astragalus and Reishi that are used for a myriad of particular indications (from shoulder pain to specific types of trauma) that I would could easily spill countless words on and make this topic into a large book! I will refrain from doing this and suggest that for more specific remedies you speak to a Herbalist, a herb loving friend, or dive deeper into the plant medicine world yourself.