[Marilyn Michele]

Yes I have been doing Gemmos for a few years, introduced through a fellow herbalist who was studying with a gal writing a book and she previously offered a website offering. I am not certain of her name.

I find it to be effective and agreeable. I really favor using them.

Of course I misunderstood the only a tree or shrub thing and went for flower buds of rose, apple, burdock and so on. And I find those to be simply abundant in what they offer.

[Marilyn Michele]

[Marilyn Michele]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZALgWLpanE0

This is amazing to watch. Where is the mention of this nature. One of the ONLY spore producing plants that has spores which mobilize themselves! I love it.

[Marilyn Michele]

I moved to property, over used for generations and covered in “weeds.” Thank goodness the weeds prevailed for a few seasons. And there were a few horsetail. In the years I have been here horse tail has excessively multiplied. And it would nearly take over if I didn’t get in and negotiate with it/ or manage it. And now it is growing 5’ tall in many places. I keep watching how it participates with other plants. What it does to the soils. How the dew drops hang on each and every frond. (That is what I call the circles of thin green reaching outward.) How it sets a temperate moist shade for fellow plants and trees.

I am pretty sure that horsetail knew I loved it way way before. And as I am rewilding this heavily used property (which was a stage coach stop, then a train stop, then a grocery store/post office, and now my home.) I see the horsetail is aiding the whole process of restoration. But wowzer what a force of nature – EXPANSIVE.

What words would you use to describe horsetail?

[Marilyn Michele]

Hey ho creative folk…(which is everyone, in some form) let’s just have a light hearted, non-judgey share of plant impressions with mark making, color movements or some out of doors site specific arrangement.

And if you feel bewildered or overwhelmed but you are curious… maybe we have a prompt or two available? Let me know.

IT is one thing to be cerebral with our relationship with the plants. And of course we are invested with hours of learning with our minds or we couldn’t be in these programs. BUT when we allow a creative response to be expressed regarding our plant relationship, another voice lifts. Maybe more of the heart. Maybe more instinctual from the solar plexus. Maybe simply being of no mind and allowing a listening with some mark making, some color gestures and so on…. With more listening.

If you want a little support in this… just let me know. Let me know here or send me a personal message in the TeaHouse.

X

[Marilyn Michele]

Or we jump into the horsetail discussion and explore planetary correspondences. What say you?

[Marilyn Michele]

Caryn,

This is a LOVELY great question. I think more than finding a book, consider what we know of the planet. What area of the body is referenced in that planet?

And then consider what plant addresses that area of the body.

And begin to patchwork them together. I do not find it so cut and dry.

And I find it fascinating. The plants will teach.

And begin with a plant that is familiar. I started with dandelion as it is referenced with the liver and kidneys. So that is Jupiter and Venus. Observe the plant and let it speak Jupiter and or Venus.

I will dance with you in this. Pick a plant and let’s explore.

[Marilyn Michele]

I am not sure which stage is catkin for horsetail. If it is a reference to the fertile stalk, that comes out first very early in spring. It is curious that horsetail fertilizes first, and then brings up the stalk we are more familiar with and actually harvest.

The fertile stalk is fascinating dropping clouds of spores. And they look a bit like a pine one on a stick to me, rough rings of darkness.

[Marilyn Michele]

Katrina, that is lovely to have those pictures. The fertile stock in my yard comes up first. And it has about a tablespoon of what I thought were pollinators. But it is spores. And they can jump 3 feet when the weather changes from dry to damp. They are adorable and generous. THAT is how my yard became a bed of horsetail. I am on less that 1/2 an acre and I had 5 5 gallon buckets filled with fertile stock heads, loaded with spores. I will find one of my pictures and include it.

[Marilyn Michele]

Oh yes the horsetail harvesting has nearly all past. This year I used it in my Spring salves. I am out here south west of Portland in Oregon.

Making of my Spring salves is just so lovely. I suppose my very talkative skin, alerting me to all things with my health, draws me into using salves. And I always have a first aid salve for grandkids scraps and bumps.

After making my “medical pickle” batch, the all purpose first aid salve, I had a generous amount of Mullien available, and “it had to be pulled.” I was alerted that the regions of the Mullien leaves corresponds to the regions of the back. The upper most of the leaves is the upper neck and so on down the stalk, down the back. I had lovely middle back to the tippy top before setting to bloom table full of mullien. So I set to making an upper back, shoulder and neck salve with mullien as the driver.

An herbal friend suggested adding in horsetail as good additional support. There were so many good reasons for this. The stalk nature of the horsetail mimicking the back, and it’s support of joint movement. The additional minerals. As well the nature of horsetail speaks to Saturn. And isn’t it Saturnian activities which often set off the shoulders and neck strains? And horsetail is a prolific companion plant suggesting it offers an energy of purposeful integration.

I made two batches. One had mullien with horsetail and an equal amount of rose petals, and lavender with a seasoning amount of herbs which call out as I am gathering. The other had mullien with horsetail and an equal amount of lemon balm and lemon verbena with a seasoning amount of blue vervain and rosemary. This lemony batch is the most lovely green. I am having family & friends who have shoulder and neck issues test out my batches.

So yes, season of harvesting is nearly past for horsetail, I am still fascinated by the nature of horsetail year round. And I am not always about harvesting because I want to sit, observe and learn from the plant – in all the ways we might share.

How have you worked with horsetail? What companionship has it offered you?

[Marilyn Michele]

Oh yes, my first tincture was a drop of gentian. B I T T E R baby bitter. And I LOVED it. And it was JUST the medicine I needed at that time. Oh what a friend. One drop changed my body’s actions within hours it was so well paired with me.

My question to you and Chad is when some folk have MORE taste buds per head of an eraser might their approach be a bit shifted than from the direct drop? I have family members who are such folk. And what I find strong nearly has them throwing up. Their flavor detection is so much higher. And as that is a biological factor it might be advised to adapt the tongues exposure. Mildly diluted in a shot glass of water. Or even in a shallow spoon of glycerin or honey. The herb’s signature is not lost – for them.

Lovely to engage with you all. Great query.

[Marilyn Michele]

Lovely to hear from you Cynthia, well said. Yes, full yes.

[Marilyn Michele]

And Chad, hey hey… hi, should you have a food or several foods that you want to know the oxalate load they have… just let me know. And I will look it up.

Again keeping your oxalate adjustments to small measures of change is important. And just limiting your chocolate will create a significant fluctuation.

But like with berries… blackberries are high. Blueberries are the lowest. Raspberries are medium high. Strawberries are half to raspberries. In these it is the seeds which hold a host of oxalates on the edges of each seed. They are the defense/protective expression of the plant.

Anyways…. I just wanted to offer looking up something for you if it helps.

OR for anyone else…

X

[Marilyn Michele]

OOOoooh Chad, what a plant and I love your description of the plant AND of your relationship. I am all ears if anything else lifts about the plant and you. I want to respect and know the plant better, and often find I can journey with the plant from what another will share.

What planet(s) do you find it speaks of? I find plants teach me as much about planets as any text. Like consider the Dandelion and Jupiter. Just watching the growth of dandelion, and then watching the bloom. She forms that perfect ball of seeds to blow out and about. Soooo Jupiter. And those tap roots. Soooo yin, rooting the growth and maturation of the plant for years. And so as I see Jupiter in my chart I ask: What is expanding? What season are we in? Seasonal blooming? And blooming and blooming. And is there a reseeding off of the blooms? Is there new thoughts lifting? Where is my Jupiter balance yang & yin, of up up and away, along with deep deep rooting. And so on. So what questions would I want to listen for with Cocoa? Anyways I love the richness of what you shared and the creative blends which lifted.

And can you separate the cocoa butter out? There is so much I do not know. Cocoa butter is my FAVorite.

In regards to oxalates I would also make sure you have B1 & B6, along with Biotin as supplements. These are crucial for the body addressing oxalates. Be careful to not have too much Vitamin C. I am away from my books, out of town, but that lifted as I read your thoughtful reply.

Cheers to our happy smooth filtering kidneys!

[Marilyn Michele]

I also feel gaining insights on Mars and Aries in their yin balance is on my plate. I really appreciate what you offered. I will be rereading that a few times to take it in more fully.

Cultivating, flowering, exercising yin (which sounds like double talk, my exercising yin is very passive and in rooting) — really diving into yin has been called up with my attention to my kidneys. Where our body’s are rooted.