Feeling the permanent conflict of life this week. My body fills up with hate when I think about the way the police, who carry on the evil work of the kkk and lynchings, put their hands on people of color. The police who do not call out the heinous crimes committed by their peers. The way that they are murdering black men and black women and torturing their families, threatening their communities. I am full of rage thinking about the people who do nothing; in the words of Desmond Tutu: “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” By refusing to connect the dots of our internalized racism with the reality of institutionalized racism, we are perpetuating the sickness and violence of the white supremacy. We need to wake up and work together to dismantle the white supremacy and end the war on complexion. I am also angry at those who believe anger is not justified in this situation. To be calm in the face of deadly injustice is to side with the oppressor. Society is at a breaking point. The world won’t allow us to continue on like this, and if we do, I believe she will swallow us up and allow another ice age or fire age to cleanse her surface and erase our grave mistakes.
The people who have the privilege of not bearing the brunt of this burden need to devote time and love to healing our fellow humans and the broken system we live in. We need to heal each other, and especially focus on those who are struggling because so much has been taken away from them. We need to protect hearts. Build love. Build trust. We all need so much healing. Practice tenderness with yourself and the world. Feel the anger. Use it if you are able to and if the anger stems from your own oppression, may it dissolve from your body and your mind and may your wounds be healed.
We need the anger to move us to action and we need the love to protect ourselves and each other.
Your neighborhood herbalist will be able to provide you with herbs to support you in your healing. They will be able to match you up with an herb or herb blend that matches you energetically and will be well suited to support you in opening, strengthening and soothing the heart. If you don’t have a neighborhood herbalist, you can make a tea blend or tincture for yourself. Here are some herbs that support the heart and a few recipes. If you don’t have time to make your own, I absolutely love the “Loving Care” tincture by very special intuitive herbalist Rachel Burgos: you can buy that here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/287176333/loving-care?ref=shop_home_active_2
Herbs to support the Heart:
Hawthorne leaf, flower or berry
*Use caution with these herbs, they may cause drowsiness.
Select a few herbs from this list and experiment with different proportions in teas and tincture by using the recipes below. Research any herb you are going to put in your body before you use it. Here are a few good resources for learning about herbs: henrietta kress & jim mcdonald.
Simples have been the medicine of the people for centuries. To make a simple, fill a jar with the herb/s you are working with (chopped as finely as possible) and pour alcohol over so they are covered. if you want to be a little more scientific, for dried herbs use the ratio 1:5 (dried herb weight/ liquid volume) or for fresh herbs use 1:2 (fresh plant weight / liquid volume). Shake everyday and strain after 3 - 6 weeks.
The dosage will depend on the formula, but I would start with 10 drops 3 times a day and see how that feels.
If you are making a simple for heart support - I would suggest altering the recipe a little to add honey and perhaps choosing brandy as the alcohol. Any amount of honey will be nice, sometimes I use as much as 1/3 honey to 2/3 brandy for particular blends. This turns the simple into an elixir. Honey has it’s own amazing healing history and I believe the sweetness of the honey helps carry across the message of the herbs. Like my mother used to say “A little sweetness to sweeten you up.”
It is always wise to taste all the ingredients of a tea blend individually before putting them together. You can do this by putting 1-2 teaspoons of the herb in a jar and pouring 8 oz of water over the herb, and then letting the jar sit covered for 15 minutes. Strain and taste. By doing this you can decide what herbs best agree with you and choose an herb as the base of your tea and a few others to work in tandem with it and / or a few herbs as small accents in the blend.
Take your tea as often as possible. I like to make a quart in the beginning of the day and drink it all day. I also make a sun tea in a large container with a spout and then stick it in the fridge and drink it all week. When too much herb is coming out with the tea for my liking, I put a strainer between the spout and my cup. In the summer, I love to use Hibiscus as the base for my weekly Sun Tea - Hibiscus is very cooling as well as heart supportive, which makes it great for folks who spend a lot of time outdoors.
