By Sunlight and Moonlight

Photo by Matti Johnson on Unsplash

There is a joy in a connection to nature. It’s cycles and rhythms, its tradition of healing via kitchen garden apothecary. There’s a small revolutionary act perhaps in reclaiming the land and magic of the natural world, even if we can only travel there in our minds and words in these dark times.

When I walk on the physical land again, and in the future when one day perhaps I settle on some as custodian for a while, I’m going to grow a bounty from seed. I’ll garden valerian, calendula, lavender, chickweed, thyme, basil, lemon balm, parsley, dill, cayenne, dandelion, echinacea, garlic, red clover, rosemary, sage, st. john’s wort, spearmint, yarrow, burdock, mullein, marshmallow, ginger, turmeric, nettle, golden seal, comfrey, elderberry and dock.

I’ll immerse us in buds and flowers, in roots and leaves. I’ll brew and bake and fragrance our lives. I’ll ward off sickness and evils. I’ll simmer, draw, decoct and infuse. With buds, berries, seeds and barks I’ll make jars of magic to bathe in sunlight and moonlight, taking heavenly rays. I’ll fight virals and fungals, cold and flu. I’ll keep every enchanting fairy in my magic herb garden drunk on wild nectar.

In my kitchen that I’ll have one day I’ll restock pantry and medicine cabinet with dried herbs and essential oils. I’ll heal with anointing plant oils and floral waters of rose, orange, lavender, lemon, wintergreen, rosemary, clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, chamomile, honeysuckle, pennyroyal, acacia, carnation, frangipani, gardenia, jasmine, lilac, geranium, violet, nasturtium, orris, catnip, hyssop and borage.

I’ll stack up on carrier oils for blending and emollients like oils of apricot, almond, sunflower, coconut, grapeseed, olive, sesame, vitamin E, beeswax, cocoa butter, glycerine, jojoba, shea butter, lanolin, argan, castile, primrose, sea salt, epsom, rosewater, witch hazel and kaolin clays.

The world is in crisis. Suffering from disenchantment and the illusion of duality, a split from nature. The devil bargains at the crossroads for souls. He trades in apps, QR codes and contactless tech. There is no human touch in his world. No untamed edges nor botanic heart. The fairies trapped in the operating system. But soul is a wild thing raging outside the trickster’s nefarious prestige. Can you hear her knocking? Let her spirit of regeneration in. Bring the animism of nature to the machine.

Wildflowers and woods are a folksy stew to cook, but they nourish and keep us warm in dark times.