**The following writing has been sent out as a newsletter on May 14th, 2024
There’s a lot of information about herbs. Just google one name of a flower and they’ll tell you a million things about that flower. When you get into herbs, it tends to be all about “what can this plant do for me? What’s the benefit?” and not about having a relationship with another sentient being. So rather than discuss what an each Ayurvedic herb does for you, I would like to discuss why I think herbology is a big part of yogic practice.
Herbs fascinated me from when I was very little. Just before I left for Canada, my mother and I planted a lot of herbs in a tiny Japanese pot. The smell of rosemary and lavender left a mark on me so much that when I moved to Canada, I had a tiny pot of rosemary and lavender that grew so healthily on my radiator pipes. Yes, so many plants have so many great qualities for our constitutions and pains. But what fascinates me most about herbs is the magic. Just as Hanumān brought back a heap of herbs to heal Rāma and Lakshmana, herbs have the magical qualities.
Many of you already know that I am a fanatic when it comes to certain Fantasy books and one that is notable here is the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I’ve read the books and watched the films once a year every year, so you know, that tends to be all year round. I love it so much that I used to teach a whole yogic philosophy class using the Lord of the Rings. In it, there is a paragraph that just makes my heart soar and compile all my fascination about the magic of herbs.
“And at last Bergil came running in, and he bore six leaves in a cloth. ‘It is kingsfoil, Sir,’ he said; ‘but not fresh, I fear. It must have been culled two weeks ago at the least. I hope it will serve, Sir?’ Then looking at Faramir he burst into tears. But Aragorn smiled. ‘It will serve,’ he said. ‘The worst is now over. Stay and be comforted!’ Then taking two leaves, he laid them on his hands and breathed on them, and then he crushed them, and straightaway a living freshness filled the room, as if the air itself awoke and tingled, sparkling with joy. And then he cast the leaves into the bowls of steaming water that were brought to him, and at once all hearts were lightened. For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory.”
To me, that’s magic. A simple scent of a certain flower can change the energy of each person in that room at a desperate time (trust me, it is a desperate time in this particular section of the book, everyone is hurt and dying from the war and the war is not even over.”) But also, we all know that feeling. A scent of flowers or plants bring all the memories from the past.
And that is what I believe about herbs. It may not cure as fast as contemporary medicine but it’s helpful even to simply smell, or take the time to make that cup of tea, or add drops of tincture. The action of taking care of ourselves or others, that’s what makes a huge difference in healing. Just as you might take the time to sit down for meditation or place a flower to offer to Goddess Durga, or learning about a specific flower on your doorstep simply to understand. It’s about taking that time to do something with a full and clear intention. And all of a sudden, magic unfolds, our prānic pathways restored and we are ready to heal.
So today, get outdoors, observe a plant with the same intense intention as Aragorn breathing into and crushing kingsfoil to heal, have a real relationship with a plant and take the time to do so simply to care.