Heart Opening- Rose

 One good thing that has come of my teacher closing her Chestnut Hill shop is that everything went on sale! I picked up Matthew Wood’s 2 volume set, The Earthwise Herbal and just happened to come across this (remember, I don’t believe in coincidences!):

“The tradition is very precise in associating the rose with the heart and the eyes. By comparison, hawthorn, the tree of the faeries, is associated with the heart and the tongue.” (Emphasis in original)

He also speaks to traditions of rose petals healing sight and nonmaterial vision.

Several months ago I started experiencing eye strain when I started reading more online. My teacher suggested I try Blueberry Solid Extract, and gave me a half-jar she had in the back of her fridge to get started. On a whim, she gave me most of a jar of Hawthorne Solid Extract too. It also strengthens the cardiovascular system, though not as specifically to the eyes as Blueberry, and she didn’t need it anymore so suggested it couldn’t hurt. Hawthorne is also a classic heart herb, of grief and loss, and since I was going through some personal loss at the time I saw it as a double-whammy.

Rose is another classic herb of the heart, more along the lines of love and passion. One of our practice clients last year was given Avena Botanical’s Rose Petal Elixir and she almost immediately stopped taking it. We theorized, based on her condition and reaction, that it had too profound an effect on her heart, opening her more than she was prepared to allow.

As I was finishing my latest jar of Hawthorne, I had been thinking that I didn’t really need that remedy anymore. It’s the perfect time to move onto Rose now. Hawthorne helped me express my loss and not let it stagnate in my soul. I’m ready to open my eyes and my heart to the world again, and let warm loving people in.

Last night I made herb balls, a favorite medicinal food. To half a container of tahini (8oz, I guess?) I added the last of my molasses, maybe ¼ cup? (Tahini is high in micronutrients and trace minerals, and molasses is also high in minerals and Iron.) I mixed in 4 tablespoons of powdered Rose petals, 1 tablespoon of powdered Gotu Kola (to help my crazy unfocused brain stay on track) and 1 tablespoon powdered Horsetail (high in silica, I’ve been getting lots of hang nails.) This gave me a nice cookie dough consistency, and I rolled it into 18 balls.

18 balls divided by 18 teaspoons of herbs (1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons) makes a nice even 1 teaspoon per ball. My dosage is 1-2 per day. Let’s see how I feel in about a week and a half!