Page 42 - the NOISE January 2014

Yerba Santa
Eriodictyon angustifolium
Primary Quality: The Sacred Within
Happy New Year Everyone! To most folks, a New Year means new beginnings and a time to bring in and activate a fresh start for the Year.
How encouraging it feels to have the prom- ise to look forward to new journeys, new ad- ventures, and new dreams ... leaving the past behind.
The New Year offers cleansing, reenergizing, renewal, and the excitement of moving for- ward in a vibrant way guided by clarity, wisdom, and enthusiasm.
A wonderful plant to support us on this jour- ney forward and with new intentions is Yerba Santa. I first met Yerba Santa when I lived at Back O’ Beyond in Sedona in 1987. There was an abundant colony that lived near me and I would go and sit with it and experience it through its developmental and growing pro- cess with the seasons.
My herb teacher, Matthew Wood came to visit me and his appreciation for Yerba Santa in- fluenced my greatly, and the more time I spent with Yerba Santa in nature, the more I under- stood its teachings. Yerba Santa offers many healing properties and is a useful tincture, herb, flower essence, and homeopathic remedy to have in your medicine kit,
The powerful impact that Yerba Santa showed me was the profundity to follow through with outer tasks based on inner intu- ition and guidance.
Yerba Santa is of the Waterleaf (Hydrophyl- laceae) Family and its name means Holy Herb orSacredHerb. OthernamesYerbaSantagoes by are Mountain Balm, Bear Plant, Consump- tive’s Weed, and Gum Bush.
A signature or trait of the Waterleaf family is shown by its dainty appearance — 5 united petals, 5 united sepals, and 5 stamens that dan- gle out of intricate blossoms. The flower itself matures as a capsule with numerous seeds.
Yerba Santa can be found growing in dry plains and hills, slopes and ridges of Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Other species, E. Californica and E. Tomento- sum, are native throughout California, Oregon, Nevada, and Mexico.
There is something very special about being in the presence of Yerba Santa.
It gives you a feeling of cleansing, of purifi- cation, of honoring your body as a temple, as a way of sharing with you truly what it means and what it takes to let go of old patterns, and to follow through with your intentions.
Traditional Herbal Use
Yerba Santa’s history of use includes Indians of California and the Spanish, Mexican & Ameri- can settlers. Yerba Santa, or “holy herb,” was ad- opted by Spanish forefathers who learned of the plant through the American Indians.
The fresh or dried leaves of Yerba Santa were
boiled and made into a tea, and are still used today to expel phlegm, restore the liver, clear the urinary tract, and treat chest colds, sore throats, bronchitis, head congestion, asthma, hay fever, chronic alcoholism, poor digestion with no appetite, bladder infections, and even some forms of tuberculosis. Other conditions, such as stomachaches, vomiting, diarrhea, kid- ney ailments, and hemorrhoids, can also be treated with Yerba Santa.
Yerba Santa has a reputation as a wound- wort remedy, based on the leaf’s shape as a cutting instrument (sword/blade shape). The leaf is actually sticky enough to act as a “natu- ral Band-Aid.”There are many times I have been out hiking and have used Yerba Santa this way.
The Indians also used the fresh and dried leaves to make a poultice for abrasions and pain associated with rheumatism, swelling, sores, and fatigued limbs. The poultice can be used for broken or unbroken skin and for both people and animals.
Herbalists today use Yerba Santa for the above conditions, and also as a douche and for steam inhalation for bronchial congestion. Yerba Santa contains cerotonic acid and a resin called pentatriacontane. A delicious amber honey made from Yerba Santa pollen tastes slightly spicy.
Energy Impact (Chakra Correspondence): 7th chakra (indirectly 5th chakra)
Healing Patterns with Flower Essences:
cleansing, purification, inner acceptance, re- ceptivity, renewal, reverence for all of life, self- discovery, builds strength of character, accep- tance, willingness, and determination to look and work from within in order to heal the whole. Yerba Santa is useful as a flower essence for those who may have clarity of and understand their true needs, yet lack follow-through by not honoring them or carrying them out.
Yerba Santa’s signature as a woundwort rem- edy is indicated by the leaf ’s shape as a cutting instrument (knife or sword-blade shape) and by the two different sides of the leaf, with the outer-side leaf smooth and shiny (relating to the skin), and the underside leaf dull and veiny (relating to the veins). This signature also dem- onstrates the plant’s natural ability as a Band- Aid, holding both sides of the wound together.
Again, we are shown the duality of healing what is on the inside and what is on the outside.
Participate in our workshop: “Using Plant Wisdom to Empower Your Intent For the New Year,” January 25th Sedona School of Mas- sage 9AM-5PM. Call 928-639-3614 to Regis- ter by 1/15/14 or email to address below:
| Author of two books & producer of a new video, Rhonda Pallasdowney is the
founder of Living flower essences and the Center for Plant Studies & Healing Arts. info@centerpsha.com
42 • january 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us