Page 28 - the NOISE March 2013

Dandelion
Traditional Use: There are many and varied Evening Primroses, and the entire family is known to be useful in many ways. The Blackfoot Indians boiled the leaves and stems and dried the roots as food during the winter. Crushed seeds and leaves were made into a poultice to treat wounds and bruises. Navajo Indians used the white-stemmed evening primrose in a lotion to treat boils, and they use the entire plant as a poultice to treat spider bites. The plant is also used as a medicine by the Navajo in the Bead Way, Big Star Way, Red Ant Way, and Blessing Way Ceremonies.
The Evening Primrose family has also been known to treat spasmodic asthma, whoop- ing cough, gastrointestinal disorders, irritated bladder, and chronic diarrhea. The seed oils contain fatty acids required for healthy skin and are very high in essential oils especially gamma-linoleic acid, which eases PMS, lowers blood pressure, and rebuilds red blood-cell mobility in people with multiple sclerosis. Other uses include the treatment of alcoholism, allergies, hyperactivity, dry and flaky skin, dandruff, schizophrenia, heart disease, cancer, psoriasis, anorexia nervosa, nervous sensitivity, and Parkinson’s disease.
Hildegard of Bingen recommends gathering a bouquet of primroses and bandaging the bouquet onto the heart like a compress during sleep to calm the nerves and to bring hap- piness.
Homeopathic Use: The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh plants and is used to treat Cholera infantum, diarrhea, and hydrocephalus.
The Essence of Flowers:
We have an energy system within our bodies, and flower essences can help address the causes and not just the symptoms by understanding that every part of our body and mind is connected.
When you are challenged by an uncomfortable physical and emotional feeling, by bring- ing your awareness to the power of the essence in the flower you have the opportunity to connect to the message or insight that you may gain from the flower or plant. This insight helps you to connect to the energy of the essence in the flower that connects with the energy within you. Flower essences support positive awareness to the situations that have created the symptoms.
You too, can connect with the energy of the flowers!
This is about understanding what energy and flowers are all about and how you can understand it better for yourselves. In fact, your whole day can be supported by the es- sence of the flower even if just reading about it or looking at a flower photo, because of the powerful existence of the plant’s trait that you have brought in.
Voice of the Evening Primrose / Inner Strength:
“My white light shines in the darkness of the night, giving full strength to my night blos- soms and connecting me to the reflective light of the Moon. I am comforted by her soft glowing strength and soothed by the brightness of her light, reminding me of my own strength and inner reflections. It is here in the silence of the night that I sink my roots deep into the earth to find, gather, nurture, and cleanse all the parts of my being. Trusting my inner strength and the purity within, it is here that I find value and meaning in my relation- ship with self and all of life.”
Insight:
Evening Primrose is offering you an opportunity to reevaluate and reconnect with what it is that you truly value and honor most in life. Although this flower appears delicate, it’s stronger than it seems and can grow from dry, rocky ground. It offers an awakening within, helping you to find your inner strength.
Affirmation:
“The stillness of the night feeds my soul with comfort and strength”.
YOU HAVE NOW CONNECTED WITH THE ENERGY OF THE FLOWER AND WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU!!!
A special thanks to Sandi O’Connor for her wisdom, sharing, and support in writing this ar- ticle. Sandi is a co-facilitator at The Center for Plant Studies and Healing Arts.
| Rhonda is the founder of Living Flower Essences and the Center for Plant Studies and Healing Arts. Author of The Healing Power of Flowers and Voices of Flowers info@centerpsha.com
Taraxacum officinale
Naturalized throughout the world, it grows from sea level to over 10,000 feet altitude and even finds a grip in the cracks of sidewalks. Seeds were once carried by immigrants, but also spread very efficiently by the wind. The name we call it by comes from the French words Dente de Leon, which means “tooth
of the lion.” If you look at the toothed mar- gin of a leaf (held in horizontal position), you can imagine the jagged rows of sharp teeth like those of a favorite feline.
The plants are a perennial with a main taproot. When broken, the fresh parts exude a milky sap. The leaves are clus- tered in a rosette at ground level, absent of stems. The leafless flower stalk varies in height from 2 to 12 inches long, and is hollow in the center. The blooming bright yellow flower is composite, with one sin- gle slower per stalk, when open, it varies from 1⁄2 to 2 inches wide. The fruits are small pointed tip seeds, pale gray to olive- green in color, and each bears a parachute of hairs at the apex. All parts of the plant are edible and medicinal.
Young Dandelion leaves are most com- monly eaten raw in salad as the plant ages, the older leaves become tough and bitter with an unpleasant flavor. Tender springtime growth, blanched leaves, and emerging leaves are the best to eat raw. The young leaves are favored when boiled as a potherb. Blanched or young and tender leaves are fine boiled once, but older greens are usually boiled in two or three changes of water to remove their unpleasant bitterness; an average of 10 to 20 minutes.
The roots are quite edible, and contain complex carbohydrates. They may be eaten raw, roasted, or fried. When roasted, dried and broken up, they can be made into a brown tea which is considered to be a healthy coffee substitute. They can be roasted on rocks by an open fire until becoming glazed and crispy. The flavor becomes sweet and the starchiness is sim- ilar to a baked potato and also has a flavor reminiscent of carrot (and they’re just as crunchy).
The seeds may be eaten raw or added to breads and baked. The flowers are ed- ible, but are an acquired taste. A fun and
easy way to consume the blossoms is to pick them when they are open and young, detach them from their stalk, and cut each blossom in half (or quartered if they are extra large) and mix into
pancake batter for “Dandy- cakes.” The yellow color bleeds into the surrounding dough and
the cakes are uniquely delicious. Medicinally, the plant contains liver purifying constituents and can even be an antidote for coumarin (rodent poisoning). It is diuretic, causing the kidneys to produce more urine and eliminate toxins. It also lowers high blood sugar and blood pressure. It can
be juiced to use in elimination diets. Dandelion increases bone density and promotes healthy cardiovascular func- tioning. It maintains elasticity in blood vessels and aids in clocking plaque build up. With its astounding content of minerals and vitamins, it may aid in pre- vention of heart disease, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid, osteoarthritis, cell damage from cancers, and promotes healthy eyesight.
The nutritional content is thus: Vitamin A, B (riboflavin), C, E, and K. It contains the minerals calcium, manganese, iron, potas- sium, magnesium, and copper (all in sig- nificant amounts).
Dandelions have no common pests, other than the occasional gopher (or idiot spraying herbicides), and are easy to grow and harvest. It is usually considered a pes- ky weed to be eliminated, but people have it all wrong. It is truly valuable and should be revered and utilized.
“Dandelion Greens” sold in the market are often Italian Chicory, and not true Dandelion, but a look-alike relative that is milder, with larger leaves and a lesser nu- tritional value.
Dandelion wine is a cheery beverage, but is mostly sugar and citrus juice with yeast. It is said to be at its best when aged at least one year after bottling, and should not be drunk when freshly made, so as to let it mellow.
Blanching can be done by diminishing or eliminating sunlight on the plants. They can be covered over with burlap, baskets, and buckets, or dug up (in the fall) and cel- lared in a pot of sand. Even though they are lower in chlorophyll, the yellow or whitish leaves are at their prime for eat- ing. Kept in the house or basement, they can produce an amazing amount of leaves (if properly trimmed), and a steady supply of salad.
| Thunderfoot is a freedom fighter for the plant people and a consum- er of “weeds.” Most “weeds” have
a much higher nutritional value than garden grown vegetables.
Oenothera caespitosa
Elevation: 3,000 to 7,500’
Also known as Tufted Evening Primrose, White Stemless Evening Primrose, Rockrose, and Sandlily
Where Found: Native to Arizona and in North America. Grows on dry, stony, and rocky slopes, roadsides, railway embankments, and ponderosa forest clearings throughout the West
Evening Primrose (White)
Primary Quality: Inner Strength
28 • MARCH 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us