Dandelion: Speaking Promise
The dizzying bright, yellow flowers emerge sometimes in high mountain fields, speaking promise when they emerge from the cracks of the sidewalk, or bringing joy to the children in their play. Raising consciousness whether we are aware of it or not… the Dandelion speaks. Growing cross country, spanning across all continents in her pervasive tenacity for the love of life and humans. Bright as the sun, the tonic effects of the root, leaf, stem and flower infuse our beings for those who dare to build a life long relationship with this lovely plant.
I am proud to live in a community who in all its aspects and walks of life come together each May to celebrate this plant…. The Dandelion Festival. A true honoring of the plant, I feel. In the abundance of this season many treats are offered at this festival. Dandelion Ice Cream, pesto, juice, powder, tea and fresh greens. Oh, and Dandelion wine and beer. The creativity that is activated at this festival comes in many forms of expressing the gratitude for this symbolic plant. Spoken word, poetry, songs, local live music, cross-cultural acts, dancing, drumming, children’s games. All in all, the gathering of a community for it’s higher good and celebrating our relationship with Mother Earth.
In the ever-present state of environmental toxicity the liver consistently works to clean the blood to the point of over-exhaustion. As a result, this exhaustion manifests into multitudes of imbalances in the body and mind. To name a few, skin eruptions, digestive imbalance, severe allergies, dry skin, hives, liver disease, hormone imbalance, heart imbalance, cracked hands and feet, quick to anger… the list goes on. Isn’t it amazing that this plant can support our liver in it’s efforts to perform it’s continuous, intricate job?
Something important to know about this plant is not only the direct medicinal value all parts of the dandelion provide, it’s the nutrient dense aspect of this plant that also speaks promise when used for a sustained length of time. Fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, trace minerals, vitamin A and plant protein. All of which foster a deeper sense of sustained health.
Doug encourages this significant statement into our awareness, “I invite you to consider that these are long relationships. This is not a relationship that is going to last five minutes, this is a lifetime of a relationship with the plant nation, the plant people. We enter these relationships with that in mind so that we do it in a good way, that we are not having to back up and repair, this happens all the time where we step on someones toes and have to make amends. But if you are aware that you are establishing a lifetime relationship, we have more direct energy to put towards it and we can do it in a timely way. When we are using these plants as medicine it is important not to just think of them as substances, but think of them as people that are helping us.”
Dandelion’s unwavering presence illuminates the constant reminder to make a long term commitment to ourselves, our bodies and our relationship with the plant kingdom. I walk in gratitude for the presence of this beautiful plant