Anticipation Milk: February

This month, February, seems the most pregnant of all. Quiet in gestation, yet loud in longing. The sun glares at us in daggers of razor light, bouncing off the stark white snow mirrors. Seeds of ideas vibrate with moisture and swell with readiness, yet cannot burst forth until the thaw.

February cultivates a kind of sharp anticipation. Buzzing under the tree bark is the impatient flow of maple sap, the first sweetness of the day. With the holiday of Eros, wounds of old love ache arthritically like a once broken bone, and the desire for intimacy and companionship are magnified.

Songbirds return, as if to midwife the Elm flowers and Fiddleheads. Poplar branches surrender to the winds, dripping with vanilla pearls. Eagles return, Falcons scream, clouds paint. February freezes and melts and freezes and melts, and all the dreams of gardens and foraging and feasting on the earth's bounty become wild in our heads!

Thaw the berries form last year's pickins, eat them up in thanks for what is to come. Soon we will be scrambling to keep up. For now, we sit in the cave of winter's womb, sipping anticipation.

Pierce the cold with 

Vedic Roots & Spices Milk Brew:

Set out a medium sized non-reactive pot.

For every 4 oz mug of water, add the following dried herbs:

• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon chips
• 1 heaping teaspoon dandelion root
• 1/2 teaspoon burdock root 
• 1/4 teaspoon chaga
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 pinch black pepper

Keep your herbs and water just below a simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Then add whole milk, at the same quantity you added of water.
Continue to let brew just under a simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Ladle out a mug at a time (strain through a tea strainer), and add a small dollop of: Ghee, grass fed or cultured butter, or virgin coconut oil.

This is a variation on traditional Ayurvedic milk with ghee, which warms, nourishes, and lubricates all faculties of the body. It's a brew I speak of often; in the summer with rose petal jam, in the fall with more spices. And especially for children, elderly, athletes, undernourished/overworked, and new mamas.

February is extremely dry here in New England. Many folks come down with bloody noses, sinus infections, and severe head colds. Keeping the body well lubricated and our digestion tip-top with bitters and aromatics, strongly supports our immune system during these bitter weeks.

So does cuddling.

xoxo

Black Forest Chai Recipe, Cave Poetry, and Important Apothecary Changes (Action Required)

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Cave Poetry

Razor sharp is the air this morning. 

Indicative of a true winter's day, the sky is solemn and brooding. 

All warmth is withheld, and joy must be sought  created, or remembered.  

I take solace in welcoming the cave time. 

In the darkness is fertile possibility.

In the silence comes the ancestral answers.

In the smell of the heady, dank earth,

we are granted the chance to take back our body.

In our cave time we adorn!

We draw red ochre on the walls

of our igneous hideouts

We butter our lips with roses and fat.

Smoke curls through time

Scenting our blankets and cloaks.

Libations in blood colored liquids are poured

Invoking dreams and visions.

The light comes to us from within our forest bodies, 

our bellies of love and water,

our breasts of milk and sweetness,

our minds of flowers and kaleidoscope minerals.

The Goddesses visit us in our cavern.

They give us gifts of dances and beauty and order.

They command from us our greatness, our fearless femininity.

As the world outside our cave

turns to ice

and incubates the seeds

We gestate our creative forces

and conjure powerful destinations

We render ghee from butter,

we render love from pain

we render forgiveness from anger

and we turn our inner blossoms

into seeds with wings

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Dearest Reader

Thank you for coming along these plant journeys. I know that even though you're here, reading something I have typed, this is really *your* journey. Your way of reconnecting to the earth beneath your feet, to the trees in your own forest, and to the senses tingling and talking throughout your body. 

I'm incredibly grateful to be somehow a part of that for you. 

I give gratitude for you and your divine nature. 

There are a few changes around here in an effort to serve you better, if you are a reader, patron, or ally, please be sure to read this thoroughly. 

As you may know it has been an extraordinary year for me.

I'm entering my second year of offering my Pleasure Medicine Apothecary Membership/Home study course (the Lady's Slipper Ring) and I have grown and learned a lot from the journey. 

I have made an impressive collection of herbals through the process, which I am very proud of. Below is my Botanical Aromatherapy Perfume Archive for the year (Oct 2011 - Oct 2012) It now rests on my abundance/gratitude altar. 

What I've noticed, is that there are two groups that I serve, and while there is quite a bit of overlap, there is also some divide. 

Some of you come for this:

and some of you come for this: 

And sometimes I just want to talk about this:

or this:

Does that make sense? 

So, to serve you better, take these actions: 

1) If you want to connect mostly about plants, nature, and earth based musings, please continue to be a part of this blog, and the Plant Journeys facebook page. You will still receive Apothecary offerings and updates on a semi-regular basis, but it will remain primarily a plants, life, and food-based forum for me.

2) If you're mostly here for my Artisan Herbals, Lady's Slipper Ring annual membership, pain killer salve, elixirs and products, or because you're into beautiful apothecary musings and sexy pictures of red wine and freshly poured magic potions, then the NEW Amrita Apothecary facebook Page is the click to like to stay connected to all of my creative endeavors and product offerings. In the future - THIS is where I will be posting first come first serve offerings such as night owl discounts, early bird specials, and OOAK leftovers from special projects. So, if you love my products, this is the place to be. If you're not interested in hearing about my offerings, this is not the place to be.

In this way, I sincerely hope to continue serving you in the ways more specific to the reasons you visit me, and in the ways that connect you with nature and your body most directly.

In gratitude and beauty blessings,

Ananda

PS - Thank you to everyone who has enrolled in this year's Ladys' Slipper Ring! I am diving deep to upgrade the home study content, going far into the forest to dig you rich roots, and working tirelessly on ideas for your coming herbal treasures. It's going to be a delicious ride. 

If any of you were hoping to come along, it's not (but almost!) too late! I have TWO SPACES LEFT  - but they will only be here until November 12, when I will lock the doors on the program until September 2013. 

For more information, go HERE

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BLACK FOREST CHAI

An intense herbal brew for your days hiding in the Cave.

Into a pot on the stove or wood stove, add 2 to 3 quarts filtered or well water. 

Add: 

~ 1, One inch sized root of Osha, dried.

~ One tablespoon Smoked black tea, such as Lapsang Souchong, or a roasted Mate

~ 1 tablespoon  Licorice root

~ 1 tablespoon Cardamom seeds

~ 1-2 tablespoons Ginger, fresh minced

~ 1-2 Springs freshly gathered conifer twigs with needles (spruce, fir, or pine)

~ 1 handful fresh Black Birch twigs cut into 1 inch bits

~ 5-10 Juniper berries

~ One inch piece dried mushroom (chaga, reishi, or shitake) if desired

~ grated Nutmeg to taste

~ Black Peppercorns as desired

~ 1 Handful of your favorite nuts; walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts work well)

Directions: Gently simmer all ingredients for 30-45 minutes (longer will make it stronger). When ready, ladle out cupfuls as you desire, into your favorite mug. Add cream and honey and herbal elixirs as desired. Enjoy.

xo

Credits: 

Inspirations for Black Forest Chai come from the following:

My Hickory Nut Adventures and Wild Woman's Forest Brew 

My Sweet Friend, Herbalist Darcey Blue, who successfully got me addicted to smoked tea.

Kiva Rose's Wild Woodlands Morning Brew Recipe mmm

And of course, my body, who says - "Give me quiet, give me tea." 

And I must obey. 

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Gaia's Cold Shoulder: Coping With Winter, Nourishing for SADness (a mini-anthology of remedies)

It's that time again

I'm sure you've noticed.

When the leaves flutter from the bark 

and the skies lilt. 

Do you have a sit spot to visit? 

Have you claimed a favorite tree to befriend for the cold season? 

Are you making steamy hot soup? 

Do you have a support system?

If you are anything like me (or how I was for most of my life) you might be crankily bracing yourself for the worst. Once you are forced to put your wool socks on (while everyone is talking about how stinkin' "cozy" they are and what sweater they'll knit next) you are grumbling in agony and despair. The coming of winter feels like a loss - of half your year, of your sanity, of your enjoyment of life, all the green and flowering friends you have frolicked with all summer. Dammit. *just* when you finally got that glowing olive tan, you've got to put on a long sleeved shirt! Hmph.

It's like a dark curtain descending upon you and all you want to do is sleep until spring.

Right? I know. It sucks.

I know deep inside you wish you could be all cheery and gleeful and excited about going out to pick apples on a crisp day or planning a holiday meal with your family.

But if even the mere thought of skiing or Christmas or snow makes you want to hurl, I feel ya. You're not crazy or dark or disturbed. You're a perfectly beautiful, normal, feeling human. And not alone.

If you're bundled up and warm enough to hang out with me a little longer here at this keyboard (grab the fingerless gloves and some tea, ok?) I'd love to share with you a mini-anthology of winter highlights that have helped me bond more deeply with my New England land and make deeper peace with the Seasons.

By sharing, I simply offer up any of these as possibles for you to try - as warming distractions, challenging initiatives, invitations to deeper Earth Intimacy, fun explorations ...... but most of all, to offer a glimmer of possible peace with the "w" word.

I'm not entirely there .... but there are more things in winter that now I actually look forward to. One of my first winter allies was the Cottonwood Tree:

COTTONWOOD TREE ALLY

Scaling down on Holiday Expectations was a biggie:

THE UNDERBELLY OF YULE

And an Article I wrote for Plant Healer Magazine

GAIA'S COLD SHOULDER - The Betrayal and Loyalty of Winter

Using Art to transform pain to ease, ugly to beautiful .... with my camera!

PHOTOGRAPHING ASPEN TREES

May your seasonal toolbag be full, dear one.

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Please note: All writing is copyright Ananda Wilson and may be circulated online in it's original link carrier (Plant Journeys.com) or linked to from another website with credit and captions or quotes, but may otherwise not be copied, reproduced, distributed or reprinted in any manner without express written permission of the author. Thank you for respecting my writing and intellectual property. May it serve you well.
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Love Plant Journeys? Love Artisan Herbals & Aromatics? 

Forget to take good care of yourself sometimes? 

COME
join a remarkable and inspiring year long journey of Sacred Self Care and Pleasure Medicine!! 
(Early enrollment free welcome gifts for those who register before October 14)

Lady's Slipper Ring

Devotional Sacred Self Care 

Artisan Apothecary Membership

Pleasure Medicine Home Study Course

Your Body is a Temple

Remember to Attend

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Practical Luxury {What to do with herbal marc} and a Discount Code for you!

Greetings plant lovers!

Today through January 26, I'm offering a thank you discount code for 10% off anything in my shop. 

Enjoy this week's newsletter to find the code! 

~~ How to use herbal marc, a sexy poem, and lovely photos from my hearth to yours ~~

Crock Pot Ginger Oil ~ Infusing fresh ginger root!

This particular recipe (which I first posted about six years ago) has made a celebratory buzz this week, including an appearance over at the Poppy Swap blog!  . So, I thought I'd give it it's own blog post for easy access and future reference.

Ginger oil is soooooooo yummy. It makes an excellent homemade gift for family, athletes, elders, cooks, and gardeners alike.

Enjoy!

CROCK POT GINGER OIL NEWSLETTER

xo

Ananda