Calendula & Marigold: Discovering the Physical and Spiritual Benefits of These Healing Blooms10/27/2024 Calendula In Europe Calendula had been called Marigold for thousands of years, and then when the Spanish brought Marigold seeds that they had taken from the Aztecs, Calendula started being referred to as Pot-Marigold. The name Marigold itself, evolved due to its sacred connection to the Virgin Mary- Mary’s gold, however in Latin the name would translate to bitter or rebellious gold- precious metal. Precious, she is indeed! While the two plants are both in the Daisy family( Asteraceae) and do have some similarities, they have different medicinal as well as spiritual properties. Calendula Calendula Officinalis~Pot Marigold Hailing from Central Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, Iran, her name in Latin derives from the word Calendae~meaning first day of the month, or even farther broken down Calea~meaning warmth, flower heat. Her blooms are bright yellow to orange with a definitive center, where long petals stretch out from, she is similar in appearance to the daisy flower in that way. Calendula blooms cyclically every month( all year, in warmer climates) ; she also opens up in the morning sun and closes when the sun fades from the sky. The Pot-Marigolds’ deep, rich color has been used for dying fabrics, and coloring foods in place of Saffron. Her flowers are edible and nutritious, and known to encourage healthy eyesight. An amazing ally for the skin, she is a wound healer and soother. This is mild medicine that can be used for children, even babies. She can stimulate the uterus when taken internally though, so she is not indicated for use during pregnancy. The energetic qualities of this herb are spicy, bitter, neutral-cooling, the cooling part is unusual since her planetary influence is that of the sun, her element fire. Calendulas Medicinal properties give her the ability to help with: ~Topically~ rashes fungal infections burns prevention of scars diaper rash sunburn dry, cracked skin sores cuts bruises herpes shingles ~Internally~candida infections cervical irritation delayed and irregular menstruation liver issues healing of old inflammation ulcers gastritis colds and flu lymphatic congestion ~Spiritually, Calendula can be a beautiful ally as well. Working with her can be helpful when you need: a boost of brightness in your life clarity to listen to hear a message, not just to listen to respond better communication a renewed sense of how you deal with the world around you ease when healing and growing to work on your warmth and receptivity I personally like to work with Calendula during Beltane and Samhain. Before the Marigold that we know as Marigold today came to Europe, the ancient Druids and Pagans had never seen today's Marigold. I find that Calendula has strong protective qualities. She can allow us to be a great communicator so she facilitates our ability to reach out to the unseen( but felt) realms as well as teaching us to listen. She creates a space for us to be able to show reverence for those we have lost with a sense of warmth and ease. She closes her petals in the evening and catches the nighttime dew, and when she opens up again in the morning she weeps, I see this as a message that in order to experience the light and warmth of the sun, we must let go of what we hold onto in the darkness Marigold Tagetes Erecta~Cempoalxóchitl(sempa-soo-cheel)
Aztec Marigold is sometimes called African Marigold, but these plants are Native to Mexico and Guatemala, where they grow in the wild. The Ancient Meso-American civilizations like the Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs revered the Marigold as medicine and as a sacred plant. Like Calendula she can be used to dye fabrics and foods and is edible. In modern Mexico she is integral to their Day of the Dead celebrations. Her pungent aroma guides the spirits of the dearly beloved back to the earthly realm to visit, and her bright orange and yellow colors invoke a connection to the sun; the bearer of warmth and of life. Marigolds keep pests, both above and below ground, at bay-interestingly this could apply to both physical pests and spirits that mean harm. The energetic qualities of Tagetes are pungent, bitter, astringent with planetary influences from the Sun and the sign of Leo. Cempoalxótchitl can be called upon medicinally for a variety of conditions:
The oils of this plant are also helpful to:
Spiritually speaking, the Marigold( Tagetes) is beautiful to work with for support in the following ways:
This post was written by Debra Romano, a Herbs Love And Yoga Apprentice.
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El Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead
The Day of The Dead is a celebration with ties to Meso-American Culture( Aztec, Mayan, Toltec....)with hints of European and Spanish Culture blended with Christianity. Widely celebrated in Mexico, it is a holiday to remember, honor, and welcome home passed loved ones and Ancestors. Día de los Muertos also falls at the same time of the year as Halloween and Samhain. Coinciding with the thinning of the veil, and the ending of Summer, the Day of the Dead is celebrated between the end of October(27th) and the first week in November. Most notably November 1st. Different families may have their own number of days that they celebrate. The Day of the Dead is a happy and joyful time and the excitement builds as the day the ancestors and loved ones return to visit draws near. Like Samhain, this holiday calls its celebrators to create an Altar to honor and welcome the dearly departed. An Altar for El Día de los Muertos is sometimes called the Ofrenda( offering). The space that will be used for the Altar will be cleaned l lovingly, and Copal or other sacred cleansing herbs may be burned to cleanse the space and the offerings. Placing a cloth down is also common practice, before setting up:
During El Día de Los Muertos there are parades and fiestas, music and dancing, children dress up, adults dress up too as Calaveras and Calaveras Catrinas( caricatured,fanciful skeletons, that are truly beautiful). Food plays a big role in the Day of the Dead.
Honoring Samhain: Creating an Altar, Crafting a Ritual Oil, and Celebrating the Spirit of the Season10/27/2024 Cultures steeped in ancient traditions have long celebrated the time between the Autumn harvest and the anticipation of the upcoming Winter with celebrations centered around honoring the lives of our ancestors and loved ones who have departed from this earthly realm. In modern America, Halloween has become the focus of our October festivities, a lot of which have their roots deep in these historical practices. Samhain (Gaelic* pronounced Sow-en) is the most sacred of the Pagan holidays. Although widely celebrated on October 31st -just like Halloween-The Festival of Fire was traditionally held over multiple days. The Witches New Year honors the halfway point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. The Druids and Ancient Celtic civilizations revered this first dark turn of the Wheel of the Year as the time where the veil between the spiritual and physical worlds was the thinnest. These festivals had been held to connect with their ancestors and the spirits of their lost loved ones, with gratitude for their sacrifice and wisdom as well as prayer and asking for their continued protection. The winter has long been associated with mortality, and as such the time to ask for the assistance of those who came before them was of the essence. There is something cozy and communal about sitting around a fall bonfire, perhaps for some of us this feeling comes from our souls remembering how the bonfire was the focal point of Samhain in the time of the Druids and Celts. Bonfires were lit on hilltops to ward off evil spirits and plead with the sun to stay, in villages strewn across Ancient Europe in countless Tribal Chiefdoms. This was not just in Ireland, Scotland and Britain, as many believe. They would not have referred to themselves as Celts, as it was a name given to them by the Greeks sometime around 540 B.C, who referred to them as Keltoi-meaning barbarians! The people in these villages would extinguish their homes' hearths and take some embers of the sacred bonfire to relight them, in the belief that this newly lit hearth of the sacred fire would bring them protection, warmth, and prosperity for the new year ahead. Offerings of livestock bones were placed in the fire hence the name Bon-Fire. Eventually, as time went on and Christianity spread throughout the world, these villages that were expansive all throughout Europe dwindled, and people of their lineage predominantly settled in what is now Ireland and Northwestern Europe. Christian churches vilified Pagan practices, especially Samhain. Which led to the creation of All Saints Day on November first, and All Souls Day on November second. Though both of these newer holidays are centered around the same theme, the afterlife and the bond between the living and the heavenly. As the Irish came to America during the potato famine, they brought so many of their Ancestral practices with them, passed down through generations. Much like a game of telephone though, the message has become diluted and missing much of its original meaning. -Today, Jack O’ Lanterns are carved in countless homes in America. Originating from the hollowing out of turnips and carving faces into them, to bring light into darkness while scaring away evil spirits. They were used as lanterns to take home the embers of the bonfire. As the bonfires of Samhain started disappearing across Europe, families would still carve turnips to keep outside of their homes for protection and as people immigrated to the New World they found that pumpkins were much easier to carve.
The Samhain Altar The Altar you create for Samhain is a sacred place dedicated to the honoring of your loved ones who have left this Earthly realm and the ancestors who came before you. The Altar represents, in big part, your own connection to the spiritual world. Magic is an expression of the individual, so while there are certain aspects that you would want to include, you’ll want to use your creative freedom to make it your own.
The entire process of setting up your Altar is one of reflection and oneness. The burning of incense, and cleansing herbs and resins such as Sage, Mugwort, Copal, and Santo Palo to ready your space and altar components is part of the practice. Samhain oil can also be used for anointing our Altars. Placing your chosen items with intention and reverence and mindfully honoring the spirit world reminds us that we are loved, protected and evermore connected. Taking our time to lovingly acknowledge this connection is a beautiful experience. This Altar is a place you can pray, give thanks and communicate(talk with your dead) Samhain oil is a blend of herbs, and essential oils placed into a carrier oil. Making this sacred tool is another lovely way to feel wholly a part of this holiday. You can work with it to anoint your Altar, your tools, Altar items and offerings,as well as your self. Making a Samhain Oil  Some other things we can do for the Witches New Year
This post was written by Debra Romano, an apprentice at Herbs Love And Yoga  Autumn is fully underway, and plants stop flowering and growing upward as they begin to send all of their energy back down into their roots. This is why we want to harvest the roots of the plants that provide health benefits from their less visible source at this time of the year. This is when their medicinal and spiritual offerings will be at their peak. While the roots of the Chicory plant are not the only parts that offer us her many benefits, we will concentrate on them for today. Chicory is a great example of a plant whose roots we want to harvest because her roots have many benefits for our health. Closely related to her more well known cousin, Dandelion, she has a slew of her own very distinctive offerings. The most notable being a very high Inulin content. Inulin is a prebiotic fiber and here is what that can do for us:
Working with Chicory to improve or maintain your physical well being can also benefit us spiritually, as she carries with her her own beautiful essence. Chicory imbues us with strong determination, perseverance and feelings of being worthy. This isn’t surprising, as she is found frequently on roadsides and at the edges of parking lots and is mostly overlooked. When working with Chicory you may find that you have increased intuition, as she helps to heal your gut, she presents the opportunity for us to follow our “ gut feelings”. She will simultaneously help to ground us and leave us feeling more in the present. The flowers of Chicory have their own set of spiritual benefits such as unconditional self love, but the roots give us a great start towards that journey. Harvesting Roots and Seeds The Roots of the Chicory plant can go very deep into the ground, these are called taproots. Taproots go so deep so that they protect the plant from drought, and to seek out the nutrients in our soil. This also means that it’s not easy to harvest, if you want to get a nice big piece of Chicory root. I wanted to be able to have my Chicory come back next year, so I did not dig too deeply or take too much of the root. With any kind of harvesting, it’s always better to take one -third or less of what you’re harvesting so that you can ensure that the plant can return in the spring to support our pollinators and to offer their gifts to us once again.  (Chicory is to the right and Dandelion is to the left) I also harvested some Dandelion, which has a taproot as well, so that I could create a wonderful coffee alternative that would be loaded with the benefits of these two plant wonders. A recipe for making this delicious brew is to follow, but first let’s talk about seed collecting. Just like we want to harvest roots for medicine in the fall, the time to collect seeds to plant in the spring is also upon us. It is best to wait until the chosen plant is pretty dried up so that the seeds are dry and won't grow mold over the winter. Since I had been out by the Chicory, I had noticed that there were quite a few brown stiff stalks that were perfectly ready for harvesting seeds. The seeds of plants are found either in the dried up flower or seed pod, in fruiting plants you’d find them in the fruit ( or vegetable). You can take the whole brown and dried up flower head or pod off and collect the seeds from them or you can harvest by pulling the seeds straight out of the flower or pod. I prefer to snip the flowers and pods off and collect them in a place where I won’t lose too many, so I do it inside over a paper towel. As with any other type of harvest, you also don’t want to take all of the seeds. Leave some so that they can fall naturally into the earth and grow in the place that their life began. It’s amazing to consider that within each seed is the DNA for a whole new life!! Storing seeds is best done in an envelope, storing in plastic bags may cause the seeds to grow mold. ( air is essential to life-let the seeds breath!!) Store your harvest in a cool, dry place and mark your envelopes, so that in the spring you can plant accordingly.
Chicelion BrewTry this amazing roasted chicory and dandelion root coffee substitute- recipe below!  This post was written by Debra Romano, an apprentice at Herbs Love And Yoga.
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Hi, I'm AlyssaMindfulness, yoga, and herbal medicine have been fundamental to my own journey in life. I hope to share my experiences and perspectives in order to inspire and connect with others. Archives
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