Saturday, June 27, 2009

plant dream / dream medicine

I dream of plants, often.

Earlier this year, a colleague brought to my attention a rather interesting piece of writing by Michael Pollan which got me musing about poppies and the history of their use as food and medicine, and how they, like so many valuble edible and medicinal plants, have been forgotten, eschewed, disregarded or demonized by the culture at large. What a loss. During this time, which was still a few weeks before the first Spring Ephemerals emerged, I dreamed of the soft new green of May and saw a plant with distinctive lobed leaves which I believed to be Bloodroot. It was not familiar enough to me to be sure, so on waking I looked it up and found that was indeed Bloodroot, which happens to be a member of the Papaveraceae (poppy) family. And, as it happens, I encountered quite a lot of Bloodroot in my ramblings this Spring.

I mention this because I dreamt last night of Spreading Dogbane, a dream which I might not have remembered had I not found myself aimlessly flipping through a field guide over breakfast, presumably looking for the name of a flower I recently introduced to the garden. In this dream a man was explaining to me how he used Spreading Dogbane as a medicine, in minute amounts, over an extended period of time... I was a little surprised to hear this, because this is not a plant to be taken lightly. As I recall it, Matthew Wood's description included the words "you will never be the same again". It is potentially highly poisonous, to be used only in situations which call for powerful transformation, by persons with years and years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom.

So I have to wonder what this plant is doing, showing up in my dreams?

There are couple patches of Spreading Dogbane that I know. One on the river, in a place among those I love best in all the world. Another at the homestead, on a slope near a giant oak tree. Might have to wander out that way today, and see what I find. Or what finds me...

3 comments:

Cosmic Monkey said...

We did wander out that way, and encountered thistles and lady fern. Oh werewolf root, werefore art thou?

JB aka JayBee said...

What did he use this medicine for?

fremenine said...

Well, it's tricky to summarize... Like many plants, Werewolf Root--as Wood named it; it is also called Medicine Lodge Root by the Anishinabe--has a number of different aspects. Its stems and right-angled root suggest divergence, and it can be used to effect a radical change in direction, possibly as a means to avert death, either spiritual or physical. It works on the gall bladder and the kidneys, which are considered in Chinese medicine to be where the life-forces resides. Wood writes of its use in treatment of "high-impact" injuries, sudden blows or attacks. He mentions, also, that it is a medicine which "...addresses problems which arise out of the juxtaposition of the ego and the spirit. ...These are the times when nothing will do except total transformation. One can never return to the past."

Interestingly, I have for quite a long time felt that I've had a sort of intangible illness of the kidneys. And the ego/spirit thing probably goes without saying...

Incidentally, Spreading Dogbane isn't exactly poisonous (I don't think it'd kill you) but after reading the account of his proving on himself, anyone would be wary of messing around with it. I might go hang out with it for a while, get to know it a little better, before making a move. Or maybe I'll just go dig myself a root next time I'm up that way. Nature calls...

And, yes, there are many fine thistles and ferns on that gentle slope, among the grasses and the Werewolf Root. It's quite a lovely spot, especially so in recent years, and one that draws me...