It is a cool weekend here in Wisconsin, made to feel cooler because we had hot weather not much more than a week ago. We were a bit spoiled when the temperatures drop to a more seasonal level. Many of the students were shivering in their coats today.
In the morning my good friend and one of my teaching partners taught part one of her drum making classes. Always popular, people get to create and connect with a very spiritual tool. The drum was considered to be so powerful that many American Indian tribes did not allow women to play them. It was the belief that women were already so powerful that it would be dangerous to add the power of the drum to that energy. Thank goodness this has changed because I love to raise energy with a drum circle and many of my drumming friends are HoChunk (Winnebago) ladies who really know how to "rock the house" with their drumming energy.
In the afternoon I took the students on a wild medicinal plant walk and then we ended up in the kitchen preparing our herbs. It is another popular class that some take just as a day class instead of staying for the whole weekend and doing the other activities. It's cheaper to do this too.
As we were walking I noticed that one of the students refused to gather any herbs. This is fine, some people like to go back and meditate over the plants, others are uncomfortable about a certain plant, others just came along out of curiosity, but they really came for another weekend class. I do not want to push anyone into doing something they do not feel like doing.
When we came across a stand of violets, I was quite happy. Violets are a wonderful medicinal and high in Vitamin C. Adding the flowers and leaves to a spring salad can make a pretty and nutritious meal. We gathered some up to take back to make a violet cough syrup. One can either take the long way of adding violet flowers to honey, then letting it sit for 2 months to infuse the lovely color and healing directly into the honey. Or one can put the violets into water, let this sit on a sunny window sill for three or four days (until the violets all float in a line at the surface of the water), then strain the flowers out and mix the remaining water with double the amount of honey to be used right away. Either of these syrups makes a gentle cough syrup that actually works better on children than over the counter DM does. Studies on DM prove that it is not only unsafe for children but simply doesn't work. Most people believe this is true for adults as well, but there are no studies to prove it one way or the other.
Well, finally the student decided to speak up. She told me that she refused to gather any plants because it was not the full moon and EVERYONE knows you only harvest during the full moon. While she came off a bit angry, I understand that she had been taught something and to see others going against her teachings seemed very wrong to her. I told her if that was what she had been taught, she did not need to gather any herbs. Some of the other students looked around at each other like perhaps they should not be gathering either. It was time to put an idea to thought.
I asked everyone to come to the idea that we are only to gather during the full moon, then I asked them to tell why we followed that rule. The one student said because that is the time of the month that plants show their best side. Hmmm, an interesting idea. Why else? Because witches of old only harvested on the full moon. Okay, that I understand...Why would witches only harvest on the full moon? Another woman spoke up; "Because people use to be persecuted for harvesting medicines. Witches of old often had to hide to gather their plants. Still they had to see the plants to harvest them so they went out during the full moon." Well, that idea makes sense. Then why would we do this now? "Because the plants are at their highest energy at the full moon," the student answered. Okay, if this were true, then that would be a very good argument for only harvesting on the full moon. So, if we wait until the full moon and come back to harvest these violets, what will we find? "Nothing," a wise student answered. "These violets are fleeting and there will be no flowers on them by the full moon." That is a true answer. If we were to wait until the full moon we would miss out on gathering this wonderful wild edible and medicinal. So, does that mean we shouldn't use violets unless they bloom on a full moon? Most of the students did not think this was a good idea.
We each have to make our own way in the world. If following the moon or following a calendar to harvest plants is the way one person's path takes them, this is perfectly fine. While I am trying to not sound like I am cutting that way of thinking down, I chose to instead of asking the moon when to harvest the violets, I ask the violets themselves. For me, the violet presents itself when it is ready to be harvested, it didn't read the latest spiritual book on the shelf, it doesn't consult the calendar. It comes when it is warm enough, when the ground is soft enough, when the air is still enough, and when the rain gives it just the right amount of moisture to send forth its flower in hopes of breeding.
I, myself, would LOVE it if all plants came into harvest time on the full moon. It would make my life sooo much easier. Instead of having to go out into the wilderness or garden everyday, instead of having to join into communication with a being that is so different than I am, all I had to do was look at the calendar to see when the moon would be full. Then and only on that day, would I have to go out into the wilderness and garden. One day out of every 28 days! For a wildcrafter, that would be the epitome of easy. More than likely this is where this man made rule came from. So that a teacher didn't have to work as hard, they only took the students out once every 28 days. Simple and easy, one could literally write down a yearly schedule for gathering plants. Unfortunately, those of us who have worked with plants for a very long time learn this is not so. Plants present themselves when THEY are ready, not for our convience. Human created rules means very little to them.
I am afraid that no matter how gentle you try to tell someone you don't follow their way of belief, often those people get very angry with you. I'm not saying this woman's way of thinking is wrong, I'm say from what I have learned it would not work. I am not the end all, be all of knowledge. A person must always follow what they believe to be correct. Still, I should be able to say why I believe as I do just as well as this person says why she believes the way she does. Neither of us should have been trying to cut the other's beliefs down. The other students turned both ways over in their minds and began gathering again. Perhaps they will think more about it later and decide that gathering when the full moon is out is the best way. Both ideas were presented so that people can make their own choices.
For me, I listen to the moon for many things, usually anything that has to do with water, such as weather, emotions, and births. A crazy time can become more crazy during a full moon. A storm can become stronger during the full moon. Babies of all kinds of animals seem to like to come into the world when the moon is full. But plants have different rules to live by and if it is dry during the full moon or too hot or too cold, the plant will wait to come later. They will not present until they feel that it is the right time. When it comes to harvesting plants, I ask the plants, not the moon.
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