Mountain Medicine: Making a Healing Salve with wild plants (and more)
Y'all. The cosmos has been doing a number on me. This full moon lunar eclipse, on the 4th of July no less, was in Capricorn. Capricorn and it's ruling planet, Saturn, govern structure—including our bones. And low and behold, I broke my toe under the light of that full moon.
Breaking a toe always sucks. But this time it was especially disappointing: I look forward to one magical week in the mountains all year. This is a week when I hike for miles everyday, commune with the animals and nature spirits, make my plant medicines, and soak up the healing power of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. And I broke my toe on only my second night. 😞
And, even though I have a pretty epic natural first aid kit, full of homemade remedies of herbs and oils, I’d left everything at home this week. Oops.
A Wildly Healing Oil
Given that I came up here in part to work with plant medicine, I decided to view my broken toe as an opportunity to practice what I preach and see how well I could treat myself with mountain remedies.
The toe in question is my fourth toe, so I’ve been able to hobble around slowly. The morning after my injury, I buddy taped my toe and set to the trails for some plants I know are in season and can help:
Bluebell—similar to comfrey in its ability to mend bones, but a bit milder
Arnica—you've probably used the homeopathic remedies, and the fresh flowers and leaves can be infused into healing oils
Yarrow—one of my favorite protector plants, wonderful for wound healing
Goldenrod—for inflammation, topically, it’s similar to arnica
Aspen—the bark has pain relieving properties, so I collected only fallen twigs
I had a bit of sunflower oil on hand, so I decided to do a quick oil infusion using a double boiler method. I tore apart the flowers, leaves, and twigs by hand and added them to the oil, holding the intention of healing and gratitude for the ability to work in partnership with nature to make medicine. I then gently infused the oil for a couple hours. The result was the most divine smelling brew, full of healing goodness.*
*Side note … the infused oil smelled sooo good that I’m now tincturing aspen twigs for use in my perfumes :)
To tend to internal support for healing, I've gathered fresh dandelion leaves, horsetail, and wild parsley—all full of bone-building minerals! The dandelion and parsley go into dinner each evening, while I simply suck the liquid out of the fresh horsetail.
I've been gently massaging the oil into my toe for a few days now, and keeping up with my wild greens, and I’m happy to say that the swelling has gone down significantly.
Breaking a toe and limiting my hikes really sucks. But I'm grateful to be surrounded with nature's medicine and to work in partnership with the spirits as I heal. And lucky for you, I've made more than enough oil. When I'm back home, I'll turn what I have into some healing salves to share :)
UPDATE This beautiful oil sold out quickly…but I generally have seasonal versions available in the apothecary :)
Wildcrafted Smoke Bundles
Despite the broken toe, I did manage to commune with the plants this year. I hobbled around and gathered some of my favorite botanical friends to create more flower essences and just a few plant bundles for smoke clearing.
When I wildcraft, I only use plants that I have developed a relationship with over the years, and I gather and make everything in sacred ceremony. I feel that the health of the forest always comes first, so I only take what is offered and do healing ceremonies for the land in return.
This year, I was guided to create three types of bundles:
Cleanse & Protect—This bundle is perfect for space clearing and protection, similar to traditional sage bundles. It contains protective, cleansing, and sacred plants including three artemisias, goldenrod, yarrow, golden aster, sulfur buckwheat, kinnikinnick, and pussy toes.
Passion—A bundle to clear blocks and carry your wishes to spirit, this contains a trio of artemisias, fireweed, fairy trumpet, pussy toes, harebell, bedstraw, and wild geranium.
Dreams—A bundle to encourage visionary dreams and protection at night, this contains the trio of artemisias, elephant head flower, mountain valerian, yarrow, northern bedstraw, pussy toes, and kinnikinnick.