Calendula Flowers & the Sun

The calendula seedlings I purchased at ReUnity Resources on April 30th are blooming abundantly! It makes such a difference to purchase vital, organic plants, especially here in the high desert, where conditions can be challenging. We also want to be supporting local and small businesses as much as possible. I also look for companies/organizations that are not selling items that pollute, destroy bee colonies and have integrity, even in their personal lives. Santa Fe is such a small community that its super easy to know what's going on, for example, if a business owner is cheating on his wife, then I won't support that business.

The alchemical path teaches us to look beyond, to observe and dive into a deeper understanding of essence, the vibration of a plant, object, human being. We are beckoned to "feel" into meaning, perceive patterns and symbols....beyond the thinking mind.

In plants we observe the color & shape, as well as where it grows, to determine its healing attributes. As you can see, calendula (Calendula officinalis) has an affinity with the sun, notice the circular bright orange flowers with petals that radiate outward. I am also observing how they look very lion-like, especially in the photo below.

The sun, related to elemental FIRE, home of our beating heart and the constant drum beat within, home of passion, warmth, and direct knowing. Home of the Child, youthful abundant energy, and motivation. The spirit medicine of Lion dwells here, providing strength and courage.

As the center of our solar system, plants associated with the sun re-mind us of who we are at a core level, empowering a strong sense of self and shining bright where clouds may have obscured lightness of being.

Sunny calendulas nourish on so many levels, specifically where there is a loss of vitality and wounding. This is why calendula is so wonderful for dry skin and used in salve making. The youthfullness of their vibrant appearance calls to our inner child to come out and play, have fun in the sun and be free.

Working with plants ground and bring us into the sacred moment. By mimicking and being in harmony with nature, we then flow in the current of the cosmos.

Related posts: Doctrine of Signatures & The Principal of Correspondence

Photos & words ©Roxana Villa. alchemical image: The alchemist who has achieved illumination, from Andrea de Pascalis, Alchemy: The Golden Art. The Secrets of the Oldest Enigma

The Doctrine of Signatures

I've been infusing calendula flowers at the perfumery. Each time I work with these sweet flowers I am reminded of their star signature, the celestial imprint that they are encoded with.

Plants retain and transfer the vitality of the Earth to us, facilitating an upgrade to where it is most needed. Calendula flowers have an affinity to the sun, as we can witness by their Doctrine of Signatures, which acts as a mode of communication without words, where the plant shows us through its shape & color what it's star signature is.

In a recent review of the Green Knight fragrance, a couple internet trolls, hiding behind their fake names, attacked the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures. The trolls remarked that the Doctrine of Signatures isn't real, not even a little bit and that its a bunch of yogababble.

We each have the lenses we use to perceive the world around us. The ancients, throughout all traditions, observed plants to understand the non-linear language being communicated, it is a very right brain mode of perception, where we observe patterns and archetypes.

For individuals who have become very "land locked" within the left brain, functioning in a narrow, mechanistic paradigm, these concepts are completely out of their sphere of perception. Instead of opening themselves up to new ideas, they automatically move into their reptilian brain and attack.

As I contemplated what was occurring, it became clear that this challenge was a manifestation of the tale of The Green Knight, playing out in the comments of the review. When we bravely share ideas, concepts and our creativity in the world it can sometimes feel like we are the Green Knight offering our axe to others to cut off our head. What they don't realize is, in that act of cutting of my/our heads, they have accepted the challenge of having their heads cut off.

As above, so below / As within, so without

Thank you to Eli, one of my students in Spain, who posted this little nugget in the comments of an instagram post where I mentioned this challenge.

"In the human spirit as in the universe there is nothing above or below, everything demands with equal right a common center that manifests its secret existence through the harmonic relationship of all the parts with respect to it. All disputes of the ancients and of the moderns, up to the most recent times, are born from the separation of what she has produced unitarily in her nature. We know quite well that in singular human natures, the predominance of any faculty or capacity is habitually imposed and that a unilateral way of representing things is necessarily generated from it, since man knows the world only through himself and, therefore, naively. presumption, he believes that the world is built according to him and his wishes." 

- Goethe

How to Make a Plant Infusion

A plant infused oil, called an infusion, is a process used to extract properties from a plant matter which is sometimes referred to as our Prima materia. In plant fragrance making and aromatherapy we use infusions for salves, solid perfume and oil bases.

First thing to consider is your end purpose, what is the intention of your herbal oil? Is it scent, therapeutics, flavor, magic, color? If you are not quite sure of an intention and just want to experiment, than let yourself be guided by the plant that presents itself to you, it may be in a dream, from your morning pages or perhaps witnessing a plant waving to you.

For making infusions you can use either fresh or dried material. If fresh make sure your material is completely free of moisture by placing the plant matter on or between paper towels, tying up bundles and hanging them upside down from a rafter or by laying them out on a screen. Depending on the climate where you live, allow the plant matter to wilt for approximately 5-8 hours or more,

If using plant matter that is already dried double your quantity.

PLANT INFUSED OIL

There are just two basic ingredients to creating an infusion: plants + carrier oil. It is important to consider your end result when selecting the carrier oil. For example if its for flavor than an organic extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil well be perfect. For a perfume, that option may not be the best because of the scent, thus I would suggest jojoba oil, which is actually a wax and does not go rancid.

Other options:
A 'preservative' for your infusion such as benzoin or Vitamin E Oil

Supplies:
Glass jar with airtight lid or canning jar
Muslim clothe
White wine or a high proof alcohol

Directions:

Step 1: If using leaves make sure to remove wood and hard stems, unless you want those as part of the infusion. With flowers use the 'petals', not the inner regions such as calyx. In the photo below, after drying my sage I removed the leaves from the stems.

I don't worry too much about follow a specific formula, I am more concerned with documenting what I am doing so that when I go to make it again I can either follow exactly what I did or make adjustments depending on past results.

Here is a basic formula if you want guidelines:
15 gm dried herbs or 30 gm fresh herb
1 cup oil

Step 2: Place your plant matter in a glass jar, then pour oil over them, taking care that all of your plant material is covered. Cap with a tightly fitting lid. To help breakdown your plant material add 1 tablespoon of white wine or a high proof alcohol.

Step 3: Leave the jar in the sun, some individuals move the jar in the evening to warm spot. I like to leave mine in the window to observe the night energies which include stars and moon. The length of the process varies with each material, check in on it after for 2 weeks to see if it is to your liking.

Step 4: Remove the top and strain the oil. If you feel you would like it stronger then repeat the process using your infusion as the oil.

If you used a canning jar, remove the top, pop out the inner metal circle, layer the top of the jar with muslin, attach the outer screw rim of your the lid and strain your oil.

There are many other tricks of the trade and ways of working, for example you could plan your infusions according to astrology, if using flowers replacing them every few days is the best way to get a strong scent. The main thing is to do it and learn each time.