The La'au Po

The dry and Tree Tear-filled skies continue.

Light clouds streak the sky

The Wild Hucklerries and Wild Blueberries are coming plump. Delicious

Yesterday while I drove into town for errands I began to chant E HO MAI. I needed help breathing, and knew there were answers La'au (the Plants) might have for me. No sooner had I finished when I spotted a stand of the brilliant herb/weed.

Most of the Fireweed in our area is long past bloom, the stalks turned to fluff. But there they were! 

"Thank you!" I said. I was excited and so grateful. I didn't have my gathering tools: scissors, gloves, jar. I need to carry them with me in the car all the time now. But the spotting gave me encouragement. Yesterday was La'au Pau, the last of the moons good for gathering medicinal herbs, plants. It wouldn't be a lot to go into town, do the shopping and errands to the post office and then go home for my gathering tools. And as well, the time between errands and gathering la'au would allow me to adjust my attitude and tune my heart and ears to listening for the Fireweed's response.*

My intuition is guiding me in this gathering. No where could I find (on the Internet) any protocol or usages tuned to applying Fireweed as a medicine for the effects of Tall Trees raging in fire. But. Fireweed is the first on the scene after stands of forest have burned. Alight with their brilliance these tall stalks with purple flowers fill the land when the ash has settled. It is that natural sequence that feeds my gathering.

Heeding the practices of the Honorable Harvest:

1. I Introduced myself.

2. I stated my intention,

3. I asked for permission to gather Fireweed.

4. I listened for their answer.

5. I heard them answer.

6. I clarified which parts I should gather.

7. I clarified how many I could gather.

8. I said, "Thank you."

9. I gathered.

10. I said, "Thank you."

A small jar of Fireweed flowers and stalk are in the last of the Vodka I bought for making tinctures. The rest of the stalk is hanging under the eaves of our Au Hale. In 6 weeks I will have a tincture of Fireweed. 

While I was finishing up my shopping in town, before I stopped to gather Fireweed I bumped into a friend. She asked, "How are you?"

I told her, "I'm having a hard time breathing."

She said, "My eyes are burning."

I said looking into the sky, "It's the Tree Tears. The forests are burning." 

She said, "IS THAT what this is! I'm so sorry you're suffering."

I said, "It's nothing compared to what they're experiencing."

She said, "Thank you for the consciousness."

On a La'au moon it was good to connect with the grief that I feel. Not so much so I wallow in it, but, so I can remember to gather the practices left behind ... on the way to where we are now. Listen to what Robin Wall Kimmerer has to say (click to link) about this. The prophecy of the Seventh Fire.