Plant & Crystal Magic 9: Golden Poppy & Rainbow Fluorite
The wildflowers are in perfect bloom all over our county. It’s an exciting time of year for herbalists and nature lovers. It’s also an intense moment in time, socially speaking. With all the news of violence and unrest permeating the news, it is easy to begin to feel agitated and overwhelmed, without consciously knowing the source. Whatever your level of engagement with the political and social realities of our time, we are an interconnected whole, and pervasive violence has an affect on all of our nervous systems. In light of that, it can be helpful to connect with the calming earth medicine that surround us. This month, we will explore the calming and balancing magic of California Golden Poppy and Rainbow Fluorite.
Golden Poppy
Many herbalists and folk medicine makers like to say that the medicine you most need has a way of growing right near you. Conversely, paying attention to what grows right near your home may attune you to suggestions from our Mother Earth for living in better health and balance. For those of you who live here in the Bay Area, and especially in West Marin, it is hard to miss the bright explosion of orange poppies. These are Eschscholzia Californica, or Golden Poppy, the gentle cousins of the more infamous opium poppy, Papaver Somniferum.
Golden Poppies are annuals that can be found wild and easily encouraged to grow in home gardens by sprinkling seeds on the ground in Fall. Without much attention, after Winter rains, they will burst forth in Springtime, and continue to flower until the Summer sun becomes too hot for them. They are native to our area, and the official California state flower. It is illegal to pick them in the wild or on other people’s property without permission. Most people think this is because they are the state flower, but the law against harvesting actually can be applied to any flower or plant. Be aware of it, because getting caught could mean a $1000, and even possible jail time. It seems outrageous, but it’s something to keep in mind. Plant preservation is listed as a reason. State forests require a permit for foraging. National forests allow for small amounts of harvesting for edibles. Wilderness and private property is prohibited. Roadside harvesting is never a good idea, as these plants have absorbed significant pollution.
Golden Poppies have many medicinal applications. They are cooling, have a mildly sweet and bitter taste, and act in a manner that is nervine, sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, soporific, anti-spasmodic, and anodyne. Their primary uses are calming the nervous system, relaxing the skeletal-muscular system, inducing restful sleep without difficulty waking the following morning, reducing stress and anxiety, and acting as a mild sedative, gentle enough for children who struggle with sleeplessness or hyperactivity. They can also help with pain, but not as dramatically as the Papaver Somniferum species, from which many of our pain medications are made or replicated. Golden Poppies will also not get you high or create problems with addiction, though the body can develop a similar tolerance over time that requires increasing dosage or taking a break, when used long term. For most people, they are a gentle aid for stress, insomnia, and anxiety, or nervous agitation. Other possible uses include help with depression, especially when combined with other herbs, bladder and liver problems, bed wetting in children, and nerve pain. The Chumash used Golden Poppy pods as a poultice to stop breast milk production, and as a root decoction for toothache or flower infusion to kill lice. Note: the root seems to act differently than the flowers and leaves, and may contain natural latex, so it is wise to use with caution, especially if allergies to latex are present. To get the full nervine effect, consider combining with Valerian or Passionflower. A higher dose will also yield more of the relaxing, and sleep inducing effects. A lower dose will bring out the anxiolytic effects more, meaning it will reduce anxiety.
There are some contraindications to be aware of with Golden Poppy. Because it can slow down the central nervous system it is not a good idea to combine it with anesthesia and medications, especially during or after surgery. It’s wise to stop using this herb two weeks before a surgery. Because it can induce sleep and relaxation, it is best not to take before driving or operating machinery, especially if you are sensitive to its effects. Poppy can absorb heavy metals, so be careful to harvest it in a clean place, and not too close to a road. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are also a question, as with many herbs, and since it may have an effect on breast milk, it is probably best avoided at this time.
In general, however, Golden Poppy is a gentle and helpful flower for anyone who is overwhelmed with stress, anxious, agitated, or sleeping poorly. Most sources consider it safe to take as a tincture in alcohol or glycerin, or as a tea, and it is a common ingredient in tinctures for sleep and stress reduction. As a tea, it can be bitter, but during the Spring season the flowers have a more mildly sweet flavor, and with a little honey, lavender, or mint, it can be very pleasant. Later in the Summer is when the bitterness comes on a bit more strong.
Ways of working with Golden Poppy:
• Make a tea by boiling water and removing from heat, then adding the flowers and letting them infuse for 20 minutes, covered. This is best with fresh flowers. Leaves and stems are also fine. Poppies can be dried, but they disintegrate in light and need to be stored in a dark glass container. Drinking the tea 3 times a day can have a good medicinal effect.
• Your infusion can also be used in an herbal bath to calm the nervous system and help with restful sleep.
• Make a tincture in 50% alcohol. For fresh herbs the ratio is 1:2, flower to alcohol, for dried it is 1:5. Take 30-60 drops 4 times a day for anxiety or other issues.
• For children or those avoiding alcohol, the fresh flower, leaf and stem can be made into a glycerite. The ratio is 1:2, herb to 50% glycerin.
Rainbow Fluorite
The term fluorescence comes from the calcium fluoride crystal known as Fluorite. When held in ultra violet light, Fluorite glows. I hear that in some cases, this effect is activated by the warmth of your hand, but I haven’t seen that yet. The first time I saw Rainbow Fluorite, it was in a beam of light in a dimly lit room. It literally shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow, a light prism in solid form. I felt like I was in a dream or had stepped into the Faerie realm, but it was there for anyone to see. I’m not sure if there is a more clear way for a stone to signal that it is a beacon for magic and the uplifting of mind, heart, and soul. Even in regular daylight, when Rainbow Fluorite presents itself in bands of primarily green and purple color, the sight of it is grounding and enchanting at once.
Fluorite, in general, has a calming, clearing, and protective nature that can aid in mental and emotional clarity. My three year old son, after a moment of frustration or tantrum, will go find a particular green Fluorite stone and put it on his navel to take all of the bad thoughts and feelings out. Children have an innate wisdom, and it’s good to pay attention to their instincts. For anyone dealing with stress, mental overwhelm, or negative intrusions to the psyche, Rainbow Fluorite is an excellent ally. Rainbow Fluorite brings deep psychic cleansing to one’s energy centers, uplifting the soul and clearing the mind of confusion. It can transmute negative energies into positive ones, and enhance psychic ability and clear decision making. When our minds and hearts are mired in worry, our intuition can become blocked, perpetuating a cycle of confusion, poor decision making, and negative outcomes, with the stress and vulnerability to negative influence that follows. Rainbow Fluorite shines its rainbow light on this inner storm, rebalancing all the energy centers, repairing the auric field, removing negative attachments, and connecting mind to heart to soul. It is at once grounding and uplifting, and can help people who are energetically sensitive or who have been through emotional and psychic abuse to think and feel like themselves again, shedding the lingering effects of psychic attacks. Rainbow Fluorite is the most powerful of the Fluorite stones for auric cleansing and repair. Because of this action, it will also need regular cleansing in water, and ideally also in sunlight or moonlight.
Nicknamed The Genius Stone, Rainbow Fluorite can increase creativity, mental clarity, psychic perception, and confidence. It is a perfect stone for inner Spring cleaning, especially for those who feel stuck in confusion and negativity, drifting without clear direction in life, or who are recovering from various forms of violence. It will help to order and rebalance the discordant energies within, while removing what does not belong. It can aid in harmonizing the use of both hemispheres of the brain, improving our capacity to dream, use logic to its best effect, and with both aspects to manifest our true purpose and and path with more harmony and less anxiety. Rainbow Fluorite will encourage you to confidently choose what you will allow entrance into your inner world and help you to see with more clarity in to the brightness of possibility.
Suggestion for working with Golden Poppy and Rainbow Fluorite together:
1. Prepare an infusion of Golden Poppy. Perhaps consider adding other Spring flowers that can add to the calming, cleansing effect, like Dandelion and Lavender, for example. (make sure they are appropriate for consuming and not sprayed) My son and I call this collection of available wildflowers “Pocket Full of Flowers Tea”
2. Pour a large cup to drink, adding the tincture form if needed, and pour the rest into a ritual bath before bed.
3. Bring your Rainbow Fluorite into the bath and place it on your throat. Allow it to clear all past abuses, stress and negative influences, rebalancing your center of power and self esteem. Bring it to your heart to restore balance and emotional calm. When you drain the water, actively see or intend that all the energies released go with it.
4. Plant flowers in your dreams, by visualizing Spring wildflowers as you drift off. Sleep well.
May you move through this season with ease.
Ometeotl
-This blog was written by Melusina Gomez, originally for publication with the eleventh house.