May has its celebrations of course, the month started off with May day and Beltane on the 1st. This are both celebrations focused around the fertility of the month. To celebrate this theme I love to enjoy the generous blossom throughout the month. Not only do I enjoy looking at the beauty of the flowers but I also love to make medicine from them.
On sunny days flower essences are easy and powerful water based medicines to make. Although a lot of people don’t know how flower essences are made, most of us have taken them in the form of Bachs Rescue Remedy at some point or another.Flower essences are pure alchemy. Subtle but powerful, they work on the energetic field of the body to shift behavioral patterns and emotional issues. I use flower essences for worry, tiredness and toddler tantrums to name just a few. Making flower essences isn’t difficult but it does require the right frame of mind and intention in order to make one worth taking. Try focusing in on the plant and its properties while making.
Here is a recipe for a hawthorn flower essence. According to herbalist Anne McIntyre, a hawthorn flower essence works on “the heart chakra, opening the heart and enchancing the expression of love.”
METHOD//
On a sunny day when you have rose, calendula in bloom and lemonbalm and mint growing pour some spring water into a clear glass bowl. Using scissors gently snip the blossoms and herbs into the bowl without touching them. Cover the surface of the bowl with herbs. Remember to set your mind on the flowers and their uses while you do this. Place the bowl with its floating flowers and herbs in a sunny position and let this infuse for 4 hours. Then strain out the herbs fill an amber glass bottle half full with this liquid. Top off the bottle with brandy to preserve it. This essence is called the mother essence and will be used to make stock and dosage bottles. After you have labelled the mother essence its time to make a stock bottle. To do this fill an amber glass bottle half full with spring water and top off the bottle with brandy add in 3 drops of mother essence. Seal with the lid and tap a few times to activate. To make a dosage bottle we repeat a similar process, this time filling an amber glass dropper bottle with ¾ spring water and a ¼ brandy. Add in 3 drops from the stock bottle. Seal with the lid. Label and don’t forget to tap the bottle to combine and activate. Take 3 drops under the tongue morning and night for as long as required.
Another flower based medicine is a tincture-this is where flowers with strong medicinal properties such as hawthorn are extracted into alcohol.
Other ideas for celebrating with flowers could be creating a flower mandala, making a flower crown, holding a womens circle to honour the month of May, making floral syrups to use over the coming weeks of summer and to make cordials and wines from elderflowers and dandelions .