gentian review

        understanding gentian root a basic review.  so here  a basic review...
       in a world created by God everything is God created, plants are living beings they are part of the creation story-song in a specific place. our relationship with plants involves the basic salvation-story of our souls within the creation. the plants and the plant knowledge of people, plants and place is part of the heritage we inherit and move forward. the gentian pictured here is gentian affinis, blue pleated gentian.
     there are many plants of the gentian family and their flowers range from this purple blue flowered variety to pale yellow white. in general it is a plant of high mountain meadows. the use of gentian root and leaves by itself and in bitter formulas is a long tradition.
   
     

                                                 

      gentian works a bitter principle to promote digestion.  gentian is a God created wild plant met in the mountains. God has provided us a healing dialog with plants.  digestion is a bodily process that touches on fire, air, water, earth, each element created by God. digestion  is an ordained by God occurrence in the body for us to live. digestion is taking in. when understanding digestion there is self/not-self, inside/outside. when the body can not extract harmoniously the things it needs to survive from food we need to understand that it is a problem of frontiers and boundaries, inside/outside, self/other.  from that we enter into the auto-immune disorders, inflammation and allergy. the body's ability to recognize self/not-self is compromised.
     traditionally in europe bitter herbal formulas were used before meals as an aperitif. the herbs were preserved in alcohol. gentian root and sometimes leaf was used along with carminative heating herbs in bitter formulas. the dried root as a tea in water is used in the same way. using gentian in this way is meeting the plant face to face where it grows and using the whole plant rather than disecting it in a laboratory or standardizing for specific components.
      understanding and  journey with plants often battles the secular cultural narrative of separation. narrative outside of a compartmentalized world. the cultural narrative  living in a secular, God-less economic zone of the empire the task of the dialectic moving through re-written history is to create through electronic media the new fluid gender generic person to inhabit a purely economic space. there is continuous re-education efforts to fashion people to generic consumers. every effort is made to create a safe environment for the race-less, gender-less participants of perfect consumerism. within the dialectic of modernism tribal-family ties of loyalty to the earth in a specific place must be purged. the question of how to preserve the existence of our people and a future for our children, is not a theory or concept- it is the intricate fabric of life. so when confronting auto-immune processes gone awry it is not only the physical small world body that has been altered but also the eco-systems, the earth household and family that are altered.
      in promoting the dialectic of modernism within the empire new consumer paradise, all kinds of new illnesses arise. because the process of living in a multi-cultural space is often toxic and unsatisfactory within the new consumer paradise. there are continuous efforts to make available boundless supplies of new pharmaceutical drugs available to treat these new illnesses. not only are pharmaceuticals advocated for physical illness, pharmaceuticals are used to alter the emotional heart, the thinking, the mood. yet for every new drug there are unintended consequences. there is no such thing as a drug that works on a particular body system without effecting every other body system. a drug supposedly for the breathing as in asthma must also effect the liver, the heart, the brain, the emotions, the thinking, the personality and gestalt. there are receptor sites all over the body. the body created by God is not a machine. there are no static isolated processes within the body. likewise medication for behavioral issues, mood and thought disorders don't stay within the brain. dopamine, and serotonin receptor sites are found throughout the body, effecting every body system. again the body is not a machine. medications built in a lab do not have smooth machine like functions within the body. A medication taken for a thought disorder effects the heart's ability to pump blood, effects the pancreas and glucose/insulin dynamic, breathing and respiration.
these so called psych meds while also effecting the entire body dynamic also effect people of different genetic/racial differently.  
     currently i live and was raised in empire. my language, english is empire. in the grand bargain the language of my parents was hush hush so that their offspring, not children, but off spring could participate in empire.  from the social standpoint, the huge experimental process of empire building accelerating. part of the vast social experiment of empire is a conversion to secular life. become interchangeable parts in an economic zone.
     regardless of view, like weed flowers poking out of the asphalt parking lot, people with actual memories, and at times people who because they are created by God, living in a God created world through joy or crisis spontaneously move towards living the old ways with plants such as gentian their medicine.
     our life is not only physical. our life is not only defined by economic terms. part of the cross of Jesus Christ is to portray and advocate for a spiritual place, a home for our people, a community where families may thrive. to view life solely as a material chemical and physical process is to demean it. likewise to understand my work with plants as solely medical, scientific and pharmaceutical is to limit and change what i am doing. any kind of situation i am in is "in him we live and move and have our being" Acts 17:28. it is not that i am living, then digesting, then studying herbs, then going to church. everything is informing one another, because it is in him we have out being. likewise plants. likewise the process of the plants. likewise collecting and gathering plants, it's all sacred activity and spiritual work.
an essential part of this work is tasting the bitter gentian root. developing formulas 

         when you look at the body and look at the mouth and look at the hole where the food leaves the body, it's difficult to find inside and outside. the reason is that the inside/outside of a living being is fundamentally different than the inside/outside of a machine.  beings engage with the world in a fundamentally different way than a machine. the language of empire has accelerated to a technologically place of propaganda. consumers see the world in economic terms. slogans are repeated from movies, television,  and mnemonic repetitive  music. language as a tool of empire doesn't readily capture the overt effort to create a universal economic space. within the dialectic of empire a mode of experiencing is encouraged that makes it difficult to encounter. to further the economic goal of consumerism language embedded in technology shifts the paradigm. one another as persons is shifted to sales, customer service, buying and selling.
     we can think of the cheeks and face as being somehow on the outside. but what about the lips?  are lips inside or outside? or are they at the frontier of inside/outside. as we go further we can see the mucosa of the digestive system somehow inside/outside and frontier. in the body it's like this, the deeper you go you will find it difficult to say inside/outside.  yet there is self and other. and it has to do with movement of elements of fire, wind, water and earth. there is spontaneous recognition of self and other , along with connection and interpenetration with our small world body and the big world spinning planet body. before all else is events with Jesus being born to Virgin Mary now queen of heaven and earth. Elijah his servant on the mt carmel looking for the cloud to bring rain. 1 Kings 18:44 "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." 
     we must re-own the cultural narrative of language. language for our history was words spoken. language was words heard remembered. language in the consumer market lab is language/machine. machines speak the words and the drone of electronically repeated phrases broadcast the dialectic of societal revolution. 

      one thing that is absolutely clear is that our lives are not mechanical processes. the plants we use are not mechanical. plants are living beings created by God, they too live and move, and have their being in Jesus Christ. if somebody says, 'the body is like an automobile and food is like gasoline.', or 'the brain is like a computer.', above all re-education is required. if you are seeing gentian working solely through the bitter secoiroid glycosides present in the roots to increase gastric secretions then you have been marginalized. we must be able to speak freely. 

     with all the elements of water, earth, fire, wind there is information of the plants and their qualities. the plants have stayed awhile in place and taken on specific qualities of their place. when we take a plant like gentian we are taking the life of God's breath in our hand with gratitude and intention. Romans 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." above all there must be caution when working with living things. be cautious and alert to what is going on around you and learn how to watch and pray. Mark 14:38 "watch ye and pray." learn to watch and pray let that be your practice.

     water, earth, fire and air, these 4 elements are happening by God in a good way. Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." so, whatever is happening with gentian,  or plants, our healing herbs or whatever we are  doing while we are alive it is all coming back to this basic understanding and principle. there at a certain point it becomes two and two. just as on the Ark, "two and two with breath" Gen 7:15 "two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life", whatever life we have is on loan from God, not only our life but the life of the plants that we use for healing, all from God. Gen 2:9 "And out of the ground made יהוהElohim to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." whatever is happening or not happening, has to be put into this framework, this principle, this context and this is how we work with the plants. we are always working with an ecosystem which is an earth household, and and with divine providence we must use all our skillful means to have this occur, for self and others.

     with fire we receive our bodily warmth. we are flexible, wet, moist, not cold, lifeless, brittle, dry and stiff.   from wind we receive our breathing in and out. God as the Holy Ghost makes available to us breath. we have borrowed for a short time God's wind. water is our blood in the same way water is a flowing stream or rain from spinning clouds. our body comes from the earth, from rocks, stone or mineral. multiculturalism is wonderful until our deepest heart comes face to face with Christ the King, or Mary the Mother of God. plants only stand approximately to science. learning with plants must happen directly face to face with the plants and a few people here and there. "can't you just tell me what it is?" yes, i would love to tell you what it is however this is not the time or place and we are not ready to speak about gentian and the bitter principle. gentian involves going deeper into our experience.... 

    it helps when approaching  plants  allow the principles to come into play. this may be a foreign concept or a familiar experience.  the work is encouraging others and sharing. i thought it would be best to review basic concepts.

although time is quickly running, it has not run out. there is still breathing. in this breath wind is the power of God, mixed with water, filled with earth, power of green. there is a correspondence between holy ghost still flowing there in lightning clouds. you are breathing and greening is evidenced in your red blood, the moisture in your breath. so regardless it is still possible to embrace. it is miraculous work to live today. when we see greening stepping forward as plants with seed, fruit and flowers, this is the first day. the sun is fire, it has embraced the ground. valerian kiss, hugs and embraces, giggles and laughter of all kinds. gentian makes it easier to pull the light of God into our stomach as fire....

      despised and shunned is nothing new, knowledge is not so much withheld but rejected, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge", Hosea 4:6 who's voice is dismissed and discounted can be important to hear. unless someone is poking you with a red hot poker then you are being triggered. it's important to listen calmly. you can only respond when there is quiet. "And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word." Lk 10:38 so we take the "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." LK 2:19, this is the vital principle of being in the place and sitting with the plants because in this situation answers will occur. especially when out and about be aware that this is God's garden and present here.

         put out of your mind any issue that says no/can not. it is being done and if plants are growing then you connect.  greening is what we work with, everything else will pull together.

     it's hard for me to understand prayer without a female presence. birth without a mother Mary, or savior Jesus? it is impossible for me to understand healing without acknowledging the power to thrive in green leaves. 

      when thinking of health i think of life pleasing to God. the power plants to heal has to do with the greening power of the leaves. health is the strength and power to thrive and it can only come to us from God by grace. much of suffering pain despair and depression is connected with embracing the stupid, latching on and then through hubris not acknowledging that we need to change our fundamentals. we want more pills but we also want to hold onto our stupid. we need to let go of stupid let go of our pills and embrace the green.                                              

         in the dominant culture it's familiar to describe someone as being sick and in need of a pill or more pills to become better. you will find many people that can name 10 or 15 diseases but they cannot name 10 or 15 green plants for healing. for them the only thing that they have are bushes and shrubs. it is an additive process so that someone has a certain disease routine and continues that disease routine with the addition of more pills. someone is given electric tests and passed through various forms of electricity and then it's all put in the computer, this is a kind of permitted healthcare of  dominant culture. in this way we embrace stupid. 

     the Holy Ghost is breath dwelling in living beings, in and out, spirit. light and fire, the sun seeks out the plants and they embrace one another, earthed with readiness, and this divine presence mixes with the physical world to make green. so encountering green with skillful means is working with plants to God them with green, gradually as they are able to remedy. 

Psalm 104:29-30  "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. 30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."

     we have elaborate models of disease. there is abuse and trauma. there is addiction. there are bugs, virus bacteria and parasites. we like to think that someone is anxious because of some situation within their brain some kind of chemical balance or imbalance, when really what is happening is that a person has divorced themselves from the healing green. community and the grace as family as it relates closest to the green energy is remedy. an embrace of divorce is a waste of energy that may cost you the green moment. throwing pills into the mix is pointless. it is relationship that must be restored. the primal relationship is green. it is meritless to pretend that the breath of creation as the holy ghost can be left out of treatments. if you treat green plants in the same way that the dominant culture treats pills then it is true you will do less harm however at a certain point you will also do little good. we must do the most good and the least harm. 

      the spirit of God and our bodies is the same way as the light of the sun on the rich moist earth, mixed with rain from above and moisture within bringing the green. in our own bodies this green is red blood, bone and sinew. between us is friendships. the greening will to become further.  remember it is God who placed the rain and sun, now plants of green so when gathering remember Ezekiel 37:9 Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. the life lived is eternal

Erythrina flabelliformis, chilicote, coral bean

                                         

Erythrina flabelliformis, chilicote, coral bean. An elegant plant ally of protection from mal de ojo and witchcraft carried on ones person.
                                4200ft Rincon, perennial, shrubby tree, frost determinate,             

light brown bark has longitudinal white lines, like warm south facing slopes w granite outcrops, beautiful brilliant shiny blood red seeds in 5 inch pod. Hummingbirds pollinate the pointed similarly red tubular spiky pointed rosette. The plant has long tradition of encouraging strong protective qualities that enables one to bend without breaking. 
                                  

The blood red Scarlet seeds, and blood red Scarlet flowers together with the leafless nature of the plant has the nature of mystery, specifically of the martyrs who while dying were also preserved.               
                              

The idea of the blood and wounds of Christ and the blood of martyrs lends itself through the special quality of the wood, who's grains when looked at with a loupe appear to be filled with light as are the saints who protect us who believe in them through the Holy Ghost. 
                                 

Sweet-cicely, Osmorhiza depauperata

       Osmorhiza depauperata, at 9200ft Family: Apiaceae, ((Bluntseed sweet root)), for me this plant is Sweet-cicely. Seeing it come up prolifically in the spring is a sweet good sign- yet like all signs, seems the Lord giveth and taketh away. 
                                      

          I say giveth and taketh because while it was super abundant where I was camping the last three days, battling the crazy wind zipping and whooshing between my ears. Always wondering if my stupid life of sin is going to catch up to me and God is going to zap and crack  me with a dead ponderosa pine snag. It was also a bummer to see so many spruce trees under spiritual attack. I don't know any other term to use. 
       I know its wrong to say trees are under spiritual attack, but I don't know what else to call it. Between the extreme fire ravaged forest and these dying deep spruce it's feeling a lot like, these forests are remnants. 
                                                 

        A lot of times these days I get the feeling I am walking through a tree museum. Looking at the last of the great south west forest. I was happy to see the Sweet Cicely everywhere but still it was like "Damn" these spruce beetles are doing a serious number on the trees. These days I pretty much leave the wild plants alone where they are unless there is a specific plant I am looking for with regards to a specific person.
       These forests are battling and struggling to live. I can feel everything pulling down into the hollows and draws. Like a body in shock pulling all the blood from the extremities towards the core.
The wet meadows and their tiny green zone which feels like an ICU life support area. The hills and slopes are dry bones, desert remnant forests with a little Senecio, otherwise they feel like they are waiting to make smoke in the next catastrophic wildfire show.
         It's a sad strange feeling walking through a dying south west forest. It's like visiting the steel towns along the Monogahela river, or visiting an old lover dying from uterine cancer, whose former fertile sexual body is now 93 pounds on a 5' 9" frame and ashen grey at 37- dying much too soon. You know it borders on necrophilia to bath Carolyn and caress her for hours in her hospice bed, with the morphine drip, yet that's why you're here, to help her remember the beauty and passion and maybe for an instant to rage. and never go gently into the terrible lie called death.