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A Correspondent Course Student's Experiences with her Ally Chickweed


January 13, 2002

Dear Susun,

I received the Herbal Bible, thank you. I would like to share this story with you. I have been blessed to have had several spirit visits.

My husband, Butch and I were married 22 years ago. At the time of our marriage, we chose not to exchange rings. We lived in a small town in Minnesota. Our house was located one block from the main street of town. In the summers we would move to our lake cabin about an hour from our home.

Our town house was on a comfortable small lot. One spring day, after a reading your Healing Wise, I set out on a weed walk of our little manicured yard. Butch loved our lawn and expressed it in a different way than I. He was very attentive to it, mowing and fertilizing, clipping and pruning. There were very few weeds to be found! However, toward the side and behind the garage there was a healthy, happy bed of chickweed! I had found my green ally. It flourished there for many years. We ate it, used it for poultices, and I made tinctures for the winter. My family was very good humored about my friendship with chickweed. Most of the time, they were unaware it was sharing its' bounty with them.

In the summer we moved to the lake. Again, I began to take weed walks. There I found many weeds! I harvested nettles and catnip. Plaintain was plentiful and relieved the itch of many mosquito bites. We had a garden where we grew tomatoes and broccoli, green beans and beets along with basil, sage, cilantro, rosemary and chives. Spearmint tea warmed cool nights. I made tinctures in preparation for winter.

My friend chickweed was there too. It grew along the entire length of the north side of the house. It was a contented, healthy patch. I harvested it with joy. We were great friends. One day I fell and twisted my previously injured knee. I could barely walk! For three days, I limped to my chickweed patch and would lay, tummy down, nestled in its' cool, tiny green leaves, allowing it to nurse me back to health. My knee was never better. True to form, my family humored me. Again, not realizing the nourishment they were also receiving from our green friends, enjoying bacon, tomato, and chickweed sandwiches.

Some years ago we made the decision to move to the lake year around. We began to work on our lake house in preparation for long, cold winters. We rewired and insulated. As well, we put in new windows and installed a wood stove. During that time, Butch presented me with a beautiful diamond ring in honor of fifteen years of marriage. It was lovely! My friends and family oohed and awed over it. It glistened and gleamed on my finger and reminded me daily of how blessed we were.

The time came when the house was ready. According to Butch, the lawn was not. He diagnosed it with failure to thrive and was determined to fix it. We compromised. Once again, he fertilized and mowed, pruned and weeded.

We moved to the lake in May. This time, we rented out our house in town and moved the things we would need to live year around. Unsure if this was the right decision, we made a mutual agreement to live here for 15 months. At the end of that time we decided to re-evaluate what we wanted.

This summer when I went to gather chickweed it was gone…no where in sight! I searched our lot. No chickweed. On weekends, when our neighbors had returned to their homes away from the lake, I searched their yards. No chickweed. I waited, watched and looked for my friend Chickweed all summer. It was not to be found. I grieved silently.

The middle of November I returned home from working late. I went right to bed and immediately fell asleep. At 3:00 am I awoke startled and sat up in bed. My ring was gone! I got up and searched around the bed, under the bed, and in the bathroom. No ring. In the morning Butch joined in the investigation. We took everything off the bed and removed our stash of stuff from under the bed. Clothes were pulled off hangers and I went through pockets of clothing. We retraced my steps from the previous day. I meditated on my activities and called my intuitive friend. No clues. I never took my ring off and it had been a bit tight of late. I couldn't imagine it falling off. Still, there was no ring.

That night, which was one week before Thanksgiving (and about the time of the new moon) we had a light snowfall. It was three days into the investigation and Butch suggested I rake along the driveway. There was nothing to lose and a ring to gain. I grabbed the rake. Beginning at the end of the driveway I slowly worked my way toward the house. I raked gently, knelt down and combed my fingers through the grass and leaves. Now half-way to the house, I once again pulled the rake slowly, knelt down, combed my fingers through the leaves and grass. This time when I lifted the leaves there, to my astonishment, was a healthy bed of chickweed! It was wholesome green, grinning from leave to leave at me! I could not believe my eyes! The patch grew about three feet along the sidewalk. It was a young patch that offered me forgiveness and redemption! I gathered enough to make a small brew of tincture for winter and for my family to feast on a celebration sandwich! The Universe (whom to me is God) and God's creation, chickweed, have taught me a most beautiful lesson. I have given to the ring to God, knowing wherever it is, it is where it needs to be.

My friend, chickweed will be with me all winter. In the spring I will be a better friend to it! Negotiations for the yard have already begun!

In closing, I am sure a spirit came to me and slipped the ring from my finger. There have been many lessons to learn from the experience. Interestingly, when the year 2001 began I prayed for the gift of detachment.

Susun, I am enjoying and being enriched by your course! I am especially enchanted with the lunar phases. Is there a book that has lunar phases covering 1900-present?

Sue

PS. It would be just fine if you shared my story. I am a "new" correspondence student and I am delighted to be one!


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To learn more about chickweed, read an excerpt from Healing Wise

Healing Wise

by Susun S. Weed
Introduction by Jean Houston.
Superb herbal in the feminine-intuitive mode. Complete instructions for using common plants for food, beauty, medicine, and longevity. Seven herbs -- burdock, chickweed, dandelion, nettle, oatstraw, seaweed, and violet -- are explored in depth.
A Special Tenth Anniversary edition of this classic herbal, profusely illustrated. 312 pages.


Retails for $17.95
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I just started reading your book, Healing Wise. Your humor and approach to life seem so "down-to-earth", just like your favorite powerful weeds. Thank you for sharing and nourishing! ~ Diane

 

 

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