Part Two: The medicinal use and historic legacy of Elecampane. “This lovely 7’ tall plant, with the biggest leaves of any herb, 5’ long (!) and bright yellow flowers, has so much to offer us these days. I chose to speak about this beauty because from teaching about her for years I know not many people know much about her firsthand. When I look at this video now, besides the obvious technical shortcomings, I see there are parts missing in Elecampane’s ‘signature teachings’ that I’d normally teach about in the summer, but wasn’t cued to do so this fall. Had it been summer I would have talked about her gigantic leaves indicating her strong medicine that enables the body to utilize nutrients, as she does. As well as how these huge leaves disperse liquids on the land as she is able to do in the body. And how her bright yellow-rayed flowers indicate the drying and purifying qualities of the sun particularly for conditions where there is yellow mucus. This video represents how I teach in the Sacred Gardener School, except you’d be here digging with me and we’d float off for an hour or so into streams of questions, thoughts and stories about this beloved plant. Then we’d gather her and ourselves up and go make medicine.
