The Herbal Wreath

Remembrance & Continuance

Within the circle of the wreath, a symbol of immortality, we find the seasons in their return each year. At one such turning of the wheel, Mom passed away on a grey November cross-quarter day, halfway between the autumn equinox and winter solstice. During this time, the sheep are traditionally gathered-in from their summer pastures, and grass no longer grows upon the hill. The chill of the freeze sets in, and the meat will keep now that the sacrifice is complete. We are thankful for those who gave their lives to ensure that The People would survive.

When Mom joined her ancestors in November 2012, I became an Elder. I was fifty-seven years old. Becoming an elder is a tremendous honor, but it comes with great responsibility. I hadn’t realized how much I had been relying on the guidance of my elders until slowly, one by one, they passed away. They are now my spirit guides as less separation remains between the world of the unseen and me.

In Native American society, surviving the winter made the difference between a people who may continue or a people who might perish. Frail elders knew the tribe’s survival through the winter would depend on not reserving precious food for them when expectant mothers and their young had the greater need. The eldest would cease to eat, and I can see them now, walking out into the wintry woods, singing their death song and making their prayers as they lay down their coats of clay on the frozen earth. In the springtime, they would be retrieved and given a burial, their body preserved by the winter snows.

I am not surprised that Mom left her body at this auspicious time. Honoring the seasons of life had been her way of living on earth. I harvested rosemary, the herb of remembrance, from the garden in the days that followed her passing. Mom had been a gardener. Friends and family would send elaborate floral arrangements for display at the funeral. I barely had enough money to make the trip to say goodbye and could not afford expensive flowers. But standing at the kitchen window and gazing out at the drying grasses with their grain-like seed heads growing on the hillside behind my house, I remembered the didukh story.

Didukh is a pagan ritual later co-opted by Christians in Ukraine. The word means “ancestral spirit.” Didukh is a ceremonial sheaf made from the best stalks of grain gathered during the fall harvest, tied with ribbons, and decorated with flowers and a small wreath of sweet basil and other herbs. The bundle is summoned into the home ritualistically at Christmastime or on the winter solstice. Ukrainians believe it houses the spirits of family members passed on and those yet to be born. When the holiday season comes to its close, the didukh is carried out of the home and scattered across the fields with prayers for continuance.

I realized, then, that I could gather those grassy gain stalks growing beyond my kitchen window and take them with me to lay at the foot of my mother’s coffin. They would be something with a deeper meaning and came with a prayer of gratitude for all the sustenance she had provided so that I may continue within the circle of life. And when I laid that dried brown bundle decorated with ribbons and herbs on the funeral home’s lush carpeted floor, it seemed so out of place. My humble remembrance lay surrounded by elaborate floral arrangements and funeral wreaths neatly placed in vases and on stands. To other family members, I must have appeared the pauper. But Mom’s spirit would understand the significance.

We need to remember our ancestors and continue to receive their guidance. We are a world in need of healing. As I bring a seasonal wreath into my home this year, I invite you to do the same. I will dedicate it to those who have gone before and those yet to be born. Let it remind us that there is always new life after death. And no matter how dark or cold or lonely the descent into winter, remember that it is a necessary time of renewal, and the seasons will return with the promise of spring.

Four generations of women, from bottom to top, left to right: Me, my sister, niece, daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter

If you feel called to make an herbal wreath, begin by gathering your supplies: wreath frame, floral wire, herb stems, leaves, and flowers. Fresh herbs may be trimmed from the garden seasonally or purchased at your local market. Use pine boughs and an herb like rosemary for the base of your wreath because the woody stems will hold their shape when dry. Secure using floral wire. Once you have a base, you can add bunches of herbs. Tie these together first using floral wire before attaching them to the frame. Herbs will continue to dry on the wreath and release their fragrance. Hang in your kitchen and harvest sprigs to add to your cooking.

Herbs that are good to bundle are sage, lavender, thyme, oregano, bay laurel, lemon grass, and lemon balm. Below are a few examples of herbs in the mint family and their traditional uses and symbolism.

1.     Sage – Salvia officinalis is one of the most common herbs in traditional medicine. Cultivated as a culinary, it is also an ornamental herb. Sage has been referred to as the “holy herb” and used in rituals for protection and purification. Its flavor is pungent. Sage is said to lift and carry prayers to the desired recipient. Herbal actions include carminative, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, diaphoretic, and expectorant.

2.    Lavender – Adds a touch of color when harvested in flower and is a feast for the olfactory senses. Lavender is a culinary ingredient in the traditional French seasoning herbes de Provence. Lavandula angustifolia is used for washing, cleansing, and purification and may have been the plant referred to as spikenard that Mary used to anoint the feet of Jesus. The beauty, scent, and healing properties of lavender qualify it as the “queen of the herbs” for the garden. Dried flowers are used in floral arrangements and sachets, for ceremonial smudging, smoking blends, and herbal tea. Its herbal actions are antibacterial, antidepressant, antispasmodic, carminative, emmenagogue, hypotensive, nervine, and rubefacient.

3.    Rosemary – Festive during the holidays, rosemary is for remembrance. It has been associated with innumerable legends and traditions and put to a hundred uses. Rosemary is one of the most beautiful and fragrant culinary herbs with a balsamic, piney scent. It is savory, aromatic, and medicinal. The herbal actions of Rosmarinus officinalis include anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant.

Legends that have served as the foundations for entire cultures, from the Egyptian myth of the birth of Horus, which begins with his immaculate conception, to rosemary and myrtle being regarded foremost among Mary’s plants, still survive today as universal symbols that remind us of our interconnectedness and the continuum of humanity.

– Wisdom of the Plant Devas: Herbal Medicine for a New Earth

4.    Lemon Balm – Melissa officinalis is more commonly known as lemon balm and has a fragrant lemony odor and flavor. It has a long history of use as a medicine and has been called the “elixir of life.” Lemon balm may be used dried and has mild sedative properties. The essential oil referred to by aromatherapists as Melissa is one of the most expensive and valuable oils because it affects the autonomic nervous system to alleviate depression.

The disconnection from nature that we experience when we live in artificial environments is causing the spirit to flee from the body. This isolation is one of the major causes of depression, and the statistics are staggering. Lemon balm can help to calm and center us as we align with the new energies unfolding on our planet.

– Wisdom of the Plant Devas: Herbal Medicine for a New Earth

Find the didukh story and a multidimensional perspective for Rosemary, Desert Sage, Lavender, and Lemon Balm in Wisdom of the Plant Devas: Herbal Medicine for a New Earth.

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