This week we meditated on Yuǎn zhì, 遠志, Chinese snakeroot, Polygala tenuifolia.
Pre-Meditation
This herb tastes a little like celery. We found it to be earthy and slightly spicy. It felt warming inthe throat and chest and hydrating.
Meditation 1
Energy: refreshing, revitalizing like "splashing water in the face", stable/grounding. The plant scanned from chest down to left foot, stayed at first chakra, which eventually started to spin.
Physical: cleared some congestion, dried out the chest
Prompts: energy to mouth, urging to get thoughts out verbally
Elements that came to mind: water, earth
Meditation 2
Energy: The plant scanned down my right leg this time (as if to say it was not imbalanced or incomplete!). Said my knees were doing good and I should be grateful (because many have trouble with them). More calming and quiet this time. Feels practical and pleasant.
Physical: Energy came to head, I got a headache--when this happens, it told me to put my energy in the first chakra to feel better. Released more congestion, having no coughing. "I was coughing beforehand and not since taking the tea."
Summary and Traditional Use
Snakeroot is used for respiratory conditions, in particular, coughs (TWH and TCM). In Traditional Western herbalism this refers to croup and violent colds (M Wood, Earthwise Herbal: New World, Polygala senega), in TCM P. tenuifolia for counterflow coughs and lung deficiency. This herb removes phlegm from the lungs and the heart orifices. Phlegm in the heart is related to mental health disturbances in TCM. This can be caused by long term spleen deficiency. This herb calms the spirit, or heart shen--this can improve anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and emotional outburts. The mouth is related to the spleen in Chinese medicine, which is exacerbated by worry (excessive forethought is one definition) and speach is related to the heart. Expressing one's joy (emotion of the heart) supports/generates the spleen. If we are overly restrained, suppressing the heart it could damage the spleen. Yuǎn zhì is also used to improve cognitive functioning, usually in the elderly. The way that it worked for the headache reminded me of the use of tamasic herbs in Ayurvedic medicine to bring energy out of the head and to the lower energy centers to address injury to the head.
In Native medicine (Seneca, Cherokee, Iroquois, and presumably more) the root of Polygala senega was chewed and applied to rattle snake bites. I am working on a book and am exploring snake medicines and the connection with the spleen. During this plant meditation the connection between this plant, snake, spleen (practical, earthy, mouth) came up. It discussed its ability to ground and using energetic grounding techniques. While these are related more towards my exploration of grounding the kundalini, the association with managing snake bites feels very relavant. I am not finding much information on the efficacy of snakeroot for bites, but apparently settlers did not see Indigenous people dying of snake bites.
Invitation
Do you have any experience with this herb? Please share in the comments below. If not, would you like to try it and get back to us? If so contact us.