Plant Meditation Club: This week we meditated with thyme, thymus vulgaris, a common but powerful herb. Many participated in this by zoom :) I hope you will join us soon.
Areas for further investigation:
Thyme for recovery from "the battlefield".
Thyme for support for pregnancy.
Taste/Mouth:
Savory, dense flavor, warming.
Meditation 1:
Lily/me: I feel my feet very firmly on the ground, going into combat, into the battlefield. My body feels heavier. I am able to delegate and direct the other warriors. "I can do this." I feel a sense of nose to the ground, like blood hound. This reminds me of yarrow and being able to get what you want on the battlefield. This time it is not as strong. I think this is not the main intelligence this herb works with, but one of them. I see dark green, almost like a dark slimy algae, seeping down from the top left of my head to my left forehead/eye area to fix it. I remember when Chrysanthemum told me I would be to my left (frontal brain) for a while then to right (frontal brain) for a while then to the center again (third eye). As I remember, this herbs kind of readjusts/stutters and says, well we could do it that way (going back to the right to balance out, then to center) but this way is more efficient. It made me smile a little. I feel life/flesh feelings coming back to my lips and face. So many things happened to my face including a fall on my teeth in the last year. The herb says "That is what started the anger journey you are on." That is when I began expressing angry intolerance of people stepping on me. Historically I have disapproved of anger. But I am on an anger journey. It has yielded surprisingly positive results to be angry. I asked the herb if it helped with getting over the battles just as well as going into them and navigating them. It was very happy and gave me a strong affirmative, shaking my head yes, yes, yes.
I hear the song lyrics "Thyme [sic, lol] is on my side. Yes it is."
Alyssa: see comments
Theresa: I did not see a lot of visuals this time. I did see animals, rabbits, deer, it likes being near water (a stream). I asked it what it could help me with and it said it can help a little with acid reflux. It felt restful and generous. It said, "I want you to do what is right for you everytime."
Amanda: I felt movement through the body, especially areas of body pain--going straight through to pain. "Be playful and strong, be like me" Then I saw a bee. "Take care of the time, take care of me, take care of yourself. The song "Time is on my side".
My daughter: Before the meditation I see an image of grass and flowers growing inside of a pregnant belly with the moon facing backwards (as in the side of the moon we don't typically see**), all inside the belly. The moon is functional. During the meditation the pregnant belly was taken off the body and turned upside down. Cut off (not gorey, this looks like a line drawing) and hanging from the moon. There is still grass and flowers inside the pregnant belly.
Meditation 2:
Me: Less activity this time. I feel calmer, smoothed out, warmth spreads over my belly, it is green in color, brighter green, more like a kelly green. It helped with my digestion (I had more pizza than I needed, as my convenience food that my body only wants so much of). It indicates my tattoo on my left forearm. It says "This is the kind of thing I help with too." I have past life memories of WW-II and being in the concentration camps. Eventually I got a number on my arm. I would remember the number a lot, so I got a tattoo of blackberry, hawthorn, wild rose, and ladies thumb (all plants that grow fabulously even through concrete, most with thorns and all super thorny). I don't think of the old tattoo much, I just see the response nature gives to oppression: vibrant, determined, medicine for the masses. I have used thyme many times for nightmares related to those memories. It has been such a strong ally for me. It doesn't make the nightmares go away, it makes them feel managable. Like that "I can do this." energy as we go into battle. The plant says "Sometimes life is pencils and chopping vegetables. Other times you can't get out of the way of yourself fast enough." Drawing and cooking are simple pleasures. Getting out of the way of "yourself fast enough" felt like abuse, being on the battlefield, and being in the concentration camps. In other lives I was the soldier that hurt others in the name of being on the "right" side. In these moments of pain, in some ways I face myself--I face the darkest parts of humanity, the murk we can blossom out of. I am inspired to work on my black quilt about gun violence. I am inspired to simplify it. I had added some comfort and medicine, but the violence (in this lifetime) occurred around concrete, there was no medicine, there was only violence--let it be what is was. The text on the quilt is the things I hear that make this kind of violence possible. Let them be written and seen, let it be done.
Alyssa: see comments
Theresa: The tea was harder to drink the second time. It gave me a little headache, and then it helped with relieving the headache (mid forehead). It helped with my sinuses. It can help with eyes in some way. It gave me the song "Yellow Submarine".
Amanda: I thought of gumdrops from my childhood that we had around Christmas. I wonder if it in the flavoring. It was playful. Then I got a message about boundaries. It went straight to my stomach again--it made circular movement. "Get rid of the things that no longer serve you." It says "Rest and boundaries" multiple times. It is asking me to recharge. All my pain is on the right side of my body. It pings each spot--neck, hip, abdomen. The hip and abdomen improve. The neck: maybe a little better, hard to tell. It gave me advice about separating flower essences for a client so they to choose, to empower them. The person is having high emotions, lots coming up as anger.
Summary and Traditional Use:
This herb was historically used to help warriors head into battle and to treat serious infections such as whooping cough, MRSA, and COVID-19. I also use it for nightmares. I think of it as having an affinity for supporting you in life or death situations. You can learn more about my take on this herb before this PMC group experience through this
post. This meditation brought out some different sides of thyme. I loved the generally supportive messages. One person had expected experiences with the herb helping with cold symptoms. Others experienced its carminative effects with improving/promoting digestion activity. Multiple people experienced Thyme helping with pain and healing the head area, headaches and eyes specifically mentioned multiple times. I had not heard of thyme specifically for use during pregnancy, but apparently it is a fairly common herb
for digestion during this time. It may be useful for other aspects of pregnancy. In general food herbs (herbs we commonly use for nourishment and condiments) are considered safe but some can have unexpected effects during pregnancy and nursing (for example a couple doses of sage and stop milk production during nursing), so it is good to get advice some a provider who is experienced with both herbs and pregnancy/nursing before using herbs. We laughed pretty hard about two of us hearing "Thyme is on my side" I felt like it came through as on "your" side, but i don't remember clearly. Regardless it really feels like thyme makes a great herbal ally for both going into the fray and recovering from it.
**The image of the back side of the moon reminds me of dark moon lilith (which I know from astrology). My favorite resource for lilith is Tom Jacobs, a feminist astrologer. The rest of the resources and myth interpretations I find are negative and demonizing of this archetype. Here is a
video, he has many and a book on the subject.
I value this herb so much, I offer it in multiple forms. These include
tincture,
essential oil,
Humanity tea (for lung health and engaging with your heart space),
Nightmare Spell pillow, and Sweet Dreams tea (with other herbs to help with nightmares, stomach aches, colds and flus--for all ages).
Invitation:
Have you experienced thyme? Please share your personal or clinical experiences below and add to our collective understanding of this often overlooked herb.
