Physalis peruviana

Aramanth with Cape Gooseberry (lower right)

I cannot find the words to express the joy and awe and wonder I feel when I explore the workings of Nature. Sometimes I still can feel the justifiable anger that so plagued my early explorations into herbal remedies; anger that beneficial information on healing plants has been so carefully and diabolically hidden. I rarely waste my time with that these days, because I deeply understand that no iniquity can be perpetrated against me without my consent. If I invite malevolence into my personal sphere of existence, can I then blame those who choose enter? In the Mill of Life, these shadowy entities could be perceived as the abrasive stone upon which the grain of my soul must be ground.  

My spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing is totally and irrevocably my responsibility. I am fortunate to have at my disposal the tools I need to educate myself: a relatively clear mind, a fantastic library and of course, the internet. While most other Baby Boomers are crediting themselves for reading Big Pharma's package inserts for the latest symptom management medications, I study plants. I don't just read, I contemplate as I plant them in my garden or find them in their natural habitat. I have what could be called, an intuitive conversation with the actual plant. It's amazing the number of "accidental plantings" that I have done, even before my herbalist explorations began in earnest.

I planted bloodroot (2002!) long before I understood its healing implications for skin cancer or that it is on the endangered species list. Time and again this strange phenomena has transpired in the Garden of Nemesis. Here's the latest:

I planted Cape Gooseberries because I wanted to grow more fruit for preserves. I picked the berries and froze them. That was no mean feat because they tasted sooo good I wanted to gobble the entire crop fresh. But then I did something entirely crazy. I harvested the leaves for later use. After partially drying them as per usual, I froze a bag and later retrieved them to make a tincture. I did this without really even thinking about it. Imagine my surprise this morning when I stumbled across a major research article about how the leaves of Physalis peruviana has been shown to destroy cancer cells!

In that moment of understanding, something big shifted in my psyche. It felt like the blast of a tsunami that picked me up and carried me, rather flung me, to a new and better place. A surge of joy also came with the wave. As best I can express this tremendous revelation in words might be this:

You mean we have everything we need here? Growing in the dirt? There is no lack? Is health just a matter of brewing a tea or swallowing a tincture or applying a poultice? Could it be this incredibly simple? Is it that all I have to do is listen to the still, small voice inside as it whispers the secrets of Nature? Can I lie in the grass and watch the clouds instead of having parts and pieces of my body removed and/or poisoned by doctors practicing on me? It can't be so! But it is. It is.