Loving Lavender!
- Linda Crider
- Apr 27
- 3 min read
You don't need to be well versed in medicinal herbs and flowers to recognize this one. Ahhh, sweet LAVENDER...she has gone majorly mainstream! You'll find her as an essential oil, dried in teas and capsules, in shampoos, body washes and soaps and even as an ingredient in ice cream, muffins and scones. Just this morning I came across a recipe for "lavender milk," so the list goes on. This plant is known for the appealing scent, the relaxing action, the light purple color and the little buds that you can add to sachets and dream pillows.
And yes, pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds, butterflies love her too!
Applied topically, Lavender has a well deserved reputation as a healer of skin issues such as acne, bacterial infections and especially burns.
As the story goes, French chemist René-Maurice Gatefossé became the father of modern aromatherapy after he suffered serious burns from a lab accident and found soothing relief and quick healing after dipping his injured hand into a vat of Lavender oil.
Since that fortuitous event in 1910, Lavender has become quite popular in the modern world as a healing botanical, but recorded use of this plant dates back nearly three centuries. It grows well in mountainous areas, especially in western Europe and around the Mediterranean region. The Egyptians used the plant to create perfumes and cosmetics as well as to mummify their deceased while the ancient Romans used it to purify and scent their public bathhouses. The word "lavender"comes from the Latin "lavare" which means "to wash," so the herb has long been associated with cleanliness.
Herbalist Adriana Ayales connects Lavender to Mercury, the planet that affects creative expression and all manner of communication and mental activity. On a similar note, seventeenth century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper once said that "Mercury owns the herb and it carries his effects very potently." Adriana writes in her Herbal Astrology Oracle deck's guidebook that "The mere inhalation of it stimulates mental processes, focuses energy, brings about lucidity, alleviates stress, and improves memory."
If you're wondering (as I did) why there is a spider weaving its web pictured on the oracle card, this is explained as a tribute to spider medicine. "Lavender is much like the medicine of Spider," the guidebook tells us; it is "a master communicator that organizes, refines, and systematizes many elements in life...Spider is here today to remind you that when you're not communicating from a higher alignment, we quickly become entangled, overly critical, and even block the flow of creativity and healing communication."
Now that's something to contemplate as you add Lavender essential oil into your bath or diffuser!
On a personal note, every spring I've made attempts to grow Lavender along with the other herbs in one of my garden boxes. For some reason she has never thrived very well, so I took a few sniffs of the essential oil and did a little dream journey to seek out the spirit of Lavender and ask for some insight. I was told to be mindful about which species of Lavender (there are quite a few) does best with my growing conditions and to give the plant a more prominent spot, closer to my back door. Spring gardening season is approaching, so I will be doing some research on that one!
About five years ago I experienced the peaceful beauty of a Lavender sanctuary when I visited the Purple Adobe Lavender Farm in Abiquiu, New Mexico. It was sweet to see this plant growing on a grander scale than what I can do in my own modest garden.
And on the subject of grand scales, I'll end this post with the following video that will take you on a brief but impressive tour of Lavender fields in the beautiful French countryside.
As always, thanks for letting me share my thoughts and journey with you. I welcome your input, so if you want to submit a comment, scroll down to the bottom of this post. If you are interested in booking a personal session, you can do this here:
You can also contact me via email at: my.plant.allies@gmail.com
As a follow up to the last post Let's Make Some Moon Water, here are the newly sprouted plants that I was able to gather in my back yard for this practice. I've been using the energized water to spritz my house plants and myself with early springtime vibes:
Rosemary, Fennel, Mullein, Blue Juniper and Grape Hyacinth
For now, here's wishing you wellness, wisdom and bloomin' vibes!
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