I have a question to pose to the group - I am making my first wand in the Shamanic Tools 2 class and found a willow branch from a special place here in SF where the willow trees grow along an old river bed. I've known these trees for awhile now - I feel their comforting presence every time I visit the canyon. When the wand assignment came up, I knew exactly where to look. As I'm whittling off the bark to test out my novice (non-existent!) carving skills, it occurs to me that people used willow bark for medicinal purposes (like aspirin?).  I'm not really sure what to do now - do I save the bark? dry it? soak it? ask it questions? dream it? I'm going to save the bark in a glass bottle for now. Does anyone here have experience with willow trees and bark?

Arlene

hi Arlene! I’d ask it!  I had a moment when you mentioned willow, like I had just been reading about it (I had). It’s so lovely that i wanted to share it. Its from “Plant Spirit Medicine”, the book that Monique shared/recommended on the forum. 

 

“We were sitting in a circle, sharing our dreams. One man, a physician, said that there was an aspect of his dream he did not know how to interpret. “Over and over again,” he said, “the willow spirit kept repeating to me, ‘Look up! Look up! Always look up!’” A month later I again met with the physician, who told the following story: I have a patient who seemed perfect for willow medicine, so I’ve given it to her three times now. When she came back after the first treatment, she insisted I tell her what that “wonderful medicine” was. At the same time, she kept turning to a potted willow on my windowsill. She said something strange and wonderful: “That plant is so lovely. I would like to be that plant!”

I asked the woman to tell me what the treatment had done for her, and she mentioned improvements in a long list of physical complaints. “But,” she said, “this is the best thing of all. I didn’t realize it before, but I have been depressed all my life. I was so negative! It was as if my mind’s eye was always looking down at the ground, and all I could see was the dirt. But you know, from the moment I left here last time, I heard a voice inside that said, ‘Look up! Look up! Always look up!’ and now it’s as if I am seeing the beauty around me for the first time!”

At that moment I told her that the plant on the windowsill and the medicine she had taken were both willow. I also shared with her my willow dream and said I had heard the same voice saying, “Look up!” She was so moved she began to cry. At the next treatment she brought in a poem she had written to thank the willow spirit.”

❤️

cammie...beautiful excerpt

 

Arlene, can you start by communicating with the willow bark through awake dreaming, or sleeping with it/her on your pillow's side. maybe breathe into the left side of a point on your physical body by which you're connected and from there push a question softly toward the willow and remember to thank it/her. I find developing a sensory relationship with plants, or whatever i'm seeing with, before getting there, can strengthen the agreement. I do know Willow is commonly accessed to help with inflammation (which you can guess from the fact that it's the central ingredient of Aspirin), but I believe that how they affect our physical bodies is merely one nexus point in a greater tapestry that can be accessed. plus, as cammie's excerpt suggest, each plant will poke at something different for each person, thus offering a unique relationship with those for whom an agreement is shared. the face of our ailments can be unique for each of us, as well.

can i just suggest, if you decide to make a tincture with the willow, a lower-proof alcohol or a glycerite i feel would do the trick. i have a willow bark tincture but i do not like alcohol, i don't like the counterproductiveness of putting a plant known for softening, anti-inflammatory properties in a high alcohol content mixture because herbalists sometimes believe that the higher the alcohol tincutre the better.

1 hour ago, peastacey said:

lower-proof alcohol or a glycerite

I’ve seen some tinctures in apple cider vinegar now too 

20 hours ago, Arlene said:

I have a question to pose to the group - I am making my first wand in the Shamanic Tools 2 class and found a willow branch from a special place here in SF where the willow trees grow along an old river bed. I've known these trees for awhile now - I feel their comforting presence every time I visit the canyon. When the wand assignment came up, I knew exactly where to look. As I'm whittling off the bark to test out my novice (non-existent!) carving skills, it occurs to me that people used willow bark for medicinal purposes (like aspirin?).  I'm not really sure what to do now - do I save the bark? dry it? soak it? ask it questions? dream it? I'm going to save the bark in a glass bottle for now. Does anyone here have experience with willow trees and bark?

Arlene

Hey Arlene - Slightly off topic but wondering where the Willow Trees are in San Francisco. where's the canyon you go to?

@Arlene definitely ask the spirit of the willow  how it can help. You can dry the bark and save it to make a tincture in alcohol.  Bark need something strong to extract the medicinal properties from within. Glycerine might not be enough. Willow bark is medicinal and works for body aches and pains. 

 @cammieThat quote is so good as is that whole book!

 

 

 

On 11/2/2022 at 8:41 PM, cammie said:

and now it’s as if I am seeing the beauty around me for the first time!

@cammie This whole passage is so beautiful but what a moving excerpt. Thank you for sharing. I’m kind of speechless - you articulated the feeling I have about the deep healing in these trees beyond their physical, medicinal uses.
 

@Monique @peastacey I will try speaking to the trees (and my new wand!) that I’m still getting to know. Thank you for the encouragement and Monique, I’ll look forward to checking out the book reference. 
 

@djb ever since I posted this I feel the trees’ presence even more. They are in Glen Canyon along Islais Creek. I believe they are Native arroyo willow. They are so overgrown in the canyon they just had a major trimming if you are looking for branches  

15 hours ago, Arlene said:

 

@djb ever since I posted this I feel the trees’ presence even more. They are in Glen Canyon along Islais Creek. I believe they are Native arroyo willow. They are so overgrown in the canyon they just had a major trimming if you are looking for branches  

Rad. I love that area. I'm gonna have to take a nice hike over there one of these days.

 

Hi friends, just a note of caution with willow bark... don't take it w vitamin C and be careful if you already take a blood thinner. Willow is a natural blood thinner, itself. 🙂

Hollye