Hello and welcome friends, familiar and new. I’m Jan and I live in a house that we are slowly renovating in a forest in Brittany. I hold spaces for those on journeys of transformation — writers, creatives and those seeking well-being, rest and hope in our fragile world. I believe story is powerful and that the earth offers healing through our daily connection and herbal allies. Let’s create a little alchemy together.
I think I must have blinked and missed time passing. Is it really May? Already we are in the season of Beltane — the festival of bright fire, the last of the Celtic celebrations of Spring, this one tipping us towards Summer, though I’m still waiting for the occasional hours of warmth outside to permeaate the stone walls of the house.
The forest, though, is a blaze of colour against the lush greens of foliage and grass. Cloud Yellow and Orange-tip butterflies whiz from flower to flower and fat furry bees hum with delight. Amongst the chorus of blooms yarrow is beginning to curl through the long grass of the orchard.
Last year’s yarrow hangs in bunches over the kitchen table and at the window that looks down onto the garden. It’s an early to midsummer herb of protection and hanging it in the house for the coming year traditionally wards off illness. Yarrow used to be boiled and given to cows to protect them from the faeries and it was also sewn into the clothing of babies or tied to their cradles to offer the same protection. Strewing yarrow on the doorstep prevented evil from entering and bewitched milk could be restored with three sprigs of yarrow and three of plantain.
Yarrow was also used for divinations and prophetic dreams, especially in matters of love. Harvested on Beltane eve, it could be used for both blessings and curses.
Boundaries. This is the message of its protection and insight. I knew this about it before I began taking it daily throughout April as part of a year-long commitment to spend attentive time with one particular herb each month. But it was only when I got to the end of April and reflected back on the month that I realised how deeply yarrow had changed my perspective on boundaries during that time.
Since I cracked a rib in January I’ve been craving warmth. Yarrow is bitter on the tongue and is traditionally a cooling herb, but it is also drying and toning and promotes movement. Movement of blood, of bile and digestion, movement of pain, of wind, of fevers and anything that is congested. Each day in April I took yarrow — drop doses — sometimes just in the morning or evening, sometimes both. I held the drops on my tongue and let my body listen.
The rib pain is still present every day. My doctor offered me painkillers and, when I refused them, agreed that it’s best not to take them. Yet in April the pain hasn’t held me static and stagnant. Breathe and move, yarrow whispered each day. And out in the forest, simply walking amongst the profusion of life, I felt more alive, began to stop clinging to and internal Winter, began to think of Spring less as brining the waters of grief, more as releasing waters of nourishment. I began to think of this particular Spring not only as a time of too much rain but also a season of warmth and light, a cradle of new life.
Yarrow has been an extraordinary friend through the last month. It has moved me — physically and emotionally. In March violet soothed me and Acorus calamus (sweet flag) was grounding and centring. I began to have a clearer vision of where my journey might be wending next. Sweet flag was warming and gave me insight and voice. Yarrow has added energy and boundaries to this.
As well as the drop doses of tincture I diffused yarrow oil throughout the month. It’s a rich green-blue oil with a hint of aromatic sweetness over a deeper bitter note and it’s known for bringing stability and helping to balance competing priorities. In Chinese philosophy, yarrow is seen as the perfect balance between yin and yang, the masculine and femanine energies of the universe, and its stalks are used as tools of divination in I Ching. In The Blossoming Heart: aromatherapy for healing and transformation, Robbi Zeck, writes:
Yarrow stabilises polar opposites within the body and is useful during times of major life changes, when emotional equilibrium needs greater support.
Am I at a point of major change? A slow but momentous change has bee unfurling since we moved country during the autumn lockdown of 2020. I’m beginning to see that I came to the end of the world (Finistère is one of many ‘land’s ends’) in order to explore my own boundaries and edges. Having always been someone who could articulate with ease, I’m upended by being a beginner in the language of the land I now dwell on. Defamiliarised, so much is being reset as I move into elderhood, weaving together the many threads that have brought me here. It’s disorienting and exciting and it’s good to have a stable plant ally to call on.
Yarrow is a wound healer. It’s Latin name is a nod to Achilles (Achillea millefolium). It hints at a bit of warrior energy, but the name is also a reference to the story that Achilles used yarrow to staunch blood and heal the wounds of his comrades. An ally that suggests I consider my boundaries — of work, of the shape of my day with its rhythms and rituals, of the healing I need to do — is a companion of the heart and soul.
Mid-month I booked a tiny wooden cottage by the coast for three days to mark ten years since getting together with my husband. Work was suspended and the sky stayed in place and the world went on. At the same time I reached out to a wonderful writer as a mentor for a new project I’m beginning in a new genre. Yarrow played a significant part in both decisions.
Towards the end of the month I made a bath scrub with oils of daisy and St John’s wort in epsom salts and added yarrow. It was deeply soothing but also enlivening. A relaxant that refreshes rather than sedates. After a month with yarrow my thinking is less congested and my heart is lighter.
If you want to know more about this wonderful herb, you’ll find lots of monographs online on the physical benefits of yarrow. It has benefits for nearly every organ and body system, but it also gets to the heart of us. It’s one of the herbs we’ll be working with in my herbal course ‘in the warm light’ (and I’ve got an extra-special offer below if you’d like to join).
Try spending some deep, focussed time with yarrow. And you might also enjoy this tea:
Relaxivitea
This soothing tea was originally made for someone with a chronic digestive condition but you don’t need to have digestive problems to enjoy it’s calming, inflammation-modulating, nourishing goodness:*
Meadowsweet
Yarrow
Lemon balm
Chamomile
Fennel
Mix 10g of each herb. 1tsps per cup or 2-3 per pot in boiling water. Let it stand for 5-7 minutes to infuse.
And if you make it, I’d love to know how you get on with it.
What is your body yearning for in this season of Beltane as the element shifts from water to fire?
Is your creative energy begining to catch the fires of Beltane or is it embodying a different season?
How are your boundaries as we enter this new season?
What help would you like from our plant allies?
How do you want to feel?
Please be aware that the essay is not in any way intended as medical advice. Always consult a herbal practitioner if you need specific support.
*Whilst these are generally safe and well-tolerated herbs, we all vary in our reactions to herbs, so listen to your body. A few people find herbs with salicylates don’t suit them, which would include meadowsweet, and some people can’t tolerate herbs from the Asteraceae family like chamomile and yarrow.
In the warm light:
summer herbs for inner fire and creative energy
Join me in the warm light, a course for the Beltane season. Whatever season your body, soul, heart and creativity are currently dwelling in, I’d love to accompany you on a journey to discover more herbal allies.
We’ll take a deep dive into summer herbs of warmth for body & spirit, a journey of herbal healing and creativity.
The course includes
Four live workshops (recorded so you can also catch up later) on May 8 & 22 and June 5 & 19 @ 7.30 BST
Course materials for between sessions including creative prompts, recipes, meditations and more
A community of others in workshops,& on the feed where you can post work and thoughts
This is a supportive and creative space where you can explore using herbs in every day life for health and well-being. It's suitable for people at all stages of journeys with herbs -- come and learn some easy recipes and ways of taking inspiration from the plants for your creative life too. There will be videos, audio meditations and yoga nidrā practices, creative and journalling prompts and lovely things to make to nourish body and soul.
For friends who are new to my work and haven't subscribed to a previous course hosted on Mighty Networks
For friends who have done a previous course with me hosted on MN (kith or one of the earlier herb courses), please subscribe here
Or scroll become a paid subscriber to my work here on Substack by May 5 and join ‘in the warm light’ as a free bonus.
Ah thank you Jan. Having always loved yarrow - and a big favourite is the pink variant we find wild here in Finistère – I was interested to learn how you interpreted its boundary-teachings. Also this: 'it's known for bringing stability and helping to balance competing priorities' – spot on! (Interested too in the warrior energy, even if only tangential.) I shall try the tea (though I can't stand chamomile so will replace it with tilleul).
Thank you too for insightful comments elsewhere – will respond. Rx
That's absolutely enchanting, Jan. I'm glad you have this meadow friend at your disposal.
Yarrow was among the very first medicinal plants I've used to make my own medicine and, I believe, the very first plant that made me dive into the world of plant allies. It was abundant everywhere around me when I was a child and I started being curious what was that plant I see throughout my yard. I found my grandmother's old book on folk remedies and started learning.
"Breathe and move, yarrow whispered each day" is such a succinct summary of what the yarrow is all about.