California Bay Laurel: from stagnancy to flow
The energetic quality from our teacher tree, California Bay Laurel, this month is moving from a stagnant to flow state.
Bay laurel has activating and cleansing energetic and physical qualities. In the winter we slow down and focus on nourishment and building up our reserve. This moment in the season invites us to shluff off some of the slow/dense energy of winter, move our bodies, and engage in the bounty of the season that approaches.
I can hear the sound of the creek flowing in the Bay forest behind our house.
I ask the creek, what can you tell me of flow?
She says, once you’ve committed to a path, let it flow… don’t question.
Trust in where the river of your life is easily flowing.
Give it everything you’ve got.
If you’re pushing for too long against a river bank that’s not budging,
you’re likely trying too hard.
Let the river take you.
My prayer for this month is:
Bay tree,
help me clear the dams and eddies in the river of my life.
Help me to flow as a river flows,
trusting in my direction,
moving without tension but with direction.
When the flow of our life is fluid like a river, we sometimes move fast, and sometimes slow, but we are always following the river banks, without hesitation or tension, taking cues as to which direction to flow.
In order to flow well in your lives our energy field has to be filled with our own soul-energy. When we absorb negative energies from society, others in our lives, or we are clouded with past traumas or hurts, it is hard to feel our authentic self shine through.
Allow Bay to support you in facing the hurts of the past, the old stories or beliefs that are clouding your energy body. Allow Bay to bring you a fresh start this month so you can move into Spring like the waters moving through fresh mountain streams down to the seas.
Reflections for this new moon with California Bay Laurel:
~ What are my three main intentions for this moon?
~ What thoughts or behaviours are creating stagnancy in the river of my life?
~ What am I willing to be or do that will support my motion towards my intentions?
CA Bay Exercises:
If you have CA Bay nearby… If not, see what plant near you is calling to support your movement from winter to Spring.
A bit more about Bay: Bay leaves contain camphor, which you might know from Tiger Balm. A Bay salve can be made and used for muscle sprains, strains, and aches, along with applying on chest during a cold. The salve, or just a few crushed leaves, can be applied to your temples to clear up a headache. Bay laurel has also been used by California Native peoples to protect and clear negative energies in the body or home.
1/ Make a Bay bundle for energetic clearing: See if you can find a flowering tree! Give your gratitudes, and ask permission to harvest 2-3 small branches. Bring these into your home and make a bay bundle… experiment with what happens if you pass the bundle of bay over your body, inviting the clearing of stagnant energies. Try this in the mornings or throughout your day.
2/ Make a salve from Bay for physical clearing: harvest your leaves, cut them into small bits. let them sit in a glass ball jar covered in a vegetable or seed oil of your choice. after 6 weeks mix, in a double boiler, with beeswax. and viola! you have bay laurel salve to use for yourself or your family!
