Conscious Choice: Become Re-Enchanted with Life

December 2002 | Herbs for Health

Become Re-Enchanted with Life

by Meg McGowan

For John, who helped me to remember how to dance with all parts of myself, with love, and with the divine, and whose friendship is the single most precious Christmas gift I have ever received. May you someday know what you have given me.

When we have cycled through a year of holiday rituals, releasing that which no longer serves us, sowing seeds of intention, dancing foolishly with ourselves, opening ourselves to love and be loved, greeting our ghosts and demons, expressing gratitude for the completeness of our lives, we have opened our lines of communication. We have cleared the way to allow in delight.

Fear and doubt extinguish delight. We can never fully exalt in the present moment if we are afraid of what we may lose in the next, whether it be our dignity, our current perception of world order, necessary priorities, precious illusions, that which we love, our connection to ourselves or the next bite of chocolate cake. Participating in ritual celebrations throughout the past year has established an ongoing relationship with our fearful, doubting selves, so they need not appear like screaming, faceless Furies as soon as we abandon ourselves to bliss. No longer unfamiliar to us, they have lost their element of surprise and much of their mystique. All that has gone before has prepared us for what is to come.

As the year ends we rejoice that light will again return to the world — to the world at large and therefore to our own lives. Winter Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa are all celebrated with candles and light. At the time of deepest darkness we celebrate our faith that a promise will be fulfilled. The next night will not be as long, nor the one after that. Sharing sweets and gifts, we are reminded of the sweetness and gifts life has to offer.

We celebrate life through ritual, but our rituals also reveal how to celebrate our own lives more fully. Many of the traditional scents and flavors of December nudge us toward a joyful state of being.

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) clears, energizes and awakens. Imagine a child’s experience of awakening on Christmas morning to find that she is the recipient of more than her ordinary world appears to offer, something her parents appear unable or unwilling to provide, exactly and specifically what she truly wants. That moment of awakening is symbolized in a peppermint stick standing as gatekeeper at the edge of the stocking, which will be emptied as the first ritual of Christmas Day. Peppermint reminds us that we can awaken to have those same joyful experiences in our daily lives, as we grow to accept our role as gift-givers not just for our children, but for ourselves.

In The Fragrant Mind (New World, 1996), Valerie Ann Worwood includes cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), cloves (Eugenia carophyllata syn. Syzgium aromatic) and ginger (Zingiber officinale) as essential oils that facilitate happiness. Frankincense (Boswellia carteri), lemon (Citrus limo mum, C. medica), neroli (Citrus aurantium, C. brigaradia, C. vulgaris), orange (Citrus sinensis, C. aurantium) and sandalwood (Santalum album) are among those that help to open us to joy. Bay (Laurus nobilis), cardamom (Elettaria cardamom), cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), pine (Pinus sylvestris), vetiver (Vetiveria zizanoides), juniper (Juniperus communis), myrrh (Commiphoraa molmol syn. C. myrrha) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) are all mentioned as strongly affecting positivity.

It seems that everything about this season is intended to be uplifting, from wassail bowls and evergreens to gingerbread and incense. The tradition of studding citrus fruits with cloves as a decoration for the winter holidays might be a recipe for bliss. Similarly, an orange in the toe of the stocking may hold a space for joy. Working with these scents as herbs, as essential oils, or as flower essences has great power at this time of year.

We often idealize our memories as nicely vague, nostalgic sorts of feelings, when in fact they are vital keys to knowing who we are and what our experiences have shown us about the world. We need to be connected to that knowledge so that it may inform our lives. Hopefully, our memories of Light Holidays past contain experiences that revealed, in a microcosm, all the world has to offer us. If not, they will show us where the rituals broke down, which steps were not performed correctly.

Scent can reconnect us, and the energy inherent in the fruits, herbs and spices of this season can redirect us, so that our hearts can learn now what we were unable to learn then.

Perhaps enlightenment is reached when we are aware of the possibility for delight that exists in each moment, while accepting that to exist in human form on this earth means that we must continually dance through all phases of the cycle in order to keep our capacity for delight alive. The magic of the season may be the opportunity to become re-enchanted with life.

‘Til We Meet Again

After nearly seven years of writing Herbs for Health, it is time for me to explore other paths. Having an ongoing forum for sharing my ideas and experiences has been an amazing gift. I am grateful to Conscious Choice and to my readers for having provided me with that opportunity.

I was touched by the concern expressed for my cat, Mopsy, following last September’s column. His transformation came in the form of healing, and, at this time, he is still traveling with me. Thank you. — Meg

DISCLAIMER: Choosing a holistic approach to medicine means choosing personal responsibility for your health care. Herbs for Health offers a doorway through which to enter the realm of herbal healing, an invitation to further investigation on the part of the reader. It is in no way intended as a substitute for advice from a health care practitioner.

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