the spirit of dogwood
Dogwood plant medicine ceremony
My first experience with dogwood as a plant medicine was in the company of 3 herbalists, 2 dear friends, and a group of people interested in herbalism. We were invited to a church basement, where a woman named Reyna has a business called Wild Foliage .
I walked in not really sure what to expect. I did not feel particularly connected to dogwood, but I do love plants and herbs and I was curious about the experience of interacting with plants in a ceremonial way.
When my friends and I left the ceremony, we were giddy. The dogwood was more powerful than we had expected. She was clear and very present, easy to understand. On either side of my house, the kousa dogwood trees were in full bloom. They glowed white and swayed in the breeze, more eye catching and animate than I remembered.
We didn’t buy a bottle of tincture at the ceremony, but soon after regretted it and had to go back to Reyna to buy some.
Cascadia Folk Medicine is the company the herbalists at Wild Foliage source their tinctures from. They are remarkably high quality and magical. The owner, Scott Kloos, taught the herbalists who led the dogwood medicine circle. Scott’s school is The School of Forest Medicine. He also wrote an excellent book called Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants. I don’t know him, have no affiliation with him, just respect for all of the things he is doing in the world!
dreams and other tidbits about dogwood:
After the ceremony, my subconscious had a LOT of interaction with dogwood. It became quite profound—consuming the plant, connecting with her, then dreaming so abundantly of her afterwords. I am moved by how much she wanted to communicate.
Dreams have taught me that I had a very difficult time adjusting to life on Earth as an infant. I have been taking classes at a dream-work school for the last year, where I learned that common death symbols like olives, Olivias, Ollies, and toast had been scattered all over my dreams for years. It was interesting to see the pain of it laid out so thick and explicitly with the crucifix in this dream, it’s usually more subtle.
This dream with Archbishop Tutu makes me want to start a dogwood church. I am not Christian, but Dogwood brought in a lot of Christian themes.
Have you seen the documentary, Mission Joy, or read the book? I adore this friendship.
Perhaps at the time of my death, I will remember dogwood.
Dogwood intertwined herself with the laurel tree in this dream. When I researched how dogwood was represented in Cherokee culture, it was interesting to find how the two trees are mythically related:
If you’re reading this, assume that dogwood has been silently waiting for you to discover her.
To connect, meditate, take a dropper of the tincture, meditate again to sit with her, and see what she has to say. It’s nice to do this with a group, as it amplifies the interaction and you can compare notes on your experiences.
