wild geranium Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

A Lone Cranesbill Along Our Path – Photo: L. Weikel

Cranesbill

Aha! I was just seeing if you were paying attention. Of course, I’m sure you immediately thought to yourself when you saw the title of this post, Cranesbill, “I can’t believe she’s milking the Wild Geraniums she saw on a walk two days ago for yet a third post. Good grief, she is shameless.”

Indeed, you’d be right.

Yes, I’m parlaying my recent discovery of the name of the lovely pale purple wildflower growing prolifically along roadsides into one final post. These wildflowers are seemingly everywhere now. I’m equally sure I’m seeing and recognizing them now because I made a conscious effort to learn their name so I would no longer pass by them with no recognition.

The reason I’m writing one last post, though, is because I just had to look up the spiritual attributes of Geranium. Alleviation of the physical symptoms that respond to Geranium didn’t feel like an immediate concern to me (thank goodness). And then the light bulb went off and I realized I’d failed to look up Geranium’s significance in my trusty Nature Speak* by Ted Andrews.

The Message – on this New Moon

As usual, in looking up the message Geranium might be bringing me (since it’s practically been haunting me the past few days), I’m both fascinated and intrigued by what I’ve discovered in the aforementioned Nature Speak:

“Geranium (geranium)

Keynote: new happiness and vitality; take advantage of new opportunities

Geranium is a perennial that comes in many colors. They are usually found and grown as groundcover in woodland gardens and rockeries. Some varieties suppress weeds through mounts of their leaves and flowers. They are easy to grow and the blooms are saucer-shaped. They are a summer blooming plant, making this a messenger about efforts coming to fruition having greater success in summer.

Geranium means ‘crane’s bill.’ In southern Africa, a variety of it is called stork’s bill. The crane, the animal to which this flower is also associated by its name, is a symbol of the solar deities and the bridging of the spiritual and physical realms. This flower and its energies awaken a greater sense of happiness and stir the heart chakra into greater healing and a renewed sense of joy in life. It vitalizes the aura of the individual which strongly repercusses on all those within one’s life. It helps one to pinpoint and grab life’s happiness. In most geranium beds, there will be an elf who oversees the entire area.

Geraniums as messengers foretell new happiness and vitality in our life. They also can show you where you may be missing opportunities for happiness. And they alert us to take advantage of new opportunities when they arise. Are we hesitating? Now is the time to act.”

Take-Away

Who knew?! What a delightful and most unexpected message to receive. And the synchronicity of this messenger arriving just as we approached today’s new moon, which calls upon us to plant seeds leading to new opportunities in the fertile earthiness of Taurus, is just wonderful to contemplate.

I love the intimation that where geraniums grow, an elf oversees that area. Gee, I’ve not been too obsessed with Beings hovering around the area lately, right?

Hmm. Pretty cool.

Watcher – Photo: L. Weikel

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(T-199)

Wild Geranium

Yes indeed, it pays to have friends who know their flora. In yesterday’s post, I included a photo of a delicately sweet purple wildflower that I’d only noticed and appreciated on my walk earlier that day. Not one but two close friends identified that purple wildflower as Wild Geranium – also known as Cranesbill.

Beyond having very smart friends, this also confirms that I would make an absolutely abysmal herbalist. Actually, not only am I not the person to go to for guidance on the healing powers of plants – I don’t (or barely) even know which ones I could eat without killing myself. Which is why, if I ever decide to go off into the wilderness, I’d better ask Wendy or Margaret to come along. (And while I realize I have a several more friends who would also fit the bill – I want to clarify that they’re the ones who made the positive ID on FB this morning, so they win the prize.)

Noticing

In yesterday’s post, I mused that I’d only noticed these purple blossoms that day. Upon reflection, I surely must’ve seen them before. It’s fascinating, if a little unsettling, to contemplate how many things I see or look at each day and never even notice. My eyes just gloss right over a million things. Every day.

Today, for instance, I was intent upon examining the Cranesbill more closely in order to verify the identification. Sure enough, when I bent down and really took a good look at the entire plant, I could see how the leaves are the same shape as domesticated geraniums that are available in hanging pots all over the place.

Odd ‘Coincidence’

What’s slightly amusing to me is that just this past weekend I’d been out hunting for a hanging plant for our porch. I knew I’d know what I wanted when I saw it, and I even laughed at myself for being so picky. I perused the selections of at least four garden centers before finding what I wanted. The funny thing about that? I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “One plant I know I don’t want is geranium. Ick. I don’t like them.”

Ha!

It wasn’t more than 24-48 hours later that wild geranium had me swooning. Of course, knowing me by now, you know I looked it up. As far as traditional herbal usage of the plant goes, I’m grateful I’m not in need of its healing properties at the moment. (And from the sound of the afflictions it remedies, I think I better hope I never do.)

On my walk tonight, of course, I was acutely aware of their presence. And yes, I apologized to the spirit of geranium. I now realize I’m quite fond of the wild variety, at the very least.