Mullein - the girly goddess

This year I decided to leave my tunnel alone and I didn't plant anything in it. In the meantime, nature has gifted me with large mullein flowers, which in these warm conditions have reached exotic sizes. I am overjoyed and grateful for this gift, because mullein is a truly wonderful plant that I have been using for a long time. And now I don't have to look for it in the meadows: all I have to do is go out to the garden :)

Its name comes from the words “dziewa” or “dziewica” – meaning maiden or virgin – and is therefore connected with all that is pure, young, and fresh. When I approach it, I instantly feel its childlike energy! Yes, mullein is a cheerful, delicate little girl who doesn’t know the words “I can’t”. She loves the sun and doesn’t mind the drought (I haven’t watered her in my tunnel for ages). She grows huge leaves and a deep root, but what’s most beautiful are her bright lemon-yellow flowers. And that’s exactly how she smells – like a gentle lemon!

Thanks to this scent, she’s perfect as a dried herb for homemade teas. My children love a mullein brew – with honey, of course ;) I adore its taste too and always dry the flowers for autumn and winter. That’s when she’s needed most. Because mullein has healing properties. She’s irreplaceable during colds and coughs. They say she also drives away evil spirits — and, you know… October and November can get spooky :)

Bees love her. Butterflies love her. Children love her. She radiates a joyful, playful freedom. She’s fresh, wild — a true maiden goddess. She reminds me of kids jumping around on a playground: stronger than many adults, unbothered by what others think or by their own failures.

Exerice

If your life has lost its lightness ,if you’ve become disconnected from your inner child, go find mullein and sit beside her. Smell her flowers, feel the freshness filling your lungs. Remember your childhood. What was it like? What emotions does it bring up in you? Do you recall joy and freedom — or rather pain? What happened that made you lose your sense of wonder and innocence? Were you hurt, humiliated? Did someone laugh at you?

Sit with those emotions and let mullein’s scent bring back the good memories –and let the bad ones slowly dissolve. Like citric acid that dissolves dirt and scale, mullein’s freshness softens pain and sets it free. Pick some flowers. Make tea. Drink. And feel like a child again. Feel the lightness of that time. Even though you're grown now, you still have parents who love and protect you — yourself, the Creator and Nature. You are safe. You are eternal.