The calling
I am the tree of the Mother, the tree of love and passion, of true sacrifice made for love
I am the tree of Unity, of union, passionate union
My thorns protect my loves
Enter into my love now
Enter into this Unity of human and plant
Hawthorn asks us to love this world fully and unabashedly. When we love, we may feel vulnerable, but hawthorn’s thorns are there to protect us. In this way, hawthorn tea, flower essence or carrying the berries, flowers, leaves can help protect us as we fully embrace love. This work of loving the world fully in needed right now. Only through this love, may we be in relationship with Mother Earth , the elements, and all beings on this planet. Only through love, can we care for and protect our environment/Mother Earth and its inhabitants.
Kitchen Medicine
Last fall, I harvested some hawthorn berries, made this miel, invited some friends over for an herbal kitchen party, and used it as a base for a sweet and sour marinade for tofu. I also sautéed some onions, garlic and shitake mushrooms for extra immune enhancing and protecting powers. We served this with savory herbed rice and elderflower wine spritzers.
Hawthorn Rose Miel
This miel is delicious eaten on toast, pancakes, cornbread, in yogurt, or whipped into cream cheese or tofu. Along with elderberry syrup, I always have this in my kitchen in the fall and winter, as it’s a delicious way to take winter medicine. The hawthorn berries can be gathered fresh in the fall or can be purchased dried. The rose hips are high in Vitamin C, and the hawthorn berries are a great heart tonic, circulatory enhancer/vasodilator as well as an aid in digestion, which may be a bit compromised in the wintertime. You can add a dash of cayenne or a chili pepper or two if you tend to have cold hands and feet in the winter to enhance circulation to those areas.
½ cup Hawthorne berries (dried or fresh)
1 cup Rosehips (seedless/cut/dry/sifted)
¾ cup honey (preferably local and raw)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Boil 2 cups water. Add hawthorn berries. Simmer covered for one hour. Stir often. Do not boil! The cardiotonic constituents are heat-sensitive and can easily break down with boiling.
Turn off heat. Steep one more hour.
Strain through a cheesecloth or a mess strainer and reserve the liquid. Compost the berries.
Reheat the liquid to just under boiling. Pour the liquid over the rose hips in a glass bowl. Cover with a plate and steep for one half hour to soften and rehydrate rose hips.
Mix rose hips, honey lemon juice, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Blend with whisk or fork until pudding like.
Pour into glass jars and refrigerate. This does not have a long shelf life, so eat up!
