Hollow Bones & Wild Blossom Wings

On Elder: Summer's Bride

For me the appearance of elderflowers marks a true turning in the season; summer's bride is here!

Elder is a cooling tree under the influence of Venus, which I'm sure is why we love her so much especially on hot summer days, & has hollow branches (or branches where the pith can be easily removed) used by our ancestors as pipes to 'blow up a fire'. Indeed, the name 'Elder' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word 'aeld', meaning 'fire'.

The elder tree was believed to be the dwelling place of the Elder Mother, or the Hylde-Moer, & there were many taboos about chopping down, or even using twigs of, the tree without first asking her permission. Despite the dangers involved, elder is one of the great healers with her leaves, buds, blossoms, & berries used in drinks, poultices & ointments. She has been described as 'the medicine chest of the country people' & it's said the great physician Boerhaave never passed an Elder without raising his hat; a habit which we might choose to emulate in our own ways.

In 1644 a book entirely devoted to her praise: 'The Anatomie of the Elder', translated from the Latin of Dr. Martin Blockwich by C. de Iryngio, was published. It describes how "every part of the tree was medicinal, so virtually every ailment of the body was curable by it, from toothache to the plague." A universal remedy indeed. Were one to walk as a 'simpler', concentrating on healing with only one plant ally, elder would be a perfect choice.

Nathaniel Hughes in his book 'Intuitive Herbalism' notes that the Elder mother's greatest gift is to 'lift us into a fever...offering us an entrance to our innerworld-underworld where we may see the causes in spirit of our illnesses and purge them through our sweat." What a powerful and compassionate being to hold us in such deep journeys; an ally in the dark, which we will be reminded of when her berries appear in the autumn.

I wish that I knew elder's medicine better, but for now it's often enough just to admire her lacy flowers against the blue sky and sink my face into their scent. That feels like a healing in itself, but I also like to gather a flowerhead each day to pop in cold water overnight to drink the next day, & take a few blooms each year to dry as a tea for colds. And because it's a joy to fill the house with her scent.

Often Elder's most beautiful flower heads are too high for me to reach. I wouldn't have it any other way; yearly she reminds me that nature doesn't exist for our benefit & that it matters to gather a gentle harvest in a state of mindfulness, humility, & gratitude for however much, or little, we are offered. Our nearby wild nature is beleaguered but it also matters to maintain & deepen relationship; to stay in love.

As for me & my own health journey with osteoarthritis, I am drawn to the lightness of the hollow bones of birds, & so too the hollow branches of trees like the lilac & elder who allow the breath to move through. When in pain it matters to breathe, & maybe I will sprout wings of wild blossom and fly!

For now, I am in elder bliss and I am so grateful.

References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Mother

‘Culpeper's Complete Herbal’

‘Intuitive Herbalism’, Nathaniel Hughes