Take a look to my first healing Spagiria experience which joined to a simultaneous consciousness state that I've been calling the yes-no-yes' fluency of life.
I believe my first hit of consciousness thanks to a plant was one day during kindergarten while I was waiting my parents to pick me up at noon. Teacher gathered the group of children outside the building down a tamarind tree, a natural umbrella above our tiny bodies during the hot and humid noontime. My sight followed the rattle sound of the tamarind sheaths moved by the high winds, so I was meditating with the tree, and suddenly I asked my teacher: "Why do you call us niños if there are also niñas?, and she said: "Because God says that He created the Hombre to refer hombre and mujer". This response did not filled deeply my question, so it remained as a seed of more seeds.
According to my own interpretations of Alejandro Jodorowsky words in a recent interview, he says that the unconscious is not that bad because is where lies the infinite unknown that nourishes the consciousness with what can be hold more or less as the "known", which contains the consciousness of what we call the "collective unconscious" of humans, animals, plants, minerals, elements, planets, and more.
The scientific name of Lemon Grass plant is Cymbopogon Citratus
The word Spagiria is etymologically composed by two base words of Greek origin: σπάω or spao, translated as “separate” or “extract”; and ἀγείρω ageiro, that means “recombine” or “unite”. Jennifer González, passionate about medicinal plants, expresses that Spagiria is the way to be in contact with the soul of the plant in the form of essential oil or hydrosol, just to mention the two products that we got from the artisanal distillation of Lemon Grass.
What is needed to create a conscious relationship with a plant? What it takes to access to the vast field of information where the soul of a plant is? The author, Stephen Harrod Buhner, says "you can do this in many ways. One is to spend a great deal of time with the plants you are drawn to, to greet them with the seasons, see them in all manner of dress, come to know moods and relations, and let your relationship grow with the years and close association".
First thing's first: the harvest of the best leaves
Love is everywhere, love is every thing.
At the beginning of the day, we choose our best workwear (long sleeve shirt, long pants, hat and gloves) and then we picked the best leaves of the plant, in this case we worked with Lemon Grass; its leaves are sharp-edged so we used the gloves to take care of our hands. The greener the leaves are the better, and also it's important to use a sharpened machete or scissors not to harm the plant during the collecting.
If this is a new experience, it's better to do it with guidance so you can enjoy and integrate the gifts between the lines that the guide is ready to offer, and this is the result of years of a stable and intimate relationship between the practitioner and the master plant.
There are many other factors that matter when you want to get the best picking for your quality home made plant based wellness products:
-The season: summer is the best season for distillation; because of the intense sun, the plant is "stressed" so the oil compartments of the leaves are full of oil.
-The moon phase: the harvesting its great during the full moon so its magnetic fields attracts the liquids of the plants up to their leaves.
-The timing: it's better to collect the leaves after the first warmth rays of the sun come, so the leaves are dry at the moments of the picking. Avoiding the morning dew you can conserve the leaves better if you need to work on the distillation the next morning.
Let's go to the action. For the next process all you need is accuracy and patience.
The class: boiler full of water, fire, then the steam travels to the dorna that contains the leaves, and the steam goes up through the leaves taking with it little drops of the plant oil, this hot steam goes through a thin could coiled tube (covered by thicker tube containing the running could water where the condensation happens, the new liquid runs to the conical glass funnel where yo can see two products: hydrosol and essential oil.
Give it some water, fire, steam, time, space, mystery and: boom!
With awareness and intention we took the leaves of the plant and put them inside the dorna distributing them homogeneously, so that the steam has contact with the entire mass of leaves equally, then we closed it.
Jennifer González explaining the best way to put the leaves inside the dorna.
Taking care of the homogeneity of the distribution.
Before lighting the fire that starts the whole process, we made sure that the tubes didn't have leaks of steam or water, and the process took place safely, cleanly and efficiently. The whole distillation happens approximately in a time of 5 hours, so you don't want to stop once the fire is on!
Jennifer González and Jennifer Karczynski installing the condensation equipment: big pipe where in turn there is another coiled tube where the condensation is happening thanks to the temperature change.
As you can see in the previous picture, the red hose is being preparing to be connected to the smaller black hose so the could water can be in contact with a another coiled pipe inside; thanks to the shock created between the hot steaming coming into the coiled tube that is in contact with the running cool water, this steam carrying very small drops of oil then condensed into hydrosol carrying the oil by drag into the conical glass funnel.
Another good strategy was to maintain the first hose -the one taking the steaming to the dorna- in horizontal position; Jennifer says when she started doing it like this, she obtained more essential oil. Check out the next picture:
First hose in horizontal position to obtain more essential oil.
After son minutes, this is what we started seeing inside the conical glass funnel: magic!
The golden ring on the surface are the first drops of Lemon Grass essential oils, and the milky liquid is the Lemon Grass hydrosol.
More Lemmon Grass essential oil gathered.
If the conical glass funnel you are using is small, sure you will have to drain it when it's full of hydrosol so the product wont spill while you gather the full amount of essential oil. That's what we had to do.
Draining the hydrosol from the conical glass funnel.
Then you will see a thicker golden circumference like this:
Essential oil and hydrosol.
You ask what did we do during all these hours?
We shared love, consciousness and delicious simple food. Was during this moment of waiting, coming closer to the alembic to check out the process, going back to the chairs to go on with the talk, that I felt the strong presence of the plant gifts, the consciousness shift. We exchange words of special depth and simplicity to find out that the world seems to be an alembic where the human beings are transforming under different pressures and temperatures to share the best they can give inside-out to bigger purposes.
To be face to face with the simple grandiosity of a life form is healing. The instant you open your heart, your intuition because you want to connect, the magic comes. Actually the sacred water of tears came, the feeling of being in love came. Nothing wrong, all vital and present. To be in God presence.
Rice, salad and kimchi pancakes with two delicious dressings.
Sophi, Jennifer K., Jennifer G. and Randy.
Randy, the Canadian man, added all the jokes to the magical experience.
Amazing books about plants present (Sophi and Jennifer).
Always checking out the process, the temperatures, the hoses, the products dropping until the end.
Bottling the soul of the plant
Jennifer G. separated completely the hydrosol and the essential oil, then she filled up the bottle with the whitish product (commonly used in skin care products) and added some drop of essential oil which she did not allow to try pure because it's too strong for the skin.
Jennifer G. filling up the bottles, Terry listening with curious face and Jennifer K. getting a wise integration.
Unique gift.
What is that yes-no-yes thing about?
It's the rhythm, the heart of the world pumping. How many different types of music the universe creates...
Spagiria says: "get apart, then unite"; like "yes, come"; "no" (pause, learning, adaptation, adjustment, etc.), "now, yes", come again. Often when we are experiencing the "no" part, it's when we decide to give up without the integration of the bigger picture and an approach of what's going on.
And what if I open my heart, my intuition and decide to bring closer my soul to feel the soul of the bigger picture of the fractal of life?, so then I can go to the next "yes" to keep going with the flow of love.
What if my intention changes the yes-no-yes to a yes-yes-yes?
Thank you, Cymbopogon Citratus, for showing me a little bit of your soul, teaching me that you are a plant of pure love, compassion and intuition.
Happiness