Rebirth with Chaparral
Chaparral, creosote bush, Larrea divaricate and L. tridentata. One of my absolute favorite herbs. The smell reminds me of my teen years spending summers with my grandparents in Southern New Mexico. The moisture from the summer monsoons would release its aromatic and invigorating sent, awaking every cell in my body, and the body of the Earth. Id imagine that the smell would help wake the soil and plants up to be ready to receive the rains so desperately needed on a hot dry day in July. The smell now takes me back to that space inside myself as a budding woman, just staring my long journey into female hood and all the hardships and miracles I would and still endure, it gives me comfort and strength.
Chaparral is a shrub native to the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Northern Mexico. Indigenous peoples have had a long relationship with this plant, and my own Paiute ancestors interacted with this herb and its medicine. It is a stimulant, alterative and antiseptic, as well as antibiotic and antifungal. It contains bitter terpenes that cleanse the mucosa and tissues making it useful for toxicity and depression. It also contains nordihydroguaiaretic acid which possesses anti-cancer qualities. Taken at a large dose it can be harmful to the liver and create toxic hepatitis, so small doses internally folks.
Chaparral can be used for many different applications, but it is most notably used for its healing effects on people with chronic chemical poisoning from long term use of recreational or allopathic drugs and alcohol. These chemical poisonings depress the tissues and the whole system allowing low forms of life (bacteria, fungi, parasites…emotional states, toxic partners, systems of abuse…) to thrive in the bodily tissues and magnetic aura. It also works well as an antiseptic skin wash for all sorts of external infection and combined with burdock, is useful for arthritis. Check out Dr. Christopher’s work on that…
Infections and disorders of the female reproductive organs also benefit form the use of Chaparral. Chronic yeast infections, vaginitis, gonorrhea, pelvic inflammatory disease, cysts and uterine fibroids to name a few. Taking chaparral consistently at a low dose over a months period time, can help cleanse and detoxify the whole body and as Matthew wood puts it, “ it often brings up emotions connected to the liver, such as anger, but slow enough so they can be processed and handled appropriately.” Another reason why this must be helpful for the female reproductive organs and sacral chakra. We woman tend to hold a lot of anger out of survival and protection there, and unless we have done some deep ancestral clearing work, we most likely carry lifetimes of our mothers and grandmothers’ anger and pain there as well.
In Mathew Woods book “The Earthwise Herbal, volume 2” he outlines a great system for internal use. He states “Eva Graf learned from a Native American practitioner in the southwest how to prepare this powerful medicine. It was emphasized to her that many people do not get the results they want because they use chaparral incorrectly. The “correct” method is called the 21day cleanse. Put 1 teaspoon full of chaparral leaf in a cup. Add 1 cup of very warm but not boiling water. Cover (to preserve the volatile oils) and let sit overnight. Strain and drink on an empty stomach, in the morning. Take the same chaparral and put it in another cup. Pour warm water over it and let it stand overnight. Strain and drink in the morning. Again, take the same chaparral and repeat. On the fourth day, put the old chaparral out under a tree. Take a new pinch of chaparral a teaspoonful and start the process over. Repeat seven times for a total of 21 days. This method provides a slow, steady cleansing that avoids unnecessary and unhealthy detoxification.”
I am staring this cleanse, to help let go of some anger and pain I am holding in my body. Time to claim my power back and get rid of the low-level toxins I’ve allowed to cloud my vision of the truth. Wish me luck folks, and hopeful this will inspire you to start some sort of spring-cleaning program yourself! I you are looking for Chaparral to purchase click here to check out our shop.
Author: Reisha Beck
On one of my harvests this tree watched me closely…notice the face in the bi-genital area of this tree... both male and female aspects represented, the expression on the face can be perceived both as agony and ecstasy.