Creating Plant Magic

Creating Plant Magic

The morning was bright and full of promise. Birds chirped loudly through the window as a light breeze ruffled the stacks of paper lying haphazardly on a small white desk. The sun’s golden rays were scattered by the many quartz crystals that hung from the ceiling, casting rainbows down below. Occasionally, the sound of a bike gear squeaking could be heard in the distance. Notes of coffee and cinnamon drifted about the house in a lazy dance, provoking a smile on my lips.

Checking the clock and seeing it was ten to eight, I hurriedly gulped the last few sips of my morning latte. Flicking my long curly hair over my shoulders, I quickly washed my hands and the empty mug while suppressing a giggle. The squirrel outside was doing his customary morning booty shake and tail toss on the fence ledge. He makes me laugh nearly every morning with that silly dance.

After grabbing my blue scissors from the kitchen drawer and a frayed wooden basket off the counter, I flung open the door that led to the side yard and quickly stuffed my feet into a pair of beat-up old boots. Shutting the door behind me as I bounded down the steps with purpose, I felt electric energy running through my bones.

“Today is going to be a good day,” I thought as I strode down the narrow stone path that crept alongside our yellow house towards the garden. Today would be another marvelous day of putting my passion to the test while creating plant magic!

A few weeks ago, I had received one of my biggest custom order requests since officially reopening my Etsy shop. I had been asked to make my famous Bug Bite Balm and Bug Spray in minis as wedding favors for an upcoming spring wedding. The practical and memorable wedding favors were sure to be a hit in Florida, where pesky mosquitoes aare notorious for ravaging the flesh of anyone who dared to show skin. The only catch was that I had to make 500 mini versions of my Bug Bite Balm and Bug Spray with customized labels to celebrate the couple by the end of the week!

A two-week deadline coupled with a massive order like this made me both nervous and excited. My skills and endurance were going to be put to the test. I had already designed the labels at this point for the mini versions of the Bug Bite Balm and Bug Spray with the cute affirmation “Just Smitten not Bitten” and procured all the supplies except for the herbs to make my trusted formulas.

Clutching my trusted blue scissors, I surveyed the foliage before me. Butterflies and bees danced among the blossoms of the fruit trees, rose bushes, and hibiscus shrubs. Palm trees jutted up into the sky alongside a giant oak tree that cast just enough shade on the plants below so they could find refuge from the spring Florida sun.

Where normal houses would have grass lawns, here there was a chaotic but enchanting mix of seemingly wild weeds thriving everywhere amongst countless other strange plants growing next to tomatoes, bok choy, celery, and melons. It was an odd sight to behold, and one would argue the plants in this place seemed to have a mind of their own and behave just as wildly as my unruly curls.

“Ok! It’s time to HARVEST!” I exclaimed.

Watching the blade of my sturdy scissors cleanly cut through herbs while harvesting brought me great joy. To be able to communicate with the plant spirit as a medicine woman and offer thanks for every leaf, root, flower, and stem that was graciously offered is an experience like no other.

Surveying the plants before me, I began to whistle, offering up my song as I reflected on why I needed to collect the herbs.

“I need plantain to make my Bug Bite Balm for 500 people at a wedding. These people will need relief from any bug bites, scrapes, or minor skin irritations while trying to enjoy every moment of that special day, witnessing the union between this beautiful couple. Thank you for your gracious gift!”

After feeling I had received the plant spirit’s blessing, I moved about like a serpent in the grass, weaving this way and that, snipping 1-2 leaves off each plantain plant that was growing all over the ground. This plantain was the Plantago Major, the broadleaf plantain with big flat smooth leaves in the shape of a teardrop and gentle ridges bending out from the stem base to the tip of the leaf. There must have been 300 of these plants growing all around under the swing set, around the garden, circling trees and anywhere that looked like the ground was slightly bare. The plantain did to the earth what it did to the skin. It tried to stitch the ground back together, healing anywhere that the soil had been disturbed.

As I reached out to touch each leaf before letting my sharp scissors snip through the stem's base, I could feel the coolness of the herb even as the rest of the plants nearby were warmer to the touch. The scissors’ blades sliced through the stems easily and a slight wetness coated the metal. Plantain was energetically cooling, making it perfect for not only helping the body to heal skin wounds by “stitching” the skin closed and expelling any toxins, but also providing cooling relief to any itching or burning a typical bug bite, sting, or skin rash would leave.

After about an hour of carefully harvesting a few leaves from each of my precious plantain plants, I had filled my basket to the brim and felt satisfied. Now it was time to give back to my plant allies.

Once at the shed, I flung open the door and was embraced by a gust of heat like a huge hug. Inside the shed, I found my stash of dried tobacco leaves. Giving tobacco to plants after harvesting helps them be protected from bugs, birds, and other animals that might want to feast on the exposed parts before the plant has had time to properly recover. It is said the spirit of the plant appreciates the offering and this keeps the bond between plant and harvester in good standing.

Wiping the blade of my blue scissors on my denim shorts to clean them, I thought about what else needed to be done before the wedding favors would be ready to present.

“Well, I’ll need to wash and dehydrate the plantain leaves before cutting them into smaller pieces and infusing them in the olive oil with the dried Calendula blossoms and Oats. Then, I'll strain the oil after it’s been infused for 4 hours using the heat method and add in the cocoa butter and vegan wax. I have my essential oil blends ready to go with the tins and the bug spray is already done. So, while the oil is infusing, I’ll work on getting the Palo Santo Wands ready. I’ll need to cut the white thread and braid it around the wands with the quartz. My black fabric scissors should be where I left them, hopefully. Then I’ll need to cut out the rest of the labels for the finishing touches! So much to do still!” I thought.

Finding the blade of my blue scissors clean, I quickly headed back to the yard and proceeded to cut up the dried tobacco in small pieces and watched it blow in the wind over all the plants. The gentle snipping sound the blades made against the dried plant matter was oddly comforting to me.

With a chuckle, I thought about the time my partner had tried to help me cut out some fabric for dream pillows with this very pair of blue scissors. “Babe!!” I exclaimed in horror, quickly snatching the blue scissors out of his hand and replacing them with a pair of big black scissors that had a blade twice as long. “THESE are the fabric scissors! You can’t use the outside scissors to cut fabric!” We had laughed it off, but I still found myself running to save a pair of scissors from being used in the wrong way from time to time.

I have, in truth, 5 pairs of scissors and would probably have a total of 12 if I could get away with it. In my mind, each pair of scissors served a unique purpose, and defiling a pair by using it for multiple purposes was blasphemy. You needed the black fabric scissors with the long blade for cutting fabric and thread, the blue scissors were outside scissors for harvesting and cutting plants that had softer stems or dried leaves, the light green scissors were for cutting veggies in the kitchen, the red scissors were for cutting meat packages, and last but certainly not least were the big gray and orange office scissors that fit perfectly in my hand and had the sharpest blade of all.

Those grey and orange scissors were strictly for cutting out the labels for my handcrafted herbal self-care products. The handle was almost gummy in texture. So many hours of my craft were spent cutting out circle labels for my various bottles and tins.

As I stood there, cutting the tobacco leaves, and watching them swirl about in the wind-down to the plantain, I thought about the night before when I had started to prepare some of the Bug Bite Balm labels. With a steady hand, I had slowly cut around the outline of each small colorful label to perfection. It was not a job that could be hurried as it was the final piece of the presentation and it had to look beautiful.

Cutting out the circular labels was certainly tedious work, but it was also very comforting and peaceful. Regardless of my hand aching and back screaming at me, I would often get lost in a daydream, imagining every person that opened their mini tin of Bug Bite Balm or used one of the Bug Sprays at the upcoming wedding or, my clients that had ordered my Love Potion, Doggie Balm, Face Cream, Iron Tonic or whatever other herbal creations from my shop. I would imagine them reading the label’s affirmation and smiling before using the product. In my mind, they would notice every detail. Making sure the label was gorgeous was a way to properly showcase the magic of the plants used in each product. In my daydreams, while cutting each laminated sticker label one by one, I had always pictured the person experiencing the healing powers of the plant medicine and telling all their friends and coworkers of ZPlantMagic products. In my daydreams, the person’s friends would go to the ZPlantMagic.com website and see enlarged pictures of each herbal elixir and herbal self-care product with the bright labels on full display since they were blown up even bigger than in real life. I thought about how when I looked down mid-cut, intensely staring at my work, I could see the reflection of my own eyes burning back at me in the blade of the gray and orange scissors, while I methodically cut around the outline of the circle label.

Those eyes had burned with hope; A hope so strong from deep within my heart, that the person who would receive their ZPlantMagic goodies would see the immense love poured into that creation and feel the healing from the herbs contained within it.

Smiling at the memory, I closed my eyes and let the breeze play with my curls as the scent of tobacco clung to my hands. The sounds of paper crunching against the sharp blades still lingered in my ear from the night before. Opening my eyes to see the scattered tobacco on the ground weaved in with the plants, I felt gratitude for not just the ability to play alchemist and channel my passion for herbal medicine into my products, but for my precious pairs of scissors that were needed throughout my creative process, and allowed me to create such wonderful products filled with plant magic for everyone to enjoy.

As I drifted back into the present moment, I found my right hand was still clutching my pair of blue scissors. I swooped down to grab the basket full of plantain with my free hand and turned back towards the house. While walking, I gleefully thought about the dance my fingers would enjoy while being wrapped in the embrace of my scissors as I created plant magic.