We’ve been busy in our lab this winter, exploring some new herbs and formulas we’re now ready to share with you!
Two of our newest Spagyrics are a Spiritualized Essence of Moringa, and a new Somalixir formula called Prana.
We first learned about Moringa from one of the students in our School, as he wrote about it and explored its energy, intelligence, and healing uses through the Spagyric work he was learning from us. His connection to this plant was deep even before he started class, and it deepened through the meditation, shamanic, and extraction methods we share in the course. Reading his essays and talking with him about Moringa, we started to feel connected to this special tree, and when he introduced us to a grower of Moringa, we were excited to get some for our lab.
Moringa trees are native to India and Africa, although the most useful of this family, Moringa oleifera, is becoming ever more widely cultivated throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, from India through Southeast Asia, and even into Hawaii and southern California, where our Moringa came from. And this useful plant is very, very useful!
Moringa carries intense levels of nutrients throughout its structures, from significant amounts of calcium, vitamins A and C, potassium and even protein in its leaves; to B vitamins and an array of minerals in its seeds. Those seeds can even be used to purify water, and since Moringa grows in difficult climates where many other plants don’t thrive, it makes sense that it is fast becoming a valuable and helpful plant in developing countries.
Medicinally, Moringa is used as a nutritive tonic for many depleted conditions, and it is being studied as an anti-viral particularly effective against Epstein-Barr, as well as for its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Moringa is also generally anti-inflammatory, and has shown promise in balancing glucose tolerance in a way potentially helpful for diabetics.
All of these studies on specific effects are a new line of inquiry, which will be interesting to watch develop. The nutritional content of Moringa, though, is well-established, and we feel that is at the core of the effects we feel from our Moringa Spiritualized Essence.
On first taking our Moringa after it came out of processing, we found ourselves tackling long put-off chores throughout our home and yard, finishing even the difficult ones with ease, and then looking for more work to do! It created a feeling of strength and vitality, in which not only was it easy to work very hard, it was enjoyable. This Spagyric seems to almost call out for physical labour to express its energy, and on other days, we did find sitting still rather difficult under its influence, as well as discovering sleep to be impossible if the Moringa is taken too late in the day.
Another interesting facet of Moringa’s tonic energy is that it increased our tolerance for difficult working conditions, especially heat, which usually makes both of us pretty lazy and unmotivated. Working in the sun, wind, and throughout the whole day was no problem, with both energy and mood staying high. After the work was done, we felt healthily tired, but not depleted or over-taxed.
Increasing energy on the subtle levels is the goal for our new Prana Somalixir formula. Prana is a term used in Yoga and Vedic philosophy, but it is an idea common to many systems. Prana is the invisible life force found in air, which we breathe in along with the more mundane air, and which suffuses our body with vitality and strength. This vital current is connected to and enhanced through pranayama, a Yogic system of breathing exercises performed as their own discipline, and as part of asana.
In creating this formula, we wanted to bring together Spagyrics that would enliven deliberate practice of breathing yoga and meditation, as well as creating a general tonic for subtle energy and life force. We included Cordyceps, for its lung tonic and breath-enhancing properties, as well as the way it oxygenates the entire system beyond just the respiratory. We also included Alchemical Oil of Gold as a magnet for universal life force, and as a unifying factor enlivening the formula overall.
The inspiration for Prana was initially found in a very special herb we were familiar with, but which was new to our Spagyric lab: sweetgrass, sent to us in a very small amount by a wildcrafter we work with who had collected some and knew we’d love it.
Sweetgrass is considered sacred by the Native peoples of most of the American West, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, Pawnee, and others. Some groups believed it was the first plant to cover the earth, and it is seen as the hair of the Great Mother, gathered into a braid representing love, kindness, and honesty.
After less pleasant smudging herbs such as sagebrush or juniper are burned to clear out negative energy, good influences are called in with the gentle smell of burning sweetgrass. Early European Christians used their native sweetgrass for the same reason, strewing it at the entrance to churches on saints’ days.
As part of our Prana Somalixir, sweetgrass has a strong quality of invoking good, positive energy flow, expanding the breath and easing it so that it becomes effortless. After taking Prana, it seems that physically breathing by moving the muscles is no longer necessary, as the air and prana flow in and out of their own accord. The subtle energies also multiply and circulate more freely within the body, and we recommend this Somalixir for other energy work as well, such as Tai Qi, Microcosmic Orbit, or Reiki.
