This is a picture of my very favorite flower, peony. Not only is she remarkably beautiful, but she has amazing healing properties as well which is why I am writing about her. She has been my favorite flower since I was child, with several large bushes growing right outside my bedroom window. Her blooming cycle is a short timeframe, 1-2 weeks at the beginning of May. This year that blooming cycle happened around the first weekend of May, which also happened to be the weekend of my wedding (which she attended with a full invitation). The exact day, May 5th, was the midpoint between the Winter solstice and the Summer equinox, which in Taoist tradition is considered to be the first day of summer. I’ve been thinking about her within that context lately, that she chooses to emerge in full bloom at this very powerful point in the nature’s cyclical dance.
In Chinese medicine, she is a powerful blood tonic, strengthening and nourishing the blood and body fluids which can make the skin elastic and smooth. In Chinese wisdom, it is thought that women who drink white peony tea regularly will be as beautiful and radiant as the peony’s bloom. She also stablizes and supports the yin, which means that on a physical level she astringes the essence by stopping sweating and preserving the yin. She works gently to soften and relax the liver (responsible for the smooth coursing of qi in the body). On an emotional level, she softens anger and relaxes us. She has deep antispasmodic properties, relaxing the muscles and ease cramping and pain (such as menstrual cramps).
I made a flower essence of her a couple of years ago as a way of spending more time attuning to her healing properties on a deeper emotional and spiritual level. Making flower essences is an alchemical process to refine the and extract the essence of a flower, using fire (direct sunlight) and water (pure water in a clear bowl) and allowing them to cook in the morning sun that still has drops of dew clinging to the plants. I want to share a few observations and insights she revealed to me during this process.
I am awed by how generous she is with her beauty, her blossoms expanding out more widely than seems possible. But she does it in her own time and in her own way, not opening until she is good and ready. The healing peony provides me is a deep sense of calm and peace, like my very cells are breathing out a deep exhale of pure contentment and gentle expansion. That the very exhale is an opening and expansion that helps me to fully receive the beauty around me. How appropriate that she blooms at the beginning of summer, providing nourishment and support to help us all open to the expansion and fullness of summer.
