Lady's Mantle

Lady's Mantle, in latin is Alchemiila Vulgaris.  Sacred Flora of Mary called this plant Mary's Mantle because the leaves shape looked like the cloak of the Virgin. The plant has medicinal values. It stops bleeding, it is a tonic for menopause, menstrual cramps and can heal wounds.

It was the herb of the Medieval Alchemist. Dew drops would naturally form on its leaves and would be collected as one of the alchemist's ingredients used to transform lead into gold. How were the ancient Medieval Alchemist transforming heavy lead into gold? I believe that this alchemical process was actually speaking of a spiritual transformation rather than one based on material reality. You must remember that in Medieval days the strong arm of the inquisition was ever present - any spiritual practice outside of the Catholic Church might place you on a burning stake. Other spiritual practices, outside of the church had to be veiled.

The Alchemist gathered dew drops from Lady's Mantle. Many of you may know of Bach Flower Essences. Doctor Bach was inspired by old Celtic practices of collecting dew drops from the flowers or plant leaves on May Day. Bach found that the dew drops contained medicine for healing the emotions. He developed his flower essences from his inspiration.

What the Alchemists were doing was transforming the heavy base emotions (symbolic of lead) into the golden light of understanding. Alchemy was about soul transformation and realization. The dew drops of Lady's Mantle aided the Alchemist in bringing forth the emotional wounding needing healing, just as flower essences do today.

The first step in this great alchemical process is to recognize the emotional pattern within oneself. This is a big step because it means one has to look at parts of oneself that may cause painful memories. But recognizing the emotional problem is not enough. One can understand the patterns on an intellectual level, but when the  pattern return as rerun it can become a problem. One should understand that there are memories that lay dormant in the body that require complete transformation. This process can make one feel vulnerable as we allow ourselves to remember and then completely release those encoded memories in the body. Sometimes this process can be very cathartic, but as the soul becomes accustomed to such a process, it becomes easier to shed the identification with old memories that are no longer needed.

Lady's Mantle or Mary's Mantle allows us to become alchemist of the soul. I offer this plant today into the Christ Creche for our Golden Transformation.