Chakra(s): Heart
Dosha(s): Kapha
Plant Part: Leaves
Planet: Mercury (Communication)
Laurel Leaf is “a courageous shield of protection.”
Laurel Leaf is an evergreen shrub/small tree. Its long branches of green leaves shoot straight into the air. They are abundant, reaching high to the heavens. When I look at a Laurel Leaf bush, all I think is the word “Victory.” Its arms (branches) wave over head long and strong just as a person who just won a race would outreach their arms and shoot their fists up high in a victorious gesture, saying “Yes, I did it!” Laurel Leaf is this in plant form: she is a vibrant, green bush of sweet smelling energy with smooth leaves reaching above giving the victory gesture.
She vibrates the energy of accomplishment.
Courage:
One of the first things Laurel Leaf told me was of her courageous power. She is the plant friend you go to when you need motivation or you are feeling fearful to take a risk or courageous plunge forward: she tells you can do it. She shows you how
you can do it. She helps you believe you can do it. Laurel Leaf helps you to see how courageous and strong you are. No task is too big or no thought too impossible. Sweet Laurel Leaf sings you a song reminding you will win every race and you will be victorious in anything you do. She is a big dose of I CAN in a bottle. Go to her when you are feeling scared, fearful, anxious, cowardly or just need a big burst of encouragement.
Victory:
Laurel Leaf shared this wisdom with me long before I did a google search to found out the Laurel Leaf (more commonly known to us by her other name, Bay Leaf) is used in the Olympics and was a symbol of victory in ancient Greek Mythology. A a crown made of Laurel Leaves was awarded to the winners of the 6th century Olympics. Today, in modern Olympics, second place winners get a wreath of her! She is a prize awarded to those who take risks, work hard, and try. If you are a procrastinator, stuck on a carousel of “I can’ts”, or feel discouraged because of past “failures” Laurel Leaf is a must-have for you. She will also provide stamina (physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically) and fortitude. Use her when you need to be victorious. Side note: there is such thing as a failure as failure is a blessing that leads you to victory; Laurel Leaf told me so.
Heart Chakra:
Laurel Leaf is pure Heart Chakra medicine. On a physical note, she is powerful for the respiratory system and will help you find your breath. Breathe her in and note how her aromatherapy opens up your nasal passages, lungs and the airways in the respiratory system. Breath is the medicine of life and so Laurel Leaf opens the blockages within you to take in life. Most of us breathe to only ⅓ our lung capacity: we have a problem receiving and taking in the gift that is life (hence why we are ridden with dis-ease, stress, and aches). Laurel Leaf gives you the courageous to take in…she is especially powerful for people who like to make excuses on why life isn’t good. Laurel Leaf takes your hand and invites you to not only accept life, but appreciate it and bask in its beauty. She helps show you life is good.
Breast Cancer/Lymphatic System:
Laurel Leaf is something I believe every woman should own a bottle of and use on a regular basis. Aside from being our personal cheerleader and reminding us to breathe, she is what I like to name “the ultimate booby medicine.” She is potently healing for the lymphatic system deeply aiding our lymph and fighting tumors (Remember her victorious nature---I like to think there is not a tumor or blockage she can’t break through!). She is especially potent for breast tissue and has been deemed one of the best to be used in combat with breast cancer.
If you are a breast cancer survivor or breast cancer runs in your family, let Laurel Leaf be your best friend. I personally feel all women should place a few drops of Laurel Leaf on their breasts and the lymph by their armpits every day. It blesses the heart with courage and has been known to help the lungs breathe deep and keep the lymphatic system around the breast healthy. It is powerful preventive medicine. With this, if there are other lymph blockages in your body, it is encouraged to place drops of pure Laurel Leaf essence directly on the area.
The Story of Love:
As all Heart Chakra medicine is, Laurel Leaf is love. Laurel Leaf was a symbol of Love in Greek Mythology but the symbol of love not as in the romance moves that brainwash today but one that teaches the many ways love can be felt and expressed. The story goes the God Apollo was in love with Daphne, who was the daughter of the River God. Daphne did not love Apollo, but he continued to chase her. Daphne asked her father, the River God, to help her and so he turned her into a Laurel Leaf tree. From that day on, Apollo wore a wreath of Laurels on his head.
The story is not one of a prince and her bride or even when that makes you say “AWW,” but it is a a Happily-Ever-After in a different way. It shows the many faces love holds: protection and sacrifice as taught from the actions of the River God, self love/standing true to the self and one’s inner desires with the courage to ask for help as taught from the actions of Daphne, and unconditional commitment and devotion even when rejected as shown from the actions of Apollo. According to Greek Mythology, Daphne is the Laurel Leaf Tree and so this vibration is one of self love: not marrying someone or settling just because someone loves you but rather loving the self and doing what it takes to not let anything take that away. Use Laurel Leaf if you need to understand any of the facets of love may it be protection, self-worth, truth, sacrifice, commitment, or devotion.
Stillness:
Laurel Leaf is a peaceful bush. I watch her in my garden, and she simply just is. She sits there reaching her arms high to victory and that is all. She teaches us we don’t have to do all the time: we can simply be. If you have a hard time sitting still, being still and doing “nothing,” sit with this medicine. She will sit in stillness with you, which may be uncomfortable at first, but if your heart is open (which she helps with), you will see how she will teach you do the same and why it is very important. Doing nothing is an art and it is does everything for us.
Protection:
Laurel Leaf has also been known for protection and “ridding evil.” You can see this in the story with Daphne and the River God as he turns his own daughter into a tree to help protect her from Apollo, but Laurel Leaf does “protect” from evil in a way you would think: she doesn’t say: “GET OUT OF HERE, YOU ARE BAD.” Instead, by protecting you, she shows you there is nothing to be protected from. She opens your heart, continues to help lift the veils of illusions we wear, and shows you there is no such thing as “good people” and “bad people”, “good” and “evil”, “good things” or “bad things”....it is all just “is.” Place a few drops of her on your heart and feel a potent, protective armour of love and understanding with lack of judgement in your aura.
Other physical powers:
Physically, along with being the “queen of the lymphatic system” and aiding the repository system, she will help with digestion, lack of alertness, is a tonic for kidneys and reproductive organs, hypotension , the immune system Lyme disease and congestion. She is said to fight free radicals and toxins binging purity over your body and mind.