Let’s talk about family…the spirituality of families and their existence.
In my spiritual opinion, families are groups of destined energies magnetically drawn to one another for the highest good of all. They live together, learn together, grow together. They ever change and they have a distinct effect on, not only the world, but the universe.
On a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic plane, families have a unique vibration: something about them that each member has in common that can be felt in the universe and that provides a gift or lesson to teach the vibrations of all to evolve us as a universe closer to unconditional love. Each family (energetic unit) vibes a distinctive characteristic…
You know the “caring Jones” or “generous Smiths” or “crazy Johnsons” or how everyone in Craig family has insomnia? Families are generalized by their vibration and we use the phrase “it runs in the family” to try to explain it/make sense of it as opposed to looking at the deeper meaning.
Families, because they are an energetic unit, tend to vibrate one, loud message (may it be physical/mental/emotional/spiritual/or a combo of them ), yet because each of the vibrations within the family vibration are different, each individual family member vibrates this message in its own way. So for example, one sister with anxiety can handle it one way, while another sister can handle it another way, yet both sisters are from an anxious family.
In a weird way I guess I am saying you are your family and you are not your family all in the same and as you create your families, you also create your vibrations. It would be interesting to meditate on your family’s vibration and what vibe you are and have ancestrally been putting out as a unit to the world.
It may be also interesting to meditate on this idea: You may have just been brought to your family to learn a vibration and then share this vibration to the world in its own unique way, and all of the very distinctive families in the world are all teaching us/the world something we need. Maybe we need all the dysfunction in families to figure out how to function.
Do you realize that everything has a family? The cockroaches that live in the sink, the rocks on the jetty on the beach, the clouds in the sky, the plants and the trees, the different types of cells in your body: all vibrating similar energies, yet all distinctively different, and all perfect and beautiful in all playing its part in learning and evolving and existing in its own way in the world.
Today I introduce you to one of my favorite families, The Chamomiles.
The Chamomiles come from the Asteraceae family which is more commonly known as the Daisy family. When connecting with the vibration of the Daisy family it is one of joy, love, peace and openness and that is exactly the vibe The Chamomiles give to the world. Although there are a few distinctive Chamomile “family members” all dried, distilled into oil or made into tea bringing the earth a medicinal machine, The Chamomiles, as a whole, teach the world how to be peaceful and heart-centered.
They are a family I enjoy having dinner parties with and generally enjoy hanging around. And if I have to be frank, I often sleep with The Chamomiles as they are wonderful to have with you in bed. :)
They have taught my heart and soul many, many messages, from the time I was a newborn and are a “model family” for the evolvement of the universe ( if there was TV in the plant world, they’d be more admired than the Brady Bunch). The Chamomiles inspire me to choose to live a powerful life fueled by peace and ease.
If you look a Chamomile flower (regardless of the specific family member) they embody the messages of being small but large and strong but gentle: chamomile flowers grow only about 8-12 inches tall, but their aromatics are strong and can be smelled distinctly when walking by them. Their stems and leaves are thin, soft and almost “fragile” but their flowers are protruding, bright and noticeable. Chamomile tends to grow like a weed, and some even mistaken it as a weed, yet their medicine has been praised and researched by many doctors and scientists for all it gives.
When interacting with any member of the Chamomile family, they will help you find your place of peace. May it be to bring calm to irritated skin, calm to an upset stomach, or calm to a disheveled mind, the Chamomiles are flowers that bring peace to the mind, body and soul.
More specifically, on a physical note, Chamomiles are generally noted for their ability to bring peace to adults and children acting as a relaxant, ease insomnia, help with skin problems like acne and dermatitis, support digestion, constipation and upset stomachs, help the gallbladder and liver, detox the body, and ease depression and anxiety. How do the Chamomiles do this? If you look at any Chamomile flower their center protrudes: you notice their bight yellow center: this is their “power place”. This power place is their heart protruding forward. Chamomiles are like a backbend! They bring their center forward and continually grow this way, more and more opening their center part, letting it shine until eventually their petals fall off/they die. When you look at a Chamomile flower, you can understand how they are a living vibration learning to always choose to operate from their center. This is their place of power and this is what they teach us, as humans, to do when we use them as medicine. When we operate from our heart, we find power and from this place, we know it is in our benefit to choose ease and peace over everything else.
There are different varieties of Chamomile that all teach the following lessons of peace and ease in their own way:
Meet the stabile sister, Chamomile, Roman: She’s happy, abundant, and playful in her approach of teaching you to chill out. She tends to be the most approachable as she is the “traditional” chamomile found most often in teas. She’s gentle and reassuring. She represents her family well showing you that being peaceful can come simply.She provides stability where things were irritated. She shows those who feel their life has been stolen by anxiety, depression or stress, to take it back. She will be gentle with you as you step into your power. She is a leader for peace. She will simply be peace and show you how to do it so you can be the same. If you met her as a person, she’d the straight A student, president of the class, friend of all...who accomplished it all by simply choosing to take a peaceful approach to life. This chamomile is nice for those looking to feel grounded, stable, peaceful and calm as their everyday norm. She is nice to use as an oil regularly or sip in a tea (throughout the day if you are highly anxious) or a few hours before bed if you just need to unwind.
Meet the wild child, Chamomile, Wild: She is the liberated sister, growing on her own terms, without bounds. She is freedom. She teaches you how to free yourself from all that steals your power. She gives you power and permission to dance to your own beat. If you met her in person, her hair would be wild and flowing, her clothes would be unmatched but matching, and she would grab your hand and start dancing with you without any music, without any shoes, without any notice if anyone was watching.
This chamomile works well for those (politely put) “tight asses” who need to loosen up: if you are high strung, she will help liberate you towards peace. She also speaks to the free-bird soul sisters and brothers who struggle with anxiety and depression due to their sensitivities: she honors their free, uninhibited side yet teaches them how to not get caught up in the “un-freeing” triggers that steal their calm.
Meet the truth seeker, Chamomile, Blue: This sister is a dark blue-green color when distilled as an oil. She is unwavering truth. She will take your soul on a deep journey reminding you of the universal truths. She opens the third eye and invites in trust. She opens your throat chakra allowing the truth of the ease of peace and calm to become your truth. She helps you release what you are holding on to. She tells you a new story. She helps you KNOW all is good. If she were a person, she’d most likely be an inspirational speaker or meditation teacher, showing you how to sit in peace or express peace to the world through looking inward.
My personal journey with Chamomile runs deep. When I was a baby I cried and cried and cried. My poor, sleepless parents could not get to me to sleep or be quiet for the first few months of my life: nothing worked, until they started putting Chamomile in my bottle. Chamomile’s gentle nature was able to soothe a hysterical baby. I did not know this about myself until a few years ago when my dad was telling this story to my pregnant sister. My body got chills when I heard this about myself (because aside from plant medicine/natural remedies really being the “only” thing that works for me).
In my early twenties, I could not get my nerves under control. My anxiety and panic attacks lived deep into my stomach and I remember carrying around a bottle of Pepto Bismol in my purse to try to “help” the constant stomach-aches. I remember thinking about Chamomile tea for some reason, but ignoring this thought and going on anti-anxiety medication. 7 years later, after meeting and getting to know some great other families (Lavender and Rosemary along with the families of Yoga Poses, Reiki symbols and Meditation styles) , I found so much peace, power and calm so much so that I was able to get off of a medication I thought I would hopelessly be on my entire life. Then a year later, free from my medication and liberated to peace, my nervous stomach and panic came back. This time, I was deep in my study with essential oils and learned (or should I say re-learned) about Chamomile. I used a combination of the sisters mentioned above and was able to come back to peace again very quickly.
I know this is because my cells and body remembered Chamomile because I used her as newborn. This is how plant medicine works: the more you use it, the more your cells learn its message, and eventually you do not need it anymore. But if you stop using it and then come back to it, it will pick up where it left off. Chamomile gently nurtured me then just as she did back then. Now, whenever I can’t sleep at night, I use a few drops of Chamomile and I do, literally, sleep like a baby.