I always wanted to stay hard
becoming winter hardy for the spring party
“Two words should be committed to memory and obeyed by alternately exerting and restraining ourselves, words that will ensure we lead a mainly blameless and untroubled life: persist and resist.” — Epictetus
I believe weeds are some of our greatest teachers; they show us what it means to survive and thrive on this planet. Their wild agenda is recognized by some as a nuisance, while others revere their unwavering uprising through all kinds of conditions as heroic. You can choose to look through the lens that pins them as stubborn, aggressive, useless, and even unsightly, or you could shift into the perspective that allows us to see them as resilient, determined, beneficial, and another one of Nature’s beautiful, bountiful gifts.
You’ll find them almost everywhere. Concrete. Drought. Road pollution. The jagged crack in between two rocks holding up a stone wall. Some help, some destroy. As above, so below.
There is one particular “weed” I have grown to deeply respect over the years: the Great Mullein. I like to call this biennial plant “Magnificent Mullein”. In the first year of growth, the plant remains low to the ground with their large, thick, and fuzzy leaves growing out from the base of the stem in a circular arrangement (basal rosette). Then, in its second year, they shoot upwards with a strong stalk that can support their monumental leaves and staggering heights up to 10 feet tall! At least, that’s how big our backyard mullein babes can grow to be.
That cycle of growth is one of my favorite lessons seen throughout Nature, and shared through many different stories around the world and throughout history. It’s as if they are assigned the mission to first emerge into this world for endurance training and foundation building, then, when it’s time for the leaves to die back into the ground, the plant pulls the knowledge gained from their time above soil and down into its roots, which directs life energy into its grand return full of strength. Flowers bloom as bright and yellow as the sun and the seeds, their wisdom keepers, are produced, and the elements encourage their dissemination for the next generations to come.
Mullein’s lessons helped me rebuild my connection to herbalism, a practice that has guided my mother and me for many years and has helped us build a stronger bond between us now. I first spotted this dude who seemed to have bolted straight up from no where in our backyard seven years ago. It’s massive presence called me to learn all about this plant’s incredible medicinal properties and extensive uses, which has now become one of our household’s favorite plants to pull into our herbal rotation.
Although they’re native to temperate areas of southern and central Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, indigenous peoples of Turtle Island have grown to use mullein for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, after colonists introduced the plant in the mid-1700s. Through my own studies and experiments, along with teachings from others, learning to work with mullein has been a beautiful way for me to reconnect with plant medicine as pathways for healing.
Mullein’s leaves, flowers, and roots have long been known to aid a wide range of conditions and symptoms. I have personally enjoyed experimenting with mullein to relieve symptoms brought on by certain respiratory infections, allergies, gastrointestinal upsets, and inflamed skin, while witnessing its pain-relieving, mucus-loosening, cough-reducing, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects on myself and others. Their medicinal (and spiritual) properties can be meet through methods like tea, tinctures, topicals, smoking, and even candle making.
There’s one method I haven’t tried yet: wiping my ass with it. Another nickname for mullein is Cowboy Toilet Paper, since the leaves are super soft, fuzzy, and wide enough to possibly save your ass out there when Mother Nature dials number “2.” Just be careful if you’re ever curious enough to try it, as the fuzzy particles could irritate your luscious booty.
Here are some of the simple ways I’ve enjoyed working with mullein:
MULLEIN TEA – I generally make tea in batches and store the concentrates in the fridge for us to drink within 2-3 days. I’ll bring about 4 cups of water with 4 tablespoons of dried mullein (I like it strong) to a boil and then steep on low for about 45 minutes, covered. Then, I turn off the heat, let it continue steeping on the counter for at least 4-5 hours, strain the concentrate into a big glass jar with a fine mesh strainer lined with a nut bag or cloth strainer to catch all the fuzzy particles. I’ll usually add 1/4 cup of the tea + more hot water, while it’s still hot. When it’s coming from the fridge, I’ll dilute in the same amount with room temperature water and squeeze in some lemon (great when added hot, too).
A really yummy, medicinal blend is to make another type of concentrate with 2-3 tablespoons of dried mullein, 4 tablespoons dried elderberries, and plenty of fresh grated ginger (skin and all).
This powerhouse blend is in action, helping my body kick ass right now, as I’ve got the flu for the first time since 2021. With every sip of this tea and every lil’ knob of raw ginger I chew, I take a moment in stillness to “speak” to the cells in my body, as I imagine my body’s natural defense system going apeshit on the virus. This practice, based on my own experience, has helped my body way more quickly and effectively than any other treatment in my past. As a biology nerd, this influenza episode of the anime Cells at Work comes to mind whenever I allow my body to rest and give her what she needs to do her thang, especially with the help of plants:
MULLEIN SMOKING/SMUDGING - When I first learned about mullein smoke being a beneficial method of consumption, I thought it seemed counter intuitive to inhale smoke to combat respiratory distresses caused by…smoke. Because I chronically smoked a lot of cannabis flower in the past, I had “weed lung” and consistently experienced an accumulation of yucky phlegm the morning after, due to inflammation. Compared to my experience with tabacco and cannabis, smoking dried mullein felt surprisingly soothing on the throat and lungs. It helped to break up the mucous in my system, as it’s an excellent expectorant, whether used to clear my chest after a night of smoking weed or to lessen the severity of a cold or flu.
Instead of our usual palo santo sticks or incense, I’ll sometimes take a single dried mullein leaf and spark it up to send its calming cloud throughout our home space. We love the scent!
MULLEIN TORCH/CANDLE - Another fun way to spark up this herb is to make a torch with the seed stalk. I harvested one of our backyard mullein stalks last year with the intention of making a candle. I left it on my herb shelf to dry out and completely forgot about it, until Winter Solstice came around a few weeks ago and I wanted to celebrate by making a candle with local material for a fire gazing ceremony. The mullein stalk looked like the perfect wick, so I melted down some beeswax, saturated the stalk with the wax, and rolled it in crushed dried rose petals that I use for tea.
Since the seeds are mostly considered toxic for consumption, we took that baby outside to light it up. It was good thinking because the candle wasn’t lighting as a candle; it flamed up as a mighty torch! The fire in my heart roared with excitement seeing the majestic flames dance almost proudly.
I thought it would burn up completely within a few minutes, so I quickly whispered to Leo, “It’s going to burn out like so fast, so let’s focus on our intentions for our foundation, our dreams and see what images we can decipher.”
Leo and I stared into the flame with both eyes squinting with focused intensity. Then, after about 5 minutes of shivering our frozen pork chops off, we decided to blow it out and head back inside when we realized that this was a big boy TORCH torch and would definitely take well over an hour or two to burn out (see video below).
I guess I’ll light it again to celebrate Spring Equinox, when our tenders can stay nice and warm outside for longer.
The last two weeks of December are filled with many celebrations in my family, from birthdays (mine included) to all the holidays, so I chose to slow down to be more aware of the patterns of conditioned familial chaos and Nature, adjust accordingly, and follow the flow of more wholeness and simplicity in mind. Instead of seeing Christmas as the biggest event of the year for my family, I chose to celebrate Winter Solstice as my celebratory season marker for my own heart.
All the joy and wonder that I experienced during those different celebratory moments felt more aligned, more intentional. I found myself feeling more ease in becoming present, even when engaged with others. Even when my mind tells me I’m two seconds away from ramming my grocery shopping cart into the scattered person blocking the store isle and crushing their toes.
It be like that sometimes.
I’m doing what the mullein seeds, that have spread across my backyard in the fall, are doing this winter: grounding. This is Mother Nature’s embrace, her gravity, reminding us to pull ourselves back into the present.
This season is a time of dormancy, stillness, and looking within our own internal winter, our darkness, our shadow, like the trees and weeds directing their energies beneath the soil.
What is my present potential in this moment?
How can I best reserve and use my energy with the resources I have at the moment to continue building a stronger foundation?
How can I prepare myself to better move with inspired action when the elements shift seasons and the time comes to bloom again?
The Great Mullein is winter hardy, and I’m training myself to be the same: strong base now for prolific future growth. That’s how I’m honoring my energy this season, the beginning of this new year, and I’m excited to share this new adventure I’m preparing for starting this week. It’s a path that I’ve been slowly clearing and tending to: pulling out the weeds that hindered and nurturing the ones that nourish me for this journey ahead. I believe it’s also going to help nourish many others, too, in many beautiful, fun ways.
One thing I will say for now is that there’s about to be a lot of soil and saw dust under these fingernails this year.
Stay hardy (and fuzzy) this season ❤️🔥