Queen Anne's Sanctuary
“Everything in nature resonates with the force of the Divine spirit.” (Ted Andrews, Animal-Speak, 82) Each animal, plant, bird and stone has an energy blueprint that reflects this spirit in its own way. Thus, flowers have specific energy blueprints unique to that flower. The blueprint contains medicinal and healing properties that the flower gives to the world. They are part of the intricate web of life that vibrates throughout the universe. Each flower is like an instrument in an orchestra, each contributing its unique vibration—sound, color and fragrance and healing medicine—to the symphony of life.
After an internal call to pay more attention to the symbolic, spiritual and healing aspects of plants and flowers, I began to pay attention to the flowers that attracted my attention on my daily walks this summer. One of those was Queen Anne’s Lace. Striking to me was its prolific presence. Queen Anne’s Lace was everywhere—vast fields that extended as far as I could see and yet single plants greeting me right at my feet, sometimes growing up through stone and gravel. I began to wonder what medicine they bring to the earth and how I might honor them. And so a painting began to form in my mind. I place my intention on journeying to Queen Anne’s Lace and painted a background of greens and whites to see what might emerge. As the Queen Anne’s lace flowers began to emerge, I also met butterflies and a hawk among the flowers. While searching on-line seeking an image of a hawk that captured the image and essence of the one that I saw in my journey, I came across this wonderful photo of a red-shouldered hawk by Gavin Emmons, a wildlife biologist and photographer at Pinnacles National Park. I contacted Gavin and he graciously gave me permission to use his photo as a model for the hawk in my painting. You can see Gavin’s work at http://www.gavinemmons.com .The result is this painting I call “Queen Anne’s Sanctuary.”
Patricia Kaminski and Richard Katz’ article, “Queen Anne’s Lace: Plant Signature and Healing Qualities” points out that the predominant healing quality of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower essence involves balancing the often opposing relationship between the physical senses and soul consciousness or spirit and matter. With its ability to integrate both the earthy and sensual and the cosmic or spiritual into dynamic and creative unity, Queen Anne Lace is an outstanding flower essence for harmonious integration of mind and body, of spirit and matter. (http://www.flowersociety.org/queen-annes-lace-plant-study-comments.html retrieved 8-17-19).
Other sources point out that throughout history, Queen Anne’s Lace was used for fertility and virility in spells and rituals. On the physical and sensual level it attracts love, lust, increased fertility, increase in potency and sexual desire. On the spiritual or cosmic level it can bring spiritual insight or clarity while remaining grounded thus integrating and balancing spirituality and sexuality.
(https://honeycoyote.tumblr.com/post/91702341200/queen-annes-lace-magic-and-medicinal-uses retrieved 8-17-19)
Applying Queen Anne Lace medicine to the chakra system, instead of shutting down the lower chakra centers associated with work, family and earthly desires, Queen Anne Lace helps us bring full spiritual awareness to these lower chakra centers and their activity and to take responsibility for the souls’ desires and passions. As such Queen Anne’s Lace balances the upper and lower chakras, allowing our spirituality to remained in the body.