Navajo Elder, Grandmother Mabel Little Speaks

Grandmother Mabel Little:

She is so adorable, remarkably knowledgeable, and an amazingly articulate story teller! So glad to have been able to sit in a circle and hear her speak to us about Navajo creation stories and their relation to how the "five-fingered ones" learned of plant medicines and the healing path from the "holies." She also told an interesting tale about the 4 witches: hunger, poverty, sickness, and old age. Hopefully I will be able to post a soundclip of some of her presentation in coming days. Mabel gave us her blessings to audio record the event and take photographs to share with others interested in learning the "right way" .....I think that means in the manner of maintaining the intuitive virtue of compassion for our fellow universe; we(humans) belong to it, not the other way around.

Peeping some Pinyon sap after Mabel explained how it can be used topically as an anti-microbial to rid infection, extract puss, and mend the wounded area. Her recommended application involved melting plenty of the sap over a fire until it became warm and runny, then use a thick piece of denim cloth to transfer the sap to the wound; bee stings and yucca impailings were two examples for which this treatment was diagnosed.

The Healing Circle:

Two of my favorite plant teachers that I've been blessed to learn from. I rejoice in life to have met folks like these! It was such a lovely day too...






My friend Jessa pointing out Comfrey to me, a veritable "heal-all" medicinal. It's leaves are huge and have a sort of reptilian texture. The leaves can be wrapped around broken bones and applied topically to affected areas to speed up cell repair due to the prevalence of allantoin, a cell proliferant. Comfrey is not recommended for internal use due to a high presence of alkaloids in its constituents that are toxic to the liver. Used appropriately, comfrey helps bodily systems fulfill their most crucial function and design: heal, replenish, and renew.



This is my good friend and fellow visual artist Sonny Greyeyes Clitso. He took me out to his parents home at Kayenta on the Navajo Rez. I partook in the intense sensory experience of watching some of his cousins corral a herd of wild horses for branding a few weeks ago. It was a bone-riveting adventure, at times painfully hard to watch, but I'm thankful to have been taken along for the bumpy ride. The horses had to be branded for practical reasons, and the whole event was actually conducted with much art and grace despite its inherent turbulence. Thanks Sonny for the wonderful times and help with the photo documentation!


He took these shots:

Ghost Medicine and Sedona community gardens

Tetradymia Canescens: "Ghost Medicine"



This a highly spiritual and very powerful plant that has been used for centuries by the Navajo and Hopi. A low lying desert shrub, tetradymia contains chemical properties that render it an emetic, meaning that it causes physical purging. When used in ceremony, this special medicine is said to relieve the living of unwanted visitations from the dead. Though I have never used this plant, it has somehow spoken to me and I immediately felt an intense connection to the plant as a sort of metaphor for dealing with the premature loss of loved ones. I loved finding this one in the field and just sitting with it for a while.


More Datura documentation:

The number 5


The sacred spiral

Spikey seed pods, so called thorny-apples


Photos from plant walk at Kelly Canyon:




That's Phyllis Hogan in the purple. She has been a most lovely plant teacher and endearing friend of mine for the last two summer's now. She and her assistant Jessa Fisher run Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuit of herbalism and community outreach regarding personal and spiritual health. AERA not only aspires to inform the public of the importance of health, diet, and plant medicine in the ongoing complex life processes of healing, but also seeks to preserve the beautiful and ancient forms of indigenous culture, knowledge, and ritual passed on to her from the various Native medicine men that she has studied under in her lifetime. Phyllis runs an herbal trading store in downtown Flagstaff called WinterSun.



Community Garden tour in Sedona, AZ



My friend Jessa helping harvest enormous Zucchs!


Sunroot (Jerusalem arthichoke) edible root from a sunflower plant.

bee worker:

Flagstaff Green House Food garden tour.

Welcome to the greenhouse behind the home I am caring for:


Awesome Squash Blossoms (so fun to say)! The fruit forms at the base of the flower which begins to wilt only days after blooming.








The eggplant has seriously taken off recently! Apparently eggplant is in the same family as Datura. Kinda makes sense based on its colors and basic leaf shape, entirely different effects upon ingestion though. These are about ready to be harvested.

Love picking these in the morning!

1/7 furry friends that help tend to the garden around here.

SACRED DATURA FIND!!!

The Medicinal: Sacred Datura aka "Devil's Weed"

Location: crags and abandoned spaces of the southwest, these were found in Bandalier, NM. You see them often along the highway.

Ethnobotanical Use:

This is a highly toxic, psychotropic plant(chock-full of tropane alkaloids) that has been used for hundreds of years medicinally in ceremony by various indigenous nations living in the southwestern region of what is now the US. For it's immense power that extends into several dimensions, Datura is considered highly sacred and remains revered today...you kinda receive that sense on a vibratory level just from staring into the stunning beauty of both the flower and the jagged, heart-shaped foliage. I've been cautiously instructed that different parts of Datura can be used to bring about a visionary or delirious state of consciousness in order to treat psychosis and other psychological traumas. In much lighter dosages, it can be used as a painkiller (but never use it unless you are with a trained native medicine person!) Also, that big white bloom has been called a moon flower because it blooms primarily at night. I've heard putting it under your pillow can induce a lucid dream state...but again, even touching this guy is a big no-no. Despite its immense beauty, Datura is not a power to be messed with lightly. Improper approach to use of this plant can lead to blindness, paralysis, or even a very unfortunate and painful death! So let your eyes reap all the mysticism you need.

Check out the amazing spiral motion of a Datura bloom preparing to unfurl:

Currently, I am posting from Taos, New Mexico. Been touring NM with the sister and mom for a few days. A couple of days in Santa Fe lie ahead, then taking a train from Albuquerque to Flagstaff where I will be stationed for a month to continue Botanical Illustrations for The Hand That Faces the Sun. Check in for more updates on medicinal plants endemic the southwest, drawings, and other adventurous discoveries among the wise ones native to this area of the world. Thanks for stopping by!

open heartedly,
cameron z.

Post Script,

Check out this sweet Kiva Ladder set up in Bandalier:

Fruit Bat Bones

Original Illustration:



Serigraph Transfer/Hand Etching with Chine Colle of bark paper and asian rice paper for block color:

Punch to the gut of the world...

"The apocalypse is not
something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions
of the planet and it's only because we live within a bubble of
incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury
of anticipating the apocalypse." - Terrence Mckenna

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Penland School of Arts and Crafts

This place has been amazing! Thousands of tiny twinkling fireflies flicker all night along the gentle sloping hills of the blueridge and there are so many artists and awesome creative work spaces. Here's a small glimpse of the printing station which is where I will be spending much of waking life for the next two weeks.



Started off with lithographic monoprints. This one involved a photocopy of a flower and fallen moth that I found on a windowsill. The silhouette is my sister symbolizing women healers in the world.