wildflowerwalker

The Sacred Medicine of Tulsi

Tulsi. Queen of Herbs. Holy Basil, Sacred Basil….

Kundalini awakener; Interrelationship builder; Teacher of All encompassing Love; Strengthener of the Light of Spirit/Divine consciousness; Master Way Keeper for plants and people alike…..

It’s taken me awhile to sit down to write up some of the teachings received from Tulsi last November in the Herbal Alchemy journey. It was a BIG journey, and while it’s often hard to encompass the whole journey in one article, Tulsi is a whole story unto herself.

Ruled by Jupiter – the planet of expansion, broad vision and the guru, maybe it should have been obvious we were in for a big ride, but who would have guessed that the day after we started, bushfires would begin in the area….

As one person received in a rather ominous meditation on our first meeting with Tulsi……”there’s more to this“. Little did we know how much more was about to occur!!!!

Tulsi had been reaching out for an alchemy for over a year. Knowing next to nothing about her, I was a little resistant at first (and now I can kind of see why!)

All I knew of her was that she is known as the Queen of Herbs, is highly sacred in India, and is repeatedly called an adaptogen. Now personally, I have a bit of an issue with people calling herbs adaptogens as ALL herbs are adaptogens – they all have the power to adapt and work in various directions if you’re using them from a core essence sort of level (rather than a purely physical, constituent based level).

But learning more about Tulsi, I have had had to eat my hat a little! Because she really does work on a very general, non specific, more big picture level than many plants I know.

What do I mean by that? Well, here is a summary of the main teachings we received from her….

In essence Tulsi is about raising consciousness, for rising the kundalini. She helps us keep moving and growing our awareness with ease and flow.

However, before kundalini can rise and be mastered, there needs to be a basic level of balance in the body first – an overall relative balance of masculine and feminine energies working together; and a balance within the three heaters (in Chinese medicine) or doshas (in Ayurveda).

Tulsi works with wherever you are at.

She really works on a very broad, general level. Whatever needs doing first, that’s where Tulsi will go to work – whether it’s balancing the masculine with the feminine, or if its building up your fire energies, or if they are both already sorted, she will commence on raising the kundalini and supporting you to master it. She’ll help you through the next gateway on your journey.

Tulsi can be a great support for anyone going through kundalini shifts, for those with symptoms from kundalini rising or stuck; or alternatively, for those that need a growth spurt (a bit of awareness raising) in their lives!

Besides working with the three heaters, and on the very general level of keeping things moving throughout the body (liver); Tulsi seems to also focus on the endocrine glands – hypothalamus, thyroid, adrenals, reproductive organs.

Fire….

Behind all this, Tulsi builds or balances our inner fire (Three heaters or three dosha balancing).

Fire is consciousness. It warms and alights our creative forces. The more fire/consciousness/presence we experience, the more we build and strengthen our inner fire.

Yet fire also burns. It burns away what no longer serves. Interestingly, Tulsi required really high temperatures for this alchemy (which was fun considering there was a total fire ban!)

Tulsi has a cleansing, purifying action that clears stagnation and moves stuck or sluggish energy. Movement is important. She likes to dance, to keep energy moving which raises consciousness. Think of a Tulsi plant that is buzzing with bees, there is a constant hum to her energy. This movement clears away the old so we have the space to expand and grow, to move through new gateways into expanded states of being.

A Tulsi message from one of the participants…. she (Tulsi) doesn’t mean to be so intense, her intentions are only of peace, love and joy, but the level of our dross (what doesn’t serve us) is such that it becomes an intense experience for us. The more dross we have to burn, the brighter the fire.

But it is the fire that purifies and strengthens the fire of love within us, it builds our love light within, from the core of our being. The more we burn away and create space, the more the white light of spirit can shine through us.

When I asked why Tulsi now? The answer was something akin to it’s time for a mass raising of consciousness on the planet and that she supports that. The day after this message, the bushfires began. We were catapulted into various forms of “growth”. This ranged from instant purification and release of belongings in the form of packing to evacuate; heightened levels of awareness required when staying in evacuation zones; the forging of a deeper level of connection within self to truth – taking deep responsibility for own safety rather than getting caught in adrenalin fear mongering; a growing awareness of the power we have to change things – relationships with nature deepened very fast with the need to stay aware and connected; deepened relationship with the elements and the trees and a growing network of people working together and alongside nature on the inner realms to affect change and prevent large scale devastation. This all happened very fast!

Afterwards when the immediate dangers had passed, a sense of complete burnout and exhaustion. Adrenalin and the fight or flight response was big. Do we flee in fear or do we stay and fight by channelling our energies for greater good? Even to make that decision required a deepening of conscious awareness to the inner truth. These themes arose in the collective around us and within the alchemy.

Amidst all this, Tulsi herself never wavered from a giant all encompassing feeling of joy, love, acceptance and compassion. She wasn’t too fussed about how we did things, the message was more one of: the way you do things is more about YOUR growth that’s important, it doesn’t matter to me, I’m in complete acceptance of ALL ways.

As a Queen, she evoked the feeling of knowing our sovereignty, being self assured but not in an arrogant way. She knows her place as leader, yet also that this is a big responsibility and not to be belittled either. Healthy Ego.

“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.”

Probably her biggest teaching was that of unity and connection. Throughout the alchemy there was a recurring theme of feeling left out or disconnected, separate from the group or collective. There was also the need to collaborate and work as a team. In fact, due to some of the practical challenges we faced in this alchemy (fire ban and lack of water due to drought), collaboration and all hands on deck were required often in order to get systems in place.

Tulsi showed us that she heals wounds of separation, she helps us own that we are the creators of these feelings, and that we can change them at any moment. She helps us see through the illusions of separation, to burn through the boundaries that make us think we’re separate. Tulsi reminds us we are all one – a myriad of incarnations living and burning away our karma, all working as part of a unified whole. So to love everyone and remember compassion. Everyone is on their right path.

She helps us see the bigger picture, to acknowledge ourselves and others as sacred and holy just the way we are. That every being is at the perfect place for them right now, so to let go judgments and stop trying to play guru (negative Jupiter). After all, how do we know what’s right for another? Judgment stems from this illusion of separation. If we sit in presence with our judgments, they will burn through us and clarify the truth. The truth that each of us is master of ourselves and doing the best we can under the circumstances we have and that we are all playing a divine part of the whole picture. Tulsi helps us remember that and stay in all-encompassing love.

Tulsi builds relationship. She heals through interconnecting the many levels of any beings. She is all about Interrelationship. She enlivens and lights up connective pathways – within the nervous system, between each other, between us and the gods, between us and nature. She awakens these pathways, helps us remember and reconnect to them. On a BIG level. Venus plants will to some extent do this, but being ruled by Jupiter, she helps us on a more grandiose scale. She is the Queen. When we pay respect to the queen, to the earth, to each other, the relationship then abundantly and with so much love holds and cares for us in reciprocation. Tulsi taught about sacredness and the importance of healthy worship/devotion (worship in the sense of celebration and honouring). Through this, she bestows her abundance on us. This is Tulsi. Honour her and she will gift you.

So in summary:

Tulsi will work with wherever you are at. She supports you to expand and to raise your consciousness – whether that means integrating your feminine and masculine, balancing the fire and water energies in your psyche, or to be a master of your energy channels, she will start where you are right now.

Her energy is pure all encompassing love. Though sometimes the lessons may appear strong, the intention behind this growth is pure love. She comes from a place of no judgment.

She will teach you to realise yourself as a unique and divine individual that has a very vital part to play within the whole picture. And that all others beings (seen and unseen) are also this. That we are all exactly where we are meant to be right now, so to trust that and move forwards from there. She will help you see beyond the illusion of separation, and from this place we can only have compassion and love for ourselves and all other beings. This deep respect fosters a deeper working together, of interrelationship with all beings.

And so may the medicine of Tulsi spread far and wide!

Purchase a 30ml bottle of alchemically prepared Tulsi Spagyric Essence here.

Join the next Herbal Alchemy journey here or sign up to the course occasional email list to be notified of future courses.