Sweet Flag-We need a name for this blend
Ingredients: All wildcrafted plants and plants extracts that can form the scentsong of
sweet flag's ecosystem and have often joined her on the strewing floor. Wildcrafted
Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus) root and leaves, Sweetgrass blades (Acorus calamus), Mint
leaves (Mentha canadensis), Cedar wood (Thuja occidentalis), Himalayan Cedar wood
(Cedrus deodora), Balsam Fir resin (Abies balsamea)
This incense comes with a package of wild harvested, sweet flag root for chewing
There are fragrances that for most of human history were common known across
civilizations and time but we in the West have lost from our olafactory library. The
aroma of Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus) is once such Fragrance. Sweet Flag's rich, butter
sweet fragrance punctuated with earthy root and spicy notes was a welcome part of
everyday life and not only for it's anti-depressive effects. Her aromatic leaves and root
would have been used all year round since they improve with age. Her leaves were used
for strewing floors and being woven into rush mats in gathering places from chapels to
harems because they released her scent when trodden upon. She was used above our
heads to as the long, thin, sturdy leaves were used to thatch roofs.
Sweet Flag has traveled with us through the ages because she does not produce very
many viable seeds but is best propagated by pieces of root and spreads herself in large
patches along banks of streams and in moist meadows. We can follow the ancestors by
following the path of their ancient, sweet flag, root plantations. The Egyptian's and
Hebrews made her roots into anointing oil. On cypress she became part of the renown
perfume base known as "chypre" which included labdanum, styrax and other local herbs
and flowers.
The Tartars used the whole plant in an attempt to filter the impurities out of waterways.
In India she is sold as a candied rhizome for dyspepsia, bronchitis and coughs. The
Vikings used the plant for its effects in ales. In traditional Chinese medicine she is
known as Shi chang pu and is used for wind dampness (respiratory complaints). In
ayurvedic medicine sweet flags is called Vacha and used to promote memory, longevity
and a good voice.
She is one of the seven scared herbs of the Penobscot First nation people in North
America. They have a story about how Sweet Flag was given to them:
Long ago, A great plague infected the Penobscot people and they suffered greatly, Many
became ill and many died. One of the Penobscot medicine men, was desperate to find a
solution to help his people but could find none. So, one night he prayed to the Creator for
help. That night the Muskrat appeared to him in his dreams.
"You have prayed for help for your people", the Muskrat said, "and I have come to help
you. Look carefully and remember" The medicine man stood quietly and watched the
Muskrat metamorphosize into a plant. He examined the plant closely until had its from
engraved in his mine. Hep inched its leaves and smelled the scent of the muskrat. He
looked deeper and saw that the spirit and the power of the Muskrat was contained within
the root of the plant. He knew that the root would grow where the muskrat lived and that
it would be the root that was the part of the plant he should use as medicine.
When he awake, he dressed and walked to the muskrats wet lands. There he found the
plant growing. he dug it up and made medicine for his people. In this way the Penobscot
people were healed and sweet flag, muskrat root, came to the people.
Plants that are found in storied legends, such as this one, indicates that human's
association with the plant described is very ancient. Many ethnobotanists believe that
these stories were first created to preserve knowledge as our ancestors spread out from
Africa. Some first nations tribes consider Sweet flag to be a general panacea. Her root
could be found dried, hanging in their homes. First nations people used her root and
leaves as a smudge to purify the atmosphere, in the sweat lodge for healing and chewed
her root as a preventative.
In one of those fascinating signs of plant intelligence that makes you go hmmmmm, in
hot and humid India, the sweet flag variety found there is relaxing and sedative while in
colder climates, the sweet flag variety is a stimulant that gives a boast of energy for long
journeys. Indigenous people of North America planted sweet flag all along their trails
similar to how indigenous people of South America planted Cocoa bushes. Sweet flag has
similar effects to cocoa leaves in that it is good for long walks and increased night vision.
Did she change in order to adapt to the climate? Did humans select certain cultivars? Or
did she change herself in order to become the medicine we needed?
Plants that have such a close bound with humans are the most easy to "talk" with if you
are open to their murmurings. This year, when I was pushing my way through dense
forest to go to gather sweet flag roots, I came across an area which had dozens of blown
down trees. The sweet flag patch that I usually gather from was straight through this
maze of trees and it is the only patch I know. I started to make my way through the fallen
trees and quickly realized that it was not going to be easy. Unfortunately, straight through
the trees was the only way to my patch. There was no going around because of streams
and deep gullies that I was not prepared to ford. Then, just as I was going to continue to
crawl through a very difficult blown down area, I had one of those feelings....that I should
stop being so single minded and take another route. I made a quick right out of the maze
of tree trunks and stepped into the marshy ground of an old freshnet. Following the path
made clear by the spring water, I can upon a marsh hidden among some spruces. The
marsh was filled with the died back leaves of marsh grasses. I took one, brown blade
between my fingers and squeezed it. She was here! The sweet, spicy scent of sweet flag
tickled my nose. I took out my flute and tobacco and made an offering of smoke and
song to her. Then I set to spading up a root and was rewarded with the biggest roots I
have every seen. I looked around and realized that the patch was huge, dense and very
old. Chanting a harvest song all the while, I took a few roots and was soon done. I stood
in the meadow for a few minutes in silence to be with her and take in what had happened.
How many years had she been waiting to be with her human companions again? Was her
ancestral memory even stronger than mine? Could it be that she called out in that subtle
way of plants, to join her in the dance of life and be of service again?