Today I was shown a bit of groundhog medicine. She lives in my front yard with her 4 babies, so I want to befriend her, learn from her, and become connected with her, to work in symbiosis, and to watch her nurture her children with wisdom and awareness.

This begins first by picking up on the subtle cues of each other when we are in each other’s space. She will make alarm calls that will inform all who listen when someone, or something is coming. Groundhogs have a very loud and powerful alarm whistle. Every other animal listens to this, for it can mean life or death for them.

As I was sitting and meditating in the sunlight she decided I was too close to her home. She stuck her head out and gave a startling alarm to let me know of her boundary, and that I was too close for her feeling of safety. I carefully obliged and changed my location, knowing that this very moment and my choice would leave a deep imprint in her psyche and how she viewed me; friend or foe. Luckily I got to capture one of these sounds on my audio recorder.

Here is the alarm of groundhog. Listen to how the birds alarm in response. She informs them of a danger, which in this case was me! And the birds in turn alert the whole rest of the landscape; whoever is aware enough to listen.

Click here to listen to the Goundhogs Alarm

Later, as I was in my shelter, I got to watch her eating on her belly, scurrying and chewing. She was eating clover, grass, sorrel and plantain. I learned by observation that every time a groundhog eats it leaves a huge belly track on the grass, and then it later becomes a mystery to follow, and I could then pick that out of a landscape, “A groundhog has been here!” But, of course, this mystery often can’t be seen and is covered up because of our society’s obsessive compulsive mowing disorder.

As I was observing, It dawned on me that perhaps the reason groundhogs eat our garden is because we mow theirs. Then they have no choice but to eat the only plants we leave. They would prefer to eat closer to their shelter and escape and evade and not be exposed.

After observing this and filling my senses with the lessons and medicine it was time for lunch. I harvested as the groundhog had taught; eating a lunch of the many foods I watched her eat. All of those plants were already my good friends and I could ID them well.

Here is a video of the meeting:

– Groundhogs Message –

A very difficult and powerful totem to have,
Groundhog is the symbol of opening fully to the dreamtime.
Of exploring altered states of consciousness more deeply and fully.
Dreams will have great significance.

Lessons associated with death, dying and revelations about its processes will begin to surface. Groundhog can teach its people metabolic control.
How to go into the great unconscious without harm.

People with a Groundhog totem need to have definite
boundaries in their life and let those around them know those boundaries.

Groundhog’s power is strongest in Winter and two years is an important time period.
Two years of intensive studying might be required to achieve
true trances or alter states of consciousness.

This is often the totem of Shamans and Mystics.

– taken from Linsdomain.com –

Each morning I’ve literally been going out with a colander and a pair of scissors to clip from my garden and use for my morning smoothie. but lately I’ve been venturing farther and farther from the “box”. I’ve found myself carefully and gently snipping and tending the lawn as an already-planted garden and adding it to my smoothies.

Wild plants such as Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta), Chickweed (Stellaria media), Dandelions (Taraxacum officinalis) , Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) and even grass clippings are packed with phyto-nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll, and are all found on almost every lawn I see.  This is the same stuff that we pay big money at health food stores to get with our exotic supplements and super foods.  Perhaps a more sane solution is already present!  Juice your lawn!

If you have attended my plant walks, perhaps you have heard me ranting about how you could practically juice your lawn clippings. Well actually, it’s not very far from the truth. Granted, you should know every plant that you consume on a first and last name basis.  I do however, often have trouble finding poisonous plants on peoples’ lawns, with 2 exceptions, spurge (Euphorbia maculata) and Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris).  Also, Groundsel is questionable due to its toxicity.

From wiki, “As a plant that is reported to be both poisonous for human ingestion and also medicinal; much of the contradiction can be found by closely reviewing the words that are used and the dose (amount) of the poisonous substance that is ingested to prove either claim. All species of the genus Senecio contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (e.g., senecionine) a substance that when a human has chronic exposure^[54] can cause irreversible liver damage.^[8][55]“ So what is chronic exposure?  A very vague term.

Today my delicious and power-packed smoothie consists of..

-about 30 dandelion leaves

-A hand full of hairy bitter cress

-a few sprigs of grass

– a few sprigs of purple deadnettle

– a few springs of lemon balm

As well as some home ingredients, including a nub of ginger, a banana, some yogurt, 10-15 soaked hazelnuts with the water, and homemade maple syrup from a friend.

Blend it up In-Joy!  And feel the healing.

Dan

p.s. of course be mindful that if you spray your lawn you are ruining the fun, although is it still comparable to gmo non organic food? probably. Use your discretion where you forage, and shop.