reception area

Olive tree
We all need to make peace - with ourselves, unsettling events, choices we make, with other people whom we see as different. It's easier to make peace when we are nourished, healthy and grounded. Evergreen olive trees may live to be 1,000 years old. These special trees bless us with steadfastness, food, anti-oxidant extracts, nutritive, delicious oil and yes, peace. Dr. Edward Bach engaged olive tree flowers for his remedy to dispel deep weariness and mental fatigue and to restore inner strength.

studio

Bamboo
Bamboo has strength and flexibility, grace in movement and form. Bamboo is exceptionally versatile - it holds the earth at its feet, provides food, material to build homes and to craft musical instruments, baskets and so many lovely useful things. Bamboo breathes for the planet, as does each blade of grass and every green living thing. Embrace the serenity of a bamboo forest and breathe it in!

laboratory

Ginkgo
The green historian whose earthly journey ps eons. Gingko is a wisdom keeper, energy mover, provider of vascular and estrogen support.

treatment cabins

Rose, Queen of Flowers
Rose exemplifies ultimate beauty and three-fold balance. She commands respect, maintains her own defense, sweetens the air, gifts us with her rosehips, rosewax and most precious essential oil.

Sweetgrass, the Hair of the Mother Earth
Braided and gathered with reverence, sweetgrass is burned in ceremony to honor the sacred Earth and our connection to Spirit.

Mahonia, Steadfast Purifier
An evergreen that maintains and meditates though winter, whose flowers draw the first bees of spring, whose cascades of fruit satisfy the mockingbird. Herbal lore credits mahonia (Oregon grape) root with purifying the blood, cleansing the liver, and balancing skin and female hormones.

Oak, the Mighty Oak
Oak represents stability, power with kindness, symmetry, majesty with expansive generosity, and gives us food, shade, and shelter. Oak honors yin and yang with male and female flowers. Dr. Edward Bach engaged oak tree flowers to support those dutiful souls who work way beyond their limits by bringing balance to duty and a sense of joy to mastering life.

Artemisia, Green Goddess
All plants in the family named for Artemis, Matron Saint of Herbalists and Faeries Goddess of the Moon, Childbirth and War. Living wild in the woodlands, Artemis assists in childbirth, protects wild things, wounded animals and injured warriors. She is connected to Bear, the animal of rebirth, and Deer, who is identified with Moon and female cycles.

Her quiver holds the Arrow of Truth and the true visions of wise old women. This family of innumerable useful plants covers the Americas and reaches from Britain to Mongolia. Artemisia vulgaris grows to mend disturbed soil and anchor soil in streambeds. Artemisia martima thrives in salty marshes.

In Mexico, women wear a crown wreath made of wormwood as they dance in ceremony to honor the Goddess of Salt. Artemisia herbs are used to protect home and hearth, to smudge in preparation for ceremony, and to move energy in traditional Chinese medicine (moxa). Artemis green spirit offers protection, playfulness, resourcefulness, wisdom, clarity in sacrifice, support for the child and the feminine, and health for the maiden-mother-crone.

sauna

Cedar, Honoring the Helpers
Great Spirit created the Western Red Cedar to honor those who help others, according to First People legend. Used for medicinal and religious purposes, this great cedar also provided fiber for cradle padding, blankets and clothing. Fallen trees were made into dugouts to carry as many as 40 people. Cedar is also a vital host to butterflies, caterpillars and many birds. The earthy sweet smoke of burning cedar is used for clearing energy fields-ceremonial space as well as personal and living spaces.

extremities care room

Rue, Herb of Grace, Power Against Evil, Comforter of the Heart
Rue is named from the Greek reuo ("to set free") because of its efficacy in treating many diseases. The most bitter of herbs, Rue was revered by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Hippocrates thought it to be a powerful defense against magic spells and it was lauded as giver of keen eyesight and second sight.

The Romans brought Rue to England, where it earned the name herby grass, due to its resilience, heartiness and habit of thriving in poor soil. Herb lore says Rue is helpful in relieving sciatica, jangled nerves and stomach, nightmares, and that placing fresh leaves on the temples will diminish headaches.

Rutin, rue's main constituent was found to be effective in treating high blood pressure and instrumental in hardening bones and teeth. Rosita Arvigo, a naprapath and herbalist whose Mayan teachers know the green wisdom of the rain forest, values Rue as a sacred helper in her herbal arsenal.

restrooms

Horsetail, Tower of Strength
Horsetail ancestors were giant creatures! A diuretic, horsetail is a tree-like plant rich in calcium (for strong bones and healthy nerve function) and silica-an essential structural component of every cell in the body.

Flax, Inspiried Gift from the Divine Realm
Valued for her fiber, oil, nutrient rich seeds and beautiful blue flowers, flax gives us linen. Linen was so revered in ancient Egypt that garments of flax were reserved for high priests and priestesses.

shower and affusion cabin

Water Lily
Pictured in artwork of Ancient Egyptians and Claude Monet, water lilies remind us of the oft-neglected but essential gift of water. Water cleanses, renews, remembers. Native Americans used water lily roots as a digestive aid and as a poultice for soothing and healing the skin. Floating in serene beauty, water lilies provide shady shelter for fish and invertebrates while gesturing heavenward with fragrant flowers.