Herbalism and meditation. Discovering the meaning of balsamic time
At the end of July, when Milan begins to empty and in the deserted streets remains only the sound of the shutters closing down, our Nicola too felt invaded by the desire to leave the city. For this year he had in mind a particular destination in the central Apennines, where an invisible line divides Marche and Umbria.
The program included four intense days to be spent in the Fonte Avellana Monastery on the slopes of Mount Catria, where a herbalist and meditation workshop would take place.
Back to class in a thousand-year-old monastery
Beside the neverending curiosity to learn something new about the inexhaustible world of medicinal herbs, it was really impossible to say no to the opportunity to stay in one of the few monasteries still active in Italy today.
A hype that has grown even more with the discovery that the hermitage of the Fonte Avellana monastery is mentioned by no less than Dante in his Divine Comedy, probably because he too had been a guest a mere 700 years ago.
The experiential course of herbal medicine and meditation is held by Karin Mecozzi, herbalist from Merano with specializations in botany and anthroposophical naturopathy with a Goetheanistic and Steinerian approach.
A rather complex introduction that we like to simplify this way: to follow the idea that human beings and the surrounding world are not separate entities, but one and the same cosmic becoming, where man and his thoughts are nothing more than a part of nature in perennial change.
A new awareness
During the day time was reserved for walks in the shade of the forests, in the footsteps of the hermits who lived in these places. We learned to read the landscape that surrounds us, to know and recognize the plant species that make up the flora and to read the stage of development of a plant by observing the shape of the leaves, the architecture, the color, the texture and the perfumes.
Every step, every look, every word was part of a path towards a deeper realization: the human being is nature.
We ourselves are landscape and we can relearn to recognize ourselves as nature. A concept to be recovered by going beyond the fear of our vulnerability to go back to feeling nature and living the wild.
What does balsamic time mean
Each plant has a moment in which its properties, its essential oils and its beneficial strength reach their peak. Observing the vegetation at different latitudes, with the passing of the seasons, allows us to slowly develop a dialogue with the plants, or better yet to enter a state of empathy that leads to the plant itself suggesting being harvested. It is a moment of pure magic that herbalists call balsamic time. A golden moment in which we can feel even stronger our bond with the ancient peasant knowledge that has handed it down to us.
Experience the wild nature within us
This experience helped us remember why Wilden.herbals was born and what spirit we want to convey. It is important to know how to carve out and fully live a time devoted to study, to observe and to research the wild that is in each of us.
This way we can share with everyone our healthy and sincere imagination.