Meet the plants: lemongrass

The little grassroots people can change this world.

Wangari Maatha

Cymbopogon citrates

If you are interested in repelling dragons, serpents or improving psychic powers– you have found your herb! Plant lemongrass around your space to keep the serpents away–or maybe just have a cup of tea & learn how magical this grass can be. Many of us have met lemongrass through the flavor pallet of Thai or Sri Lankan cooking, or perhaps as one of the most popular scented oils on the shelves of our natural grocery. Traditional uses include a treatment for fevers, coughs, colds, stimulate the uterus and menstrual flow, and as a pleasant tonic or beverage that has antioxidant properties. A power packed and versatile friend, lemongrass promotes perspiration and excretion of phlegm, eases stomach cramps and is one of the most popular herbs in Brazil and the Caribbean for nervous and digestive problems. In the garden, lemongrass is a natural bug repellent.

Energetically, lemongrass is thought to foster openness, and is sometimes used to clear  or open communication. This sweet smelling herb can attract the person of your desire and to bring a little more transparency to your intimate relationships. Burn as an incense in a bundle or diffuse oil for strength and purification. You can use lemongrass in your bath, your bedroom, your meal or your garden. Lemongrass is a powerful cleanser getting rid of stagnation, despair and lethargy. It can assit when one needs to let go oof old, limiting beliefs, toxic energy or negatrons

Cymbopogon citrates is of the Poaceae family. That means like the name implies, it is a grass. 

Lemongrass can be planted in a pot or directly into the ground. But remember, this powerful poaceae loves the heat!

If an oppressive society or institution relies on hierarchy, domination and top down approaches to define power, can we begin to see grassroots organizing as both antithetical and antidote?

Walt Whitman reminds us that a blade of grass is the journeywork of the stars. What does it mean to be of the roots of grass in today’s society? How is this powerful in the ecosystem of the world literally and figuratively?

Why is grassroots organizing a critical piece of abolitionist movement building?

How is grassroots organizing critical to emergent strategy?

Who is Wangari Maatha?