Resonant with the Goddess Ganga, the holy river in India, and Ochun in Nigeria (Oxun in Latin America), deity of the river waters both representing and revering luxury, sexuality, pleasure, fertility, love and beauty, Damiana is the herbal manifestation of these expressions. It has long been believed throughout the world that by drinking, eating or being surrounded by Damiana you would be blessed with increase in the areas of love and intimate relations.
Long used as an herbal tonic for both the nervous system and as an aphrodisiac, Damiana is a popular herb that can help you and the one you fancy “relax into love.” Used in Mexican folklore for all manner of reproductive health and as the key ingredient in elixirs for love, this potent herb is not messing around when dancing with the delicate art of love and romance and the need to delicately balance both fortitude and reverence.
Magic and Damiana
Magical spells have been invoked for reasons of both drawing in and keeping love with the use of this famous herb. The simple act of sprinkling its leaves upon the doorstep of the full moon has been believed to call back a lost love, such is the potency of the vibratory frequency of Damiana.
Doctrine of Signatures
The doctrine of signatures says that you may tell what a plant is good for or what its properties may be just by looking at it and observing the way it grows, its colors and the environment it prefers.
Damiana grows as a lovely yellow flower of five petals which I see through the doctrine of signatures to be the perfect plant-kingdom depiction of the Merkabah – the graceful dancing point in our energy field where masculine and feminine meet as one. Also, the green leaves are somewhat sharp and edgy, where the yellow petals of the flower are rounded and smooth...so much like “masculine meets feminine.”
Making Your Own Tonic
Using rum, whiskey or another alcohol as a base, you can create your own herbal aphrodisiac tonic. Just add Damiana herb to the alcohol base and then accent with vanilla, cinnamon, ginger (or galangal – found in an Asian or Mexican market), pimento or hawthorn berries, some nutmeg and a bit of honey and let steep for several weeks – then strain. [Note: If you are opposed to using alcohol as a base you may substitute with Vegetable Glycerin or Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, but note that the alcohol in this case does take on the properties of the herbs which are placed in it, thereby transforming it into a tonic.]
Solitary
Relaxing into the Love of the Universe is important for each and every one of us, and often most crucial before we actually land ourselves in any kind of union. Damiana is especially wonderful to work with while still contemplating the whole relationship scene as it helps to align and get one in tune with their entire chakra network. It can help facilitate astral experiences as well as lucid or conscious dreaming and assist one in “looking into” their own inner workings to see what might be blocking them from the experience of love. In this way, Damiana “calls love in” to the personal field and assists one in working with what issues still need resolution. The great part is that Damiana also helps with the resolution of these issues through its intimate working with the nervous system.
The body's sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are greatly benefited through the use of Damiana and it therefore makes a wonderful “yogic” herb to both excite and relax the chakras into balanced action and bring the masculine and feminine energy networks “on-line” and working together in order to prepare the practitioner for “team-working.”
Spirituality
Beyond the above-mentioned energy and chakra work, Damiana is fabulous as an assistant to meditation and the cultivation of psychic skills and gifts. It can bring one a great amount of inner focus while silencing the “inner chatter” that is often the obstacle to truly deep inner work. Damiana can be drank as a tea – though it is somewhat bitter – or made into an incense to burn in the room. It is also lovely as part of a smoking blend along with sage, lavender, rose petals, mullein, skullcap – and if you are into it – a bit of cannabis and/or some sacred rolling tobacco. (Choose your mix.)
All in all, Damiana is a fabulous herb for helping you relax into love both as a solitary practitioner and human, and within the container of relationship or in the quest for one. Use it with respect and honor the boundaries and personal will of other humans in your work, and if you care to – call on the deva of the plant and ask for a bit of TLC in helping you to cultivate a space within where you can truly find peace and magic with love. And she will answer the call.
